Sinistar
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- Sep 9, 2016
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Display name:
Brad
So I just put in a new Concorde RG-35AXC battery last night. It had a Gill battery in it.
Questions:
Was I supposed to charge it first?
What would you test before doing a cross country?
What should the battery voltage read with everything off prior to first start?
What should the battery voltage read at run up with everything on?
What should the voltage and charging needle do if I l pull the throttle to idle (~500rpm). Should it the be the same as during the run-up?
Can the same voltage regulation be used for Gill and Concorde or am I supposed to change something to have optimal in-flight charging for this different battery?
Can I use the same battery tender as I was with the Gill?
Should I expect hot starts be a bit easier?
Note: I have LED landing lights but all other bulbs & strobe were made by Thomas Edison himself.
What I Did:
Questions:
Was I supposed to charge it first?
What would you test before doing a cross country?
What should the battery voltage read with everything off prior to first start?
What should the battery voltage read at run up with everything on?
What should the voltage and charging needle do if I l pull the throttle to idle (~500rpm). Should it the be the same as during the run-up?
Can the same voltage regulation be used for Gill and Concorde or am I supposed to change something to have optimal in-flight charging for this different battery?
Can I use the same battery tender as I was with the Gill?
Should I expect hot starts be a bit easier?
Note: I have LED landing lights but all other bulbs & strobe were made by Thomas Edison himself.
What I Did:
- I had to tweak the battery cover per Concorde's documentation. Actually my A&P told me outright that its cheaper for me to buy the battery and install it than have him do it. Given his minimum price vs online I think he saved me about $40 right there And he was fine with me deforming the cover per their recommendation.
- I installed it
- I started up the plane - it immediately turned over vs the standard partial blade, hesitate about 1 second and then spin up and start.
- I warmed up the plane and then ran it up.
- It was dark when I finished...didn't think it was wise to test fly a new battery when its dark and overcast and spooky outside
- All I had with me at the time was cig lighter voltage meter / usb charger (I know, crappy)
- Voltage with MASTER ON but all switches off was around +12.4v
- Voltage at idle ~800rpm but all switches off was about +13.1v
- Voltage at runup 1700rpm with everything on and flaps moving was 12.9v then voltage returned back to 13.0v ... 13.1 when the flap motor turned off.
- Since I have always used this same usb voltage meter everything looked exactly the same when running as it did before. On the last flight before changing the battery I had written down the voltages so I at least had actual numbers to compare.
- The charging needle looks the exact same as before.