Happy New year, KR NetHeads! And congratulations to Stef as well for an
awesome plane and really cool videos.
I went to the airport to fly yesterday, since it was New Year's, the
weather was perfect for flying, and it'd been two weeks since I'd flown.
But the battery was dead in the plane. That's really unusual that the
battery would be almost completely dead after only two weeks, but I
hooked up the AGM charger to it and gave it a couple of hours while I
found other things to do. Even after two hours of charging, the prop
still wouldn't turn....just grunted and jerked a bit. I checked the
battery and it had 13.1V on it, which is only a bit low for that
battery, and the charger said it was fully charged, but that's not the
whole story of whether or not it should start an engine. I was snooping
around there looking at connections and noticed some corrosion between
the battery and the thin aluminum plate that forms the bottom of the
battery tray, and after removal, I found a LOT of white corrosion on the
tray. Nearby steel pieces were a bit corroded too, such as the
gascolator and engine mount bolts. So....the battery had developed a
leak and is now compromised.
These batteries typically last 4-5 years before needing replacement, but
this one only made it 18 months. Comparing this battery to the previous
one (which is now the backup battery for my hangar alarm system), they
both appeared to be manufactured in 2016, so I killed 2 hours this
morning calling around to find local batteries that were 2019 stock, but
was told they were all 2016 also. I eventually bought one direct from
Odyssey, after being assured they were fresh off the line.
Here's the point of this post.... I noticed on my order notification
that there was a 2016 in the part number, and wrote to Odyssey and asked
if the "2016" on the label was indeed the date, and was told that's the
part number! The manufacture date is below that (but not labeled as the
mfg date), something like 0814 or 0518, the dates that my two previous
batteries were made. I mention this to keep others from getting wrapped
around the axle like I did. Now I'm waiting several days for a battery
from Missouri, when I could have had one tomorrow from AutoZone! Live
and learn. I notified Odyssey that they ought to put "MFG" in front of
that date stamp to remove the confusion.
And even though there was no evidence of battery case damage to the
bottom, I'll put a piece of silicone padding under the next one to
spread the loads and provide a tad of vibration isolation for the
battery bottom.
I'm open to affordable options for my next battery (although hopefully
four or more years from now), such as Lithium Iron Phosphate or whatever
the next affordable solution may be.
Thanks,
--
Mark Langford
m...@n56ml.com
http://www.n56ml.com
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