Battery Minder Connector

[0TreeLemur]

This connector on my battery minder is getting hot.  As the photo shows, hot enough to deform the plastic.  Anyone else had this happen?   Clean or replace with a different connector?

Thx,

Fred

 

[PeteMc]

That's the connector that came (new) with the battery minder?  And are you sure it is operating properly and not pulling WAY more current than it should?

 

[GeeBee]

Which side is getting hot? The charger side or the battery side?

[0TreeLemur]

52 minutes ago, GeeBee said:

Which side is getting hot? The charger side or the battery side?

Both are getting hot.  In the photo above, the charger is on the left, and the connector to the battery on the right.  Looking at the degree of melting, I might be convinced that the battery-side is getting hotter?

 

[0TreeLemur]

6 hours ago, PeteMc said:

That's the connector that came (new) with the battery minder?  And are you sure it is operating properly and not pulling WAY more current than it should?

 

Yes- original connectors.   I have to believe that for what it cost, the designer of the Battery Minder built in a high quality current limiting capability with internal fault detection.  Just the connector is hot.  The wire is not getting hot. 

It seems that high resistance in the connector is the most likely explanation.

[GeeBee]

10 minutes ago, 0TreeLemur said:

It seems that high resistance in the connector is the most likely explanation.

I would agree. 

[LANCECASPER]

Are you leaving it hooked up while practicing with avionics and doing updates? That connector probably isn't designed to handle that much draw. The Minder is just a trickle charger . .  maybe 2 amps. If yours is a 12v aircraft that could be quite a few amps.  Or if your alternator isn't keeping up and you shut down with a low battery and it has to top it off, maybe that's it.

Also is your Battery Minder matched to your battery? Example: If it's a Concorde battery is it a -S5 Battery Minder. If not, for $75 they will revise yours to match the brand of battery you are using. 

If you are using the Battery Minder OEM cord going to the battery there should be an in-line fuse. I would hope that would have blown before it got that hot.

I've never used mine for avionics but if I did I'd probably make up one with heavier gauge wire even than what they show in the video and Anderson SB-50 connectors. 

 

https://www.batteryminders.com/batteryminder-accessory-bm-aik2a-airframe-interface-kit-for-use-with-faa-certified-aircraft/

[0TreeLemur]

17 minutes ago, LANCECASPER said:

Are you leaving it hooked up while practicing with avionics and doing updates?

Yep- I've been using it while troubleshooting some ADS-B in issues in the hangar.

My J has the quick-connect ("Audio Authority" as the man in the video calls it) shown in the video installed.  That's the connector on the right-side of the photo in the OP.

My hypothesis is that the problem stems from the aluminum connector with high internal resistance. 

 

[Fly Boomer]

9 hours ago, 0TreeLemur said:

This connector on my battery minder is getting hot.  As the photo shows, hot enough to deform the plastic.  Anyone else had this happen?   Clean or replace with a different connector?

I would email techsupport@vdcelectronics.com or call 800-379-5579 x206.

If memory serves, the AA-S5 is only supposed to pull a couple of amps max.  That connector looks like it has been subjected to more.  I tried to resurrect a seriously dead battery with my BatteryMINDer, but never saw anything like what you have.

[0TreeLemur]

1 hour ago, Fly Boomer said:

I would email techsupport@vdcelectronics.com or call 800-379-5579 x206.

If memory serves, the AA-S5 is only supposed to pull a couple of amps max.  That connector looks like it has been subjected to more.  I tried to resurrect a seriously dead battery with my BatteryMINDer, but never saw anything like what you have.

Thanks.  I e-mailed them.

[A64Pilot]

How many amps is the thing rated at?

If 2 amps then 2x14= 28watts, that’s enough to get that connector hot, I bet one of the female ends is bent and loose, but I think what your seeing is a symptom not the problem, the problem is that your pulling max amps over an extended period of time, which unless your battery is discharged every time you plug it in you shouldn’t be, or as others have said your using a lot of battery when the engine isn’t running.

Now that I think about it a loose connector could cause you to pull amps that aren’t getting to the battery, I think the connector got wiggled excessively or maybe even came loose from the beginning. You can replace them with a model airplane Deans connector or something that’s higher quality.

The purpose of the fuse is to protect from the pig tail shorting and the battery causing a fire, the fuse rating is higher than the chargers capacity so the charger can’t blow the fuse.

The fuse is why I don’t get concerned about the vinyl wire not meeting FAR specs.

[0TreeLemur]

On 2/12/2024 at 9:26 AM, Fly Boomer said:

I would email techsupport@vdcelectronics.com or call 800-379-5579 x206.

If memory serves, the AA-S5 is only supposed to pull a couple of amps max.  That connector looks like it has been subjected to more.  I tried to resurrect a seriously dead battery with my BatteryMINDer, but never saw anything like what you have.

I'd think that a high-quality battery charger would include a robust current limiter circuit and protection if it were to fail to keep from starting a hangar fire.   For that reason, I seriously doubt that this problem results from over-current.   It seems more likely poor contact in the connector.  

In regards to what @LANCECASPER wrote, it is the Concorde battery version.  The label says 12V 8A.  In fact, I own two of these.  One has the regular-old clip-on battery connectors and it includes a 15A fuse.   The other one, which came with our M20J, has the "Audio Authority" connector that plugs into the aircraft.  It seems to have no fuse, but maybe there is one in the connector that I don't know about.  The black end of the "Audio Authority" connector shown in the original photo in this post is the one that has partially melted.   Yeah, I could swap out the chargers and see if the connector gets hot, but I don't want to do that.  I like the look of the Anderson SB50 connectors.

I contacted the company mid-week as suggested by @Fly Boomer, but as of now, no response. 

[Fly Boomer]

13 minutes ago, 0TreeLemur said:

I contacted the company mid-week as suggested by @Fly Boomer, but as of now, no response.

Disappointing.

[0TreeLemur]

7 minutes ago, Fly Boomer said:

Disappointing.

Agree.

[takair]

I would lean toward defective connector….could be a failing crimp internal to it.  I think Autozone has them in their battery charging section…

[0TreeLemur]

While I'm waiting on new connectors, today I hit them with a little fine sand paper, plus contact cleaner & scotchbrite.    Plugged them in as firmly as possible and taped the connectors together so they wouldn't slip.   They still got warm.  Not has hot as before.   New connectors will do the trick, I think.