Thorp Air Command - T18.net

Supporting Owners, Builders and Pilots of the Thorp T-18 and its variants.
It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 3:57 am

All times are UTC - 6 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 16 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next
Author Message
Pilotjk
PostPosted: Mon Nov 30, 2015 8:43 pm 
Newbie
Newbie

Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2015 7:35 pm
Posts: 45
Images: 5
Took the little bird around the patch one last time before she goes in for her condition inspection, I plan to be pretty thorough and confirm that all the SDR's have been done, I also plan on getting rid of weight where I can, like my 27 pound Gill G35, my question is what is the lightest weight battery currently being used in experimental aircraft, is the odyssey PC 680 still the best I believe it weighs 15 pounds,

_________________
John Letkeman
N2562K SN.922
Seminole Tx
(KGNC)


Top
 Profile Personal album  
 
fytrplt
PostPosted: Mon Nov 30, 2015 9:04 pm 
Hero Member
Hero Member
User avatar

Joined: Tue Oct 20, 2009 8:07 pm
Posts: 1140
Images: 2
Location: Lakeland, Florida, USA
I have used a wheelchair battery for many years. I get 5 to 6 years service out of them. It is about the size of a garden tractor battery. My battery is behind the cargo bay (baggage area) for weight and balance purposes.

_________________
Bob Highley
N711SH
SN 835
KLAL


Top
 Profile Personal album  
 
Pilotjk
PostPosted: Mon Nov 30, 2015 9:12 pm 
Newbie
Newbie

Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2015 7:35 pm
Posts: 45
Images: 5
Good point, I need to check my weight and balance before I go buy a light battery, My Battery is located directly behind the copilot seat

_________________
John Letkeman
N2562K SN.922
Seminole Tx
(KGNC)


Top
 Profile Personal album  
 
James Grahn
PostPosted: Mon Nov 30, 2015 10:40 pm 
Hero Member
Hero Member

Joined: Sat Oct 24, 2009 7:16 pm
Posts: 1434
Images: 0
Location: USA
I use the PC 680
Cubes


Top
 Profile Personal album  
 
lance38dt
PostPosted: Mon Nov 30, 2015 10:47 pm 
Full Member
Full Member

Joined: Thu Aug 05, 2010 3:22 pm
Posts: 143
Images: 0
Location: USA
Garden tractor battery from wallyworld lasted 7 years cost 26.00 n it's not heavy, 3 years on the replacement so far.

Lance


Top
 Profile Personal album  
 
Rich Brazell
PostPosted: Tue Dec 01, 2015 12:13 am 
Hero Member
Hero Member

Joined: Wed Oct 21, 2009 12:33 pm
Posts: 3095
Images: 64
Location: Jamul, CA (San Diego area)
PC-680 on the firewall with the 13 pound AD prop . Just replaced current 5 year old PC-680 that stopped holding a charge . BOOM ! Not sure why , but the current PC-680 has a CCA rating of 170 compared to the old one I just replaced that had 220 CCA rating ? ???

RB O0


Top
 Profile Personal album  
 
jrevens
PostPosted: Tue Dec 01, 2015 12:44 am 
Sr. Member
Sr. Member
User avatar

Joined: Thu Oct 22, 2009 10:13 pm
Posts: 789
Location: USA
I've used gel-cell batteries from a local supplier that are relatively cheap & have lasted at least 5 years. DEKA builds some batteries that are very comparable to the PC680, are made here in the USA, are also AGM (absorbent glass mat)... and are cheaper. I'm using one in my new project. If you really want the lightest thing going, Lithium is the ticket. I'm not quite ready to jump on that wagon, but if I did Earth-X is the only one I'd trust at this time. They're being used in a lot of homebuilts. They have a built-in BMS (battery management system), which is critical with Lithium. The ETX680 & ETX900 will both fit in a PC680 size box. You will lose about 11# of weight! The ETX680 weighs 4.1# & the 900 is 4.9#. I think the CCA of the 680 is 320! These batteries are really pricey, but there is nothing lighter and more powerful at this time.

_________________
John Evens
Arvada, Colorado

T-18 N71JE (sold)
Kitfox 7 SS N27JE


Top
 Profile  
 
dickwolff
PostPosted: Tue Dec 01, 2015 6:38 am 
Sr. Member
Sr. Member

Joined: Tue Nov 24, 2009 7:40 pm
Posts: 498
Images: 6
Location: Canada
My airplane came with a PC535 on the firewall. It seems small, especially for an O360, but it has lasted over 5years and swings the prop easily. Mind you, there have only been a half dozen engine starts in the last five years.

