mtv wrote:...leave the strobe switch on at all times as a clue...

MTV

Great tip from Mike BTW... We wired the beacon directly to a CB on the BUS w/out a switch. Since its an LED the draw is minimal. Whenever the master is on, the beacon is on. A good reminder...

bigrenna wrote:

bart wrote:Still hard to believe you could get starting amperage through those little wires and not have a smoking mess afterward Carry on!

Thought the same thing... The book calls for 2 gauge to the from the batt to the starter, but I suppose since it's such a short run you can squeak buy...

Fact is, you would only really use it in an emergency situation to get you home, so WFT. As I mentioned, you have to remove the shore power plug when moving the batt forward, so to use this method, you would have to make a custom cable that you could quickly install in the field to the batt terminals and jump thru the oil door, OR get a FA for installing the shore power plug on the firewall somehow like a later model 182. First option seems like the easiest.

60's vintage Skywagons had a GPU plug on the firewall. I'd install one of those as a minor alteration.

The jump leads on the antigravity battery are 'just' long enough to reach a firewall mounted battery through the oil inspection door. Lean in, swivel the rubber covers off the terminals and clip the supplied jump leads on. And yes it will jump start a 185 this way from a complete flat battery.

Does anyone have a firewall mounted battery and a firewall mounted GPU plug? I have the firewall mounted GPU plug on a '61 180 and would like to move my battery to the firewall, but curious if there is room for both.

Wrap your heads around this.

Lithium Air batteries.

My rocket scientist friend tells me they are only a couple of years away from being commercially viable. Same energy level as gasoline. A battery the size to power our birds could be no bigger then a D cell and weigh just ounces. How cool is that!

Sunny but cold. Decided to head to the hangar and install the new starter. Old one weighs 18 pounds. New M-Drive weighs 7.5 pounds. Shiny!

I meant to ask Barnstormer, do you plan on moving your GPU plug to the firewall as well?

Apollo wrote:I meant to ask Barnstormer, do you plan on moving your GPU plug to the firewall as well?

At this point I don't believe so now that I've got the Antigravity Battery which will become a part of my tool kit.

I am intrigued about there having been one on the 60's wagons so am going to look into it for reference.

I guess the Antigravity Battery does really eliminate the need for the plug...and I'm sure the Antigravity weighs considerably less than jumper cables with a plug on one end, which is what I carry now. I'll explore the possibilities of keeping both as well. Thanks!

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Is it courier guy with the EarthX? I just ordered the jump start antigravity tonight. Anyone have experience with them in the cold? (As in AK interior cold soaked)? Starting my 170 this afternoon with a Odyssey was much of this and finally some of this .Dont get me wrong, I really like those Odyssey batterys they have yet to leave me stranded. Will be very interesting in the coming years with the EarthX and the cold weather, cold soaked starting. Please keep us informed on the approval of this or if you have to do it after the fact. Thanks! Greg

roamak wrote:Is it courier guy with the EarthX? I just ordered the jump start antigravity tonight. Anyone have experience with them in the cold? (As in AK interior cold soaked)? Starting my 170 this afternoon with a Odyssey was much of this and finally some of this .Dont get me wrong, I really like those Odyssey batterys they have yet to leave me stranded. Will be very interesting in the coming years with the EarthX and the cold weather, cold soaked starting. Please keep us informed on the approval of this or if you have to do it after the fact. Thanks! Greg

Where is your battery mounted? Most of the 170's I've been around have a firewall mounted battery box. With that, the battery is never cold, assuming that the engine is pre-heated of course....

BUT, I flew three different Huskys in interior Alaska, all of which had Odyssey batteries, and all were mounted in the standard location...far aft, behind the baggage compartment. None of those airplanes had battery blankets/heaters installed. I parked those airplanes outside in VERY cold temps, and cranked at temps as low as -40. Those Odyssey batteries always cranked enthusiastically, every time, cold or warm.

If you're having cold issues with an Odyssey, I'd check to make sure the battery hasn't been totally discharged and then improperly re-charged or???? Every one I've used has been MUCH better in cold than any "standard" battery. Or, that it's getting fully charged when the alternator (you do have an alternator, not a generator????) is running. I'd bet that battery isn't fully charged, or is damaged somehow.

Before we started using the Odyssey batteries, we put battery heaters on the batteries when operating in the cold. Either a battery blanket heater or one of the battery heater plates that sit under the battery. Those were wired into the engine heater plugs.

Most batteries won't take a charge when they're really cold...or at least take a charge at a very slow rate. So, getting the battery warm really helps to recharge. But, again, we quit using the battery heaters once we switched to the Odyssey. That happened when our maintenance folks installed the first one in my Husky, and forgot to put the battery heater back in. I didn't know that heater was gone, and ran all winter with it before I discovered there was no battery heat. Parked in Fort Yukon and Beaver with plane plugged in at very cold temps and always cranked well. Found out there was no battery heater and never bothered with them again on the Odyssey.

