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Another short lived Odyssey PC-680

Some serious thread-drift here, oh well... someone may have mentioned this but I didn't see it: something to check when you get that solenoid "click" is the short wire on the outside of the starter itself that goes to its integrated solenoid. One time I had the "click" and found that it was simply a bad crimp on that ring terminal.
 
Add me to the list of PC 680 premature death. Installed 4/2020. Date of death 9/19/2020. Batteries Plus is making good on it, just not in stock at present. This was my third 680. First two lasted 7 yrs each. Only replaced the second battery as a precaution. Noticed a drop off in cranking authority. This third battery bit the dust rather abruptly.

My hope is that this run of bad batteries that has been discussed has been dealt with.
 
To follow up on this:

Battery Mart issued me an RMA for this battery, tested it and confirmed it was bad and are issuing me a full refund for the purchase price.

Great customer service. Just wish I didn’t need top exercise it.

Battery Mart is giving me some push back on my short-lived PC680. What kind of vehicle did you tell them it was installed in so they would honor the warranty?

PM me if you would like. Thanks.
 
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Add me to the list of PC 680 premature death. Installed 4/2020. Date of death 9/19/2020. Batteries Plus is making good on it, just not in stock at present. This was my third 680. First two lasted 7 yrs each. Only replaced the second battery as a precaution. Noticed a drop off in cranking authority. This third battery bit the dust rather abruptly.

My hope is that this run of bad batteries that has been discussed has been dealt with.

Another casualty here, adding myself to the pile. I bought an Odyssey PC680 battery from Amazon in Feb of 2020. Charged it once and left it on the plane during the build, using it maybe once or twice. Today it won't hold a charge at all. The "official" Odyssey charger shows it's 100% but it will power my avionics for only a few seconds before it's discharged. Way too late to return it. Going to chalk this one up as a $120 mistake.

Can anyone recommend a good alternative that fits the PC680 form factor?
 
My experience with multiple PC-680s over time has been good, I've had three or four of them in my RV-6 over 21 years. But when my last one needed replacing about 6 months ago I decided to go the lightweight route and bought an EarthX ETX-680. Expensive but SUPER light weight compared to any other battery. It's slightly smaller than the PC-680 so it has stick-on foam cushions you can use to make up the difference.

So far so good and I like that it has continuous internal diagnostics with an output wire that can go to an alert LED or your EFIS.

I did some searches of the forum before buying and found some complaints, but what I gleaned from those is that a) you need to read the manual and understand what's different about this battery and what the alert indications really mean, and b) the company is very responsive to customer issues. So, those actually helped sell me on the thing.
 
Another data point. I’ve had a PC680 last 7 years. Had another one last barely 12 months. Current PC680 is going strong at 3+ yrs…knock on wood.
 
Wait till you are ready to put it to use and then purchase another PC680 locally. 90% have had very good service from this battery.

If you have a 120 ac to 12-14 v dc adapter around 500ma, connect it to the dead 680 and let it set for a week or two or longer. Pay attention to polarity. The battery died slowly, it needs to come back slowly.

Purchase a battery load tester from Harbor Freight... https://www.harborfreight.com/100a-612v-battery-load-tester-61747.html?_br_psugg_q=load+tester A battery that reads 14v does not mean it will work.

There have been many substitutes suggested here. The problem is how they connect, to find a drop in replacement.
 
Is there a reasonably priced battery tester out there (aside from a DMM) that would be able to give me a heads up on my PC680 condition? Mine is 3.5 years old and cold (42F) cranking was very slow yesterday…
 
Swollen

Well my Odyssey PC680 bought the farm for good. Had it limping along holding a small charge for a few months, just to set up avionics and so on. Put the official Odyssey 6 amp AGM charger on it last night, got in to the hangar today and the battery had swollen it’s way through the battery box, leaked all over the hangar floor, and was hot as **** and damnation. R.I.P. it never flew or even got a chance to crank. Now I’ve got to decide whether I roll the dice again with Odyssey or go with an EarthX or something. Too bad.

 
Noco Battery Desulfator

I was only getting 3 or 4 yrs on my Odyssey 680.

