Odyssey Dry Cell Life/Failure Modes

I installed an Odyssey Dry Cell battery in my Fly Baby about four years ago, and
I've been very happy with it.

Lately, though, my voltmeter has been running a bit low, both before the engine
starts and when the plane is cruising. My Microair transponder has a voltmeter
function, and I've verified that the battery is running about a half-volt lower
than I'm used to.

The engine starts so quickly I can't really tell if the battery charge is low.

Anyway, I was figuring I had more problems with the generator/regulator, but
when I put an external charger on the plane this morning, the initial charge
current was quite a bit lower than I'm used to seeing when a battery is low on
charge.

So my questions run down to:

1. What kind of life are people getting with these Odyssey batteries, and
2. When they fail, what kind of indicators do you see? Does it just suddenly
refuse to hold a charge, or are there early warning signs?

Ron Wanttaja

I replaced the one on my RV after just under 2 years.

It was a "soft" failure in that there was never a step change in
performance, just gradual degradation over time. Eventually the cranking
performance became problematic.

I was pleased that the retailer provided a new battery under warranty. The
new battery is going strong after a year.

KB


"Ron Wanttaja" wrote in message
...
I installed an Odyssey Dry Cell battery in my Fly Baby about four years
ago, and
I've been very happy with it.

Lately, though, my voltmeter has been running a bit low, both before the
engine
starts and when the plane is cruising. My Microair transponder has a
voltmeter
function, and I've verified that the battery is running about a half-volt
lower
than I'm used to.

The engine starts so quickly I can't really tell if the battery charge is
low.

Anyway, I was figuring I had more problems with the generator/regulator,
but
when I put an external charger on the plane this morning, the initial
charge
current was quite a bit lower than I'm used to seeing when a battery is
low on
charge.

So my questions run down to:

1. What kind of life are people getting with these Odyssey batteries, and
2. When they fail, what kind of indicators do you see? Does it just
suddenly
refuse to hold a charge, or are there early warning signs?

Ron Wanttaja

On Sat, 07 Jul 2007 12:03:28 -0700, Ron Wanttaja
wrote:

Lately, though, my voltmeter has been running a bit low, both before the engine
starts and when the plane is cruising. My Microair transponder has a voltmeter
function, and I've verified that the battery is running about a half-volt lower
than I'm used to.

For a healthy battery with no load, a half-volt drop at the terminals
would represent a battery that is at an approximate 60% state of
charge.

The engine starts so quickly I can't really tell if the battery charge is low.

For a sealed battery, the only way to really know battery health is to
take it out of the airplane and test its capacity with a known load.
Since most of us don't have the wherewithal do to that sort of thing,
the purchase of a new battery is our only reasonable option.

Anyway, I was figuring I had more problems with the generator/regulator, but
when I put an external charger on the plane this morning, the initial charge
current was quite a bit lower than I'm used to seeing when a battery is low on
charge.

The lower voltage at no load is unusual. Have you measured the
voltage at the battery terminals? That would eliminate a systematic
issue in your electrical system. And a lower-than-expected charge
current could indicate that the battery really has a good charge.

Assuming that it really is a bad battery--and this is just a guess--
there could be a separation of one plate from its absorbed glass mat.
This would leave it functional, but it would operate like a battery
with less capacity. Alternately, if the battery was ever kept in a
discharged state too long, it could be sulfation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfation

Perhaps a call to Odyssey is in order. They might have an interest in
an early failure, or at least know the failure modes of their product.
They have a toll-free number (800-538-3627).

So my questions run down to:

1. What kind of life are people getting with these Odyssey batteries

I got six years on an older Genesis battery and my present Odyssey (a
PC925) is still going strong after four years.

2. When they fail, what kind of indicators do you see? Does it just suddenly
refuse to hold a charge, or are there early warning signs?

The Genesis just wouldn't hold a charge. The symptom was an engine
that had difficulty cranking in cold weather.

Rob-
__________________________________________________ _
Rob Cherney rcherney(at)comcast(dot)net
Ellicott City, Maryland

I installed an Odyssey 680 in my RV-6 Jan of 2003 and it is still going
strong, I have been very happy with the results I get out of it. I have
had much better service from it than I have any of the so called
aircraft batteries.

Jerry


Kyle Boatright wrote:
I replaced the one on my RV after just under 2 years.

It was a "soft" failure in that there was never a step change in
performance, just gradual degradation over time. Eventually the cranking
performance became problematic.

I was pleased that the retailer provided a new battery under warranty. The
new battery is going strong after a year.

KB


"Ron Wanttaja" wrote in message
...

I installed an Odyssey Dry Cell battery in my Fly Baby about four years
ago, and
I've been very happy with it.

Lately, though, my voltmeter has been running a bit low, both before the
engine
starts and when the plane is cruising. My Microair transponder has a
voltmeter
function, and I've verified that the battery is running about a half-volt
lower
than I'm used to.

The engine starts so quickly I can't really tell if the battery charge is
low.

Anyway, I was figuring I had more problems with the generator/regulator,
but
when I put an external charger on the plane this morning, the initial
charge
current was quite a bit lower than I'm used to seeing when a battery is
low on
charge.

So my questions run down to:

1. What kind of life are people getting with these Odyssey batteries, and
2. When they fail, what kind of indicators do you see? Does it just
suddenly
refuse to hold a charge, or are there early warning signs?

Ron Wanttaja

I have dual Odyssey batteries in my canard. The first set lasted about
two years. At the end of the two years they did not hold the charge
well. I found that they are sensitive to charging method. They are OK
if you charge them with your alternator but not if you use standard,
shelf trickle/XXamp chargers. You have to get chargers specially
designed for them.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SQ2000 canard http://www.abri.com/sq2000

On Jul 7, 2:03 pm, Ron Wanttaja wrote:
I installed an Odyssey Dry Cell battery in my Fly Baby about four years ago, and
I've been very happy with it.

Lately, though, my voltmeter has been running a bit low, both before the engine
starts and when the plane is cruising. My Microair transponder has a voltmeter
function, and I've verified that the battery is running about a half-volt lower
than I'm used to.

The engine starts so quickly I can't really tell if the battery charge is low.

Anyway, I was figuring I had more problems with the generator/regulator, but
when I put an external charger on the plane this morning, the initial charge
current was quite a bit lower than I'm used to seeing when a battery is low on
charge.

So my questions run down to:

1. What kind of life are people getting with these Odyssey batteries, and
2. When they fail, what kind of indicators do you see? Does it just suddenly
refuse to hold a charge, or are there early warning signs?

Ron Wanttaja