On Tuesday, May 17, 2016 at 12:58:47 PM UTC-4, SF wrote:
During the winter of 2009 I was bored, and aggravated with the sealed lead acid batteries that I was using in my sailplane. They didn't hold the voltage above 12v for very long, they needed replacement every few years, and I had one die 5 miles away from the airport at the end of a 300K badge flight. My argument that I had 2,000 FT over final glide at that point didn't sway the FAI from rejecting that flight for my badge attempt.

My search at the time led me to the K2 (Lithium Iron Phosphate chemistry)batteries that were the subject of my spring of 2010 battery article in Soaring.

Reaction to the article was mixed, and a partial retraction was printed the following month after an FAA DER (Designated Engineering Reviewer)with experience in certifying Lithium Ion batteries for some type of usage in commercial airliners, objected to the use of Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries in sailplanes because they hadn't been certified for that use by the FAA.

It's now 2016, and I see a lot of K2 batteries in other sailplanes. Soaring supply companies in the U.S. seem to be providing K2 batteries or a similar battery from a different manufacturer on a regular basis. The K2 battery I purchased in 2009, and it's twin purchased a year later, are still providing power to my sailplane without incident. There seems to be no degradation in performance, and other than switching to Anderson Power Pole connectors, I have not made any changes to my battery set up.

Has anyone out there had an issue with the usage of Lithium Iron Phosphate chemistry batteries in sailplanes?

Just curious because, a lot of dire consequences were predicted after my article came out.

SF

I switched to the K2 batteries a year before Scott wrote the article since I was weight-challenged in my H301. These batteries held up very well with no sign of degradation at all.
I now fly a two-seater and have two of them in parallel to power all the essentials like a small fridge, espresso machine and a massage cushion and they still show 12V+ after a long flight!

Uli