D180 battery

[JR]

D180 battery, shows 15 v, shutdown main pwr, it counts down volts fast to 14.2 then shuts off
Then battery removed it is tested with multimeter and has 15v
Reinstall, same process in d180

Im assuming battery finished
In Australia, must he battery be the same type? With. Ewer LiFe batteries now available without fire risk.
What is the plug? Ive had issues with faulty connection since new but been ok since pins adjusted.
Genuine v expensive here now

 

[jakej]

JR
It's not just the battery type, there is some unique to Dynon circuitry involved - you need to get the Dynon one.

 

[Dynon]

Only the genuine battery is suitable to use. It's ALWAYS (and continues) to have built-in safety circuitry. One note is that the battery charges slowly over time when you have master power applied. A complete charge is 16+ volts. 15V is anything froma pretty discharged to partially charged battery, which might be the case if you haven't been flying much. In a nutshell:

If you're regularly flying, the battery is likely ready to be replaced. In this case it needs to be the genuine Dynon battery. If the airplane hasn't been flying, it might be that the internal battery is discharged. In this case apply master power wile flying, or hook up an aircraft battery charger to you aircraft battery, and turn master on to allow the D10A's battery to charge. It can take 10+ hours for the battery to fully charge to 16+ volts.

 

[john_richard]

Is there an adapter available from Dynon or one that I can make to easily charge the internal battery with the unit outside of the aircraft at home instead of at the airport where it is inconvenient to charge the main aircraft battery? I typically do short flights so I don't get a full charge on the battery that way.

 

[Robski]

Sounds like you need to connect the keep-alive line (pin 2 on the 25 way d-sub) to the main aircraft battery, via a suitably small fuse.
I believe that should keep the internal battery charged.

I do know it's advised to NOT connect it in the manual, but that's only an advisory. I guess your circumstance is one of the reasons it is an advisory rather than a hard and fast rule!

Re-reading your last post, I would guess that making up a simple d-sub lead with pins 1,2 & 3 connected (with fuses on 1 and 2) and hooking this to a 12v battery at home might work.

It does seem an awful faff to remove the unit from the aircraft to take home to charge when connecting pin 2 to the aircraft battery would do the same job.

 

[planecurious]

richj and Robski:

The reason that Dynon's current advice not to connect Pin 2 (Keep Alive) to is that a software update somewhere along the way to the current software versions unknowingly (and apparently, un-fixably) rendered the connection of the Keep Alive / Pin 2 problematic - bootups became LESS reliable if Keep Alive was connected. With the Keep Alive disconnected, bootups became normal again. When troubleshooting intermittent bootups on Dynon's older products, one of the first questions their Tech Support asks is whether Keep Alive / Pin 2 is connected on the unit? If yes, try disconnecting it and see if bootups become more reliable.

The primary reason Dynon included the Keep Alive was to keep the clock circuit alive so you didn't have to manually update the clock every time you fired up the aircraft. With the advent of GPS units being connected to Dynon Avionics units becoming almost standard... and automatically setting the clock FROM a connected GPS, the Keep Alive became less necessary.

Because the Dynon backup batteries are Lithium-Ion, it's a bad idea to "freelance" the charging of them from something other than the Dynon unit. It's too easy to charge it wrong and generally just a bad idea to charge Lithium-Ion batteries from something other than the intended charger.

If you want to follow Robski's advice to connect, or re-connect Keep Alive / Pin 2... suggest you do so through a toggle switch on the panel. That way you can conveniently disconnect Keep Alive if you do have bootup issues from having Keep Alive connected.

Sounds like you need to connect the keep-alive line (pin 2 on the 25 way d-sub) to the main aircraft battery, via a suitably small fuse.
I believe that should keep the internal battery charged.

I do know it's advised to NOT connect it in the manual, but that's only an advisory. I guess your circumstance is one of the reasons it is an advisory rather than a hard and fast rule!

Re-reading your last post, I would guess that making up a simple d-sub lead with pins 1,2 & 3 connected (with fuses on 1 and 2) and hooking this to a 12v battery at home might work.

It does seem an awful faff to remove the unit from the aircraft to take home to charge when connecting pin 2 to the aircraft battery would do the same job.

 

[Dynon]

Another reason not to keep the keep alive line connected is that over time, if you're not flying regularly, your aircraft battery will be discharged as the Li-Ion battery inside the EFIS keeps itself charged.

 

[Robski]

I consider myself both enlightened and told off :-? .

Best advice is probably to fly more often.