D


Top
 Profile Personal album  
 
Doug S
PostPosted: Tue Dec 01, 2015 9:01 am 
Full Member
Full Member
User avatar

Joined: Thu Oct 22, 2009 8:35 am
Posts: 129
Location: Daytona Bch, FL
Battery Tender LiFePo
http://www.batterytender.com/Batteries/ ... ttery.html

2.1 lbs - Your battery box may be heavier than the battery ! - cranks even IO 540 fine
Built in balance charging so no special maintenance needed


Top
 Profile  
 
jrevens
PostPosted: Tue Dec 01, 2015 11:54 am 
Sr. Member
Sr. Member
User avatar

Joined: Thu Oct 22, 2009 10:13 pm
Posts: 789
Location: USA
I guess I should have said that there is nothing lighter & more powerful THAT I WOULD TRUST. I am very cautious about these batteries, with good reason. Bob Nuckolls has done some research into them, and I believe that there is a real lack of accurate needed information available about most of them. Some manufacturers or distributors were unable or unwilling to provide information critical to making an intelligent decision about the safety & true performance of their product. These batteries are probably the wave of the future, but I stand by my statement that Earth-X is the only one I would trust at this time if I needed to lose weight & wanted to spend that much on a battery.

_________________
John Evens
Arvada, Colorado

T-18 N71JE (sold)
Kitfox 7 SS N27JE


Top
 Profile  
 
thorpdrvr
PostPosted: Tue Dec 01, 2015 1:14 pm 
Full Member
Full Member

Joined: Wed Oct 21, 2009 12:35 pm
Posts: 103
Images: 4
Location: USA
I just put an Earthx etx680 in the same firewall mount that I had an Odyssey 680 in. The odyssey was getting close to replacement time and wanted to shed some weight due to heavier engine install.

Like John said, it is the only one I would feel safe with as an over voltage is not a good deal with these batteries. Has built in over voltage protection (along with some other protections) and I also have over voltage protection on alternator circuit, in addition to earlier warning from engine monitor. So should be covered for that potential problem.

It really cranks the 340 engine over fast. Better than the odyssey. The lithiums are supposed to have much less discharge when sitting, so will see over time how much better that is over other batteries. Longest sit between starts has been about three weeks and feels like you just charged it. Also supposed to have longer life than most batteries, but only time will tell. Hope so, cause they are expensive.

_________________
Bernie Fried
N18XS


Top
 Profile Personal album  
 
Pilotjk
PostPosted: Fri Dec 04, 2015 10:21 am 
Newbie
Newbie

Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2015 7:35 pm
Posts: 45
Images: 5
lots of good info guys! thanks for sharing, anyone using this battery? http://www.aerovoltz.net/aerovoltz-12-c ... m-battery/

_________________
John Letkeman
N2562K SN.922
Seminole Tx
(KGNC)


Top
 Profile Personal album  
 
Pilotjk
PostPosted: Sat Dec 19, 2015 1:45 pm 
Newbie
Newbie

Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2015 7:35 pm
Posts: 45
Images: 5
Well it looks like I'll be spending my panel money on an engine rebuild, found metal in my oil screen and decided to remove a cylinder to get a better look, found a cam lobe badly worn and tappet body's spalled, so the Thorp may be down for a while since I don't have a lot of time to work on it lately, at least I have my Starduster to fly in the meantime if it dosnt sell,

Image

_________________
John Letkeman
N2562K SN.922
Seminole Tx
(KGNC)


Top
 Profile Personal album  
 
Pilotjk
PostPosted: Tue Jan 26, 2016 9:17 pm 
Newbie
Newbie

Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2015 7:35 pm
Posts: 45
Images: 5
Can someone tell me what the weight of the Odyssey PC680 is? My research shows 15+ pounds but is this shipping weight or actual weight of battery?

_________________
John Letkeman
N2562K SN.922
Seminole Tx
(KGNC)


Top
 Profile Personal album  
 
Ryan Allen
PostPosted: Tue Jan 26, 2016 9:24 pm 
Hero Member
Hero Member
User avatar

Joined: Wed Oct 21, 2009 6:10 pm
Posts: 1105
Images: 0
Location: Louisiana
website says the battery weighs 15.4 pounds. http://www.odysseybattery.com/extreme_b ... specs.aspx


Top
 Profile Personal album  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 16 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next

All times are UTC - 6 hours [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
cron

[ Time : 0.134s | 12 Queries | GZIP : On ]