Winter Care

For many or most of us, winter is here and the gliders are parked for a number of months. I have removed every battery from the cockpit, put mouse poison in the trailer and taken out anything that should not freeze (waxes, plexi-glass cleaners etc).

What is the best way store glider batteries, specifically LiPO4's? Just plug them in the charger? Does it matter if they are in the house or in a cold garage?

What the PDA's and PNA's? Again just keep them on the charger in the warm house?

Any other items folks do to bundle up their gliders?

Ron Gleason

On Saturday, November 28, 2015 at 2:23:50 PM UTC-8, Ron Gleason wrote:
For many or most of us, winter is here and the gliders are parked for a number of months. I have removed every battery from the cockpit, put mouse poison in the trailer and taken out anything that should not freeze (waxes, plexi-glass cleaners etc).

What is the best way store glider batteries, specifically LiPO4's? Just plug them in the charger? Does it matter if they are in the house or in a cold garage?

What the PDA's and PNA's? Again just keep them on the charger in the warm house?

Any other items folks do to bundle up their gliders?

Ron Gleason

I don't think you can go wrong with the following recommendations.

The recommended is to discharge the battery about 1/2 and then store do not leave on the charger. I don't think warm or cold will matter, but I would bring them in the house out of the condensation.

PDAs PNAs in the house on the charger every month or so.

Mouse poison I don't know.
You will find the mice in the summer when the dead ones heat up and stink.


Richard,
www.craggyaero.com

On Saturday, November 28, 2015 at 2:23:50 PM UTC-8, Ron Gleason wrote:
For many or most of us, winter is here and the gliders are parked for a number of months. I have removed every battery from the cockpit, put mouse poison in the trailer and taken out anything that should not freeze (waxes, plexi-glass cleaners etc).

What is the best way store glider batteries, specifically LiPO4's? Just plug them in the charger? Does it matter if they are in the house or in a cold garage?

What the PDA's and PNA's? Again just keep them on the charger in the warm house?

Any other items folks do to bundle up their gliders?

Ron Gleason

I also put a dehumidifier in the trailer that has a pump and a hose to get the water outside so I don't have to dump the reservoir. Makes a big difference in humidity levels, which I track with a remote telemetry temp/humidity sensor. Lower humidity definitely reduces the rate of corrosion.

9B

On Saturday, 28 November 2015 16:23:35 UTC-7, Andy Blackburn wrote:
On Saturday, November 28, 2015 at 2:23:50 PM UTC-8, Ron Gleason wrote:
For many or most of us, winter is here and the gliders are parked for a number of months. I have removed every battery from the cockpit, put mouse poison in the trailer and taken out anything that should not freeze (waxes, plexi-glass cleaners etc).

What is the best way store glider batteries, specifically LiPO4's? Just plug them in the charger? Does it matter if they are in the house or in a cold garage?

What the PDA's and PNA's? Again just keep them on the charger in the warm house?

Any other items folks do to bundle up their gliders?

Ron Gleason

I also put a dehumidifier in the trailer that has a pump and a hose to get the water outside so I don't have to dump the reservoir. Makes a big difference in humidity levels, which I track with a remote telemetry temp/humidity sensor. Lower humidity definitely reduces the rate of corrosion.

9B

Thanks Andy but here in UT the single digit humidity levels makes the dehumidifier unnecessary.

On Saturday, 28 November 2015 15:45:53 UTC-7, Richard wrote:
On Saturday, November 28, 2015 at 2:23:50 PM UTC-8, Ron Gleason wrote:
For many or most of us, winter is here and the gliders are parked for a number of months. I have removed every battery from the cockpit, put mouse poison in the trailer and taken out anything that should not freeze (waxes, plexi-glass cleaners etc).

What is the best way store glider batteries, specifically LiPO4's? Just plug them in the charger? Does it matter if they are in the house or in a cold garage?

What the PDA's and PNA's? Again just keep them on the charger in the warm house?

Any other items folks do to bundle up their gliders?

Ron Gleason

I don't think you can go wrong with the following recommendations.

The recommended is to discharge the battery about 1/2 and then store do not leave on the charger. I don't think warm or cold will matter, but I would bring them in the house out of the condensation.