MTV

mtv wrote: .....If you're having cold issues with an Odyssey, I'd check to make sure the battery hasn't been totally discharged and then improperly re-charged or???? Every one I've used has been MUCH better in cold than any "standard" battery. Or, that it's getting fully charged when the alternator (you do have an alternator, not a generator????) is running. I'd bet that battery isn't fully charged, or is damaged somehow.
....

Another crack at generators. My last two airplanes were equipped with 50 or 70 amp alternators, my 180 has a 35 amp generator. Other than being a bit low on voltage output when idling, I don't see much difference in them and, barring any issues with it, have no plans to change. "If it aint broke, don't fix it" are usually pretty good words to live by (your wallet will thank you).

Generators are bigger & heavier than comparable alternators, true, but then again they can charge a battery even when it's been totally run down-- unlike an alternator, which needs to be "excited" before it can do it's job.

Barnstormer wrote:The inspiration for this round of mods belongs to whee and mtv. Thanks guys!

Sorry bout that Barnstormer Just getting caught up here and am enjoying this thread...love spending other people's money.

While we are talking mods for your 185 Barnstormer, did you get anywhere with the electronic ignition ideas for the io520??

NZMaule wrote:While we are talking mods for your 185 Barnstormer, did you get anywhere with the electronic ignition ideas for the io520??

As I approach 500 hours on this engine (the end of the Alaska trip) and need to yank the mags, I'll take a hard look again at this:
http://www.electroair.net/stc_ignition_kit2.html

mtv wrote:

roamak wrote:Is it courier guy with the EarthX? I just ordered the jump start antigravity tonight. Anyone have experience with them in the cold? (As in AK interior cold soaked)? Starting my 170 this afternoon with a Odyssey was much of this and finally some of this .Dont get me wrong, I really like those Odyssey batterys they have yet to leave me stranded. Will be very interesting in the coming years with the EarthX and the cold weather, cold soaked starting. Please keep us informed on the approval of this or if you have to do it after the fact. Thanks! Greg

Where is your battery mounted? Most of the 170's I've been around have a firewall mounted battery box. With that, the battery is never cold, assuming that the engine is pre-heated of course....

BUT, I flew three different Huskys in interior Alaska, all of which had Odyssey batteries, and all were mounted in the standard location...far aft, behind the baggage compartment. None of those airplanes had battery blankets/heaters installed. I parked those airplanes outside in VERY cold temps, and cranked at temps as low as -40. Those Odyssey batteries always cranked enthusiastically, every time, cold or warm.

If you're having cold issues with an Odyssey, I'd check to make sure the battery hasn't been totally discharged and then improperly re-charged or???? Every one I've used has been MUCH better in cold than any "standard" battery. Or, that it's getting fully charged when the alternator (you do have an alternator, not a generator????) is running. I'd bet that battery isn't fully charged, or is damaged somehow.

Before we started using the Odyssey batteries, we put battery heaters on the batteries when operating in the cold. Either a battery blanket heater or one of the battery heater plates that sit under the battery. Those were wired into the engine heater plugs.

Most batteries won't take a charge when they're really cold...or at least take a charge at a very slow rate. So, getting the battery warm really helps to recharge. But, again, we quit using the battery heaters once we switched to the Odyssey. That happened when our maintenance folks installed the first one in my Husky, and forgot to put the battery heater back in. I didn't know that heater was gone, and ran all winter with it before I discovered there was no battery heat. Parked in Fort Yukon and Beaver with plane plugged in at very cold temps and always cranked well. Found out there was no battery heater and never bothered with them again on the Odyssey.

MTV

Not to side track from this thread, but there is a lot more to this story than I may have let on.... -25... poor little honda 2000 had about 10 gallons of 100ll run through her with no spark plug maintenance or a tank of snow machine gas in between..... wouldn't run for crap..... very cold soaked....battled it for the whole weekend....
BUT, when I flipped the the master I had positive oil temps and CHT temps that I was ok with, sorta. So maybe not really the batteries fault, but maybe more mine instead. And after a few tries, she fired, and took a hell of a good charge while climbing from the negative 5k++ density altitude up to the 7.5k area where it started to warm up some.
MTV I have no doubt your feet have been in those bunny boots before

Barnstormer wrote:Sunny but cold. Decided to head to the hangar and install the new starter. Old one weighs 18 pounds. New M-Drive weighs 7.5 pounds. Shiny!

Let us know how that starter works out for you. My 180 has a TCM Energizer-- good starter in good shape, but heavy. Not gonna change it unless it starts giving me problems, but it's always nice to have a plan B in mind ahead of time.

Back to strut cuffs Barnstormer, any chance of a photo of the upper strut cuff installed? I take it these are the new STC'd 185 split cuffs you installed?
I'm about to order some but have an antennae plug coming out of one of my inspection panels for telemetry aerials and was wondering how much surface area the strut cuffs use up over those inspection panels compared to the rubbers, in particular the inspection panel just behind the strut.