Airplane Batteries

It is your battery, use what ever water you want. But most
bottled water has minerals added so there is a flavor, some
waters now have flavors.

Only distilled water is pure, deionized water is OK too, but
that is harder to find on the store shelves.


--
James H. Macklin
ATP,CFI,A&P

--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.
some support
http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/secondamendment2.htm
See http://www.fija.org/ more about your rights and duties.


"Newps" wrote in message
. ..
|
|
| Peter Duniho wrote:
| "Newps" wrote in message
| ...
|
| Well sure, that's essentially what bottled water is
anyways.
|
|
| Distilled is hardly the same as filtered (which is
actually what bottled
| water typically is).
|
| Most bottled water is dead water. You couldn't find a
mineral in there
| to save your life.

Just an update: mechanic put the charger on the battery this a.m. He
said after an hour, it was bubbling all over the place. It is toast.
Looking for the comparable RG replacement right now. Oh well, learned a
lot, anyway. Thanks to all here for responding.

Aircraft batteries should be charged on a constant amperage
of about 2 amps and the voltage should be less than 14.5
volts. Standard automotive chargers will fry an aircraft
battery.


--
James H. Macklin
ATP,CFI,A&P

--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.
some support
http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/secondamendment2.htm
See http://www.fija.org/ more about your rights and duties.


wrote in message
...
| Just an update: mechanic put the charger on the battery
this a.m. He
| said after an hour, it was bubbling all over the place. It
is toast.
| Looking for the comparable RG replacement right now. Oh
well, learned a
| lot, anyway. Thanks to all here for responding.

Jim Macklin wrote:
Aircraft batteries should be charged on a constant amperage
of about 2 amps and the voltage should be less than 14.5
volts. Standard automotive chargers will fry an aircraft
battery.



Why? How is a 6 cell lead-acid aircraft battery different from an
automobile battery, other than having less capacity obviously.


Matt

Because they are different. The automotive charger is high
amperage and the plates on the aircraft battery will be
distorted by the high current. A trickle charger on "high"
is about a maximum charge rate for an aircraft battery. But
you are free to use any charger you want.


--
James H. Macklin
ATP,CFI,A&P

--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.
some support
http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/secondamendment2.htm
See http://www.fija.org/ more about your rights and duties.


"Matt Whiting" wrote in message
...
| Jim Macklin wrote:
| Aircraft batteries should be charged on a constant
amperage
| of about 2 amps and the voltage should be less than 14.5
| volts. Standard automotive chargers will fry an
aircraft
| battery.
|
|
|
| Why? How is a 6 cell lead-acid aircraft battery different
from an
| automobile battery, other than having less capacity
obviously.
|
|
| Matt

Jim Macklin wrote:

Because they are different. The automotive charger is high
amperage

It might be, depends on the charger. My automotive charger is a 50 amp
car starter and a 20 amp charger. The charger will vary as the battery
gets charged. As the battery gets topped off the current drops to an
amp or so.


and the plates on the aircraft battery will be
distorted by the high current.

Funny, considering after starting the plane the alternator gives the
battery about 30 amps and does the same thing my automotive battery
charger does in that it reduces the amps as the battery charges,
eventually getting down to an amp or two after flying more than an hour.

On Tue, 24 Jan 2006 21:04:34 -0700, Newps wrote:



Jim Macklin wrote:

Because they are different. The automotive charger is high
amperage

It might be, depends on the charger. My automotive charger is a 50 amp
car starter and a 20 amp charger. The charger will vary as the battery
gets charged. As the battery gets topped off the current drops to an
amp or so.

snip

hook your charger up to your automotive battery and check the final
voltage after it has charged overnight.

if it is below 14.5 volts, it is likely not to harm your aircraft
battery if used to charge at a low rate. if it is above 14.5 volts,
depending on how long it is left "charging", it might.

it really doesn't matter to me, useta sell a lot of batteries to
people that used the monsta-charger set @ 50 amps to charge their
flooded-cell aircraft batteries. pull the electrolyte out and it looks
like dirty weak tea with black flecks on it. btw if your plane's
voltage regulator is set much above 14.5 volts, the battery will look
the same way...

TC

Jim Macklin wrote:
Because they are different. The automotive charger is high
amperage and the plates on the aircraft battery will be
distorted by the high current. A trickle charger on "high"
is about a maximum charge rate for an aircraft battery. But
you are free to use any charger you want.

My auto charger has a setting for 2A, 10A and 50A boost. Why won't the
2A auto charger work?

Matt

If it is regulated and really 2 Amps, it will, but most
cheapy auto chargers are not well regulated and will over
charge aircraft batteries.

If I recall, the maximum recommended charge rate is 10% of
the amp/hour rating, so a "dead" battery will take 10 hours
to charge.


--
James H. Macklin
ATP,CFI,A&P

--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.
some support
http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/secondamendment2.htm
See http://www.fija.org/ more about your rights and duties.


"Matt Whiting" wrote in message
...
| Jim Macklin wrote:
| Because they are different. The automotive charger is
high
| amperage and the plates on the aircraft battery will be
| distorted by the high current. A trickle charger on
"high"
| is about a maximum charge rate for an aircraft battery.
But
| you are free to use any charger you want.
|
| My auto charger has a setting for 2A, 10A and 50A boost.
Why won't the
| 2A auto charger work?
|
| Matt

"Jim Macklin" wrote in message
news:BnzBf.69434$QW2.59809@dukeread08...
Aircraft batteries should be charged on a constant amperage
of about 2 amps and the voltage should be less than 14.5
volts. Standard automotive chargers will fry an aircraft
battery.

An amperage selectable one should not. A popular charger configuration out
there, is something like 2 - 10 - 50 amp chargerm and that should only be
putting out about 14.4 volts.
--
Jim in NC