G5 battery drain

WannFly

Final Approach
Joined
Nov 28, 2016
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KLZU
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Priyo
I noticed recently that the AI G5 showed 2% battery life when shutting down, the plane was down for annual, I didn’t think much of it, thought someone left the display on on battery power. Then again few days later I saw 25% left on the AI, HSI is at 100%. Speaking to my avionics guy, he says a handful of G5 is draining battery when switched off, you may think it’s switched off but it’s processing something at the backend with a black display and there may be a faint green glow that’s impossible to detect during day light.

Anyone else seen this behavior? Just upgraded to software 6.2, not sure if that fixes or not, I was on 5.3 or something close to it.


PS: Aspen lovers, pleas open your own garmin bash thread
 
Both of my G5s on occasion will not turn off automatically with the master.. if I flip master on then off again they do.. I just upgraded to 6.2 as well...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Both of my G5s on occasion will not turn off automatically with the master.. if I flip master on then off again they do.. I just upgraded to 6.2 as well...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That’s probably a diff behavior, do they just stay on without the countdown 45 second timer? In my case, the display is turning off, patently the unit isn’t
 
I had my G5 stay on one time. It took me awhile to figure out it was on and dark and not dead.

I did a quick turn picking up a pax, and after starting up, the G5 was dark and seemingly didn't respond to the power button (should come on with the master switch). It was VFR, so I just continued the flight. When I got the plane back in the hangar I noticed the glow around the power button and fiddled with the buttons on it without any change, the display was still dark but the power button was glowing. Since the master was off, it was on its internal battery. I pulled it from the panel, pulled the battery, reinstalled it and it behaved normally, and has since.
 
If there is any airspeed the G5 will think it is in flight and won’t turn off with the master. Also, if there is an input (instrument panel self test page from navigator) that is sending it airspeed or groundspeed data, it will also stay on.
 
This particular issues haven’t happened in last 3 flights, both G5 s show 100% battery remaining.... I will report back if it happens again
 
This particular issues haven’t happened in last 3 flights, both G5 s show 100% battery remaining.... I will report back if it happens again
Have you been having the battery issue lately? I haven't been flying very much this winter due to wx but I notice last week that my HSI was showing 55% battery while the AI was showing 100% charge. I'm curious why.
 
Have you been having the battery issue lately? I haven't been flying very much this winter due to wx but I notice last week that my HSI was showing 55% battery while the AI was showing 100% charge. I'm curious why.

Nope, haven’t noticed this issue, I do use a battery minder in the hangar, all winter long
 
I've noticed that after a long interval between flights, one of both of my G5s will show less than 100% charge, maybe 88% or so. I don't know if that is normal self-discharge of the battery (seems odd for Li batteries) or maybe a stretch of cold weather playing tricks with the charge status software. They always charge up to 100% after about a half-hour of flight.
 
I had this issue occur on one of my G5s with v6.2 installed. I checked with Garmin, and their advice was hold the power button down for a 10 count to clear the power on but no display issue. It worked for me. They also advised that v6.4 has a fix for it, even though it's not in the release notes. I have had no further occurrences of this issue since installing v6.4 to both G5s in early January 2020.
 
I don't have a G5, but I've seen something similar on occasion with my G500 TXi. The EIS on my installation has a backup battery. Sometimes I start up and find that it drained slightly. In every case, it charges up again very quickly. It seems like it happens more often when there's been several days between flights or when it's cold (although "cold" is relative, in California). But it has also happened overnight. I've run the battery recalibration a couple of times, and it has no problem running for well past the required time. My shop didn't seem worried about it.
 
OK, pulled the plane out today after a while, and the HSI was at 2% and the AI was showing NO BATT. Not good. I watch them shut down after flight, so this is definitely abnormal. While I was at it, I upgraded to v6.4. The HSI recharged in about an hour during flight, but the AI battery is apparently toast, as it does not come to life or recharge. Will have to replace. You would think power off should be a function that works properly.
 
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