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What killed this PC680?

Sure does sound complicated....why not just fly the battery?

Do the owners of the thousands of motorcycles and watercraft that use this battery obsess over this stuff? ;)

Sam,

Your absolutely correct...

This procedure is for an Odyssey battery that is already failed (with this failure mode) not for one that is working good.

I plan to follow your's and other advice in this thread for the new one (fly it and not use the charger full time) and see how it goes. Hopefully the new one never needs this procedure.

There is one caveat to my particular situation and that is that I spend more than the average amount of time on the ground without the engine running with the panel fired up. It is the nature of being a techno geek. I will have to use the charger often in order to replenish what I drain out during ground ops of the panel.
 
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One more data point. I decided to replace my heavy Concord 25 battery with the PC-680, I kept it plugged into a battery Tender when on the ground, after 9 months it was done, I replaced it with a new PC-680 and never plugged it on to a charger, after 9 months it was done, I though I?ll try it one more time, I bought a new PC-680 and a new Odyssey 6A charger and kept it plugged into the Odyssey charger, after about 11 months it was starting to seem weak, after reading this thread I ran it down with the landing lights to 10 volts and recharged, I did this twice and it cranks like new again. I bet I have two good PC-680s sitting on the bench that just need rejuvenating.

The landing lights get a little on the warm side running them on the ground, Is it ok to fly with the alternator shut off? Fly to lunch and return with the alternator shut off to run the battery down once in a while? What do you guys think of that idea?
 
Russ,

Looks like you and I have had similar results.

I was also able to revive the first battery that I replaced back in the fall of last year. It had been sitting on a bench since then. I ran it down per the directions given to me from Odyssey and charged it up about 10 times with the 6 amp Ultimizer and it seems good enough to be used again. Should make a good lawnmower battery or one to plug into the airplane for ground ops. Not sure I would trust it for use on the airplane since I have a new one now.

Each time I would run it down and recharge, it would take longer and longer to complete the cycle.

PS...the Odyssey has a 2 year non-prorated warranty!
 
Brian,
What voltage do you have your aircraft regulator set to? When I spoke with the Odyssy tech rep, he told me that a charge rate of 14.6 volts was ideal. This unfortunately, is a lot higher than the preset voltage regulators on the plane power and various other alternators with a built in regulator. My normal alt output "running" voltage is around 14.5 volts, and thus far have not had any issues with my 680 or 925.
 
I too have the PP alt. using the Vertical Power system. I used a #20 gauge wire to from the VPX to the field to cause a voltage drop which increases the output voltage of the alt. That way I maintain at least a 14.5 volt output. The higher voltage will not bother any of the avionics.
 
My aversion to keeping a battery on long term charge comes from 50 years of real world experience with batteries in cars, motorcycles, boats, and planes. Not to mention R/C stuff.

While it is impossible to both charge occasionally as needed a battery, and also continuously charge the same battery, and thus determine positively which works best, I have tried each with batteries of the same type/usage/manufacture etc. And in my experience, the batteries that have been on long term continuous charge do not last as long.

I have only my opinion as to why, no training or engineering degree etc. but I am suspecting that the batteries just slowly cook themselves to death if left on charge too long------even the "trickle" chargers. I used to keep a trickle charger on the battery in my standby generator so it would always be ready to start if the power went out------and every winter when I checked the generator prior to the weather turning bad, the battery was gone. Good thing I had a warranty on them. Finally after 3 or 4 years of this, the guy at the NAPA store told me to stop with the 24/7 trickle charges, and only give it an overnight trickle charge every month or so. The last battery I treated this way lasted 4 years until I sold the house.

YMMV as they say..........

I have been connecting my plane to a trickle charger that is made for small batteries and I believe shuts itself when the battery is at full charge. I have been using it for the last 4+ years and the battery has not degraded any (that I can tell) since day one.
 
