Best Battery for our Carbon Cubs?

[glickle]

Hi all has anyone replaced their battery as yet and if so any recomendations for more cranking amps? Here in Florida when the temps are hot well inot the 90s the hot starts are taking their toll on my battery and probably starter although I have no problems with my starter as yet. On cold start the battery starter combo works well and will turn the motor over easliy enough but when hot, I only get about a 1/3 turn and the compression stops the turn over yet I can the bump the starter past it to get a start. I am sure its taking a toll on the starter during that momentary hang and wondering if there is a battery out there same size that has more cranking amps that will help much like the Optima batterys we use for boats and cars. I recall numerous posts on teh old S2 site and some good advise there but cant recall the brand suggested. Best Gary

[EVRoosevelt]

I had just bought a battery that seems to work well its a Power Sonic PTX14BS-FS. I had bought another brand but when I charged it it leaked acid all over. I think I paid around $70.00 for it it seems to work well in Alabama so I think it would work in Fla. I will find out where I bought it and let you know. How I found the dealer was Google the PTX # and find the best deal.
EV

[EVRoosevelt]

The telephone # for the PTX14BS-FS dealer is 508-378-2284.
EV

[Pete D]

, I only get about a 1/3 turn and the compression stops the turn over yet I can the bump the starter past it to get a start.

We have found (the hard way) that you do NOT want to "bump" the starter in a Carbon Cub. It works fine on an engine with magnetos, but because of the way the hall effect sensor works with the flywheel, as the flywheel goes backwards/forwards when you bump it, it is possible for it to get the timing off and get a pretty hard kickback against the starter.

If it won't go over compression stroke when trying to crank, you need to let off the key for a little longer than you would need to with magnetos. What happens, it sees the first pair of magnets in the flywheel go by, then you bump it, and the magnets go by again, throws the timing off be cause it counts the magnets passing by as part of its indexing to know when to fire. (I'm probably not explaining it quite right, but you get the picture)

You need to pause for a few seconds before going for the second attempt on cranking, to let the electronic ignition zero itself again...

Pete D.

[glickle]

Thanks Pete and great information for all of us as I certainly did not know that . I may have used the wrong words re "bumping " as yes I do let off the starter and try again like you say but not because I knew what you posted. As you stated the starter will not always when hot take the engine past that compression stage and will halt. Is this normal on all our 340ss or can we get a bit more out of a higher cranking amp battery or am I chasing windmills? I now recall the prior forum discussion re batterys and an Odysey AGM Military spec Battery was recomended and I see they claim to offer up 5 second cranking amps well above 200 which is our current battery rating. Has anyone tried an Odysey and will a PC545 fit as I see its slightly longer than a 14-BS. Regards Gary and also thanks EV

Here are the specs
Length 6 7/8 in.
Width 3 1/4 in.
Height 5 1/8 in.
Drycell Battery
Without Metal Jacket
12 Volt
12 Ah @ 10hr rate
185 CCA
545 Cranking Amps for 5 Seconds
18 Minute Reserve Capacity
Cycle life @ 77°F 400 at 100% DOD
-40°F to 140°F Temperature Range
More Specs: (Adobe PDF)
Catalogue number PC545

[RanRan]

I now recall the prior forum discussion re batterys and an Odysey AGM Military spec Battery was recomended and I see they claim to offer up 5 second cranking amps well above 200 which is our current battery rating. Has anyone tried an Odysey and will a PC545 fit as I see its slightly longer than a 14-BS. Regards Gary and also thanks EV

Here are the specs
Length 6 7/8 in.
Width 3 1/4 in.
Height 5 1/8 in.
Drycell Battery
Without Metal Jacket
12 Volt
12 Ah @ 10hr rate
185 CCA
545 Cranking Amps for 5 Seconds

CCA stands for cold cranking amps. Cold being 0 degree Fahrenheit for 30 seconds. 185 is not much.

If the Canadian guys have a favorite, I'll bet it's not a dry-cell. ;-) High cranking batteries don't last as long as deep cell batteries but they will get you and your tundra tires out of the tundra.

CCA is the real deal - other figures are a little deceptive. i.e. 900 amps for 1 second is probably not going to get it, but will sell batteries.

[Centmont]

Motorcycle guys love Odysey batteries... They run thousands of them and I wouldn't be afraid if I could find one to fit. R

[RanRan]

Motorcycle guys love Odysey batteries... They run thousands of them and I wouldn't be afraid if I could find one to fit. R

It's 2 below zero on a remote northern Ontario lake and you've just caught 40lbs of northern pike after 4 hours of ice-fishing and you want to depend on a MOTORCYCLE battery to get you and your fish out of there?

BTW, do you know how to tie-down a plane on a frozen lake?

[glickle]

RanRan, Our factory battery that comes with the plane are 200 CCA and most all 14-BS sized batterys I find are max 200 CCA so its the 5 seconds of alleged 545CCAs in the Odyseey that I am wondering about. Best Gary

[turbopilot]

Hi all has anyone replaced their battery as yet and if so any recomendations for more cranking amps? Here in Florida when the temps are hot well inot the 90s the hot starts are taking their toll on my battery and probably starter although I have no problems with my starter as yet. On cold start the battery starter combo works well and will turn the motor over easliy enough but when hot, I only get about a 1/3 turn and the compression stops the turn over yet I can the bump the starter past it to get a start. I am sure its taking a toll on the starter during that momentary hang and wondering if there is a battery out there same size that has more cranking amps that will help much like the Optima batterys we use for boats and cars. I recall numerous posts on teh old S2 site and some good advise there but cant recall the brand suggested. Best Gary

The battery does struggle. The battery choice is obviously one of those tough calls to keep the weight down. There is another battery issue that we should consider: backup for the electronic ignition.

Lightspeed recommends an auxiliary 4.5 ah battery isolated by a diode from the aircraft electrical system attached to one of the two ignition systems.

I wonder if it would not be a good idea for Cubcrafters to offer an optional kit to add a small 4.5 ah 12 volt battery that could be normally used for ignition backup but "ganged" with the primary battery only for starting. The downside is another 4.5 lbs.