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Battery Quick Charge Pig tails
Probably requires an STC but it's time consuming to open the rear access door, remove the safety wire on the battery box, remove the the wing nuts on the box and access the battery terminals, then put it all back together again.
I'm finding in real cold weather a trickle charger with auto shut off is almost a requirement.
Any thoughts?
Randy Johnson- Posts: 176
- Joined: Thu Apr 14, 2011 1:57 am
- Location: Boston Area (BEV)
Re: Battery Quick Charge Pig tails
Years ago I looked at this same subject with my IA and even talked to the Washington FSDO about it. I know some folks at the FSDO well and they were brainstorming with me for possible ways. I can't remember all the details at this point but I do recall coming to the conclusion that it was either not possible or just not worth pursuing.
All the above said, this past October I was at the CPPP hosted in Leesburg, VA. One of the participants was Dr. Mike Schloss who is not only a Comanche owner but he is also a Cardiologist, was the head of Cardiovascular disease prevention for NYU and to top all that he's an A&P / IA and works on all his own planes. Did I mention he also flies a Cessna 414 and used to own and fly a Douglass A-1 Skyraider!!! Anyway he's an impressive guy. This topic (battery tie-in) came up and he insisted it could be done. After the class he emailed me the following info. I haven't pursued it but I am passing it on in case it is helpful to you...
From Dr. Mike Schloss, A&P / IA:
Below is the log book entry necessary to for your mechanic to do the log book entry on your Comanche so that you can have a permanent hook up for your battery minder.
"Fabricated and installed wire battery charger connection harness using MIL-W-22759/16 wire and 10A inline circuit protection fuse. Attached to battery with ring terminals. Terminated opposite end with Anderson SB50 plug. . All work in accordance with AC 43.13/1B. Verified continuity, polarity and tested charger for proper aircraft electrical system operation, no defects noted."
You can obtain the Sb50 connector kit for $4.42 from Batterywerx.com, you will need two of them to do the job, some 14 gage wire and ring connectors. One wire from anderson connector (+) will be attached to the battery solenoid hot side with a ring connector or to the positive lug of your battery with a 10amp fuse in the line and the other wire (negative or ground) to a suitable ground or the negative side of your battery. I would suggest cutting off the alligator clips provided with the battery minder and putting an anderson connector in their place so that you can connect that to the anderson connector previously described (which is permanently attached to the aircraft) and that connector is removable and the battery minder will hook into the other end of it when you want to use it.
Above cut and past from Mike Schloss
Hope this helps,
- Charles
Charles Schefer- Posts: 563
- Joined: Mon Mar 12, 2012 7:09 pm
Re: Battery Quick Charge Pig tails
I am certainly no expert but I will share my experience on this topic. Hopefully others will offer some insight.
In the last year I have kept Battery Minders on both airplanes I regularly fly. One of them is a 1959 PA24-250. Since going with the Battery Minder, the difference is very apparent, especially on the Comanche. Starting is very easy. Keeping the battery "topped off" is a good practice for easy starts and battery longevity.
The Battery Minder folks use to offer the "pigtail" you speak of but then stopped and changed their opinion on the matter. The reason I know this is because a buddy of mine and I purchased identical units at the same time and mine came with the "pigtail" and his did not. His operating manual was also an updated version with the amendment to the operating procedures. I can only guess what caused this change. More on that in a moment.
I understand your mindset on accessing your battery. After my research, I decided the "conservative" procedure was to get good at accessing the battery on the Comanche and attach the Battery Minder directly to the battery. The reason I say "conservative" is because accessing the battery directly offers the most ventilation to the battery during charging mode and maintenance mode. This is what the Battery Minder folks amended their manual on. I can only guess that someone had a bad experience using the pigtail and did not have good ventilation to the battery and something bad happened.
If you end up using a pigtail on your Comanche, your battery will likely not have good ventilation while in use. Your battery during flight has good ventilation assuming your battery box is set up correctly but sitting still, little or no air gets through the battery box.
Having said this, my buddy on his airplane has worse access to the battery then we do on our Comanches and he decided to use the pigtail. His battery has poor ventilation while not in flight but he has had no issues whatsoever. In other words, I'm not really sure how big of a deal the ventilation issue is.
If you practice accessing your battery on your Comanche, you will get good at it. I'm not gonna lie, it is a minor annoyance but worth the results I'm seeing. I don't bother safetying the wing nuts on the battery box lid which is the biggest issue with accessing the battery. I'm not sure what the very knowledgeable folks would say about not safetying the lid but I have had no issues in the year that I have been doing this. The battery never goes more then one or two flights without being inspected by myself and the wing nuts have never moved.
Hope this helps.
Ed
- Ed Asmus
- Posts: 72
- Joined: Wed Sep 11, 2013 5:02 am
Re: Battery Quick Charge Pig tails
Randy Johnson- Posts: 176
- Joined: Thu Apr 14, 2011 1:57 am
- Location: Boston Area (BEV)
Re: Battery Quick Charge Pig tails
STC, fabrication, mil-spec, blah blah blah; at the end of the day common sense seems to dictate a well-charged battery is essential for safety of flight.
Matt Bogard- Posts: 110
- Joined: Fri Jun 17, 2011 1:47 pm
- Location: Omaha, NE
Re: Battery Quick Charge Pig tails
Al Powers N88AP
- SLIMDREDGER
- ICS member
- Posts: 306
- Joined: Sat Aug 05, 2000 6:20 pm