Anyone else have problems with the battery? Just had the shop tell me mine was dead and wont hold a charge. I thought I heard something about battery complaints before, but i dont want to misspeak. The complaint was referred as pilots waiting too long before cranking over the engine, also that we should pull the breaker on the vacuum pump until we turn on the engine.
Anyone else have any input on this? Also what does it take to install a better battery? I was told it needs to be factory approved…??
Dave
Anyone else have problems with the battery?
Yes,
186CD died at Jefferson County on Monday and horror of horror, the instructor and I had to hand crank to start. Particularly embarrasing because it is (a) the hot new plane everyone wants to see and (b) it was parked right in front of the diner where 50 people watched the fun. Relatively easy to hand start for those who haven’t yet had the pleasure.
Upon return to Wing’s Aloft, the battery was examined and it turned out that the plane already had a loaner battery from a previous incident. Picking it up Sunday with a brand new battery.
Wing’s is advising that you pull the vacuum breaker prior to start to save battery life.
Anyone else have problems with the battery? Just had the shop tell me mine was dead and wont hold a charge. I thought I heard something about battery complaints before, but i dont want to misspeak. The complaint was referred as pilots waiting too long before cranking over the engine, also that we should pull the breaker on the vacuum pump until we turn on the engine.
Anyone else have any input on this? Also what does it take to install a better battery? I was told it needs to be factory approved…??
Dave
Here’s some recent experience I had with a dead battery and possibly how to avoid the inconvenience and embarrassment.
My battery died in what at first seemed a sudden manner. Worked one day. Dead three days later. Upon investigation and reflection, it did not really die suddenly. Some of the pre-failure symptoms included (1) alternator circuit breaker opening upon startup (due to high current flowing suddenly into the almost dead battery) (2) “low volts” light on with alternator off after normal startup and short run. My battery was fully recharged and is now in good shape. I have 150 hours on the hobbs, and average flights are probably 1.5-2 hrs. At the recommendation of Cirrus and my mechanic, I now start with the alternator switch off, get the engine to smooth idle, note the current drain on the battery, switch the alternator on, monitor the charge rate (usually a short period of 30 amps, rapidly declining to 5 amps) and then turn on avionics.
I leave the electric backup pump on, as this verifies operation of that system. (SR-20 B model). This procedure works well, and tells me if I am going to lose the battery soon. It is also a very good check of the alternator (far better than cycling the landing light or pitot heat). My battery may die tomorrow, but I should have some warning if it is not taking a charge today.
This is no different then your car. The manufactor tell exactly what is supposed to go there, with airplanes we just do what they tell us because it is much more important. One big difference, our car batteries are very powerfull because we like to have things turned on when the engine is not on, like the radio lights if you are replacing your tire at night and let’s not forget, if you have a bad charging system your battery keeps you going until it can no longer keep power to the coil. Airplanes have to carry everything up to the blue skies, so they are made little different, light weight is very (very important). So we must adjust to those things. If you keep in mind that our batteries are only there to start the engine and nothing else, you wont have a problem. Minimize the time the battery switch is on until the engine is running, this will not only keep your battery healthy, but you will too have less gray hairs wondering why you have a bad battery, just because I wanted to load all my flight plans before I started the engine…
Keep them serviced, just like tires, proper pressure will make then last. Have a great Cirrus day.
Woor
Anyone else have problems with the battery? Just had the shop tell me mine was dead and wont hold a charge. I thought I heard something about battery complaints before, but i dont want to misspeak. The complaint was referred as pilots waiting too long before cranking over the engine, also that we should pull the breaker on the vacuum pump until we turn on the engine.
Anyone else have any input on this? Also what does it take to install a better battery? I was told it needs to be factory approved…??
Dave
Anyone else have problems with the battery? Just had the shop tell me mine was dead and wont hold a charge.
When I picked up my plane last month, Cirrus made a special point to tell me (several times) that they recommend checking the water in the battery every 30 days (which involves pulling the cowling). I haven’t done it yet, but would be interested if others have had to add water.
-Curt
Hello Curt,
Cirrus is using a smaller battery then other manufactories, this makes it even more important to check, this is the blood on your electrical system. You know what happens when you run out of blood. Don’t think Cirrus is doing a bad thing by using a smaller battery, it is just the opposite, we just have to accept the change because it is a modern way, look around the airplane, it is high tech everywhere you look except, no I better not go there…
You will always have a great Cirrus day if you follow what they (Cirrus) tells you to do. There is a reason, if you rely on someon else’s stats you better do everything excatly how he or she does. Chau
Woor
Anyone else have problems with the battery? Just had the shop tell me mine was dead and wont hold a charge.
When I picked up my plane last month, Cirrus made a special point to tell me (several times) that they recommend checking the water in the battery every 30 days (which involves pulling the cowling). I haven’t done it yet, but would be interested if others have had to add water.
-Curt
Curtis:
Definitely need to periodically check battery water level, especially if you live in a warm climate. After a recent jump start I removed the upper cowling (very simple 10 minute process), removed the battery cover, and was surprised to find that there was partially no water in the cells. For some reason I though this was a maintenance free battery. (“Ha Ha” - Poor me for thinking there was a part of an aircraft the did not require maintenance). I am currently in the process of giving it a trickle charge (after removing the battery from the plane and filling the cells with distilled water). Had I waited a few more days the battery would have been cooked. Suggest checking every 45 days.
Regards, Stuart 176CD