Battery 6ah vs. more

Time to repace my 12v 6ah SLA battery. Same or 7ah or 8ah?

I have been using the Power Sonic Fast Discharge rate battery PSH-12100F2,
10.5 amp hr, in the same size case as their 7 ah for the past 3 years.

It has held up quite well, and even have a couple of 10 hour wave flights on
just one battery (I am set up with two) running a PDA, Vario, Radio.

Kevin
SGS 1-26B 192

"Roy Clark, "B6"" wrote in message
...
Time to repace my 12v 6ah SLA battery. Same or 7ah or 8ah?

On Apr 20, 7:56*am, "Kevin Anderson"
wrote:
I have been using the Power Sonic Fast Discharge rate battery PSH-12100F2,
10.5 amp hr, in the same size case as their 7 ah for the past 3 years.

It has held up quite well, and even have a couple of 10 hour wave flights on
just one battery (I am set up with two) *running a PDA, Vario, Radio.

Kevin
SGS 1-26B 192

Thanks, but fly with 2 systems - one for transponder only - and the
battery you
suggest won't fit.

Anyone elss have a suggestion.

On Apr 21, 6:55*am, "Roy Clark, \"B6\"" wrote:
On Apr 20, 7:56*am, "Kevin *Anderson"
wrote:

I have been using the Power Sonic Fast Discharge rate battery PSH-12100F2,
10.5 amp hr, in the same size case as their 7 ah for the past 3 years.

It has held up quite well, and even have a couple of 10 hour wave flights on
just one battery (I am set up with two) *running a PDA, Vario, Radio.

Kevin
SGS 1-26B 192

Thanks, but fly with 2 systems - one for transponder only - and the
battery you
suggest won't fit.

Anyone elss have a suggestion.

Roy,
To have a valid suggestion, people need to know what equipment
you're running and the total current draw (on each batter circuit if
two systems).
I have a 10Ah battery (single) powering nothing but a radio and
vario. Flew 6 days at Tonopah (avg flight 4 hours) and two more
weekends before my volt meter finally said I was in need of a
recharge.
I have since added a Cambridge 302A CFR and an iPAQ, and should
still be good for 15 hours of system 'on' time.
Bottom line, if the 6 Ah battery was sufficient, why change?

On Apr 20, 7:18*am, "Roy Clark, \"B6\"" wrote:
Time to repace my 12v 6ah SLA battery. Same or 7ah or 8ah?

Roy:

What 6 aH battery are you replacing? Most of my battery information
does not show a 6 aH type. They do show a 5.4 then a 7 aH and a 8 aH
with the same dimensions as a 7 aH. Here are the links:
http://www.panasonic.com/industrial/...eal/index.html
http://www.power-sonic.com/index.php?id=29
consider a 7 aH If the ship allows for it. They are usually available
for a lower price. I know of several sources locally.

T. Udd

On Apr 21, 10:18*am, wrote:
On Apr 21, 6:55*am, "Roy Clark, \"B6\"" wrote:





On Apr 20, 7:56*am, "Kevin *Anderson"
wrote:

I have been using the Power Sonic Fast Discharge rate battery PSH-12100F2,
10.5 amp hr, in the same size case as their 7 ah for the past 3 years.

It has held up quite well, and even have a couple of 10 hour wave flights on
just one battery (I am set up with two) *running a PDA, Vario, Radio..

Kevin
SGS 1-26B 192

Thanks, but fly with 2 systems - one for transponder only - and the
battery you
suggest won't fit.

Anyone elss have a suggestion.

Roy,
* To have a valid suggestion, people need to know what equipment
you're running and the total current draw (on each batter circuit if
two systems).
* I have a 10Ah battery (single) powering nothing but a radio and
vario. *Flew 6 days at Tonopah (avg flight 4 hours) and two more
weekends before my volt meter finally said I was in need of a
recharge.
* I have since added a Cambridge 302A CFR and an iPAQ, and should
still be good for 15 hours of system 'on' time.
* Bottom line, if the 6 Ah battery was sufficient, why change?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

The longer you allow your lead-acid battery to sit at less than full
charge, the shorter it's life will be. Combine that with deep
discharges, and it gets worse. Of course the convenience factor of not
charging for every flight might be worth the cost of replacing more
often. The downside is premature failure when you least expect it.

I alternate two batteries by pulling the one I flew with at the end of
the day and replacing it with a fully charged one that I brought from
home. That way if I don't fly again for a while, the battery in the
ship is fully charged and should last quite a while without worry of
sulfating. This system allows me to always have two charged batteries
on hand at the start of every flying day. It spreads the discharge/
charge cycles over two batteries instead of one and limits deep
discharges as much as possible. If I forget to bring the second
battery along to the field, the one in the ship is charged and ready
for that day anyway.


Dave

Buy the biggest you can fit!