One more data point. I decided to replace my heavy Concord 25 battery with the PC-680, I kept it plugged into a battery Tender when on the ground, after 9 months it was done, I replaced it with a new PC-680 and never plugged it on to a charger, after 9 months it was done, I though I’ll try it one more time, I bought a new PC-680 and a new Odyssey 6A charger and kept it plugged into the Odyssey charger, after about 11 months it was starting to seem weak, after reading this thread I ran it down with the landing lights to 10 volts and recharged, I did this twice and it cranks like new again.

I am on my second weak 680 in two years. My GRT has a keep alive circuit. I have to use the 12A Odyssey charger before every flight where the plane sits for 3 weeks. I do not leave it connected continuously. I will try to rejuvenate them. There is something wrong with Odyssey when my farm tractor can sit for two months and crank right up with a std automotive battery that cost half as much.

Looking around the net on car racing/motorcycle/other aircraft forums it seems most problems with these batteries have been occuring in the last two years. Cars, motorcycles and airplanes have not changed. If the battery business is like most now, profits are more important than quality.
 
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It is an epidemic...

What a timely series of posts. This AM my PC680 refused to start my IO-390. I?d get about two blades then the solenoid would start its death rattle. The battery was purchased in March of this year. It was on the recommended Odyssey Ultimizer charger all last night. We put a multi-meter on the battery then engaged the starter. Although it showed a full charge it dropped to 7.1 volts. Took the battery AutoZone and asked them to check it out. They said the battery was perfect. Well perfect it ain?t. I, like some others in this post had an old PC680 and it spun my engine like a new battery.

Called Battery Mart in Winchester, VA and they told me ?well these batteries are for ATV?s and the like not aircraft.? I explained that a battery does not possess sentience in that it is not aware of its surroundings. It just needs to be treated with electrical respect. One thing I?ve learned from this is to buy your battery locally to avoid the UPS/FEDEX shuffle.

As an aside they did give me an RMA but said the shipping is on me.
 
If they give you any trouble call Odyssey direct. They were very responsive. They even have a Facebook page and they monitor it.

They had absolutely no issues with the battery being used on an experimental aircraft. They were aware that Van's actually designed it into some of the models.

It is marketed as a Motorsports battery. My airplane has a motor and it is a sport plane so that makes it OK to me!

By the way, you might want to try the rejuvenation procedure before sending it in. Most likely this will fix it!
 
I too have the PP alt. using the Vertical Power system. I used a #20 gauge wire to from the VPX to the field to cause a voltage drop which increases the output voltage of the alt. That way I maintain at least a 14.5 volt output. The higher voltage will not bother any of the avionics.

The field terminal of the PP alternator is strickly an enable/disable input, varying the voltage on it will have no effect on alternator voltage output.

Most externally regulated alternators have a 'sense' input which does control voltage output.
 
Maybe it was my fault...

By the way, you might want to try the rejuvenation procedure before sending it in. Most likely this will fix it!

I'm going to do just that Brian. I talked with Bill Bainbridge (of B&C) a few minutes ago about this issue. Even though I didn't buy my batt from him he, as is typical of him, spent time with me. Here's a summary of what he said:
He has sold "thousands of Odyssey batts" and thinks they are nearly perfect.
He performs a load test on them before shipping and has never seen a bad one.
He asked me about the connections saying that the ring terminal to batt terminal is critical as I told him that I may have had the charger ring terminals positioned between the #2 wire ring terminal and the batt. That, he replied, is not good. He also added that stainless machine screws/bolts screwed into the tapped receptacle are lousy conductors.

Don
 
Oversized lightening holes in battery jacket

So what killed these batteries that are suppose to have a long life cycle?

Brian, An Odyssey battery distributor once told me that lack of metal jacket support can cause the Odyssey PC680 to fail prematurely. He suggested that many RV builders are cutting such large "lightening holes" in their battery cases that the battery lacks sufficient metal wall support. He said that when the battery heats up under rapid recharge in the high heat aircraft firewall forward environment the plastic walls can get soft and move outwards fractionally if they are not adequately supported, which can damage the battery internals.

