battery, gascolator, throttle & mixture cables

[Ralph Baker]

Battery: The best technology available today for us homebuilders is gas recombinant, starved electrolyte. These can be mounted in any position except upside down, put out no gas or liquid and ship UPS as non hazardous. They have high cranking amps and have low self discharge. The "drawback" is that they should be charged at 14.4 volts to achieve full charge. A local RV builder has the 17 amp hour installed and it really spins his O-360. More good news is the light weight (15 #) and small size (7.3"l x 3.2"w x 6.7"h). This Odyssey PC680MJ has a metal jacket and does not require a battery box if properly supported. This sells for $99 + shipping from Batteryweb. Their website is batteryweb.com.

Gascolator: The gascolator I received from MAM is the Aircraft Spruce unit which is NOT rated for auto fuel. Your call. We went with the Andair and expect to save the cost back with fuel savings. Anyone need the leftover, contact me offline.

Cables: Vans has a bracket that mounts between the oil sump and carburetor and gets the outer cable sheath termination point off the firewall. It is US$18 and will require cables set up to terminate on the bracket via clamp nuts. Get the Van's catalog for more description.

I hope this cuts down on the head scratching and thanks to all of you who have contributed to this list and helped me.
Ralph Baker
Elite 624E (reserved)

[Walter Klatt]

Batteries have been discussed a few times in the past on this list, and I just recently switched from a 25 # Concorde to an Odessey PC625 (also 17 AH) that weighs only 13.2 #. My battery is still mounted on the firewall of my Rebel 0320 and I changed batteries at the same time as I switched to the heavier Sensenich prop. I have only used the new battery a few times now, but have noticed that it really cranks over the engine even when it is near freezing and the oil is very stiff. I would say that it has more cranking power in the cold than my old Concorde, which also was a very good battery. As said in the previous message, it can be mounted in any orientation except upside down, and does not require any venting so can be mounted inside the cabin without an enclosed box and vent tube.

I was considering moving the battery to the back of the tail, but have not noticed any difference in the flying and landing characteristics, so probably will just leave it on the firewall. A long #4 battery cable has to weigh a few pounds, too, so not sure if that is worth it. My current empty c of g is at 9.7, and was previously at 10.7. My firewall is cut back 3 inches.

Walter

-----Original Message-----
From: mike.davis@dcsol.com [mailto:mike.davis@dcsol.com]On Behalf Of Ralph Baker
Sent: Friday, January 03, 2003 9:00 AM
To: murphy-rebel@dcsol.com
Subject: battery, gascolator, throttle & mixture cables


Battery: The best technology available today for us homebuilders is gas recombinant, starved electrolyte. These can be mounted in any position except upside down, put out no gas or liquid and ship UPS as non hazardous. They have high cranking amps and have low self discharge. The "drawback" is that they should be charged at 14.4 volts to achieve full charge. A local RV builder has the 17 amp hour installed and it really spins his O-360. More good news is the light weight (15 #) and small size (7.3"l x 3.2"w x 6.7"h). This Odyssey PC680MJ has a metal jacket and does not require a battery box if properly supported. This sells for $99 + shipping from Batteryweb. Their website is batteryweb.com.

Gascolator: The gascolator I received from MAM is the Aircraft Spruce unit which is NOT rated for auto fuel. Your call. We went with the Andair and expect to save the cost back with fuel savings. Anyone need the leftover, contact me offline.

Cables: Vans has a bracket that mounts between the oil sump and carburetor and gets the outer cable sheath termination point off the firewall. It is US$18 and will require cables set up to terminate on the bracket via clamp nuts. Get the Van's catalog for more description.

I hope this cuts down on the head scratching and thanks to all of you who have contributed to this list and helped me.
Ralph Baker
Elite 624E (reserved)