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The Odyssey PC 950 battery option

togaflyer

Well Known Member
So about 1.5 years ago there was some discussions on battery options for the 10.
Mike Newell (RV10 builder from the UK) mentioned he had installed the Odyssey PC 950. Recently I needed a battery for another piece of equipment so I pulled the Odyssey 925 from my plane and installed the PC950 (also just FYI, I originally had an EarthX installed prior to the PC 925). Since I recently added a Surefly ignition, battery Amp Hours was also important. Below are the specs for each battery. Like always there are a few trade offs, but for me the PC 950 hit the sweet spot. And thanks Mike!

PC 950. Earth X EXT900. PC 925

Weight: 20lb. 4.9 lb. 23.8lb

Cold crank amps: 400. 400. 330
Marine crank amps: 500. N/A. 480
Pulse crank amps: 950. 840. 900
Amp hours. 34 (60 min Resv). 15.6 28

Price: 295.00. 449.00. 239.00

The Earth X wins with lowest weight.

The PC 950 and Earth X have the same CCA, but the PC950 has a higher pulse, which is a 3 second burst.

The PC 950 has over double the Amp Hours available vs Earth X 34 ah vs 15ah. It is a dual purpose battery, both for start up and deep cycle.

The PC 950 and 925 are AMG pure thin lead plates. They do not require a BMS
(Battery management) and are not charge or jump start sensitive like the Earth X

Regards,
Rich
 
Curious that the 950 beats the 925 in all categories while still being lighter. Is it less physically robust? How does it get the weight savings with the same chemistry?
 
PC 950

Brand Odyssey
Voltage 12 Volts
Technology AGM
Capacity (C10) 32 Ah
Capacity (C20) 34 Ah
CCA (SAE) 400 A
PHCA (5 sec) 950 A
Length 250 mm
Width 97 mm
Height inc. terms 156 mm


PC925

Odyssey
Voltage 12 Volts
Technology AGM
Capacity (C10) 27 Ah
Capacity (C20) 28 Ah
MCA 480 A
CCA (SAE) 330 A
PHCA (5 sec) 900 A
Length 169 mm
Width 179 mm
Height inc. terms 148 mm
 
Kyle,
So there was a minor modification to the battery tray. I removed the forward and aft stops on the tray (where the battery hold down bolts go through. With the PC 950 in the tray, I positioned the battery as far forward in the tray it could go, then cut two pieces of angle, positioned and installed the angles with pull rivets forward and aft of the battery. Then I modified the original hold down bracket. I mounted the battery hold down bracket laterally (left to right side of the battery vs forward and aft) and centered it to go across mid battery. Drilled holes in the tray left and right side of the battery, cut the battery retaining bracket to resized it, and mounted it using the original bolts, plus washers and nuts. No modification to the original power cables. Clean and secure install.
 
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Curious that the 950 beats the 925 in all categories while still being lighter. Is it less physically robust? How does it get the weight savings with the same chemistry?

Thinner lead plates.

Generally speaking, the heavier the battery, the longer it will last if taken below 80% state of charge. When lead acid batteries are taken below around 80-90% SOC, they give up a bit of their lead plates to the electrolyte each time. This is why true deep cycle batteries are SO heavy. They need very thick plates in order to survive this lead depletion at each discharge cycle. The batteries in our old sailboat were pushing 100 lbs each.
 
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I had two PC 680's and was using both at the same time to start.
Was always a slow crank, maybe because of my higher compresion engine.
Switched to a pair of Earthx ETX 900's.
WOW.
Cranks so fast I swear I could taxi on it.

Both PC 680's are for sale, well they will be if I can get around to it.
Lloyd
 
With the installation of the Odyssey PC 950, I just want to provide my installation evaluation.

Solid cranking power, equal the the Earth X 900 series. 400 cca…..

It has a solid reserve amps that hopefully I will never need to rely on (I do have a PP back up alternator).

Modification of the existing battery rack was easy and wiring stays the same.

If your a builder that wants to keep things simple but have a solid reliable AGM type battery vs an Earth X, etc., this is a good alternative to go with. Also, if you want more than what a PC 925 offers go with the PC 950. More cca, more reserve amps, 4 pounds lighter.
 
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