replacing PC680 battery wih eartx etx900vnt - Zenith Aircraft Builders and Flyers2024-03-29T13:16:15Zhttps://zenith.aero/forum/topics/replacing-pc680-battery-wih-eartx-etx900vnt?commentId=2606393%3AComment%3A645889&feed=yes&xn_auth=noSuggested Placard:
WARNING…tag:zenith.aero,2023-07-31:2606393:Comment:9100612023-07-31T16:18:13.482Zchristopher fryatthttps://zenith.aero/profile/christopherfryatt
<p>Suggested Placard:</p>
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<p>WARNING</p>
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<p>This Aircraft is equipped with an electronic ignition and fuel system that requires continual electrical power. Do not operate aircraft with low battery voltage or an inoperative charging system.</p>
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<p>Suggested Placard:</p>
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<p>WARNING</p>
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<p>This Aircraft is equipped with an electronic ignition and fuel system that requires continual electrical power. Do not operate aircraft with low battery voltage or an inoperative charging system.</p>
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<p></p> The post was about Lipo vs mo…tag:zenith.aero,2023-07-28:2606393:Comment:9098552023-07-28T02:08:16.362Zcharlie rosenzweighttps://zenith.aero/profile/charlierosenzweig
<p>The post was about Lipo vs more conventional batteries. There has been some very good information posted here by folks on the benefits and downsides and differences of LiPo (and LifePo4) vs traditional batteries. </p>
<p>The post was about Lipo vs more conventional batteries. There has been some very good information posted here by folks on the benefits and downsides and differences of LiPo (and LifePo4) vs traditional batteries. </p> In our aircraft an issue with…tag:zenith.aero,2023-07-27:2606393:Comment:9097472023-07-27T14:30:41.357Zchristopher fryatthttps://zenith.aero/profile/christopherfryatt
<p>In our aircraft an issue with the charging system ( electric dependant engine...Corvair, or low wing electric pump only O-200D ) a charging issue should be a no-go, or if inflight an emergency requiring land as soon as practical. It would be a no dispatch in any aviation job I've had. </p>
<p>In our aircraft an issue with the charging system ( electric dependant engine...Corvair, or low wing electric pump only O-200D ) a charging issue should be a no-go, or if inflight an emergency requiring land as soon as practical. It would be a no dispatch in any aviation job I've had. </p> This is a great discussion of…tag:zenith.aero,2023-07-27:2606393:Comment:9094462023-07-27T12:25:34.035ZJohn Austinhttps://zenith.aero/profile/JohnLAustin
<p>This is a great discussion of things to think about on electrical system design! Just as we (hopefully) build an aircraft to fulfill our typical "mission," one needs to design their electrical system's "mission" also! For instance, in my case, I'm a "nice day" VFR flier, so that's why my dirt-simple, gravity-fed (no electric fuel pump), direct-drive, air cooled Jab 3300 with a single EarthX battery works for me. It's a simple and very lightweight system. All the battery is essential for…</p>
<p>This is a great discussion of things to think about on electrical system design! Just as we (hopefully) build an aircraft to fulfill our typical "mission," one needs to design their electrical system's "mission" also! For instance, in my case, I'm a "nice day" VFR flier, so that's why my dirt-simple, gravity-fed (no electric fuel pump), direct-drive, air cooled Jab 3300 with a single EarthX battery works for me. It's a simple and very lightweight system. All the battery is essential for is to start the engine as the Jab's magnetos are not battery-dependent - after starting, the engine will keep running as long as it has fuel, oil, and air! LOL! Should the panel go dark due to electrical failure, it's no big deal since I'm always in daylight, good weather, and really don't need flight instrumentation to get home since the STOL 750 has such benign handling qualities! Obviously, a totally different set-up is needed for other circumstances.</p>
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<p>John</p> Some people have not consider…tag:zenith.aero,2023-07-27:2606393:Comment:9096122023-07-27T00:32:42.445Zcharlie rosenzweighttps://zenith.aero/profile/charlierosenzweig
<p>Some people have not considered or know when their BMS is going to disconnect the battery from providing power. The point of the discussion on comparing a battery with a BMS vs a LA battery with no BMS was simply how long your system is going to last if you have a charging system failure. As WW and others have discussed, the BMS systems could shut your battery down much sooner than if a person was using a LA battery like the PC680. At that point the pilot is going to care very much. I…</p>
<p>Some people have not considered or know when their BMS is going to disconnect the battery from providing power. The point of the discussion on comparing a battery with a BMS vs a LA battery with no BMS was simply how long your system is going to last if you have a charging system failure. As WW and others have discussed, the BMS systems could shut your battery down much sooner than if a person was using a LA battery like the PC680. At that point the pilot is going to care very much. I do like the concept WW offers up of wiring the ignition and fuel pumps upwind from the solenoid. It is one of several advantages that the corvair set up has over higher (electrical) demand systems have - in that they can continue to run much longer with lower voltage in the event of a charging system failure.....</p>