PDAs PNAs in the house on the charger every month or so.

Mouse poison I don't know.
You will find the mice in the summer when the dead ones heat up and stink.


Richard,
www.craggyaero.com

Thanks Richard

LiFeLO4's degrade the least when stored cold, not frozen, at 50% charge. IIRC, Naviter published research on this as guidance for extending Oudie IGC battery life, including temp vs degradation tables. Fridge is good, freezer is not.

CJ

From the Stark manual:

Store the battery at temperatures between 5 °C and 20 °C (41 °F and 68°F).

NOTE. The battery self-discharges during storage. Higher storage temperatures (above 25 °C or 77 °F) reduce the battery storage life.

Mouse poison is a good idea. I always place some in the trailer during
winter storage.

I place a tray of mouse poison on a tray at the rear of my Cobra trailer.

Usually in the spring there is no sign of mice but 3 years ago I found that
all the poison has been moved by the mice into a nest made of kitchen roll,
at the front of the trailer. I have no idea how they got in.

I assume they had eaten some of the poison and died, but I never found dead
ones in the trailer.

No damage caused by the mice except part of a chewed up kitchen roll. I had
failed to remove this from the trailer.

I reckon that without the poison, I would have had some damage to anything
the mice like to chew such as wiring.

regards

Mike

At 00:52 29 November 2015, Ron Gleason wrote:
On Saturday, 28 November 2015 15:45:53 UTC-7, Richard wrote:
On Saturday, November 28, 2015 at 2:23:50 PM UTC-8, Ron Gleason wrote:
For many or most of us, winter is here and the gliders are parked for
a
number of months. I have removed every battery from the cockpit, put
mouse
poison in the trailer and taken out anything that should not freeze
(waxes,
plexi-glass cleaners etc).

What is the best way store glider batteries, specifically LiPO4's?
Just plug them in the charger? Does it matter if they are in the house
or
in a cold garage?

What the PDA's and PNA's? Again just keep them on the charger in the
warm house?

Any other items folks do to bundle up their gliders?

Ron Gleason

I don't think you can go wrong with the following recommendations.

The recommended is to discharge the battery about 1/2 and then store do
not leave on the charger. I don't think warm or cold will matter, but I
would bring them in the house out of the condensation.

PDAs PNAs in the house on the charger every month or so.

Mouse poison I don't know.
You will find the mice in the summer when the dead ones heat up and
stink.


Richard,
www.craggyaero.com

Thanks Richard

I also put a dehumidifier in the trailer that has a pump and a hose to
get
=
the water outside so I don't have to dump the reservoir. Makes a big
differ=
ence in humidity levels, which I track with a remote telemetry
temp/humidit=
y sensor. Lower humidity definitely reduces the rate of corrosion.

9B

I have a similar dehumidifier which is great and really does stop any damp
etc. However to get best effect you must seal up the trailer as far as
possible to avoid trying to dry out the surrounding neighbourhood.
Mine also has a battery backup that means it will switch on again after a
power outage.

Good ideas put forth thus far.

It's also good to do a good cleaning of the ship.
-Remove any food/crumbs
-Remove paper (maps, contest sheets, etc., glider & trailer)
-Good wash & wax, don't forget the canopy
-Vacuum the interior, fuselage dollies, etc.
-Maybe wash the carpet/fabric in the interior (make sure they're DRY before putting back in, maybe even leave home in storage)
-At least sweep out the trailer
-Pump up tires, sailplane & trailer. Go a little harder than normal since air leaks through the tire itself

Part of this is to get dirt off, part is to seal the surfaces, removing "nesting material", removing/reducing things little critters may find enticing..
Salts from your body (you know, from sweat from that low save, etc.) corrode metal items. It can also attract critters.
Dirt here & there can also attract moisture, thus adding to corrosion. It can also promote mold growth.

As to, "How did the mice get in?", for small field mice, all it takes is an opening about the size of a dime. This can be trailer drains, poor fit of doors, etc.

If you won't be around the trailer all winter, maybe put the trailer axles up on blocks/stands to keep the load off the tires. If outside, tire covers can slow down UV/ozone aging. Most trailer tires die from aging/dry rot than wear. Those "little cracks & checkerboards" in the tires are from aging.