Need help on charging the battery??

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DA40maker
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Re: Need help on charging the battery??

Post by DA40maker »

no need two devices, just one charger connect to the APU socket of the DA40, pull out the PWR 70A circuit breaker , turn on the Master switch, just ok . then the baterry in chargering , if you want to as a ground power push back the circuit breaker.
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Re: Need help on charging the battery??

Post by Kai »

Thanks, Liang! Welcome to DAN! Hope you like it here and we are looking forward to more helpful posts like these. :)
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Re: Need help on charging the battery??

Post by rwtucker »

Liang,

I tried your solution pulling the 70A and switching "Battery" on, connecting a 4A charger/maintainer/desulphator to the APU. Still no joy. On the other hand, your solution works perfect for my old 24 volt charger that has no sensing devices. The new precision chargers first sense battery condition before applying voltage. Mine, for example, is looking for at least 1.66 volts per cell before it will apply its charging and conditioning routines. Your solution effectively keeps the line devices from operating but it does not seem to bypass the short protection relay activated by +24 volts on the small APU pin.

In a sense, both sides of the circuit (the DA40 and the charger) are "waiting to see" at least 20 volts before they are connected.

Has anyone else found a solution short of pulling the lid and connecting directly to the battery terminals?
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Re: Need help on charging the battery??

Post by PapaSierra »

I have a 2010 XLS and just purchased a 24 V ground supply and charger (http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/e ... r24ces.php) but have had zero luck getting it to work just by connecting it to the APU connection. As there is a power switch, I tried connecting it all up before applying power (seemed the most logical) but that would not work, nor would any sequence of BAT switch, 70 Amp breaker position, or power on or off when connecting Cessna plug to plane. The yellow charging light never lit on the charger, despite the "spec" that it would work.

I do hear the EPU relay (or something else?) switching when I turn on the BAT switch. But when operating the power switch on the charger I never heard any relays change state.

Any ideas?
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Re: Need help on charging the battery??

Post by eHotAir »

Your battery is probably too low to charge with a conventional charger. If you have a Batteries Plus location, they have a charger that can charge our Concorde battery. I went through this last year when I left an over head bulb on for over a week. Mine wouldn't charge either. Batteries Plus is the cheapest charging service ever. It cost me $5. Then you will be able to trickle charge after that. Hope that helps.
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Re: Need help on charging the battery??

Post by rwtucker »

If I understood you correctly, you did pull the 70A breaker and close the BAT rocker at the same time? Nothing under that configuration? I just looked at your specs and the charger you bought is not the more typical kind that requires around 20 volts, no load, to switch on. The specs say it will start charging with as little as 4 volts, no load. That is essentially flat dead. Measure your voltage and see if you have that. Recheck your switching configuration. You may have a defective charger. Separately, 20 amps is a lot of current for our small glass mat cells. If you get that charger working and it has a lower current limit setting, I would choose it. I recommend not exceeding 4 AH for any period of time. Our batteries are significantly degraded by high charging rates and this battery is only 15 AH. A battery as dead as yours might be will draw the full 20 amps for awhile. You don't want that.
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Re: Need help on charging the battery??

Post by PapaSierra »

Sorry - I should have conveyed that my battery is fine. It is 24.6 volts and drifts down to 24.3 if I have avionics on in hanger. I shut it off at that point to have enough to start next time I fly.

The very reason I bought this particular charger (which will drop in current and trickle as needed) is the very issue of working at a low voltage.

I did try pulling the breaker, then turning on the BAT switch. I also tried it the other way.

When we were sitting a premier they rolled over a battery cart and plugged in. The avionics ame on without either the BAT switch even being on! But with my APU nothing turns on.

I guess I'll call the mfg of the unit.
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Re: Need help on charging the battery??

Post by rwtucker »

Sounds like a defective unit Papa Sierra. Could be something as simple as the cabling. Spruce might be a faster solution. Sometimes they will ship a new unit while waiting for the old one.

Anyway, it is normal for the avionics to go live if you don't pull the battery breaker and throw the battery rocker to "ON." In the latter config, you get charge w/o any drain.

On the charge rate issue, true enough that this unit will adjust charge current as battery becomes charged. Nonetheless, it is capable of throwing 20+ amps for a short period at even a modestly discharged battery. I don't know where Concorde stands on the issue (maybe another DAN member knows). Personally, I don't like throwing a net charge to the battery that exceeds its AH rating. I had a nearly new auto AGM develop a high resistance cell because of a high charge rate. Nothing to do but toss the $200 auto battery. Bottom line, though, the regulation of your new charger is probably a bunch better than the crude voltage regulators we run on these old-fashioned overpriced auto alternators.
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Re: Need help on charging the battery??

Post by PapaSierra »

Robert - just a quick reply... At Premier, when we plugged in the battery cart the avionics immediately came alive (as if I had hit the BAT switch on the panel). When I plug this charger in I get nothing. Perhaps 4 volts is truly required - so whether 4 volts or 20 volts, no volts is no volts. I'll try and get help from Spruce and the Mfr.

Thanks!
Paul Papa Sierra Shirley
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GFC700 w/VNAV, GTX33 Mode S, & Avidyne TAS600 Active Traffic
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Re: Need help on charging the battery??

Post by PapaSierra »

UPDATE: The charger/APU I purchased from Spruce was made by Schauer in Cincinnati. Model JAC2024H. Even though it requires far less voltage sense to activate (4V), nevertheless, it requires that voltage as a means of protecting polarity.

I spoke to Scott at Schauer this morning and he had an immediate fix. Remove the 4 screws that attach the bottom cover, and relocate the RED lead that comes in from the cable harness that leads to the plane (with the Cessna connector) from the spade it's currently on to a spade located just on the other side of the adjacent fuse (this new spade is oriented 90 degrees off from the first spade). That's it. This process removes the polarity sensing circuitry in their unit (so don't expect that protection!!) but it also makes this $318 EPU/charger perfect for the DA40. Also, the charging system does float once charged and the circuit is sensitive to demand amps, so I don't believe this unit will degrade the battery.

I can't wait to try it out!
Paul Papa Sierra Shirley
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WAAS, TAWS-B, SVT, Jepp ChartView, SafeTaxi,
GFC700 w/VNAV, GTX33 Mode S, & Avidyne TAS600 Active Traffic
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