The Vans RV firewall forward kit comes with a battery holder that is actually just a stock Odyssey PC680 metal jacket. The distributor says that metal jacket is an integral and necessary component of the battery for high heat environments but that RV builders are often modifying them by cutting out most of the front wall. I thought his comments were interesting and that I would pass them on. I have never seen this discussed on VansAirforce before.

Is it possible in this particular instance that too much metal has been removed from the PC680 jacket in an attempt to "lighten" it. Just a possibility and certainly food for thought for other builders keen on taking out the last gram of weight from their aircraft.
 
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Walt,
I have to disagree with you.
The field of any alternator is what is used to regulate the output. The field line on the PP alternator is used for two things, one is to energize the field and the second is to sense the "output" voltage. If the voltage drop across the field wire running from the power source to the alternator is such that at the alternator end of the wire, it is less than the actual bus voltage, then the internal regulator will continue to increase the field current until the output of the alternator drives the voltage at the field terminal to whatever the regulator has been programmed. In the case of the PP alternator, it is 14.2 volts. So until 14.2 volts appears on the field terminal, the internal alternator regulator will continue to drive the field until the voltage is 14.2v.
With an externally regulated alternator, the sense line is different than the field line in that the sense line is connected to the bus and the field current is varied through the regulator. This is not to say that you can't trick an externally regulated alternator that does not have an adjustable output, to output a higher voltage by simply dropping the voltage to the sense line.
 
Brian, An Odyssey battery distributor once told me that lack of metal jacket support can cause the Odyssey PC680 to fail prematurely. He suggested that many RV builders are cutting such large "lightening holes" in their battery cases that the battery lacks sufficient metal wall support. He said that when the battery heats up under rapid recharge in the high heat aircraft firewall forward environment the plastic walls can get soft and move outwards fractionally if they are not adequately supported, which can damage the battery internals.

The Vans RV firewall forward kit comes with a battery holder that is actually just a stock Odyssey PC680 metal jacket. The distributor says that metal jacket is an integral and necessary component of the battery for high heat environments but that RV builders are often modifying them by cutting out most of the front wall. I thought his comments were interesting and that I would pass them on. I have never seen this discussed on VansAirforce before.

Is it possible in this particular instance that too much metal has been removed from the PC680 jacket in an attempt to "lighten" it. Just a possibility and certainly food for thought for other builders keen on taking out the last gram of weight from their aircraft.

Bob,

I have seen no evidence of this with my batteries. I have seen some posted here that have swelled up but most of those have been abused in some manner. Mine look and slide in and out of the case just as if they were new.
 
PC680 CCA????

RE: My earlier post.
I "read the battery fine print" today and was surprised to see that my Battery Mart March 2013 PC680 had a CCA OF 170 and if I recall a PHCA of 580 while my old PC680 had a label showing 220 CCA and PHCA of 680.

Somewhere I recall reading that we need (for our 4 cyl engines) a CCA of at least 220. I am guessing that this may be part of my problem.

I charged the "new" battery last night, cleaned the terminals and it performed as it should. But now I'm gun shy with the 170 vice 220 CCA issue.

Don
 
RE: My earlier post.
I "read the battery fine print" today and was surprised to see that my Battery Mart March 2013 PC680 had a CCA OF 170 and if I recall a PHCA of 580 while my old PC680 had a label showing 220 CCA and PHCA of 680.

Somewhere I recall reading that we need (for our 4 cyl engines) a CCA of at least 220. I am guessing that this may be part of my problem.

I charged the "new" battery last night, cleaned the terminals and it performed as it should. But now I'm gun shy with the 170 vice 220 CCA issue.

