What are people using for cold weather batteries?
I'm looking for feedback from those who fly in winter from unheated hangars or tiedown, and start at -10c or lower. The engine will be an IO-320.
Even though I may be able to warm the engine sometimes I'll be at remote fields occasionally where warm up may not be an option.
I ask because I've seen all the positive feedback about the pc680 but find it difficult to believe with a CCA of only 170 it can start a cold soaked IO-320.
Thanks to all the cold weather warriors.
Michael B.
Michael - much of what has been said above is very good advice. Probably the very best of it is the admonishment against starting a cold-soaked engine. There is absolutely no excuse that justifies starting a cold-soaked engine, other than maybe that you had to start the airplane to move it to avoid an impending cataclysmic natural disaster.
There are MANY different kinds of pre-heaters available, ranging from the cadillac of them all, the all-electric Reiff sump and cylinder band heaters, to the very most basic "put a fire under the engine" techniques. If you're thinking you're going to operate away from electrical power, that's still no excuse not to pre-heat the engine. We live in the age of very power-dense battery packs. It doesn't take much forethought to come up with a means of producing heat, and a means of circulating that heat into the engine bay. For instance, a hangar neighbor uses a pair of the piezo-electric ignition propane torches blowing into a galvanized "chimney" that routes the heat into the engine bay. Beneath this is a 12VDC fan, powered by a battery pack about the size of two cigarette packs. This works a charm.
The other key item is an insulated engine cover. Talk to John at Aero Covers in Orillia - he has covers made using Thinsulate so they are not so bulky and heavy. A good engine cover will keep an engine warm for several hours, and will significantly reduce the Btu input required to get an engine up to temperature when pre-heating.
Lastly, the PC680 has proven itself to be a pretty darned good battery. Its CCA rating seems to be very conservative. Be very cautious in following any advice about battery tenders etc (and read the threads here on Odyssey battery failures). Some folks have had very poor results with battery tenders and similar always-on-chargers. The joy of the Odyssey is that it holds a charge very well. The PC680 in our "daily flyer" was installed quite some time ago (2008?) and has NEVER had an external charger connected to it. It also has never shown any hesitation to crank, even at -20C OAT's (my personal safety limit for flying). But of course, at -20C, you can bet your insulated booties that I'm preheating very thoroughly!