Odyssey Dry Cell Life/Failure Modes

[Ron Wanttaja]

I installed an Odyssey Dry Cell battery in my Fly Baby about four years ago, and
I've been very happy with it.

Lately, though, my voltmeter has been running a bit low, both before the engine
starts and when the plane is cruising. My Microair transponder has a voltmeter
function, and I've verified that the battery is running about a half-volt lower
than I'm used to.

The engine starts so quickly I can't really tell if the battery charge is low.

Anyway, I was figuring I had more problems with the generator/regulator, but
when I put an external charger on the plane this morning, the initial charge
current was quite a bit lower than I'm used to seeing when a battery is low on
charge.

So my questions run down to:

1. What kind of life are people getting with these Odyssey batteries, and
2. When they fail, what kind of indicators do you see? Does it just suddenly
refuse to hold a charge, or are there early warning signs?

Ron Wanttaja

[Kyle Boatright]

I replaced the one on my RV after just under 2 years.

It was a "soft" failure in that there was never a step change in
performance, just gradual degradation over time. Eventually the cranking
performance became problematic.

I was pleased that the retailer provided a new battery under warranty. The
new battery is going strong after a year.

KB


"Ron Wanttaja" > wrote in message
...
>I installed an Odyssey Dry Cell battery in my Fly Baby about four years
>ago, and
> I've been very happy with it.
>
> Lately, though, my voltmeter has been running a bit low, both before the
> engine
> starts and when the plane is cruising. My Microair transponder has a
> voltmeter
> function, and I've verified that the battery is running about a half-volt
> lower
> than I'm used to.
>
> The engine starts so quickly I can't really tell if the battery charge is
> low.
>
> Anyway, I was figuring I had more problems with the generator/regulator,
> but
> when I put an external charger on the plane this morning, the initial
> charge
> current was quite a bit lower than I'm used to seeing when a battery is
> low on
> charge.
>
> So my questions run down to:
>
> 1. What kind of life are people getting with these Odyssey batteries, and
> 2. When they fail, what kind of indicators do you see? Does it just
> suddenly
> refuse to hold a charge, or are there early warning signs?
>
> Ron Wanttaja

[Rob Cherney]

On Sat, 07 Jul 2007 12:03:28 -0700, Ron Wanttaja
> wrote:

>Lately, though, my voltmeter has been running a bit low, both before the engine
>starts and when the plane is cruising. My Microair transponder has a voltmeter
>function, and I've verified that the battery is running about a half-volt lower
>than I'm used to.

For a healthy battery with no load, a half-volt drop at the terminals
would represent a battery that is at an approximate 60% state of
charge.

>The engine starts so quickly I can't really tell if the battery charge is low.

For a sealed battery, the only way to really know battery health is to
take it out of the airplane and test its capacity with a known load.
Since most of us don't have the wherewithal do to that sort of thing,
the purchase of a new battery is our only reasonable option.

>Anyway, I was figuring I had more problems with the generator/regulator, but
>when I put an external charger on the plane this morning, the initial charge
>current was quite a bit lower than I'm used to seeing when a battery is low on
>charge.

The lower voltage at no load is unusual. Have you measured the
voltage at the battery terminals? That would eliminate a systematic
issue in your electrical system. And a lower-than-expected charge
current could indicate that the battery really has a good charge.

Assuming that it really is a bad battery--and this is just a guess--
there could be a separation of one plate from its absorbed glass mat.
This would leave it functional, but it would operate like a battery
with less capacity. Alternately, if the battery was ever kept in a
discharged state too long, it could be sulfation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfation

Perhaps a call to Odyssey is in order. They might have an interest in
an early failure, or at least know the failure modes of their product.
They have a toll-free number (800-538-3627).

>So my questions run down to:
>
>1. What kind of life are people getting with these Odyssey batteries

I got six years on an older Genesis battery and my present Odyssey (a
PC925) is still going strong after four years.

>2. When they fail, what kind of indicators do you see? Does it just suddenly
>refuse to hold a charge, or are there early warning signs?

The Genesis just wouldn't hold a charge. The symptom was an engine
that had difficulty cranking in cold weather.

Rob-
__________________________________________________ _
Rob Cherney rcherney(at)comcast(dot)net
Ellicott City, Maryland

[Jerry Springer]

I installed an Odyssey 680 in my RV-6 Jan of 2003 and it is still going
strong, I have been very happy with the results I get out of it. I have
had much better service from it than I have any of the so called
aircraft batteries.

Jerry


Kyle Boatright wrote:
> I replaced the one on my RV after just under 2 years.
>
> It was a "soft" failure in that there was never a step change in
> performance, just gradual degradation over time. Eventually the cranking
> performance became problematic.
>
> I was pleased that the retailer provided a new battery under warranty. The
> new battery is going strong after a year.
>
> KB
>
>
> "Ron Wanttaja" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>>I installed an Odyssey Dry Cell battery in my Fly Baby about four years
>>ago, and
>>I've been very happy with it.
>>
>>Lately, though, my voltmeter has been running a bit low, both before the
>>engine
>>starts and when the plane is cruising. My Microair transponder has a
>>voltmeter
>>function, and I've verified that the battery is running about a half-volt
>>lower
>>than I'm used to.
>>
>>The engine starts so quickly I can't really tell if the battery charge is
>>low.
>>
>>Anyway, I was figuring I had more problems with the generator/regulator,
>>but
>>when I put an external charger on the plane this morning, the initial
>>charge
>>current was quite a bit lower than I'm used to seeing when a battery is
>>low on
>>charge.
>>
>>So my questions run down to:
>>
>>1. What kind of life are people getting with these Odyssey batteries, and
>>2. When they fail, what kind of indicators do you see? Does it just
>>suddenly
>>refuse to hold a charge, or are there early warning signs?
>>
>>Ron Wanttaja
>
>
>

[[email protected]]

I have dual Odyssey batteries in my canard. The first set lasted about
two years. At the end of the two years they did not hold the charge
well. I found that they are sensitive to charging method. They are OK
if you charge them with your alternator but not if you use standard,
shelf trickle/XXamp chargers. You have to get chargers specially
designed for them.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SQ2000 canard http://www.abri.com/sq2000

On Jul 7, 2:03 pm, Ron Wanttaja > wrote:
> I installed an Odyssey Dry Cell battery in my Fly Baby about four years ago, and
> I've been very happy with it.
>
> Lately, though, my voltmeter has been running a bit low, both before the engine
> starts and when the plane is cruising. My Microair transponder has a voltmeter
> function, and I've verified that the battery is running about a half-volt lower
> than I'm used to.
>
> The engine starts so quickly I can't really tell if the battery charge is low.
>
> Anyway, I was figuring I had more problems with the generator/regulator, but
> when I put an external charger on the plane this morning, the initial charge
> current was quite a bit lower than I'm used to seeing when a battery is low on
> charge.
>
> So my questions run down to:
>
> 1. What kind of life are people getting with these Odyssey batteries, and
> 2. When they fail, what kind of indicators do you see? Does it just suddenly
> refuse to hold a charge, or are there early warning signs?
>
> Ron Wanttaja