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Thread: Simple External Battery Connector Needed

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Apr 2014
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    Simple External Battery Connector Needed

    Hi all,

    I need a recommendation on an external battery connector:

    I own an RV-8 and the battery is located aft of the aft baggage compartment behind a bulkhead. There's an access door that allows me to attach charger clamps to the battery, if I need to recharge the battery from a charger. The door is held on by 5 screws and you have to remove the back seat to get at the door so it's a colossal pain.

    What I'd like to do is attach a connector to the battery, run it forward and mount it to some convenient side bulkhead.

    I've watched the EAA video "Alternate Power Source" where the fellow uses a simple outdoor extension cord to do this. He cuts the cord in two, crimps on some ring terminals and attaches that end to the battery. Then he solders two large alligator clamps to the other cut end and attaches that to his battery charger.

    To use it, he plugs the male end of the extension cord into the female end which is inside the airplane.

    It's a decent solution, and certainly inexpensive but I'd really rather mount a connector onto an interior bulkhead - ideally with a spring return door.

    Can anyone suggest a connector I could use to do the job?

    Thanks.
    Last edited by Saville; 11-14-2016 at 06:35 PM.

  2. #2

    Join Date
    Oct 2014
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    Tehachapi, CA
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    Quote Originally Posted by Saville View Post
    I need a recommendation on an external battery connector:
    Get:

    https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catal.../piperplug.php

    and:

    https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catal.../pipersock.php

    and hook it up per:

    http://www.aeroelectric.com/articles/grndpwr.pdf

  3. #3

    Join Date
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    New Hampshire
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    For what its worth, that's way more work than needed today. If you just want to charge the battery or run your radios on ground power. One of these

    http://www.bestboatwire.com/anderson-sb50-10-12-awg-red

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    Is much easier to install.

    Best of luck,

    Wes
    N78PS

  4. #4
    DaleB's Avatar
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    Another vote for Powerpoles... although you could use much smaller ones for your plane, like 15 or 30 Amp. You're not going to use it to jump start, right? Just charge.

    For that matter, a dirt cheap automotive 2-wire connector would work fine, and some chargers even come with the matching connectors. The PowerPoles can be mounted in a little panel if you really feel like fabricating something. The cheaper one could just be fed through the bulkhead with a grommet, and the plug held in place with a little strip of Velcro.
    Measure twice, cut once...
    scratch head, shrug, shim to fit.

    Flying an RV-12. I am building a Fisher Celebrity, slowly.

  5. #5

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    Battery charging. Like, trickle charging? Not jump-starting.

    Wire in a cigarette lighter connected through a fuse directly from the battery, not through the master switch. Mount it where it's convenient to power your handheld radio or usb converter or whatever else you'd normally plug into your cigarette lighter. Yeah, I know, cigarette lighters are so old school, but some stuff still plugs into them. Like the plug from a battery charger.

    https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2FACE.imageg.net%2Fgraphics%2Fproduc t_images%2FpACE3-9510419enh-z7.jpg&f=1

    https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=...378_ts.jpg&f=1
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  6. #6
    FlyingRon's Avatar
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    If you're just connecting a battery tenderizer then a cable like the one shown in the previous post works fine. I've got those little things dangling out of all sorts of things around here (golf cart, lawn mower, infrequently used pickup truck, airplane). If you want to do a higher rate of charge or even to something that is going to allow you to "jump start" the plane, then you're going to need to go to a larger connector such as the traditional aircraft APU plugs.

    Note the latter usually are connected after the battery contactor in planes so they aren't particularly useful for "charging" purposes (and if your battery is totally flat, jumpstarting it won't close the contactor and allow you to charge the battery with the alternator).

    Note, that it's technically against most electrical codes to charge aircraft batteries in situ inside hangers.

  7. #7
    X3 for Andersen Powerpoles. Ensure you add an in-line fuse near the battery.

  8. #8
    Puertoricoflyer's Avatar
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    FWIW: I cut the plug off this 150W DC to AC power inverter and connected it directly to the battery via a 10A fuse. Then I permanently installed it behind the seats for easy access even while in flight.

    I then took the plug and made a connection cable that attaches to my battery charger. When I want to charge the battery I connect the cable/plug to the 12v power port on the inverter. The 12v power port works without having to turn the switch on/off so it is about as fool proof as you can get. Besides being able to easily "trickle charge" the battery up to 10A, it provides a 12v DC power port, three 120v AC outlets for small devices and has a 5v USB charger all without having to turn the master switch on. The best part is that it looks very professional.

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    Last edited by Puertoricoflyer; 11-14-2016 at 01:05 PM.
    Galin
    KIS4 - N819PR
    CP, ASEL, AMEL, IR
    http://www.puertoricoflyer.com

  9. #9

    Join Date
    Apr 2014
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    55
    Thanks for all the ideas.


    Yes this installation is only to connect the battery charger to the battery. Not interested in making a connection for jump starting.

    But I would like to have a connector that can be fastened to the airplane and not flop around while I'm doing acro.

  10. #10
    rwanttaja's Avatar
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    My airplane has a standard AC wall socket as a battery charging port (a 220V socket, with one blade turned sideways). I've got an adaptor using a matching plug to connect to the external charger.

    This could be mounted flush to the skin, though best to use an offbeat socket like mine so folks don't try to recharge their phones at fly-ins.

    However, it would be prone to pick up dirt and grease. I've got an unwired plug sticking in mine to keep the crud out. It's the round part at the top of this picture. The socket is surrounded by a rubber grommet, with the blank plug sticking out in the middle.



    Ron Wanttaja

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