Regarding the recent discussion on batteries, I should point out that the Odyssey 680 battery is an AGM (absorbed glass mat) battery with some pretty impressive qualities. Their main claim to fame is that they don't "self-discharge" nearly as fast as regular lead-acid batteries, and last a lot longer in service. They will fit in a much more compact space (see enclosed image) although they weigh only slightly less. Also, you can mount a typical AGM battery on its side, as I did in N56ML which gave me room to put it on the shelf on the back side of the firewall, or even upside down. And since it's sealed, negative G maneuvers don't matter to an AGM, and heat isn't as detrimental either.
I ran my Odyssey 680 for something like four years in N56ML, and then let it sit for two years before I swapped it into N891JF. That would have killed a conventional lawn mower battery, but the 680 still cranks N891JF on the coldest of days. Leaving your battery on a trickle charger is no longer required with an AGM, unless you live in Alaska. And of course you could buy three lawn mower batteries for the cost of an (Odyssey or equivalent), but you'd have missed a few days of flying due to dead battery surprises. And the total life span of an Odyssey is probably about the same as three lawn mower batteries anyway, if not more. The Odyssey 680 can be bought for $105 with free shipping at the link below, while a Walmart mower battery is $39. I was using the KRnet search engine to look for "Odyssey" and ran across a post that mentioned the Deka ETX201 battery. The Deka AGM is even more powerful (20Ahr vs 16Ahr) and can be bought for $79 plus shipping (always the wildcard), which is pretty attractive in my mind, having just spent $105 for a new 680 that I apparently don't even need yet! Looking at the lawn mower battery in this photo, the mower battery has a higher 230 CCA (cold cranking amps @ 0 degrees F) than the Odyssey's 170 CCA, but for how many years and how long after a full charge? I think the user ratings of AGM batteries says a lot. The Odyssey 680 is something like 4.75 on Amazon...not too shabby, but the Ever Green mower battery is less than 2.5. But as Larry would say, "your mileage may vary"... Odessey 680 - http://www.batterymart.com/p-odyssey-pc680-battery.html?gclid=CjwKEAiA3vamBRDJ1Lfwt5Pckw4SJAAdhnk2Xu99P2b363nn1Q_Aqo14eCbKHU3Z1MY2UJVJ6PpVNhoCbUHw_wcB Deka 20 Ahr http://www.techbatterysolutions.com/Deka-ETX20L-Battery-p/etx20l.htm?utm_medium=cse&utm_source=shopzilla&utm_term=ETX20L -- Mark Langford ML at N56ML.com http://www.n56ml.com -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Odyssey680vsMowerBattery.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 89146 bytes Desc: not available URL: <http://list.krnet.org/mailman/private/krnet_list.krnet.org/attachments/20150213/8230813c/attachment.jpg>
