My experience has been just the opposite. I have an Odyssey PC680 in my SuperCub Clone. Even after leaving the master on and running the battery dead several times, it lasted 8 years. It would still very slowly crank over the O-320 in the Cub when I retired the battery rather than waiting for a complete failure. The second one is currently 2 years old (same vintage as Mark's) and to date doesn't seem to show any issues. I gave them no special treatment. When I ran it dead, I charge it just enough to close the master relay, propped the engine, then let the battery recharge from the 60 amp alternator in flight.
The KR has an EarthX battery that is coming up on 4 years age. It shows no effects of age to date. I will say that my planes typically don't sit for long periods of time without flying, although the Cub was grounded and sat with the wings off for repairs for 6 months during 2018. -Jeff Scott North Arkansas > Sent: Thursday, January 02, 2020 at 1:41 PM > From: "Jeff York via KRnet" <[email protected]> > To: KRnet <[email protected]> > Cc: "Jeff York" <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: KR> Odyssey PC680 battery installation > > Mark, > > I went through 3 Odessey batteries of the very same model. I dont think any > of them last more than a year to year and a half. I was able to swap them > once for warranty but upon the second failure, I could not exchange it for > another as there was only 1 allowed warranty exchange. Regardless that the > replacement didnt last through its warranty period. > > I have also bought Optima AGM batteries for both KR and auto use. None of > them lasted even close to the warranty period. About a year. All in > vehicles and aircraft that are dormant a lot but, Odyssey claims something > like 90% amperage after 3-5 years of storage. Not for anything I have > owned. > > I also have a PHEV Chevy Volt with Lithium Ion battery hybrid cells 16KW at > 330 volts. > > I do not believe current Lithium battery technology will work for the > amperage and duty cycle required to start an engine. You cant get the > needed amperage and Lithium loses a lot of amperage at lower temps. Lithium > Ion really need to have temperature control to maintain any reasonable > lifespan and GM does this by having a cooling system and heating system to > keep the lithium hybrid cells at a near optimum capacity and charge. > Lithium Ion can not be cycled a lot to high charge capacity or low > discharge below about 80% / 40% or they will fail. They also require a > pretty high rate of charge verses the typical best rate of slow trickle > charge that lead acid batteries like. > > These are my experiences. > > Jeff York > KR2 > Georgetown Airport > Lexington, KY. > > > > On Thu, Jan 2, 2020, 2:17 PM Mark Langford via KRnet <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > Happy New year, KR NetHeads! And congratulations to Stef as well for an > > awesome plane and really cool videos. > > > > I went to the airport to fly yesterday, since it was New Year's, the > > weather was perfect for flying, and it'd been two weeks since I'd flown. > > But the battery was dead in the plane. That's really unusual that the > > battery would be almost completely dead after only two weeks, but I > > hooked up the AGM charger to it and gave it a couple of hours while I > > found other things to do. Even after two hours of charging, the prop > > still wouldn't turn....just grunted and jerked a bit. I checked the > > battery and it had 13.1V on it, which is only a bit low for that > > battery, and the charger said it was fully charged, but that's not the > > whole story of whether or not it should start an engine. I was snooping > > around there looking at connections and noticed some corrosion between > > the battery and the thin aluminum plate that forms the bottom of the > > battery tray, and after removal, I found a LOT of white corrosion on the > > tray. Nearby steel pieces were a bit corroded too, such as the > > gascolator and engine mount bolts. So....the battery had developed a > > leak and is now compromised. > > > > These batteries typically last 4-5 years before needing replacement, but > > this one only made it 18 months. Comparing this battery to the previous > > one (which is now the backup battery for my hangar alarm system), they > > both appeared to be manufactured in 2016, so I killed 2 hours this > > morning calling around to find local batteries that were 2019 stock, but > > was told they were all 2016 also. I eventually bought one direct from > > Odyssey, after being assured they were fresh off the line. > > > > Here's the point of this post.... I noticed on my order notification > > that there was a 2016 in the part number, and wrote to Odyssey and asked > > if the "2016" on the label was indeed the date, and was told that's the > > part number! The manufacture date is below that (but not labeled as the > > mfg date), something like 0814 or 0518, the dates that my two previous > > batteries were made. I mention this to keep others from getting wrapped > > around the axle like I did. Now I'm waiting several days for a battery > > from Missouri, when I could have had one tomorrow from AutoZone! Live > > and learn. I notified Odyssey that they ought to put "MFG" in front of > > that date stamp to remove the confusion. > > > > And even though there was no evidence of battery case damage to the > > bottom, I'll put a piece of silicone padding under the next one to > > spread the loads and provide a tad of vibration isolation for the > > battery bottom. > > > > I'm open to affordable options for my next battery (although hopefully > > four or more years from now), such as Lithium Iron Phosphate or whatever > > the next affordable solution may be. > > > > Thanks, > > -- > > Mark Langford > > [email protected] > > http://www.n56ml.com > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Search the KRnet Archives at > > https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/. > > Please see LIST RULES and KRnet info at http://www.krnet.org/info.html. > > see http://list.krnet.org/mailman/listinfo/krnet_list.krnet.org to change > > options. > > To UNsubscribe from KRnet, send a message to [email protected] > > > _______________________________________________ > Search the KRnet Archives at > https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/. > Please see LIST RULES and KRnet info at http://www.krnet.org/info.html. > see http://list.krnet.org/mailman/listinfo/krnet_list.krnet.org to change > options. > To UNsubscribe from KRnet, send a message to [email protected] > _______________________________________________ Search the KRnet Archives at https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/. 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