Don

When I contacted Odyssey about this change to 170CCA vs the original rating of 220CCA, here is what they said:

"Why were the CCA, PHCA, MCA, HCA etc. ratings changed to much lower values on the PC680? The production of the product hasn?t changed in many years except to make design improvements but the original published specs were based on calculations derived from other TPPL technology products and once the testing was done it was determined that the published stats would be minimum required ratings for each rating and not the average.

Kathy Mitchell
ODYSSEY Sales/Support Representative"

Bottom line is that it is the same battery it always was, they just reduced its rating after they actually tested it. The prior rating was an estimate.
 
Bottom line is that it is the same battery it always was, they just reduced its rating after they actually tested it. The prior rating was an estimate.[/QUOTE]

Thanks Brian.
 
....... I told him that I may have had the charger ring terminals positioned between the #2 wire ring terminal and the batt. That, he replied, is not good. .......
Don

Don
Do you recall why he said this is a bad idea? It would seem that Odyssey makes these quick connectors to be used in just that manner. I will admit I have never read through the Odyssey battery literature to see what they say regarding this issue and there is no doubt Bill Bainbridge is much more knowledgeable than I.
 
Good connections...

Don
Do you recall why he said this is a bad idea? It would seem that Odyssey makes these quick connectors to be used in just that manner. I will admit I have never read through the Odyssey battery literature to see what they say regarding this issue and there is no doubt Bill Bainbridge is much more knowledgeable than I.

He was responding to my comment that I may have placed the charger pigtail below the cable ring terminal. His concern was insuring a good contact. I will continue to keep my charger cable permanently installed on the battery.
 
Walt,
I have to disagree with you.
The field of any alternator is what is used to regulate the output. The field line on the PP alternator is used for two things, one is to energize the field and the second is to sense the "output" voltage. If the voltage drop across the field wire running from the power source to the alternator is such that at the alternator end of the wire, it is less than the actual bus voltage, then the internal regulator will continue to increase the field current until the output of the alternator drives the voltage at the field terminal to whatever the regulator has been programmed. In the case of the PP alternator, it is 14.2 volts. So until 14.2 volts appears on the field terminal, the internal alternator regulator will continue to drive the field until the voltage is 14.2v.
With an externally regulated alternator, the sense line is different than the field line in that the sense line is connected to the bus and the field current is varied through the regulator. This is not to say that you can't trick an externally regulated alternator that does not have an adjustable output, to output a higher voltage by simply dropping the voltage to the sense line.

Bill,
Thanks for bringing this up and I stand corrected. I contacted PP and they confirmed they did indeed tap off the field terminal for the internal regulator sense functlion. However the problem I see with regulating the alternator by increasing the resistance of the field wire (same as installing a resistor in the field supply) is that as the voltage drops on the bus and the field draws more current there will be an additional voltage drop at the field, so the alterator will overcompensate. So the higher the field current the higher the bus voltage will be. At least thats my theory, I would be very interested to know how it actually works though in the real world.
 
It died on the 4th

I installed a new Concorde battery and flew with a good volt meter, I'm only charging at 13.90 volts. could this be cutting the battery life short? I am/was using the Odyssey charger between flights.
 
Russ,
The normal charging voltage for a lead acid battery is 13.8 -14.2 volts. This is where most regulators are set. If it is not a sealed battery and you charge it with too high of a voltage, you will overheat it during the charge cycle and boil the water out which will require you to frequently check the level of the battery. I don't believe that charging it with the 13.9 volts you are seeing, will damage or shorten the life of your battery. What I question is the need to continually trickle charge your battery. Rarely do I see aircraft trickle charged during inactivity. The only instance you may need to do this is if the aircraft is rarely flown. I would contact Concorde and see what they recommend for both the charging voltage and the maintenance voltage.
 
