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I've been using RG batteries since 1993 in my Lake Amphibian and since 1995
in my Lancair and find that they have better cranking power (lower internal
resistance), last almost a s long, are smaller and lighter, and cost lots
more as compared to the standard lead acid. The RG was a particular
blessing for my Lake which was suffereing from constant lead/acid battery
induced corrosion.
There are differences between the standard lead/acid and a RG however. The
last time I checked, caution must be exercised to prevent over charging
these batteries and a RG specific charger is recommended with over voltage
protection. Over voltage/charging a RG battery resulted in an explosion on a Lancair
320 several years ago and was reported in the LNN. It was speculated that
the over voltage produced hydrogen gas (the recombine part of the RG
apparently does not work at high charging voltages) which was ignited when
the master relay was opened in response to the over voltage. The master
relay was located next to the battery. Both the battery compartment behind
the seat and master relay were blown apart. George had to deal with
smoke/fumes in the cockpit in addition to the loss of nearly all electrics.
B&C provides both the proper charging and over voltage protection in a
single box which has served me well to date. The above incident also had some other interesting features. Both mags
were electronic. Although there were two separate batteries, both shared
the single common charging source. It was lucky that common components
shared by both batteries failed in such a manner that the electronic
ignition system didn't also fail as the over voltage and explosion occured.
But, as it turned out, the backup battery dedicated to the right electronic
ignition system tried to power the entire aircraft electrical system
through the failed isolation diode common to the aircrafts single charging
system. Good thing that George decided to just "Fly the Airplane" and land
ASAP.
Now that would have been interesting, smoke/fumes in the cockpit, no
electrics, no navigation/communications and an engine stoppage. Now throw
in night IFR and --- WOW! Jim Frantz
Lancair Network News
LML homepage: http://www.olsusa.com/Users/Mkaye/maillist.html
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