On 26-Jan-2004, "O. Sami Saydjari" wrote:

I have a Gill G25 battery in my Piper Arrow III (PA28R-201T). I
recently had a situation where I ran out of juice after 4 attempted
starts.

Since you live in central Wisconsin, you know how cold can sap a battery's
charge, particularly if left idle for a few days. But when you say it "ran
out of juice after 4 attempted starts" I am wondering (a) what you mean by
no juice, and (b) what constitutes an "attempt." If you mean that the
battery is discharged to a point where the prop will no longer turn with the
starter, that could mean a lot of things, including a defective starter. If
you mean the battery is completely flat (for example, will not power the
radios), then It could be a problem with your charging system or the leads
to the battery.

Four prolonged start attempts with a very cold engine could easily drain a
very cold battery. How, if at all, do you preheat?


While I am sure that I can improve my starting technique (I am
a newbie for this particular plane), I would like to have a bit more
power in my battery, especially in very cold conditions such as we have
up here in central Wisconsin.

I have an Arrow IV, also with an IO-360. I have found that when the engine
is cold (and "cold" here in the Seattle area is pretty mild by your
standards) it likes a very healthy shot of priming. I leave the mixture
rich and the electric pump on until fuel pressure begins to register (it
takes maybe 7-8 seconds), then pull the mixture back and crank. Then it
usually starts without difficulty. I presume that you have studied the
start procedure shown in the manual. The most critical (and perhaps
counter-intuitive) thing to remember is that the mixture needs to be in full
LEAN (i.e. cutoff) position while cranking. You need to keep your right
hand on the mixture while you turn the key with your left hand so that you
can quickly move the mixture to full rich as soon as the engine begins to
fire.


(1) Is it true that I am stuck with a G25 battery and that NO OTHER
battery in the world can go in my plane? I find that a little hard to
believe.

The battery box in a normally aspirated Arrow is pretty tight -- not much
room for a larger battery. Weight and CG are also considerations.

--
-Elliott Drucker