Mx Issue

silver-eagle

silver-eagle

En-Route
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Mar 11, 2005
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~John
Well, I guess it was all my fault. Had I gone flying yesterday, I'd have found out the battery was dead. But NO! I basically goofed off yesterday getting errands like housekeeping, banking, shopping and hanging out with my pooch even though it was CAVU.
Today was supposed to be a long day of flying; north to Jaffrey for a passenger then south to Block Island for some long overdue siteseeing. Weather was CAVU again with a little gusty wind. So as I sat there with barely enough juice to rotate the prop, I wasn't quite in the position to kick myself in the butt. After calling off the pickup, I left the plane for the mechanic to put a new battery in. With a rather full weekend planned on other things, I might not get a chance to fly until next Thursday.
Dang! [selfinflicted kick in the pants] Next time, the heck with errands!
Mechanic said batteries don't usually last more than 5 years. Battery has been swapped out and the plane's ready to go. So how often do you check/change your battery? Does this sound right?
 
5yrs is darn good, if you do a lot of imc consider 3yrs, I had a pal who insisted on a new one every year.
I pulled mine after 4 and keep it charged in the hangar in case the same thing happens to me.
Remember this might not be a battery issue at all; lets hope though.
 
When I had the Cardinal I'd change the battery every two years. I didn't want to be stuck in some no FBO strip somewhere in the middle of winter trying to prop it. The local shade tree would take the old one for his airboat.

The battery on my lawn tractor doesn't last 2 years. I got five years on an '88 F-150 then it left me standing on the side of the highway.

3 years is pushing it in a plane you rely on, imho, unless you're taking specific gravity readings every week and tracking the trend.
 
Our plane has two expensive batteries and we are currently trying a desulfinating battery charger to see if it extends the life of them some. Probably will not make much of a difference but at least they will be at 100 percent charge when we start on a trip.
 
Iceman said:
Our plane has two expensive batteries and we are currently trying a desulfinating battery charger to see if it extends the life of them some. Probably will not make much of a difference but at least they will be at 100 percent charge when we start on a trip.
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Five years? Ha! I retired my AXC35 after seven years, on principle. It still passes the mfr's five minute load test. This battery has lived on a desulfator/floating point charger. The Aircraft has been set to 13.9V on the bus (no electrolyte boil-over). It will crank and start at 17F (coldest I ever had to do it w/o a preheat) which was at Signature/Meigs when I didn't have a choice 3+ years ago (they had NO services). Just last weekend a friend's Arrow dead-batteried and we put this one in. It cranked like mad and his new one is due from Aircraft Spruce.

Take care of your battery. It will outlive your belief.
 
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bbchien said:
Five years? Ha! I retired my AXC35 after seven years, on principle. It still passes the mfr's five minute load test. This battery has lived on a desulfator/floating point charger. The Aircraft has been set to 13.9V on the bus (no electrolyte boil-over). It will crank and start at 17F (coldest I ever had to do it w/o a preheat) which was at Signature/Meigs when I didn't have a choice 3+ years ago (they had NO services). Just last weekend a friend's Arrow dead-batteried and we put this one in. It cranked like mad and his new one is due from Aircraft Spruce.

Take care of your battery. It will outlive your belief.
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Hey, Doc- Have you got a link to that place where you buy the desulphating chargers? I had it, lost it, bet that if you reposted it, your hero status would remain unchallenged.

I need one for a 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood Eldorado Cabriolet; hope I need it for an airplane one fine day!
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
5yrs is darn good
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I replaced the factory battery on my 1990 Honda Accord... In late 2001! That battery should have gone in the battery hall of fame. Had I not left the car sitting for three months while I went on tour, it probably would have lasted even longer. It wasn't even showing any signs of weakness when I parked it.
 
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