-Gary dunfee is a mobile = x-ray tech and=20 eaa member. the batteries he uses come in matched sets. when = one=20 goes "bad" (performance drops) the whole batch gets replaced. Gary = gives=20 us these batteries. he claims they are the highest quality made, = exceeding=20 the odyssey batteries. they are a bit heavier because of the additional = plates=20 inside. my hangar mate has at least three years and maybe 500hrs = on=20 his.

I recently put a fresh one in = my=20 plane. I flew it an hour and it worked fine. I was amazed at = how=20 fast the prop turned over, indicating how old the prior battery had=20 gotten. the battery had been sitting on the shelf a year maybe = before I=20 installed it. it showed about 11 1/2 volts then.

I flew to Camarillo last = week. =20 about 20 miles from crater lake, smack in the middle of the cascade = mountains, I=20 noticed my egt's shooting up 100 degrees. I pushed the mixture to = full=20 rich, but that only slowed rate. I pulled some power and got = them to=20 start back down. I realized my rose ignition had tripped. = also I had=20 not shut off my strobe and wigwag lights. my volt meter showed 8=20 volts. I figured I had lost my alternator. I shut down=20 everything. I had just been dropped by flight following because of = radar=20 coverage. my wife was very calm! I was flying the t-craft = version of=20 the rv, no electrical system. I even shut off my gps since it had = switched=20 to its battery. Klamath falls was less than 30 minutes. then = I=20 noticed my voltage was up to 10 volts. interesting. I = decided to=20 shoot for Carson city and save my 8500' of altitude. a bit later I = saw 11=20 1/2 volts. thank god I kept the altitude. at one point Ellen = say=20 "there's an airport below us". yeah, RNO, ceiling 8400'. so = much for=20 my off and on gps technique. voltage was showing 13 1/2 volts = now. I=20 tried turning things back on, and there seemed to be no problems. = we got=20 gas at Carson city, lunch at minde, and flew to Camarillo, no = problems. I=20 wasn't able to talk with anyone about this and flew back, 6 hrs, with no = problems, 13 1/2 volts the whole time.

so, is it possible the = battery had a=20 charge that wore off and then went into some deep charge mode, = overloading my=20 little nippondenso alternator? the most amps I ever saw was 20 = while it=20 was trying to get back to the 13 volt mark. maybe leaving my = lights on was=20 too much? has this problem fixed itself, or do I need to pull the=20 alternator and battery to have them tested? I used to pretty much = ignore=20 the volt meter while flying. not anymore.