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Battery Question

Scott Hersha

Well Known Member
Has anyone tried any of the PC680 substitutes? Not talking about an EarthX, but another SLA that has the same foot print as the 680. I was at my local Bateries Plus store and inquired about the Odyssey, and the store manager suggested I consider a different one that has some seemingly better properties.

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He recommended the Xtreme. 21 ah and 350 CCA. Any experience with anything like this?
 
Yuasa REC22-12I

Yuasa REC22-12B is the same dimensions, 22 Ah, 330 CCA. I replaced a Ritar SLA with one of these, both perform well. Several RVs I know have used equivalents without any complaints. They are about half the price of an Odyssey but a bit heavier at 6-7 Kg.
PDF for the Yuasa is attached.
 

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I installed an Xtreme battery in my power tow and it performed better than I expected. I had been through a couple of batteries over the years and this one seems to be better. I'll have to wait to see how the longevity works out but it performs great so far.

-Marc
 
Specs that pulled up on various sites indicate
the subject Duracell isn’t a drop-in replacement from a dimensional aspect.
 
I replaced the PC680 in my RV-12 with a Power-Sonic PDC-12200B.
The 3 inch dimension is slightly bigger. I had to spread the battery box slightly to get the Power-Sonic PDC-12200B into it. The new battery cranks the Rotax engine well. The terminal screws on the Power-Sonic PDC-12200B are one size smaller than those on the PC680.
 
Apex

Bought a $45 Apex 12180 for our RV-6. It fit nicely in the battery box but the terminals are reversed from the PC680 and they’re vertical tabs, so I had a bit of wiring tweaking to do. It cranked the O320 same as the PC680 but then the case cracked the spilled acid and made some corrosion on the belly… another thing to fix. There’s a PC680 in there again. It was an expensive $45.
 
Bought a $45 Apex 12180 for our RV-6. It fit nicely in the battery box but the terminals are reversed from the PC680 and they’re vertical tabs, so I had a bit of wiring tweaking to do. It cranked the O320 same as the PC680 but then the case cracked the spilled acid and made some corrosion on the belly… another thing to fix. There’s a PC680 in there again. It was an expensive $45.

That’s the kind of thing I was worried about. Yours might be an isolated case, but something to consider. Thanks.
 
I bought an Apex 12220 and the case is tapered 1/16" so the battery gets wedged in the Van's battery box about 3/4 the way in and won't come out unless you pull the whole box out. Anyone else see these measurements?
 
I bought some the knock off Amazon and used them in my motorcycle. They worked but didn't last near as long. That was ten years ago; not sure if it's better these days.
 
I installed the SBS-J16 battery. It's made by the same company as the Odyessey and is the same size, weight and shape as the PC680. It has 220 cold cranking amps vs the 170 cca in the PC680. I bought mine from Spruce.
 
Full River FT-230

Mechanically a 100% drop in replacement for the PC-680. Higher rated CCA and Ah (230/20) than the PC-680. Been running it for about 3 months - so far so good. Time will tell.
 
Apex 12220 Battery

Several years back I put the Apex 12220 battery in my RV7A after going through a couple PC 680's. Neither 680 EVER cranked my O-320 with any "gusto." I had read a post someplace on VAF about the Apex. I made the change and my Apex was installed in October of 2018 and happy to say, it's still going strong. Cost is much less and all the specs are better than others. Regarding Mr Maris post #14, my apex did get stuck as well. I gave up on getting it to set all the way down in the battery tray and chose to put a nylon block in the bottom for the battery to stop at just before getting wedged. Did have to put a couple longer hold down bolts in the top too. I've been very happy with it.

Here's something I've been thinking about. Is it ok to put two batteries in parallel just to have plenty of power for cranking and available in case of an alternator failure? If it's ok to do this, how does it affect charging from the alternator during flight? I'm guessing no changes except the charge time will be increased simply because of the increased capacity???

Thanks in advance.
 
Now I am confused.

Hmmm. My previous post I ask about getting another Apex battery and mounting it in parallel with my 5 year old Apex battery that's still going strong. For my record, I photographed the specs when I bought it. The specs were
Model APX12220 12V, 22AH, 420CCA sealed lead acid AGM.

Now fast forward to today. Apparently Apex Battery has been taken over by battery sharks. No big deal. They carry the exact same battery the APX12220. Looking at their specs sheet now one thing is missing... the CCA.

I talked to them and they tell me it's a deep cycle battery for electric vehicles like wheel chairs or golf carts. Not for starting an engine and that's why there's no CCA listed.

I looked at my installed battery and it's exactly the same as battery sharks have. So, I guess it never did have that 420CCA which was listed on the original site.

I googled it to see if I could use a deep cycle battery to start an engine and the information I get is yes and no. Battery will not last but not unsafe that I can find. Some sites said the alternator won't charge it fully either. Interesting because every time I've ever put a voltmeter on it I get 12.8 volts across the terminals. My alternators voltage output is always 13.9-14 volts.

I've had this APEX in the plane for 5 years and it's OUTPERFORMED BY FAR the two Odysseys PC680's I had before and is still going strong.

So, I'm interested in others thoughts on this. Is it ok?
 
Eveready from batteries Plus

I've been using the Batteries Plus line (currently an Eveready) model designed for mobility devises. Long storage and great power. I have replaced every 5ish years out of precaution, and moved them to less sensitive jobs..mowers,ect. My last removal is almost 10yrs old and I use it as a backup vehicle jumper.
 
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