Battery Minder Interface Installation

[carusoam]

14 hours ago, Shadrach said:

Did you happen to ask the good tech guy about the standard alligator clamps that come stock with the battery minder? Do those also use fluoropolymer? You obviously wouldn’t want to use those clamps if the harness was not fabricated from Aviation grade materials. You think battery minder is running two separate manufacturing lines for the wire leads coming off the battery minder yet they only sell aviation ring harnesses as a collection of radio shack parts?

A circuit is only as good as it’s weakest component. Every single one of these aviation set ups utilizes standard automotive components from plug at the plane to the electrical socket providing the current. 
 

I understand why people are doing this from a perceived regulatory standpoint. However the statements regarding “approval”, quality, safety etc…remain unsupported by anything regulatory or logical for that matter. 
 

This is not about me being a CB. This is about a culture in our community that excepts statements like the ones made by Batter Minder as official without any supporting documentation.  If enough Pilots, mechanics and FSDO employees read and accept statements like these, they are legitimized by groupthink with no actual regulatory basis for their legitimacy. 
 

 

 

The discussion was focussed on what stayed mounted in the plane…

So the hardware that was the battery charger in a temporary set-up was not discussed…

 

In the end… I bought the Y wiring, years ago… and have yet to get it installed…

Too much wondering how well the system works with dissimilar batteries…

My #1 battery sees the most drainage… it has the hot circuit that keeps memory alive for everything… and can significantly drain if the plane doesn’t move for a month…

Sooo… even a pair of new batteries become somewhat dissimilar over time…

Best regards,

-a-

[Shadrach]

6 hours ago, carusoam said:

The discussion was focussed on what stayed mounted in the plane…

So the hardware that was the battery charger in a temporary set-up was not discussed…

 

Indeed. I’d say it’s the only way maintain a credible argument given that when the system is in use, 90% of the components are standard off the shelf Battery Minder stock.

[MisfitSELF]

On 7/26/2022 at 11:00 AM, GeeBee said:

I can tell you my IA will down your annual if he finds an unapproved Battery Minder installation. 

 

Here is mine by the way

 

Of the pictures I've seen, this installation is the one I like the best.  Can you provide me the info on the brackets, back plates, and covers you used?

[MisfitSELF]

OP here.  I went ahead and purchased the 0.08 AMU kit from Aircraft Spruce about a month or so ago and then I got to talking to my avionics guy about how to approach the installation.  I showed him pictures from  this site and the example installations from Spruce's website.  Well we got to talking while looking over my airplane and one thing led to another...

Two days later...
 

[M20F-1968]

The connectors Battery Minder is using are much bigger than necessary.  The website https://powerwerx.com/

has these connectors and and smaller ones as well.  The PP15 connectors should be able to be stowed into the standard sized external power plug receptacle without needed an oversized door as pictured here.  

16 gauge milspec wire can be used, 10 amp fuse, and a connecting cable can be fashioned from aircraft quality parts.  I do not see that the in-line fuse that Battery Minder includes is milspec wiring.  

The PP15 connector is 0.31" wide.  Will that fit inside the external power plug box in the typical Cessna style power plug that we have in our airframes?

John Breda

 

[PT20J]

The GPU door on my ‘94 J isn’t big enough for any extra connector. I suspect that the connector supplied with the kit was chosen because it has holes allowing it to be secured by screws to the airframe. The PP15 would be fine electrically, but is designed for wire-to-wire or wire-to-PCB connections.

Skip

[MisfitSELF]

2 hours ago, PT20J said:

The GPU door on my ‘94 J isn’t big enough for any extra connector. I suspect that the connector supplied with the kit was chosen because it has holes allowing it to be secured by screws to the airframe. The PP15 would be fine electrically, but is designed for wire-to-wire or wire-to-PCB connections.

Skip

Same for my '84J.  That's why I had the door and hole enlarged.  Not sure how John Berda above thinks another connecter could be fit into the stock door even if it were smaller.  The stock external GPU plug takes up nearly the entire area of the stock GPU door.

 

[EricJ]

10 minutes ago, MisfitSELF said:

Same for my '84J.  That's why I had the door and hole enlarged.  Not sure how John Berda above thinks another connecter could be fit into the stock door even if it were smaller.  The stock external GPU plug takes up nearly the entire area of the stock GPU door.

 

DId he make that door and doubler or did he buy that somewhere?

