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mcattell

Well Known Member
I'm not having much luck bending the aluminum angles that form the F-777 battery tray supports. With these brackets you cut off one leg of the .125" angle and bend the other leg between 35 to 55 degrees. Unfortunately aluminum this thick wants to fracture or break when bending it that much. I even tried heating once but maybe I didn't heat enough. I'm getting tired of building brackets so any suggestions would be appreciated.
 
mcattell said:
I'm not having much luck bending the aluminum angles that form the F-777 battery tray supports. With these brackets you cut off one leg of the .125" angle and bend the other leg between 35 to 55 degrees. Unfortunately aluminum this thick wants to fracture or break when bending it that much. I even tried heating once but maybe I didn't heat enough. I'm getting tired of building brackets so any suggestions would be appreciated.
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Are you sure it is not .063 angle that you are supposed to be using?

.125 thickness requires a large bend radius to avoid cracking (as you have discovered).
If .125 is the correct thickness, use a hardwood block with a minimum of an 1/8" radius sanded on the corner edge. Clamp it in the vice with the angle and bend it around the radiused corner of the block.
 
Unfortunately the drawing did call for .125" angle for these parts. To complicate it the bends aren't square and the other leg of the angle gets in the way. I tried the recommendation of a shallow v-notch on a scrap and that seems to work. Plus it helps force the bend to that location. The drawing calls for a 1/8" radius which I tried with a rounded piece of aluminum and tapping on it with a wood block and hammer. Except pounding on it seems to generate a fracture. Hopefully the v-notch won't weaken the part too much. On the sample it still seemed pretty strong. Thanks for the suggestions.
 
I'm curious why you chose not to use the PC-680 setup. It sure does make for a clean firewall battery install without all those parts you are trying to fabricate.
 
scard said:
I'm curious why you chose not to use the PC-680 setup. It sure does make for a clean firewall battery install without all those parts you are trying to fabricate.
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What in the world is a PC-680? I'd love not making these brackets. Another attempt failed at a 55 degree bend. This is getting a little old. My next step was to take them to my mechanic with aircraft restoration shop and let him do it.
 
PC-680 battery and tray

What Scott was referring to is the PC-680 Battery and firewall mounted tray kit that Van's sells. You rivet some angles on it, install some nutplates if I recall and you bolt it on the engine side of the firewall. Sure would save you all that fabricating, and it's a great battery.
 
mcattell said:
What in the world is a PC-680? I'd love not making these brackets. Another attempt failed at a 55 degree bend. This is getting a little old. My next step was to take them to my mechanic with aircraft restoration shop and let him do it.
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Many of us use the vans part number ES PC680 INSTALL KIT to use an Odyssey 680 battery. This is what they include in the firewall forward kit. Drawing 31A http://rv9a.card-net.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/pc680.pdf
 
scard said:
Many of us use the vans part number ES PC680 INSTALL KIT to use an Odyssey 680 battery. This is what they include in the firewall forward kit. Drawing 31A http://rv9a.card-net.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/pc680.pdf
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Thanks for the info. That will save some headaches. Fortunately I hadn't drilled any holes in the firewall. I'm just getting ready to order the firewall forward kit. I now see that it's included in the kit. I can't figure out why Van's would ship this crappy battery mount with the finish kit and then ship a better one with the firewall forward kit.
 
mcattell said:
I can't figure out why Van's would ship this crappy battery mount with the finish kit and then ship a better one with the firewall forward kit.
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That would be strange, but are you sure about that? My finish kit didn't include any battery mount.
 
mcattell said:
...I can't figure out why Van's would ship this crappy battery mount with the finish kit and then ship a better one with the firewall forward kit.
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Something is wrong here. I don't remember anything but the firewall mounted battery box for the PC680. BTW, the battery is not included, you will have to buy one locally.

Here is a picture of the battery mounted on my -9.

Note, this is a -9, not a -9A.

The white angle riveted to the battery box are steel, not aluminum.
 
N941WR said:
Something is wrong here. I don't remember anything but the firewall mounted battery box for the PC680. BTW, the battery is not included, you will have to buy one locally.

Here is a picture of the battery mounted on my -9.

Note, this is a -9, not a -9A.

The white angle riveted to the battery box are steel, not aluminum.
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The battery mount that came with my RV-9A finish kit was not a full box. It was just a tray with two 3/4" x .125" aluminum support kicker brackets and various other battery hold down brackets that were required to be fabricated. The tray looks like it would hold a larger battery and was shown on the left side of the firewall. I have drawing #31 which is a full page drawing to show how to build the mount. According to the firewall forward parts list in Van's Accessory Catalog, it comes with the PC680 install kit. So I'll see what I get.
 
I have an extra piece (F877A or 879A, can't read my old writing) that looks somewhat like a battery tray and came with my fuse kit. Don't know what it's for, but I never used it. Maybe that's what you got also. Hope it wasn't critical, as I now have 75 hours on my airplane....

greg
 
mcattell said:
I'm just getting ready to order the firewall forward kit. I now see that it's included in the kit. I can't figure out why Van's would ship this crappy battery mount with the finish kit and then ship a better one with the firewall forward kit.
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Not everyone buys the FWF kit (it is an option).
Actually, many builders have installed the ***py battery tray with no trouble at all. It has been supplied in the kit from the very beginning (even before the FWF kit existed), and their is probably some builders who still use it instead of a P680 box. It is even possible to modify it to take A P-680 battery if you desire (but no sense doing that if you intended to buy the FWF kit anyway)
 
N941WR said:
Something is wrong here. I don't remember anything but the firewall mounted battery box for the PC680. BTW, the battery is not included, you will have to buy one locally.

Here is a picture of the battery mounted on my -9.

Note, this is a -9, not a -9A.

The white angle riveted to the battery box are steel, not aluminum.
Click to expand...

This was confusing me yesterday when I was looking over the battery installation. You have DWG 31 for 7A/9A's with the battery mounted on the left side of the firewall, then DWG 31A for 7/9's with the PC680 mounted on the right side. And two different batteries. Like someone said, the DWG 31 must be old news and perhaps obsolete.

Any issues with a 9A, O-320, FP mounting according to DWG 31A?
 
Ah, the battery box follies. My -6A fuselage kit came with the old battery box for behind the firewall (which I have, fully assembled, if anyone wants it). By the time I got to the FWF, the PC680 was the choice and I happily adopted it and the -7 FWF package. I think you will find that the kits tend to evolve as time goes on and it pays to remain somewhat flexible if possible.

Now I'm building a -10 and have to make my own battery mount because I'm not going with the battery Vans designed the mount for. Such is life...
 
A Concorde 24-15. While most of the systems, including the G900, can be run off 12V, I'm doing the 24 because the battery is located so far aft, unlike my -6A which has it right there at the firewall. Ironically, the weight and dimensions are nearly the same but the orientation is different so I need a wider base. I'm sticking as close as possible to Van's design, though. I like how it solidly seats the battery without enclosing it, making it easier to remove, and the bend radius on the parts are gentler on the battery case than angle just butted up to it would be.
 
The battery mount for the Odyssey is not included in the kit and need to by purchase separately (it is not that expensive) what is included in the kit, is the battery mount for the bigger size battery which few decide to use.

I am using the Odyssey and very happy with it.
 
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