Battery placement

[GeorgH]

Hi,
I am fixing some things which bothered me the past 200 hrs flying time. One of them is replacing my two batteries from the engine side of the firewall to some different place.
I know that some have the batteries at the cockpit side of the firewall or under the seats. For weight and balance purposes ( I could use a little bit more weight in the back) I'ld like to put them behind the baggage compartment! Did somebody do that and can me show some picture how he did it?
Thanks a lot

Georg

[jaredyates]

Do you have one of Russ Erb's Cds? He has some details in fuselage/wiring/wiring3.htm

[GeorgH]

No Yared, Where can i get those? Georg Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[bestbearhawk1231]

Try this link http://bhcd.erbman.org/

[Mark Goldberg]

There are some tabs on the floor tubing aft of the baggage area. This was intended for battery placement. Later we saw how forward CG most planes were coming with with 540's and eliminated them. But you can use those tabs to fix the batteries. Run the battery cable under the floor with Adel clamps. Mark

[22LD]

Mark, I was going to mount my battery (Odyssey PC680) on the cabin side of the firewall. With and IO540 and CS prop, do you think I should reconsider and move it further back? I had also considered installing it under one of the two front seats. My preference would be the inside firewall to keep cable runs as short as possible, but if you think CG is going to be an issue, I'll definitely move it aft.

[GeorgH]

Thank folks!

[Mark Goldberg]

You should be fine where you intend to put it. Georg's plane is a little heavy forward. That is why he asked the question. My Odessey 680 is under the right front seat. The firewall or bootcowl will work also. But with a 540 - I would suggest a 2 blade aluminum prop and not a three blade which adds a lot of weight forward. Mark

[bestbearhawk1231]

Hey Mark, what are the pros/cons of 3 blade vs 2 blade, aluminum vs composite props?

[22LD]

3 blade can also cause a loss of CG... from the wallet area.

[Mark Goldberg]

I almost always prefer the 2 blade since it gives the best performance with least weight and less cost as 22LD pointed out. There is an argument that 3 blade is smoother, but for me that theoretical is not enough to use 3 blade. Both aluminum and composite are fine but depending on your situation one might be preferable. If you had a lightweight 4 cylinder on the front of your BH you might consider a heavier prop good to allow more CG aft. But in my Patrol I went with a composite prop because of the 20 lbs more a Hartzell would have weighed with the 8 lb vibration dampener required since my engine did not have the counter weights on the crank. Each situation is different. Mark

[Battson]

Hey Mark - is this the battery you are using?

http://shop.odysseybattery.com/p/pc680-p

I had my first one burn out after 50hrs... it stopped holding charge, and couldn't even turn the engine over by 60hrs. I bought a replacement. They seem to get great reviews.

[Mark Goldberg]

Yes. I have one in my BH and in my Patrol also. I went with a new Lithium battery for my LSA for the weight savings. Mark

[haribole]

Hi Battson

Were you trickle charging your battery by any chance? I was reading about the PC680 batteries in the aeroelectric forum and remember a few others having similar issues and this was being attributed to trickle charging the battery. Someone recommended a schaumacher $20 battery charger from walmart that seems to have fixed the battery.

Seems like you bought these direct from the manufacturer, so that rules out any fakes. How is your replacement doing?

[Battson]

I wasn't trickle charging until the battery started playing up, the alternator does it's job. I fly at least twice a week, so battery flattening over time isn't an issue.

Once things started going downhill to the point it wouldn't start, I tried trickle-charging a few times. It didn't help at all by that stage - the battery just wouldn't hold enough current to start the engine, no amount of charging would fix it. But certainly the promotional material says "no special charger needed".

I have been starting the engine with the alternator excitation switched off, to reduce load on the battery and starter, then switching it in afterwards. Whether this has some secondary destructive effect on the battery has crossed my mind...

I replaced the battery with another PC680, direct from the USA supplier. They are the real deal. I have yet to send my first one back under warranty, but it's wrapped and addressed..................

[haribole]

Hi Battson

When you say "USA supplier" did you mean you bought the first one from some other supplier. Reason I am asking is that I placed an order for a PC680 from an online store shipping out of Florida as the price was the best. The local Batteries Plus store was listing this for about $156 and I ordered one for $103 with free shipping. Now I am hoping that I get a genuine Odyssey battery and not a knock off.

[Battson]

I got mine through Aircraft Spruce out of the USA (I am in NZ), for something like $156, but when I went to checkout it was discounted to about $117....