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Author Topic: Just bought two new Gill batteries  (Read 20161 times)

Adam Frisch

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Just bought two new Gill batteries
« on: December 02, 2015, 03:16:22 pm »
Old ones had about 3 cells each that were dead. $1500/piece… I hade been warned they weren't cheap, so I knew that. But I heard the Concordes cost a lot more.

Do you have Concorde's or Gill's? Which ones do you prefer?
Slumming it in the turboprop world - so you don't have to.

ghancock

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Re: Just bought two new Gill batteries
« Reply #1 on: December 03, 2015, 06:38:03 am »
Ouch!   I have Gill but had also heard of the cost, just didn't realize they were that much.  I have the 1 super big battery so can't imagine what it will cost when I need to replace it.  No opinion on which is better as I've always only had Gill.



Glenn
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You can't win an argument with an ignorant person,  they'll just drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

donv

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Re: Just bought two new Gill batteries
« Reply #2 on: December 03, 2015, 11:33:17 pm »
I have Gills as well, and they need to be replaced pretty soon. $2500/battery in my case.

I've gotten 2 years out of the batteries I have now. I should probably do more GPU starts.

Adam Frisch

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Re: Just bought two new Gill batteries
« Reply #3 on: December 03, 2015, 11:43:56 pm »
My friend Stan with his 681 has a battery minder charger on all of his, and he says it really increases it's lifespan. He gets close to 5 years out of his Gills, he claims.

There's also these Li-Ion GPU start packs that you can bring with you at all times if you want to save on batteries. It's just using them and then disconnecting it on your own that's the problem.

http://startpac.com/products/aviation/model-li2800qc-28-5/
« Last Edit: December 03, 2015, 11:46:18 pm by Adam Frisch »
Slumming it in the turboprop world - so you don't have to.

donv

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Re: Just bought two new Gill batteries
« Reply #4 on: December 04, 2015, 11:13:17 am »
Can you find out what kind of battery minder he has? Does the 681 have one or two batteries?

donv

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Re: Just bought two new Gill batteries
« Reply #5 on: December 04, 2015, 11:17:22 am »
I'd also be interested in knowing if he's doing capacity checks every 6 months, as required by the Gill maintenance manual. The capacity check requires deep discharging the battery, which the manual, on the next page, says reduces battery life!

donv

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Re: Just bought two new Gill batteries
« Reply #6 on: December 04, 2015, 11:40:57 pm »
My mechanic suggested getting two of these:

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/batteryminder_24041_gill.php?clickkey=527817

With some associated cabling. I think I'll probably do this.

ghancock

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Re: Just bought two new Gill batteries
« Reply #7 on: December 07, 2015, 07:32:55 am »
Why would you need 2?  I have a 24 volt battery minder and keep it plugged in when the plane is on the ground.  It does make a difference because the worst things for a battery is it getting low.  I do not discharge the batteries no matter the manufacturer requirements as they want you to buy more batteries.  I installed a wire into the baggage area so I could just plug the unit in and go without taking anything apart.  If you have 2 batteries instead of one the charge still keeps both topped off, so you don't need to disconnect the batteries and charge separately, and even if you did do that you'd need 2 12 volt charges instead.

Glenn
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You can't win an argument with an ignorant person,  they'll just drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

donv

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Re: Just bought two new Gill batteries
« Reply #8 on: December 07, 2015, 12:35:10 pm »
My airplane has two batteries (24 volts each). In theory, the Battery Minder I linked to can maintain both simultaneously, but my mechanic argues that it's better to have a separate tender on each battery.

We're going to set up the plugs in the baggage so that, as you say, nothing will need to be taken apart-- just unplug and you're ready to go.

EricDapp

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Re: Just bought two new Gill batteries
« Reply #9 on: December 07, 2015, 06:59:22 pm »
Can you turn these batteries on independently or are they hard wired together Don?

donv

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Re: Just bought two new Gill batteries
« Reply #10 on: December 07, 2015, 11:15:21 pm »
They are hard wired together. I don't think there is any way to isolate one (but I'll have to ask about that in my recurrent, which is coming up).

ghancock

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Re: Just bought two new Gill batteries
« Reply #11 on: December 09, 2015, 09:51:52 am »
I'm assuming they are wired parallel and therefore still 24 volts?

In order to do what you're mechanic suggests you'd have to disconnect the battery cables from each other and then plug in the chargers.  I'm more than certain this is the best way to do this but I guess my question would be, is it better to plug them into a single charger as they are or let them die?  Because disconnecting the batteries every time you finish flying would be a huge pain in the butt.

Glenn
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You can't win an argument with an ignorant person,  they'll just drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

EricDapp

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Re: Just bought two new Gill batteries
« Reply #12 on: December 09, 2015, 10:50:59 am »
I'm thinking two chargers on two batteries wired together is overkill. I would call the manufacture and ask them. They might not want there chargers hooked to each other like that.

donv

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Re: Just bought two new Gill batteries
« Reply #13 on: December 09, 2015, 12:57:55 pm »
Through switching, the batteries in a Turbo Commander can be connected either in parallel (24 volts) or in series (48 volts) for starting. Normally they're in parallel.

My understanding is that only the chargers need to be disconnected before use, so they can be charged (or maintained) while still installed and connected to the airplane.

ghancock

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Re: Just bought two new Gill batteries
« Reply #14 on: December 09, 2015, 02:34:59 pm »
That would be correct.  The issue is you have 2 batteries tied together via huge cables that can handle a load.  If you hook a 24 volt trickle charger to the system, it will charge both batteries without disconnecting anything at all.  The point the mechanic is making is that if you disconnected the massive cables and allowed each battery to be charged separately, it would make for a better charge since the state of each battery is considered separately.  You can't do this with them connected as the charger looks at both batteries as 1 big battery.

However,  if you consider the fact that when you're flying the airplane your airplane is doing exactly this and charging both batteries together as 1 big battery, then I'd argue that the difference it would make by going to all the trouble to separate them really is overkill and not worth the effort.

Also, you would NEVER use 2 chargers together when the batteries are still wired together.


That's my 2 cents :-)

Glenn
--glenn
You can't win an argument with an ignorant person,  they'll just drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.