best batteryminder connection port

[flumag]

has anybody used the airframe kit (http://www.batteryminders.com/batteryminder-accessory-bm-aik2-airframe-interface-kit-for-use-with-faa-certified-aircraft/) for the Batteryminder? What is the perfect installation place in Mooney? Ideally without letting the airplane unlocked or is the ground power port the best choice? 

Sorry if this was already topic somewhere in the forum but I couldn't find it. 

Thanks Hendrik

[Hank]

My battery minder is installed in its box at the store . . . . . (Sorry, couldn't help myself!) My first Concord lasted six years, now I'm on my second one (pushing 30 months now, still turning over fast enough to taxi with).

[SAMFOX]

Flumag I have been curious of the same thing, continuous removal of access panels is the annoying part of batteryminding a Mooney. I was told that the ground power port will not charge the battery and went direct to the starter...I have not verified this but would be courious if everyoneelse is under the same impression, or is it specific to voltage of the system, etc. I have a late model J- 1997, with 24v system...Ground power receptical is labled at 28v.

[Marauder]

has anybody used the airframe kit (http://www.batteryminders.com/batteryminder-accessory-bm-aik2-airframe-interface-kit-for-use-with-faa-certified-aircraft/) for the Batteryminder? What is the perfect installation place in Mooney? Ideally without letting the airplane unlocked or is the ground power port the best choice? 
Sorry if this was already topic somewhere in the forum but I couldn't find it. 
Thanks Hendrik

Hendrik - perfect timing for this question. I purchased the kit last year with the intent of installing it before winter. I got hung up on the location as well.

Most of the installations I have seen have the port sitting in the hat rack area. Like you, I would like to leave the plane locked and have the port on the outside. The only place that looks reasonable to me is the area where the step was removed. I know they show a picture of the unit next to a ground power unit connector, but that would not work if you had one because the skin would need to be modified.



Hopefully someone came up with a solution.




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

[flumag]

looks like you had a extremly similar thought process...

Skin modification doesn't seems right to me. Ideal would be a plug inlet for the ground power port that contains the Batteryminder plug and the fuse. You could leave it in for daily operations and just pull it out if you need to use the ground power. The small door in the skin would still work.  There is not a lot of space but maybe it could work. This would also work for quite some aircrafts..... I know I'm dreaming.

Hendrik

 

Edited March 10, 2018 by flumag

[takair]

Another thread with some ideas.  

[takair]

13 minutes ago, flumag said:

looks like you had a extremly similar thought process...

Skin modification doesn't seems right to me. Ideal would be a plug inlet for the ground power port that contains the Batteryminder plug and the fuse. You could leave it in for daily operations and just pull it out if you need to use the ground power. The small door in the skin would still work. This would also work for quite some aircrafts..... I know I'm dreaming.

Hendrik

Keep in mind, to use the external power adaptor, you need to engage the solenoid via the small pin.  This would likely affect the Batteryminder charge algorithm, since it would need to divert some current to keep the solenoid engaged.

[LANCECASPER]

I would like to use the airframe interface kit, but like I've read on this post so far, I can't find a place on the outside of the airplane to put it. I don't want my baggage door open with a cord going through there while my airplane is in the hangar. (I don't want little furry animals getting in there, which happened to me once many years ago since I left an unopened package of cheese and crackers in the co-pilots seat. Not only did the little guy eat the cheese and crackers, he gnawed on my leather seat.)

What I use now are is this setup so I can maintain two batteries at once. http://www.batteryminders.com/batteryminder-accessory-210-rt-smartechnology-multiple-battery-connector-w-ring-terminal-connector/. I have the cord zip-tied in place inside of the outside oxygen port door.

[Bryan]

I am facing the same thing with my new unit.  It will not charge thru the GPU port even though I have this adapter.  This adapter works great for the GPU function but need to put a port somewhere for the charge/float/desulf functions.

(single 24v battery)

[PTK]

I have my battery minder (bm) wiring permanently attached to the battery and ran to baggage compartment. It’s secured down and terminates to a plug into which the bm plugs to. I have the bm wired in series to a remote gsm switch and out to power from an extension cord through pilot window. Airplane is locked with a wire hanging out the pilot window and I have instant notification of status on my iphone. This setup has served my Concorde battery well going on 9 years now. I considered adding a little access door on the avionics bay panel but decided it wasn’t necessary.

[carusoam]

1) Using the GPU socket seems to be an unusable solution because of the safety relay... and modern voltage sensing chargers...

2) Altering The GPU by drilling a hole in it to bring the BM wires through would work, but... this would temporarily disable the ability to use the GPU... physical interference.  Won’t need the GPU if you use the BM...

3) Snaking the BM wires around the GPU socket has enough space.  But, protection of the wires from the sheetmetal edge is important.

4) The O2 door modifications pictured earlier makes a lot of sense... unfortunately, not all of us have an O2 door.

5) BM also supplies a Y for the dual battery systems.... convenience.

6) also under consideration... mounting the BM socket on the back wall of the bagaggage compartment. Worst case, brining 110v in through the pilot’s window.  This also keeps a couple hundred dollar BM in a secured location.

7) Some M20s have an air drain/vent in the floor of the baggage compartment. May be convenient for running a 110v line through...?

Hendrik, Great artwork!  Clearly depicts the idea.

PP thoughts only. Ideas that come to mind...

Best regards,

-a-

[PTK]

11 minutes ago, carusoam said:

1) Using the GPU socket seems to be an unusable solution because of the safety relay... and modern voltage sensing chargers...

2) Altering The GPU by drilling a hole in it to bring the BM wires through would work, but... this would temporarily disable the ability to use the GPU... physical interference.  Won’t need the GPU if you use the BM...

