Dale Young
Line Up and Wait
Other than not being certified, Why are auto batteries not used in airplanes?
Car battery use in airplane?
- Thread starter Dale Young
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BellyUpFish
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Backtothesand
Big und heavy.
Dan Thomas
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Dan Thomas
Not as resistant to vibration. No means of preventing acid spill if it's inverted.
I think the newer auto batteries that are totally sealed might be OK, but there's still the legalities of the whole thing. When a manufacturer specifies, for instance, the Gill G-25 battery in its parts listing, you need an STC to use the Concorde CB-25.
And one final reason: Airplane parts HAVE to be expensive. Car batteries aren't expensive enough
Dan
bsdunek
Pre-takeoff checklist
And one final reason: Airplane parts HAVE to be expensive. Car batteries aren't expensive enough
Dan
That MUST be the real reason!
Dale Young
Line Up and Wait
Thanks guys! And yes reguarding the EXPENSIVE part!
Skylane81E
Final Approach
Not as resistant to vibration. No means of preventing acid spill if it's inverted.
I think the newer auto batteries that are totally sealed might be OK, but there's still the legalities of the whole thing. When a manufacturer specifies, for instance, the Gill G-25 battery in its parts listing, you need an STC to use the Concorde CB-25.
And one final reason: Airplane parts HAVE to be expensive. Car batteries aren't expensive enough
Dan
Getting there, dealer price for my Dodge's battery will almost get you a G25
Now if Walmart started selling aircraft batteries We'd have a lot of planes that didn't start lol
Dan Thomas
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Bob Noel
Chinese batteries (and regular pencils) are the only Chinese products without lead.
I LOVE my Optima red top battery......... Oh yeah... I fly an experimental so I have choice.
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denverpilot
Tied Down
I've had an Optima bulge in a high-vibration ground application.
Charging system was fine. Looked freaky. Luckily didn't split itself wide open.
Heavy off-roading in a Jeep.
Charging system was fine. Looked freaky. Luckily didn't split itself wide open.
Heavy off-roading in a Jeep.
Skylane81E
Final Approach
My Gill G-35 will handly spill acid all over the place if it's inverted. I'm not sure what you think is unique about aviation units.
BellyUpFish
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Backtothesand
Wow you run an Optima Red Top in your plane? That's some serious battery.. I've got them in a few cars, but run an Odyssey PC680 in the RV.
Tom-D
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Tom-D
Mainly because of the dimensions of the battery box car batteries won't fit.
Skylane81E
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I did a pre-purchase on a 182 this summer for a friend. They had found a car battery that fit.
I was more worried that they had put that battery in because they kept killing batteries and it was cheaper to replace. Seems to me it might be cheaper to actually fix the problem than treat the symptom, even if you do it on the cheap
Now go look at the battery in a DA20, nice little Yuasa Motorcycle battery
BellyUpFish
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Backtothesand
Very nice. I've wanted to stick an LS1 into something. It's too big for the -6 though.
Skylane81E
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drool..
Dan Thomas
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Dan Thomas
Aviation batteries have lead-weighted vent valves to close the vents in the caps if the battery is tilted more than about 30 or 40 degrees.
This diagram shows an old style. The newer caps have a rod on the weight that extends through the vent hole into the cell, and a silicone seal disc on that. Shuts it off good. Looks like this:
If you're getting acid everywhere your caps aren't working, or perhaps the cells are overfilled. I never fill them more than halfway between the top of the plates and the bottom of the slip ring; the electrolyte expands a lot when the battery is charging and will rise in the cell. Filling to the bottom of the ring just results in electrolyte squirting out the vent.
Dan
Skylane81E
Final Approach
Agreed, I've found them on their sides without a drop spilled on my old battery pallet
denverpilot
Tied Down
I did a pre-purchase on a 182 this summer for a friend. They had found a car battery that fit.
I was more worried that they had put that battery in because they kept killing batteries and it was cheaper to replace. Seems to me it might be cheaper to actually fix the problem than treat the symptom, even if you do it on the cheap
Now go look at the battery in a DA20, nice little Yuasa Motorcycle battery
Cue: My standard rant on certified/PMA parts costs now.
Lead-acid batteries are generally... lead-acid batteries.
Skylane81E
Final Approach
Oh I get it, there are some differences here, but fancy caps don't a $400 battery make
Dale Young
Line Up and Wait
Aviation batteries have lead-weighted vent valves to close the vents in the caps if the battery is tilted more than about 30 or 40 degrees.
This diagram shows an old style. The newer caps have a rod on the weight that extends through the vent hole into the cell, and a silicone seal disc on that. Shuts it off good. Looks like this:
If you're getting acid everywhere your caps aren't working, or perhaps the cells are overfilled. I never fill them more than halfway between the top of the plates and the bottom of the slip ring; the electrolyte expands a lot when the battery is charging and will rise in the cell. Filling to the bottom of the ring just results in electrolyte squirting out the vent.
Dan
Thanks for that info! I had no idea thats what those did!