I ended up removing the clock that had a small parasitic draw that over a few months of winter up here when I can't fly appeared to be having a negative impact on the battery so no more parasitic draw and no more trickle chargers part way through the winter.

Once year I will put a Noco Battery Desulfator on and let it do its magic.

Cranking picks up like new for a few more months. By the end of the year its time for my annual and re doing the Desulfator again.

Cant say for sure what change was specific but its now 6 yrs and counting.

Tim
 
Now I’ve got to decide whether I roll the dice again with Odyssey or go with an EarthX or something. Too bad.
I think the occasional reports of failures may be giving a skewed impression of the Odyssey's overall reliability (and I may have contributed, since I reported one early, but benign failure that I myself had, out of several of them that I've owned). We hear about the failures but not the thousands of them that do just fine. I did switch to EarthX recently, but that was mostly for the weight aspect, plus I like the idea of having internal health monitoring integrated with the battery. Nevertheless I wouldn't shy away from Odysseys without a clear statistical case indicating high failure rate.
 
Ready to try something else

1st odeseey lasted about 8 yrs
2nd about 5
3rd about 1
Bought their charger and used it on the 4th which just died after 3 yrs.

Ready to try something else.
 
Swollen battery

Well my Odyssey PC680 bought the farm for good. Had it limping along holding a small charge for a few months, just to set up avionics and so on. Put the official Odyssey 6 amp AGM charger on it last night, got in to the hangar today and the battery had swollen it’s way through the battery box, leaked all over the hangar floor, and was hot as **** and damnation. R.I.P. it never flew or even got a chance to crank. Now I’ve got to decide whether I roll the dice again with Odyssey or go with an EarthX or something. Too bad.

How did you get that out?
 
I never used a PC-680, only PC-625s for 20+ years. I have two in each plane, and replace one every three years (so the oldest is six years). The six year old goes on to a second life in the various John Deer tractors on the field. I never use a trickle charger, battery tender, battery minder or such stuff. I also never mount a battery on the engine side of the firewall.

I believe there is enough PC-680 data now for builders to consider taking the extra step to move away from the standard 680 install. For me I found the 625 to be a better form factor for mounting than the 680. It also has slightly better CCA and AMP-HR ratings than the 680, and is a little lighter.

Carl
 
How did you get that out?

If I remember (it was a couple of years ago), I held it upside down and carefully slid a putty knife between the battery and the aluminum box to free it. Fortunately it wasn't swollen too much and the box had some play/give.
 
Noco Battery Desulfator?

Tim, can you give me some info on the Noco Battery Desulfator? I have never heard of it. Thanks


I was only getting 3 or 4 yrs on my Odyssey 680.

I ended up removing the clock that had a small parasitic draw that over a few months of winter up here when I can't fly appeared to be having a negative impact on the battery so no more parasitic draw and no more trickle chargers part way through the winter.

Once year I will put a Noco Battery Desulfator on and let it do its magic.

Cranking picks up like new for a few more months. By the end of the year its time for my annual and re doing the Desulfator again.

Cant say for sure what change was specific but its now 6 yrs and counting.

Tim
 
Odyssey chargers

Anyone try one of these? I plan to use one for all that garage set up flying. Hooked up to this power supply. Even if it goes "TU" in the shop, it's still a third the cost of a new PC680.

Looks like Odessey is releasing new chargers.
"Look for an entire NEW Line of Odyssey Chargers, coming end of 2023 / beginning of 2024, made by CTEK ……"
 
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The PC680 weighs 15.4 pounds. MightyMax ML18-12 GEL Battery weighs 12
pounds. I think weight is a better metric to judge a battery's capacity
because some manufactures tend to exaggerate their product's capabilities.
 
Another one using Mighty Max here.
I actually have one PC-680 and one Mighty Max in parallel in a slightly larger box than standard in my RV-6A. Two years and on problems yet.
Art
 
larry,
a little off topic but when i bought my power supply i went with a set [i think 12.8] voltage. i pictured the adjustment getting bumped and frying a lot of stuff.
i know that sounds impossible but i have found , even though it sounds impossible, reversing polarity on components when bench testing them so anything's possible.
 
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