3) Snaking the BM wires around the GPU socket has enough space.  But, protection of the wires from the sheetmetal edge is important.

4) The O2 door modifications pictured earlier makes a lot of sense... unfortunately, not all of us have an O2 door.

5) BM also supplies a Y for the dual battery systems.... convenience.

6) also under consideration... mounting the BM socket on the back wall of the bagaggage compartment. Worst case, brining 110v in through the pilot’s window.  This also keeps a couple hundred dollar BM in a secured location.

7) Some M20s have an air drain/vent in the floor of the baggage compartment. May be convenient for running a 110v line through...?

 

PP thoughts only. Ideas that come to mind...

Best regards,

-a-

Anthony, why is it in your opinion worst case to bring in power through pilot window? Just curious...

[carusoam]

Peter,

Could be the meaning of ‘worst case’.  (Most challenge involved case, not the worst idea)

What I mean by it....

1) in a secure hangar, leave the baggage door open.  BM on the hat shelf, plugged into the back wall.... easy, convenient...

2) a more challenging case, Lance’s fury visitor challenge.  Power line brought in through the baggage door. Furry critters can easily enter the cabin through the open cockpit door...

3) the worst case, or most challenging case,  considering a non-secured hangar... the worst case available requires getting a 110v line into the closed-up plane... this keeps the BM itself locked in the plane. (Not the worst idea, not a bad idea at all, from a PP point of view...) Use the pilots window...

Now picture Lance’s critters walking up the 110v line entering the pilot’s window...  they make Dcon for that...

 

Did I clear things up, or make it muddier? 

Best regards,

-a-

 

[milotron]

I hard wired a very short 120V extension cord through one of the blanked off radio blast cooling ports on top of the copilot side NACA duct. The plug is inside the duct and leaves the receptacle end ty-rapped under the copilot area to plug in my heater and dehumidifier. I tie down outside and it stays bone dry ( and warm ) inside with all the doors and windows closed tight, even in the rainforest of the pacific northwest.

Maybe a similar idea for the battery minder connections?

 

iain

[LANCECASPER]

8 hours ago, carusoam said:

 

4) The O2 door modifications pictured earlier makes a lot of sense... unfortunately, not all of us have an O2 door.

 

On one Mooney I had I was able to use the standard black batteryminder plug and zip tie it in the GPU door - it worked OK without blocking the GPU plug in case I ever needed to use that.

[larryb]

I use a molex plug wired to the battery with an in line fuse.

 

 

 

[carusoam]

Great photo, Larry!

That illustrates the concern for rubbing on the sheet metal... there is plenty of space, and the wires a well insulated.

Would make an easy Pre-flight step to make sure nothing has changed..?

Best regards,

-a-

[bradp]

Wonder if you could modify the frame of the ground power receptacle to bring the wire through the top to avoid the sheet metal rubbing... if you make a little collar or slot could put a molex plug adjacent to the relay pin (small one) without actually touching / hitting it.   Grommet the entry point for the wire to avoid fraying the insulator.  Then the door could be opened / closed with two plug functions and no wires hanging out.   Wish I had a pad and paper handy. 

[Steve W]

I would think you could use the GPU port with a secondary power source to activate the relay and let the battery minder just hook to the power pins. But I haven't seen a good schematic to know if this would work and I'm not sure if the relay/solenoid is specified for continuous operation. (On the Cessnas I know this is a bad idea since the GPU port bypasses the master and powers the whole aircraft.)

[bradp]

Does the sensing circuit on the battery minder gets "messed up" by the presence of the relay? 

Sorry for the lay terms...

[carusoam]

The safety relay got in the way of my other smart chargers... the smart charger needed to see voltage before it would supply voltage...

I didn’t bother trying with the BM.

The relay is intended for some continuous use, but leaving it connected for days, doesn’t sound like a wise idea.  Sounds more like an expensive idea...

My BM does conditioning for a few days sometimes...

Removing the safety relay would be a possibility.  But, the day after the safety device gets removed... (fill in minor disaster of choice here) 

Best regards,

-a-

[laytonl]

I did mine thru the charging port too.  I have the wire well protected from potential metal cuts.  Lee

[jaylw314]

On 3/15/2018 at 8:15 PM, bradp said:

Wonder if you could modify the frame of the ground power receptacle to bring the wire through the top to avoid the sheet metal rubbing... if you make a little collar or slot could put a molex plug adjacent to the relay pin (small one) without actually touching / hitting it.   Grommet the entry point for the wire to avoid fraying the insulator.  Then the door could be opened / closed with two plug functions and no wires hanging out.   Wish I had a pad and paper handy. 

Or you could just buy this edge grommet for the door and put it on while charging, and take it off when you close the door

[larryb]

Or you could just buy this edge grommet for the door and put it on while charging, and take it off when you close the door

Have you ever worked with that product? It works well but is hard to put on and hard to get off and will scratch the paint. It is more of a permanent thing. The spiral wrap I use or the braid Layton used is a much easier solution. I have not seen any degradation.

[Bryan]

UPDATE: In my earlier post, I say that I could not use the GPU port with the big batteryminder charger. I found (accidentally) a way it works.

I power on the (28252-AA) charger I can start it in GPU mode or charge mode. You can also easily switch modes, but I found when starting in GPU mode (power supply mode) it flips the relay over (click sound) when powering the plane and then allows you to go into charge/maintain mode to maintain my battery by switching back to battery. Voltage and battery conditioning works fine thru the relay. I might still make a direct connection to the battery but I am disputing my first comment about “you cannot do this from the GPU port” because you can.