<p></p> Using the corvair gurus metho…tag:zenith.aero,2023-07-26:2606393:Comment:9096072023-07-26T19:57:27.604Zchristopher fryatthttps://zenith.aero/profile/christopherfryatt
<p>Using the corvair gurus method the pumps are directly wired to battery, master solenoid not involved in power to pump. With voltage, and amp read out What's the concern? I could care less about 10.4 V i see no lower than 12.6 V on start and 12.8 after lift off , becomes 13-14 enroute. Any less is a no-go or land to investigate</p>
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<p>5 years no problems, fast start everytime</p>
<p>Using the corvair gurus method the pumps are directly wired to battery, master solenoid not involved in power to pump. With voltage, and amp read out What's the concern? I could care less about 10.4 V i see no lower than 12.6 V on start and 12.8 after lift off , becomes 13-14 enroute. Any less is a no-go or land to investigate</p>
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<p>5 years no problems, fast start everytime</p> I had dual LifePO4 batteries…tag:zenith.aero,2023-07-25:2606393:Comment:9096742023-07-25T16:15:05.314Zcharlie rosenzweighttps://zenith.aero/profile/charlierosenzweig
<p>I had dual LifePO4 batteries in my other (non-Zenith) airplane. The power to weight they have is amazing. I had them for 2 years and they worked great. And the LIFePO4 are reportedly safer than the older LiPO technology......but.....I went back to a PC680 for my corvair powered Cruzer.</p>
<p>The LiFePo4 with their BMS make them a lot different from a "standard" battery like the PC680. When the BMS decides the voltage is too high or too low it will shut down the battery. Sounds good…</p>
<p>I had dual LifePO4 batteries in my other (non-Zenith) airplane. The power to weight they have is amazing. I had them for 2 years and they worked great. And the LIFePO4 are reportedly safer than the older LiPO technology......but.....I went back to a PC680 for my corvair powered Cruzer.</p>
<p>The LiFePo4 with their BMS make them a lot different from a "standard" battery like the PC680. When the BMS decides the voltage is too high or too low it will shut down the battery. Sounds good in theory, but IMHO, if you only have one battery,, then you should (must?) check and verify when that particular low volt limit is. Hypothetically if it shuts down at say 10.4 volts, you may not like that. You may wish you had an older basic style batter that would continue to operate past that 10.4 volts giving you valuable time to pick your landing spot. </p>
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<p>The other thing to know is that the LIFEPo4 battery voltage drop curve (charging failure) is rather steep compared to older style batteries like the PC680 which have a more gradual voltage drop which is nice in some respects because you have more time (hopefully) to recognize you are having a charging system failure. </p>
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<p>Not to divert from the topic, but when is the last time anyone checked at what low voltage their master solenoid (contactor) drops it's connection?</p>
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<p>Charlie </p> Has anyone installed the batt…tag:zenith.aero,2023-06-12:2606393:Comment:9055492023-06-12T19:01:04.009ZLARRY TRAMELhttps://zenith.aero/profile/LARRYTRAMEL
<p>Has anyone installed the battery in the luggage compartment of the 750 STOL? Would that help with the weight distribution?</p>
<p>Has anyone installed the battery in the luggage compartment of the 750 STOL? Would that help with the weight distribution?</p> I switched to LiPo, but I did…tag:zenith.aero,2018-12-22:2606393:Comment:6583162018-12-22T03:26:14.062ZErnest Christleyhttps://zenith.aero/profile/ErnestChristley
I switched to LiPo, but I didn't pay the EarthX tax. I bought a Scorpion. The big payoff was that it helped clean up my landing. The Corvair being so heavy, the nose wheel would drop hard nearly as soon as the mains touched. Loosing 10lbs of battery weight seemed to fix that.<br />
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It also turned the engine a lot faster on startup.
I switched to LiPo, but I didn't pay the EarthX tax. I bought a Scorpion. The big payoff was that it helped clean up my landing. The Corvair being so heavy, the nose wheel would drop hard nearly as soon as the mains touched. Loosing 10lbs of battery weight seemed to fix that.<br />
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It also turned the engine a lot faster on startup. Reporting back, so far no iss…tag:zenith.aero,2018-12-07:2606393:Comment:6560422018-12-07T15:07:51.294Zchristopher fryatthttps://zenith.aero/profile/christopherfryatt
<p>Reporting back, so far no issues with Earthx ETX900VNT . Replaced batt in motorcycle to EarthX too.</p>
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<p>Earthx better at holding voltage on those Start, Taxi,...... fuel, Start,...... fly days</p>
<p>Reporting back, so far no issues with Earthx ETX900VNT . Replaced batt in motorcycle to EarthX too.</p>
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<p>Earthx better at holding voltage on those Start, Taxi,...... fuel, Start,...... fly days</p>