[PT20J]

28 minutes ago, MisfitSELF said:

Same for my '84J.  That's why I had the door and hole enlarged.  Not sure how John Berda above thinks another connecter could be fit into the stock door even if it were smaller.  The stock external GPU plug takes up nearly the entire area of the stock GPU door.

 

Ah, I didn’t notice the new rivets at first. Where did he get the door?

[MisfitSELF]

9 minutes ago, PT20J said:

Ah, I didn’t notice the new rivets at first. Where did he get the door?

The avionics shop I go to has a "sheet metal guy" who removed the door and drilled out the back plate and remade a new door using the existing spring mechanism.  They even did the crease for where you use your fingernail to open the door by using a vice to pinch it against other blocks of aluminum.  The work looks like "factory Mooney" but larger.

The paint is a bit off, but I told them up front that wasn't very important as my bird needs a repaint sometime in the future.  Here's some of the "sausage making"

[EricJ]

2 minutes ago, MisfitSELF said:

The avionics shop I go to has a "sheet metal guy" who removed the door and drilled out the back plate and remade a new door using the existing spring mechanism.  They even did the crease for where you use your fingernail to open the door by using a vice to pinch it against other blocks of aluminum.  The work looks like "factory Mooney" but larger.

The paint is a bit off, but I told them up front that wasn't very important as my bird needs a repaint sometime in the future.  Here's some of the "sausage making"

That's very nicely done and a good solution.   

[MisfitSELF]

On 8/20/2022 at 4:10 PM, M20F-1968 said:

The connectors Battery Minder is using are much bigger than necessary.  The website https://powerwerx.com/

has these connectors and and smaller ones as well.  The PP15 connectors should be able to be stowed into the standard sized external power plug receptacle without needed an oversized door as pictured here.  

16 gauge milspec wire can be used, 10 amp fuse, and a connecting cable can be fashioned from aircraft quality parts.  I do not see that the in-line fuse that Battery Minder includes is milspec wiring.  

The PP15 connector is 0.31" wide.  Will that fit inside the external power plug box in the typical Cessna style power plug that we have in our airframes?

John Breda

 

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/audioathaik.php?clickkey=8962

It says it's "Mil spec" wiring -- do you think they wouldn't use the same wire for the in-line fuse?  It looked like the same wire to me.  And, no, another connector couldn't fit in the stock GPU door opening and still give you the same accessibility for a 1984 M20J.

Edited August 23, 2022 by MisfitSELF
Edit for mispellings

[PT20J]

Amazing what a good sheet metal guy can do!

[M20F-1968]

I did some hoMework of this.   The Anderson SB50 connector is too big to stow away inside the standard external power plug.  They do however make a PP15 connector.   It can be be seen here:   https://powerwerx.com/anderson-powerpole-colored-housings

Its height and width are 0.31" and can be purchased in permanently bonded pairs.  I bought some of these and they will fit inside the standard external power plug.  They can be purchased for plugs which will accept 16 Gauge Milspec wire.  They sell an inline fuse but the wire connectors are huge.  I am working on an alternative inline fuse.  The $75.00 "aviation kit" sold by Battery Minder I find have connectors are much too big and expensive the kit is too expensive.  The PP15 connectors look to be a good alternative when coupled with Milspec wire.  16 Gauge at first glance seems acceptable.

John Breda 

[bradp]

On 7/25/2022 at 11:40 PM, Marauder said:

Here is what mine looks like:




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@Marauderi like that tweed carpet.  Where’d you get it?

[Marauder]

[mention=9886]Marauder[/mention]i like that tweed carpet.  Where’d you get it?

Actually it is not a carpet. It is a fabric that is glued onto the panels. Came from Douglas Interior Products, Bellevue, WA. Item number 5586.

https://douglassinteriorproducts.com/?s=5586


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[Marauder]

Better view of it. And if you are interested in it, let me know. I think I still have a lot of it on the roll that I haven’t used since it was installed.


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[65MooneyPilot]

I have a question, is the temp sensor circuit in the kit? 

[EricJ]

1 hour ago, 65MooneyPilot said:

I have a question, is the temp sensor circuit in the kit? 

AFAIK the only temp sensor is in the charger for ambient temp.

[Marauder]

As Eric stated, the kit doesn’t contain the temp sensor. It’s on the charger.




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[65MooneyPilot]

Thanks for the response, I talked to tech support at Battery Minder today about the temp sensor. My unit is an older model and the temp sensor went to the battery lug. He told me that the sensor needs to be in the same temp environment as the battery. 
I will be ordering the kit soon.