ColoRv
Well Known Member
TCW Battery Backup Experiences?
I've had my IBBS from TCW for about 16 months. It's been flying for 20 hours now. During the construction phase, I kept it connected to my main battery and kept both charged.
My startup procedure is to turn on the IBBS system to boot the Garmin system while I put on seatbelts etc. Last flight (flight number 12 or so) the Garmin system was shutting down before I even got my seatbelts on. After the flight I performed a test on the IBBS to see how long it would keep the Garmin two screens and ADAHARS up....about one minute later it started shutting down. I checked the wiring first and all is as it should be so called TCW and sent it back. They said I had a bad cell, charged me $107 and it's in the mail back to me now.
My question is, how often will I have to do this? The lifespan seems awfully short and during flight the efis showed no issue with the backup battery other than a slightly increased voltage at startup which TCW says is indicative of the charging circuit doing its thing. I wouldn't have known the battery was useless if I hadn't tested it...which sorta negates the reason for carrying its weight around.
Anyone else have any experience with this system? I find myself wondering if I wouldn't have been better off installing a standard battery in it's place. Certainly cheaper. I could have bought an odyssee for what this repair cost and if the lifespan of a nickel metal-hydride battery is this short.....why bother?
I've had my IBBS from TCW for about 16 months. It's been flying for 20 hours now. During the construction phase, I kept it connected to my main battery and kept both charged.
My startup procedure is to turn on the IBBS system to boot the Garmin system while I put on seatbelts etc. Last flight (flight number 12 or so) the Garmin system was shutting down before I even got my seatbelts on. After the flight I performed a test on the IBBS to see how long it would keep the Garmin two screens and ADAHARS up....about one minute later it started shutting down. I checked the wiring first and all is as it should be so called TCW and sent it back. They said I had a bad cell, charged me $107 and it's in the mail back to me now.
My question is, how often will I have to do this? The lifespan seems awfully short and during flight the efis showed no issue with the backup battery other than a slightly increased voltage at startup which TCW says is indicative of the charging circuit doing its thing. I wouldn't have known the battery was useless if I hadn't tested it...which sorta negates the reason for carrying its weight around.
Anyone else have any experience with this system? I find myself wondering if I wouldn't have been better off installing a standard battery in it's place. Certainly cheaper. I could have bought an odyssee for what this repair cost and if the lifespan of a nickel metal-hydride battery is this short.....why bother?
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