One more data point. I decided to replace my heavy Concord 25 battery with the PC-680, I kept it plugged into a battery Tender when on the ground, after 9 months it was done, I replaced it with a new PC-680 and never plugged it on to a charger, after 9 months it was done, I though I?ll try it one more time, I bought a new PC-680 and a new Odyssey 6A charger and kept it plugged into the Odyssey charger, after about 11 months it was starting to seem weak, after reading this thread I ran it down with the landing lights to 10 volts and recharged, I did this twice and it cranks like new again. I bet I have two good PC-680s sitting on the bench that just need rejuvenating.
Just to refresh it was the most recent Odyssey battery that died on the 4th; it lasted about a year using the Odyssey charger, a little better than the first two. If 13.9v is ok then I don?t know why I?m having problems using the Odyssey batteries, for now I have given up and bought and installed a new Concorde RG-25XC like the one that lasted the 7 previous years before trying the Odyssey.
 
Just to refresh it was the most recent Odyssey battery that died on the 4th; it lasted about a year using the Odyssey charger, a little better than the first two. If 13.9v is ok then I don’t know why I’m having problems using the Odyssey batteries, for now I have given up and bought and installed a new Concorde RG-25XC like the one that lasted the 7 previous years before trying the Odyssey.

Russ, 13.9v is low for an Odyssey, if I recall correctly they should be charged at about 14.5v. I doubt a PC680 will ever achieve full charge at 13.9v. But I don't know if undercharging will shorten the lifespan.

If you have an emergency bus with a diode in the circuit, voltage will vary depending on where you take the reading. The diode will absorb about 0.5v and make your system appear to be undercharging if you read voltage downstream from the diode. But you need ~14.5v going to the battery.
 
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Russ, 13.9v is low for an Odyssey, if I recall correctly they should be charged at about 14.5v. I doubt a PC680 will ever achieve full charge at 13.9v. But I don't know if undercharging will shorten the lifespan.

If you have an emergency bus with a diode in the circuit, voltage will vary depending on where you take the reading. The diode will absorb about 0.5v and make your system appear to be undercharging if you read voltage downstream from the diode. But you need ~14.5v going to the battery.
I was getting the 13.9 reading directly off the battery. I wonder how it would affect it since it only is in this under charged state for an hour or two each week, the rest of the time it was on their charger fully charged.

So I just put this battery in http://www.concordebattery.com/flyer.php?id=36
what?s the recommended charging voltage for it? I believe I can adjust my B&C regulator, I?ll be calling Bill (B&C) Monday.
 
Interesting thread to read. I too have recently had my PC680 Odyssey battery fail to start the airplane 3 times now. The first time, I hadn't flown for several weeks, so I put it on the Ultimizer charger which topped it off and I got back in the air. January 1st we had planned to fly out to Lake Havasu for the RV New Year's day fly out, but it was cold (for San Diego) and the battery ran down pretty quick when I tried to get the engine started. I put the charger on and thought I should just plan to keep the trickle charger on during the colder months. Did a couple of flights after that with no problem. Yesterday it was warm and gorgeous here and after not flying for a week, I was ready for some air time. I did my pre-flight quickly and by the time I was ready to start the engine the battery was down to 11.9V (normally it would be sitting around 12.4V). It barely spun the prop twice then pooped out. The battery had been on the trickle charger, so I was wondering if the battery was just beyond recharging. I've ordered a new one. The current one was bought over 6 years ago during the build and has been flown 360 hours in the last (almost) 3 years. I normally did NOT keep the battery on the trickle charger unless I was running the electrical stuff on the ground. The alternator charges the battery at 14.5V in normal operation. I will see if I can restore this battery with the procedure recommended, but for my personal comfort, the new replacement will go in the airplane. Thankfully, I never got stranded anywhere!
 
Bruce,

Are you using an older Odyssey charger or one of the new ones that came out this year?

I've damaged my old one and purchased one of the new ones. The charging process seems significant different between the two. I've asked Odyssey a couple times to explain what changed, but haven't found the right person that actually new the answer. The new one shows more phases of the charging process than the old one did.

