#2 battery life 95 M20R,

[Dix3]

Two years appears to be max life for my #2 battery on 1995 M20R.  I fly every 10-14 days, always alternate between 1 & 2 battery every other trip.  Logs appear to show approx 24 mos. max life expectancy for #2, is this the norm, if not suggestions to extend battery life?  No issues with #1.

[ArtVandelay]

Disconnect it, stick an ammeter inline and see if there is a drain on the battery. Also check to make sure it’s getting fully charged (use voltmeter on the battery terminals).

P.S. you need to physically check the battery, instruments can lie, a bad connection between the battery (cable connector, relay, etc) will result in it not getting charged.

Tom

 

[Dix3]

Will do, thanks Art

 

[LANCECASPER]

Is this battery a Gill or Concorde? Gills seem to not last much longer than 2 years.

You might check your logs to see if the M20-275 Service Bulletin has ever been done. This deals with the trickle charging circuits.

https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/4147179/technical_documents/service_bulletins/sbm20-275.pdf?t=1527816535186

[carusoam]

Expect the Battery life of a Gill Battery to last approximately 2 years...

It won’t matter if you fly a couple times each week or once each month...

Have the plane outdoors or inside...

It won’t matter if you use a regular charger, or the specialized Gill charger...

I noticed this behavior when I first got my O... and had the great honor of replacing one battery every year...

With a two Battery system, that is one battery every year...

What Gill is good at... consistency.

You can count on them croaking right on time.

 

For fun, swap out the dead one for a Concorde... and get one of those fancy battery minders that is brand and type specific...

Rumor has it, you can change them out one at a time as needed...  

The wiring system of the dual battery system keeps electricity from flowing between batteries...

The Concorde Battery is listed in the POH or maintenance manual as acceptable for the O...

 

PP thoughts only, not a mechanic. I probably bought six or more Gill batteries before the financial pain got to be too large...

Go O!

-a-

[carqwik]

Two years on Gills at max for the Bravo (G243S) no matter what.  My last Concorde RG24-15s went five years before replacing, used the BatteryMinder trickle charger from time to time.  That's better than most car batteries in AZ!

[Andy95W]

Maybe swap #1 for #2 each annual?

[carusoam]

 

Andy, If that made a difference, i’d Be all over it... 

The #1 Battery is in the pilot side... it has the keep alive circuit for all the electric memory devices...

Unfortunately, internal battery drain(?) is stronger than any of the external keep alive drain,

Batteries can drain about 30% in a month if untouched... nothing notable from one side to the other...

 

So the questions for the OP, Dix....

1) What is keeping #1 alive longer...?

2) Why is #1 doing so well...?

We might be onto something...

 

PP experiments only, not a mechanic...

Best regards,

-a-

[Hank]

2 hours ago, carqwik said:

Two years on Gills at max for the Bravo (G243S) no matter what.  My last Concorde RG24-15s went five years before replacing, used the BatteryMinder trickle charger from time to time.  That's better than most car batteries in AZ!

My C is a much simpler machine. Concord #1 lasted a couple months shy of 6 years, replaced early just before a visit to the boonies with no services. Now in the midlife of Concorde #2.