What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Battery trickle charge question

R

RV9newbie

I'm New Here
I have a RV9-A with a Hawker SBS - J16 Aviation battery installed 8/22. I haven't been flying much because the weather has not been favorable in the mid-Atlantic area. Now, I'm leaving for 2 1/2 weeks for vacation. My question is: should I leave a trickle charger on while away? Temps in area will swing from low 50's to 20 degrees. I plane is hangared.

Remember, I'm a newbie.
 
RV9newbie said:
thanks, I believe mine does.
Click to expand...
You want to be sure. A good float charger can be on the battery 24/7/365 without fear of overcharging. In fact, that's actually better for the battery is it prevents sulfation-inducing overcharging and will prevent freezing.
 
If you really want to be super extremely cautious, take it out the the aircraft and put a full charge on it. It can then be stored (properly) for up to 2 years without the need for charging (is says it'll maintain at least 50% state of charge if stored at room temp).

But, since its AGM, any float charger that designed for sealed lead-acid batteries (like this one)will work just fine without any worries for more than a couple of weeks even.
 
I'll go out on a limb here and be in the minority. My hangar mate and I have a policy to never leave any kind of battery charger on unattended. Any electrical device can fail. With chargers the worst that usually happens with a charger is that the battery will boil off its electrolyte and it will get fairly warm. The extreme worst case is it can cause a fire.

Where I live in Ontario, Canada our electrical code specifically prohibits charging an aircraft battery while it is in the airplane. It must be removed and placed on either a bench or floor to charge. I don't have a current copy of the code handy but my electrical inspector showed me the paragraph when he did the final inspection on my hangar at my cottage.

Now to further add some fear of batteries I make it a policy to disconnect batteries on anything stored in my hangar. I store several boats for the winter in there and they are all rendered dead electrically when they are inside. Some people say I'm paranoid but I've also seen vehicles burn because various critters (mice and squirrels) chew through just the right wires to cause a fire. We saw a company truck do that and more recently a friend's hangar with his beautiful Maule floatplane burned to the ground. There was no electrical power to that hangar but he had his snowmobile (electric start) parked in there under his wing. He had not used the snowmobile yet this season and yet by the time he went outside and saw smoke coming from his hangar he saw his snowmobile burning under his wing and the hangar ended up burning to the ground.

And where we live temperatures well below 0F are the norm for months at a time. Just make sure your battery is fully charged and it will hold a charge for a very long time in the cold. Actually more so than at warmer temps. Having said that all my aircraft have external power plugs for boosting but to date, I've never had to use that port to boost a low battery.
 
I did some looking and found the Code excerpt from the Canadian Electrical Code. I'm confident there is a similar line in the UIS Code. It does say Should not and not Shall not but, as with most regulations, it was written because something bad happened in the past that was directly attributable to the caution in the past.
Make your own conclusions and adjust your practices as you see fit and take the advice for what you paid for it but there it is.
And by the way if i haven't flown for an extended period i will put a charger on my battery but only leave it on while I am present in the hangar and disconnect it before i leave. Jut looking at the pictures of my friends hangar burning down is enough of a reminder.....

From the Canadian National Electrical Code:
Rule J20-416 specifies that:
  • aircraft batteries should not be charged when installed in an aircraft located inside or partially inside a hangar
 

Attachments

  • FB_IMG_1705849645594.jpg
    FB_IMG_1705849645594.jpg
    205.4 KB · Views: 10
  • FB_IMG_1705849663440.jpg
    FB_IMG_1705849663440.jpg
    119.2 KB · Views: 10
All good comments. First I'm going to ensure I have the correct charger for my battery - it came with the aircraft. Second, I'm now not planning to leave the battery tender on while out of the hangar, out of state or for long periods of time plus, moving forward (when possible) remove the battery for charging.

Thanks for all the excellent information, it's very much appreciated.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2093.JPG
    IMG_2093.JPG
    6 MB · Views: 3
i never leave an electric heater unattended for the same reasons others have listed. if i have to charge a battery and i can't be there i use a timer of the style of 20 yrs ago. i remove the ''on'' clip and set it to shut off in 4 hrs or whatever. and it never goes back on. at least it is only at risk for a few hrs.
 
My 2c... Put your good charger on a timer, you might have one from Christmas. 3 hours per day. My battery's doing great.
Brent
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top