I have a pair of 680s in my RV-10. They are going on almost four years old now. I typically only put them on the charger when I'm in the hangar working on something. Although at the moment, I have it hooked up to my cell phone remote to ensure that they are topped off in this cold weather.

Some folks with dual batteries swap one out each year at the conditional inspection. I guess I'm still too frugal to do that. I do have the benefit of being able to put both in parallel to get a few extra amps for cold weather starts.

bob


Interesting thread to read. I too have recently had my PC680 Odyssey battery fail to start the airplane 3 times now. The first time, I hadn't flown for several weeks, so I put it on the Ultimizer charger which topped it off and I got back in the air. January 1st we had planned to fly out to Lake Havasu for the RV New Year's day fly out, but it was cold (for San Diego) and the battery ran down pretty quick when I tried to get the engine started. I put the charger on and thought I should just plan to keep the trickle charger on during the colder months. Did a couple of flights after that with no problem. Yesterday it was warm and gorgeous here and after not flying for a week, I was ready for some air time. I did my pre-flight quickly and by the time I was ready to start the engine the battery was down to 11.9V (normally it would be sitting around 12.4V). It barely spun the prop twice then pooped out. The battery had been on the trickle charger, so I was wondering if the battery was just beyond recharging. I've ordered a new one. The current one was bought over 6 years ago during the build and has been flown 360 hours in the last (almost) 3 years. I normally did NOT keep the battery on the trickle charger unless I was running the electrical stuff on the ground. The alternator charges the battery at 14.5V in normal operation. I will see if I can restore this battery with the procedure recommended, but for my personal comfort, the new replacement will go in the airplane. Thankfully, I never got stranded anywhere!
 
Charge or not to charge.

2 Batteries in 16 years. Only put on charger if haven't flown in 6 weeks. And only for a couple hours. --Usually fly once a week.
 
I've used brand X (best price at the time) SLA batteries for as long as they've been available. I haven't been able to fly much at all for years (typically <10 hrs a year), and only charge on the ground if the plane won't start. My current model is a 24 AH (slightly larger dimensions than a PC680) that's been in the plane since 2012. A few months ago, after a couple of failure-to-start events, I ordered a new battery. When I opened the cowl & removed the terminals, I found corrosion on the cable lugs (not the battery posts). Cleaned it up, charged the battery, and everything's been fine since.

Point of the story is that if you have less than ideal conductivity throughout the charging path, it can not only interfere with starting, it can prevent proper charging as well. The regulator sees voltage either at the alternator, or at some point that's still well upstream of the battery. If there's a high resistance joint anywhere downstream, or anywhere in the negative side, it can prevent proper charging and shortened battery life.

Charlie
 
New PC680 battery arrived yesterday, so I went out and installed it.
Man, what a difference. I don't think my prop has ever been spun that quickly by the starter! I think the old battery was definitely compromised in some way.
 
Odyssey Batteries

I bought a PC680 at Airventure 2015, installed it in my 6A early September 2015. I kept it on trickle charge over the winter since I was only able to fly a couple times a month. Almost exactly a year later it died. After charging it was holding 11.3 volts. Ordered a new PC680 and reinstalled my 6 year old one that was being used as a paperweight until it arrived. Spun the prop and started really quick. When the new one arrived in late November 2016 it went in use. Now, less than 3 months later, the new PC680 is indicating 10.7 volts after charging. Contacted the seller about warranty and haven't received a reply. 😡
 
I bought a PC680 at Airventure 2015, installed it in my 6A early September 2015. I kept it on trickle charge over the winter since I was only able to fly a couple times a month. Almost exactly a year later it died. After charging it was holding 11.3 volts. Ordered a new PC680 and reinstalled my 6 year old one that was being used as a paperweight until it arrived. Spun the prop and started really quick. When the new one arrived in late November 2016 it went in use. Now, less than 3 months later, the new PC680 is indicating 10.7 volts after charging. Contacted the seller about warranty and haven't received a reply. 😡

You can fix your problem by leaving your charger at your relative's house, 3 towns over. ;-)
That way it'll be really inconvenient to throw the battery on the charger, and you won't be overcharging it constantly.

