D-100 Internal Battery DOA?

[lrfrey]

I received my D-100 with an Internal Battery last week. I turned it on and after about 20 minutes it displayed the Low Battery Warning. I acknowledged and turned it off. A little while later it would not turn on.

I gave it 12.5 volts on pins 1 & 3 from my trusty old tractor battery and all worked as normal. I turned the unit off and left it powered by the tractor battery over night thinking this would charge the internal battery, at least partially. No deal. Unit works when powered by the external battery, won't work on the internal battery.

I measured the voltage on the internal battery (output of) nothing. Is there a secret to getting it to charge when depleted or is the battery DOA?

Thanks, LR

 

[dynonsupport]

It won't charge off master power while it's off. If you want to do this, you need to hook it to keep alive, or just leave the unit on.

If it doesn't detect the battery, unhook it from all power then power it up again. This should cause it to re-detect the battery and start charging it.

Also, the latest 3.0 software should help battery charging issues, so you can update to this if you want.

 

[lrfrey]

My error, I knew the unit should have been left on! :-[ However, I tried again over night with the unit turned on, still no charge. I will try putting power on the the keep alive pin, but even if that works, it will not resolve the problem of normal charging.

LR

 

[dynonsupport]

The issue here is that the battery has been completely drained, so the unit thinks there's no battery inside. Once it sees the battery it will operate fine when it's on for "normal" charging.

The 3.0 software really does make this situation better, so I would suggest going to that. Your other option is to hook it to keep alive for 2 minutes, disconnect keep alive, and repeat a few times. This should get an initial charge in the battery and then it should work OK after that.

When the unit is powered on under master power, you can see the battery voltage under the info items. Choose voltmeter, and you'll see a M E and I voltage. The I is the internal battery. If it shows a non-zero voltage, then it should be charging it. If it shows zero, then cycling all power to the unit a few times should fix this.

Sorry for the trouble.

 

[lrfrey]

I tried getting the battery "started" with the keep alive line half a dozen times - with no success. I will try going to Release 3 and try again, but it may be a week or so before I get the opportunity... something about work getting in the way.

LR

 

[robertc]

Hi, I recently received my D100&D120. I've had the same problem with the battery not working. When I removed the D100 from the box I inadvertantly turned it on. It worked for a while then shut down. I applied power from an external battery and it worked, but no internal battery voltage. I removed the backup battery & checked voltage & it was zero. I then decided to check continuity and the ohm meter's 1.5 volts brought the battery to life.(more than 14volts) This looked good so I put it back in and let it charge for a while until I had more than 15Volts on the backup. I then shut off the unit removed the external battery & restarted on the backup battery. The unit worked ok for a while on the backup and then shut down. No number of starts & restarts from the external battery would make it work or charge. I removed the backup battery and went through the meter/backup battery exercise again and it's working on the backup and it's charged to more than 14volts. Is there some latch out circuitry in the battery that will cause this?

Bob

 

[dynonsupport]

If you haven't upgraded to firmware version 3.0, please do. It should cure all of the battery charging issues.

 

[vhmum]

Hi I had the same problem with a new Dynon D180 but first when I turn the Aircraft master on the Dynon turns on itself. Is this correct.

Secondly I also had trouble charging internal battery but by turning unit on with the Keep alive disconected fixed the problem with Vertion 3 installed.

regards Chris

 

[dynonsupport]

Yes, turning the master on should turn the unit on.

 

[lrfrey]

I updated to V 4.0 today, battery charge problem resolved!

LR

 

[Pete]

Hi, I just installed my D10A today. It has similar problem with the battery backup as described above. before installing I tested functions on battery until it shut of. Now, hardwired and in the panel, after three hours it seems it will not charge the battery. Battery backup is one of the best security features with this product! What is the simplest and best cure? Updating software already? What version? Connecting keep-alive for a while?
Otherwise I must say its a joy to fly with this screen on the panel!
BR
Pete

 

[Pete]

Well,
despite no reply to my questions and despite the fears (after all warnings of freezing instrument etc) I fanally decided to upgrade my new EFIS 10A instead of buying a new fully charged internal battery. Living far away from the USA the shipping is quite an undertaking itself.

Anyway, the uprading to 4.0 did go well and the internal battery is now acknowledged by the unit and also charged during a one hour test flight

/Pete