Best battery replacement advice from Cubcrafters?

[Rich]

Okay, despite the Sears battery tender, my battery finally died after 1 year and 7 months. What is the "official" best choice replacement advice from Cubcrafters? I need to order one ASAP.

Thanks!

[reileyr]

I recently installed a Shorai Lithium-iron phosphate battery and it swings prop through first compression stroke without hesitation on CC-11-100

[seastar]

Here is a test report
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...e7BMlylsGYE_6g

[seastar]

You may want to read this. These batterys look good.
They could be a solution to our starting problens if they are reliable.
http://www.shoraipower.com/t-faq.aspx
Has anyone installed one in a Carbon Cub?

[seastar]

You may want to read this. These batterys look good.
They could be a solution to our starting problens if they are reliable.
http://www.shoraipower.com/t-faq.aspx
Has anyone installed one in a Carbon Cub?

I think CC has used this battery.
What is the current thinking about it???

[glickle]

You may want to read this. These batterys look good.
They could be a solution to our starting problens if they are reliable.
http://www.shoraipower.com/t-faq.aspx
Has anyone installed one in a Carbon Cub?

I am reposting this from the original thread re our batteries since you are asking if anyone els has tried the Lithium. I still believe in the Lithium ( amazing technology and save 10 lbs) and sure would love to try again some day but unfortunatley for MY engine ( unlike the good experiences Cub Crafters guys have had) was not a good one. I expect others may ahve a better experince though. I have tried the original Power Sport that comes with our CCs, The Yuasa the Extreme X2 and the Shorai Lithium. As for GEO 's comment I think heis correct that it needs a LOA for S- LSA but not for E-LSA but I leave that up to the experts.

Wellllllllllllll? I tried the Shorai Lithium battery and its not ready for prime time on a high compression motor. They have fixed the terminal issue written about below but First one had an immediate short in it and stranded me first flight until I found a nice feller who jumped me with his truck. Second one worked fine but still does not have enough cranking power on hot starts to top the Extreme x2 battery which still comes out the winner by a significant margin. I also ended up changing out starters and found I had a weak starter to boot. The testing was both before and after replacement of the starter. Interestingly the Lithium battery by Shorai advertises 270 CCA and the Extreme x2 advertises 220 CCA and is still far superior. I expect that the Lithium Iron batterys will improve over time shortly however as that weight savings is huge. Thats my pirep . Best Gary

[Dan L]

Second one worked fine but still does not have enough cranking power on hot starts to top the Extreme x2 battery which still comes out the winner by a significant margin. I also ended up changing out starters and found I had a weak starter to boot. The testing was both before and after replacement of the starter. Interestingly the Lithium battery by Shorai advertises 270 CCA and the Extreme x2 advertises 220 CCA and is still far superior. Best Gary

With 3 starts yesterday in temperatures +/- 30º my original Power Sports battery is barely up to the task. Do you have a source for the Extreme x2 battery, price, and I assume it fits under the seat?

Thanks.

[Dan L]

Thanks much. I've got one coming and as a bonus it looks like it is about 3 1/2 pounds lighter than the Power Sport battery too.

Hopefully the terminals are in the identical position as I don't have much wire wiggle room.

[randylervold]

Good discussion, and thanks to all of you who are trying different batteries and reporting your experience. As Pete indicated we have been evaluating the Shorai Power LFX 18 LiFe (lithium iron phosphate) for nearly a year now. We are VERY attracted to the weight savings which is over 5 lbs, in our world that is very significant, as well as the apparent improvement in starting performance.

On our company planes they have worked perfectly, both saving weight and in improved starting performance. Sounds like both Gary and Royce have not found them suitable however, I have no explanation for that. Our original Carbon Cub SS, N155PC, failed to start on me twice while hot over the years and stranded me when my attempts at hand propping then failed. It got so bad that when taking that plane cross country by myself I started carrying a little rechargeable jumper battery Pete bought for the shop. I can hand prop a CC340 by myself maybe 40% of the time, the other 60% I am stranded. Since installing the LiFe it has always started perfectly cold or hot to the point that I no longer carry the jumper when taking trips in it.

Bottom line: we would have already switched to it if we could find better test data on failure modes. As the aircraft manufacturer we simply can't have batteries exploding under the pilot's butt and we can't find enough empirical test data yet to have that level of confidence. Performancewise we are convinced, Gary and Royce's experience notwithstanding.

All that said, let's look at the big picture. In the interest of saving weight, and since batteries are notoriously heavy (most of them contain LEAD for heaven's sake!) and therefore an opportunity to save some easy weight, we are using the smallest battery we can to get the job done. Starting a 340 cubic inch engine with a motorcycle battery pushes these powersports batteries to their limit. For several aircraft we switched to an AGM battery and found out it wasn't up to the task so we replaced them all and went back to the sealed lead acid. Because of the strain we put these batteries under their life is shortened. Personally, I recommend replacing your main battery every other year at annual regardless of how it is performing just because of the stress they are under.

Things you can do to improve starting performance
Let's look at some things you can do to optimize starting performance. Since our starting systems need every fraction of an amp our batteries can deliver we need to make sure the current makes its way as efficiently as possible to the starter. To accomplish this go to any auto parts store and get some dielectric grease, here is an example. Then find yourself a maroon Scotchbrite pad which can be found in the aviation department of Home Depot. Now, wait for a Saturday when it is IFR and you can't fly and spend the rest of the day in the hangar. Starting from the battery, dissasemble each connection in the fat wires, both positive and negative, from the battery to the starter. Take a scotchbrite pad and buff the mating surfaces so there is no corrosion or contaminates, just fresh metal, and smear a very small amount of dielectric grease on the mating surfaces. Reattach the connection with the appropriate torque. This is like a chain, if you miss one connection (link) your path is still weak. Remember to include both the positive path all the way to the starter and the negative path all the way to ground. Don't forget the starter ground and the engine ground strap. Now you have optimized the electrical path and will get nearly 100% of the available battery current with minimal loss. Gary, you live in a moist environment, you might have the most to gain from this drill.

Hope this helps shed some additional light on the issue, and we will keep everyone posted in our quest for improved battery performance, we appreciate you doing the same.

[turbopilot]

Our original Carbon Cub SS, N155PC, failed to start on me twice while hot over the years and stranded me when my attempts at hand propping then failed. It got so bad that when taking that plane cross country by myself I started carrying a little rechargeable jumper battery Pete bought for the shop. I can hand prop a CC340 by myself maybe 40% of the time, the other 60% I am stranded. Since installing the LiFe it has always started perfectly cold or hot to the point that I no longer carry the jumper when using it when taking trips in it.

Bottom line: we would have already switched to it if we could find better test data on failure modes. As the aircraft .

Great write up. I have not had a hot start problem. What is the theory on this. Is this because it takes more cranking time when hot or is something else going on? Given hot oil it would seem a hot start should be easier than a cold start on the battery.