Powersonic has a 9 AH in same format as 7.2

Then add more batteries, they are cheap, lost instruments are
dangerous, lost OLC logs are maddening!

From experience.... now running 3 batteries..... saves me adding water
ballast! ;-)

Bob



On Apr 20, 10:18 am, "Roy Clark, \"B6\"" wrote:
Time to repace my 12v 6ah SLA battery. Same or 7ah or 8ah?

Buy the biggest you can fit!

Powersonic has a 9 AH in same format as 7.2

Then add more batteries, they are cheap, lost instruments are
dangerous, lost OLC logs are maddening!

From experience.... now running 3 batteries..... saves me adding water
ballast! *;-)

Bob

AMEN!

My solution was to split the cockpit into two electrical busses, each
with it's own 9AH battery. Either side can fail and I have enough
"stuff" to get home (or finish a race...). Can also gang the busses
so either battery can power all the cockpit.

I have 3 batteries, one is always on the charger, and rotate the ones
from the flight every evening - so I always have 2 fully charged
batteries every flight. No special connectors on the batteries, so
any standard size 7 - 9 AH "brick" with spade connectors will fit, if
necessary.

It's worked so far (8 years and counting...).

I see there are some new technology batteries coming on the market for
gliders (in S&G?) - maybe we are about to move on from our beloved
lead bricks!

Kirk
66

On 22 Apr, 14:13, "kirk.stant" wrote:
Buy the biggest you can fit!

Powersonic has a 9 AH in same format as 7.2

Then add more batteries, they are cheap, lost instruments are
dangerous, lost OLC logs are maddening!

From experience.... now running 3 batteries..... saves me adding water
ballast! ;-)

Bob

AMEN!

My solution was to split the cockpit into two electrical busses, each
with it's own 9AH battery. Either side can fail and I have enough
"stuff" to get home (or finish a race...). Can also gang the busses
so either battery can power all the cockpit.

I have 3 batteries, one is always on the charger, and rotate the ones
from the flight every evening - so I always have 2 fully charged
batteries every flight. No special connectors on the batteries, so
any standard size 7 - 9 AH "brick" with spade connectors will fit, if
necessary.

It's worked so far (8 years and counting...).

I see there are some new technology batteries coming on the market for
gliders (in S&G?) - maybe we are about to move on from our beloved
lead bricks!

Kirk
66

I replaced my lead acid 7 ah brick with a NiMh pack made up by a
supplier. The result is a pack that fits into the same battery holder
slot, is 30% lower in height, 50% lighter, runs at 14v nominal and
has a 9 Ah capacity. It was so succesfull that I replaced the second
15 ah battery used to raise and lower the turbo with a similar pack
but of only 12ah but saving 7kg.

One other advantage is that they use a purpose built microprocessor
controlled charger that ensures they are fully charged and ready to go
even when left permanently connected.

On Apr 23, 1:56 am, nimbusgb wrote:
On 22 Apr, 14:13, "kirk.stant" wrote:



Buy the biggest you can fit!

Powersonic has a 9 AH in same format as 7.2

Then add more batteries, they are cheap, lost instruments are
dangerous, lost OLC logs are maddening!

From experience.... now running 3 batteries..... saves me adding water
ballast! ;-)

Bob

AMEN!

My solution was to split the cockpit into two electrical busses, each
with it's own 9AH battery. Either side can fail and I have enough
"stuff" to get home (or finish a race...). Can also gang the busses
so either battery can power all the cockpit.

I have 3 batteries, one is always on the charger, and rotate the ones
from the flight every evening - so I always have 2 fully charged
batteries every flight. No special connectors on the batteries, so
any standard size 7 - 9 AH "brick" with spade connectors will fit, if
necessary.

It's worked so far (8 years and counting...).

I see there are some new technology batteries coming on the market for
gliders (in S&G?) - maybe we are about to move on from our beloved
lead bricks!

Kirk
66

I replaced my lead acid 7 ah brick with a NiMh pack made up by a
supplier. The result is a pack that fits into the same battery holder
slot, is 30% lower in height, 50% lighter, runs at 14v nominal and
has a 9 Ah capacity. It was so succesfull that I replaced the second
15 ah battery used to raise and lower the turbo with a similar pack
but of only 12ah but saving 7kg.

One other advantage is that they use a purpose built microprocessor
controlled charger that ensures they are fully charged and ready to go
even when left permanently connected.

Same here, 10Ah NiMh battery dedicated to the transponder, two 5Ah
packs for the instruments (one in the tail). Charger is putting out
2A and takes only about 2-4h after a normal day of flying to replenish
the batteries. I built the packs myself from cells with tabs and paid
only $80 for the large 10Ah pack, half of that for each of the small
ones. No more lead-acid batteries! The weight savings mentioned by
nimbusgb might be a bit aggressive, I'd say NiMh is about 60% lighter
than the same lead-acid capacity battery.
Herb