SLA batteries will go many months without self-discharge. (See my earlier post.)

Charlie
 
I bought a PC680 at Airventure 2015, installed it in my 6A early September 2015. I kept it on trickle charge over the winter since I was only able to fly a couple times a month. Almost exactly a year later it died. After charging it was holding 11.3 volts. Ordered a new PC680 and reinstalled my 6 year old one that was being used as a paperweight until it arrived. Spun the prop and started really quick. When the new one arrived in late November 2016 it went in use. Now, less than 3 months later, the new PC680 is indicating 10.7 volts after charging. Contacted the seller about warranty and haven't received a reply. &#55357;&#56865;

There is no need to charge a PC680 that flies twice a month! That is plenty of activity to keep it hot all the time unless you have a heavy keep-alive load.

You are killing your battery by using the trickle charger......
 
Dead Odyssey

There is no need to charge a PC680 that flies twice a month! That is plenty of activity to keep it hot all the time unless you have a heavy keep-alive load.

You are killing your battery by using the trickle charger......

thanks for the quick responses but, the latest PC680 didn't go on a trickle charger once I installed it. I flew maybe 10 hours with it and then it suddenly wouldn't spin the prop. That's when I put it on a charger and found out it was resting at 10.68 and wouldn't charge up past 11.3 volts. I don't think I killed it by the very short charge to check its' condition. My old six year old PC680 is back in the plane and did fine today at barely over 40 degrees outside. No cranking issues, only with the two latest PC680's purchased within the last 18 months.
 
thanks for the quick responses but, the latest PC680 didn't go on a trickle charger once I installed it. I flew maybe 10 hours with it and then it suddenly wouldn't spin the prop. That's when I put it on a charger and found out it was resting at 10.68 and wouldn't charge up past 11.3 volts.

Ok, that does sound like a case of infant mortality......and I'm sure you have verified the soundness of your plane's charging system.
 
An update to this thread.....

Early in my RV's life I was having issues with premature failure of the PC-680 batteries.

I just replaced my now 6 year old PC-680 not because it failed but just because I want to be proactive before it lets me down somewhere away from the home drome. It will now go on the ATV or mower.

Back in 2013 I changed how I maintained the charge on my battery which I am convinced help it live a normal life.

  • Fly more, let the alternator do the charging!
  • Don't use the Odyssey Ultimizer Charger!
  • Don't use a trickle charger continuously (can be done with the correct charger but the details are specific, too much trouble, just don't do it)
  • Don't use a smart charger without the proper charge profile!
  • Don't use a smart charger on a battery that does not allow the charger to go thru its full charge profile. (not discharged enough)
  • Use a ground power supply when running the panel in the hangar to prevent discharging the main battery to a point where it needs charging.
  • Don't leave the airplane sitting with less than full charge on the battery, doing so will lead to rapid sulfation.

Bottom line is that sulfation will kill these batteries in short order and improper charging/storage can lead to rapid sulfation. Don't store the batteries at less than full charge and don't charge the batteries with less than the recommended voltage/current level. Following the recommended charge profile is key!
 
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PC 680

I agree 100% with Brian. Have an 8 year old 680 in my RV-6 that only
the alternator has charged. Only time it had a charger was during setup
of the ADS-B GDL 82. Still cranking good.

Doug McMullin
RV-6
Ottawa, Ks.
 
PC680 - long life

I recently was surprised when my battery was near death when I had a problem starting on July 5th. I later researched my log book and found I had installed that battery in my RV-4... July 18, 2011. I had paid $132 for that battery. This week I decided to purchase a new battery, and shopped online and found the best buy at Auto Zone, $113.99. The battery was installed yesterday, almost exactly 8 years after the prior installation.

You can't complain about that, for a life span.

Jake Thiessen
Independence, OR
 
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