---------------------------------------------------------- Kolb-List Digest Archive --- Total Messages Posted Fri 02/13/09: 10 ---------------------------------------------------------- Today's Message Index: ---------------------- 1. 05:59 AM - Re: gel battery (Richard Girard) 2. 07:54 AM - Re: gel battery (Richard & Martha Neilsen) 3. 08:16 AM - Re: gel battery (boyd) 4. 08:18 AM - Re: gel battery (Richard Girard) 5. 08:23 AM - A better gas can (Richard Girard) 6. 09:25 AM - Re: A better gas can (John Hauck) 7. 11:06 AM - Re: A better gas can (robert bean) 8. 12:03 PM - Re: gel battery (Jack B. Hart) 9. 04:55 PM - Re: Kolb history (N111KX (Kip)) 10. 08:24 PM - Re: Re: Kolb history (zeprep251@aol.com) ________________________________ Message 1 _____________________________________ Time: 05:59:29 AM PST US Subject: Re: Kolb-List: gel battery From: Richard Girard Cristal, et al, You do not want a gel cell. What you want to get may be known variously as an Absorbent Glass Mat (AGM), Starved Lead Acid (SLA), or Recombinant Gas Battery (RGB). It doesn't matter which of the three names you use, they're all the same. A gel cell is something completely different. It's more expensive and inferior in all aspects of battery performance to the AGM, SLA, RGB batteries. Rick On Thu, Feb 12, 2009 at 10:44 PM, John Hauck wrote: > > > > Saw this battery on aircraft spruce, but it's a little pricey isn't it? > >> http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/gellcellbatt.php >> > > -------- > >> Cristal Waters >> > > > This one from Aircraft Spruce will get the job done. > > BATTERY 18 AMP SEALED BT021 $56.25 > > > http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/powersonic.php > > > I use a 545 Odyessey 15 Amp with the 912uls. Shouldn't have any problem > turning the 503 with 18 amp. > > john h > mkIII > > ________________________________ Message 2 _____________________________________ Time: 07:54:20 AM PST US From: "Richard & Martha Neilsen" Subject: Re: Kolb-List: gel battery Cristal Kind of interesting some of the advise we get. You get what you pay for. It's like money in the bank. Or my personal favorite... cheep is $49 a year. If you don't have unlimited funds the best advice is, Pay extra for NEEDED features, quality is always good but don't pay for marketing hype. What is your battery for? If it fails it is nothing that will kill you or cause a forced landing, so why does it need to be aircraft grade or expensive. Yes I know freak things can happen but they can happen to the expensive stuff too. I use the lightest battery I can find. Light planes fly better than heavy. Besides I put enough weight in the pilot's seat I don't need any more ballast. I use a 12 volt 12 amp riding lawn mower battery. The greater the amp rating the heaver they are. Why not use just enough to start your engine? I have tried the more expensive brands and they don't seem to last any longer than the cheep ones so Wal-Mart brands are my batteries of choice. My batteries get stressed pretty bad so initially they didn't last more than a few years. About 6 years ago I started hooking a battery maintainer to the battery between every flight and more importantly all winter. The last battery was four years old and still going strong but I didn't want to risk getting stranded at Oshkosh so I bought a new one. After all it didn't cost much. If you have a expensive battery would you tend to keep it till it let you down? My battery is a wet cell so I have a vent line that extends out the bottom of the fuselage. I never noticed any mess. All wet cells need to be vented outside anyway due to their corrosive and explosive gasses. Rick Neilsen Redrive VW powered MKIIIC (the plane is in Michigan while I'm in Florida for the winter) ----- Original Message ----- From: "cristalclear13" Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2009 11:09 PM Subject: Kolb-List: gel battery > > > I am thinking about a new battery. The one that came with the plane when > I bought it has a (overflow?) drain on the side of it and has made a mess. > I suppose I could try to catch what comes out but I don't know what with > or how secure I could make it. > ________________________________ Message 3 _____________________________________ Time: 08:16:56 AM PST US From: "boyd" Subject: RE: Kolb-List: gel battery I am thinking about a new battery. The one that came with the plane when I bought it has a (overflow?) drain on the side of it and has made a mess. I suppose I could try to catch what comes out but I don't know what with or how secure I could make it. Cristal Waters >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Cristal This is the type of battery I use in my MKIII to start my 912 http://www.arizonabattery.com/?page=shop/flypage&product_id=58&category_id=b 291dca6cea297f2a41f49052a63d38d& If the link does not work go to http://www.arizonabattery.com and search all batteries, pick 12 volts and scroll down it is a 18 amp hour. And has a better price than the one you had found. I have ordered from Arizona battery before and the product is on your door in3 or 4 days. Then if you are not in a hurry,,, the last one I ordered was from harbor freight as a replacement battery for one of their jump starts. Seems like the cost was around 18 dollars and 4 or 5 dollars for freight so I ordered 2 and the freight remained the same.... now the not being in a hurry bit, it took 4 or 5 months, and I am nearly sure it was put on a container ship from china. Boyd young Kolb MKIIIC ________________________________ Message 4 _____________________________________ Time: 08:18:30 AM PST US Subject: Re: Kolb-List: gel battery From: Richard Girard Richard, I vote for cheap, too. The new 20 AH AGM battery I bought for the trike last year was $38 from the local battery shop. It starts the HKS with its 11.3 to 1 compression ratio like a champ. My buddie Wayne has the Oddysey 680 in his LongEZ with a 200 horse IO-360. Vrooom. Rick On Fri, Feb 13, 2009 at 9:53 AM, Richard & Martha Neilsen < NeilsenRM@comcast.net> wrote: > NeilsenRM@comcast.net> > > Cristal > > Kind of interesting some of the advise we get. You get what you pay for. > It's like money in the bank. Or my personal favorite... cheep is $49 a year. > If you don't have unlimited funds the best advice is, Pay extra for NEEDED > features, quality is always good but don't pay for marketing hype. > > What is your battery for? If it fails it is nothing that will kill you or > cause a forced landing, so why does it need to be aircraft grade or > expensive. Yes I know freak things can happen but they can happen to the > expensive stuff too. > > I use the lightest battery I can find. Light planes fly better than heavy. > Besides I put enough weight in the pilot's seat I don't need any more > ballast. I use a 12 volt 12 amp riding lawn mower battery. The greater the > amp rating the heaver they are. Why not use just enough to start your > engine? I have tried the more expensive brands and they don't seem to last > any longer than the cheep ones so Wal-Mart brands are my batteries of > choice. My batteries get stressed pretty bad so initially they didn't last > more than a few years. About 6 years ago I started hooking a battery > maintainer to the battery between every flight and more importantly all > winter. The last battery was four years old and still going strong but I > didn't want to risk getting stranded at Oshkosh so I bought a new one. After > all it didn't cost much. If you have a expensive battery would you tend to > keep it till it let you down? > > My battery is a wet cell so I have a vent line that extends out the bottom > of the fuselage. I never noticed any mess. All wet cells need to be vented > outside anyway due to their corrosive and explosive gasses. > > Rick Neilsen > Redrive VW powered MKIIIC (the plane is in Michigan while I'm in Florida > for the winter) > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "cristalclear13" < > cristalclearwaters@gmail.com> > To: > Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2009 11:09 PM > Subject: Kolb-List: gel battery > > >> cristalclearwaters@gmail.com> >> >> I am thinking about a new battery. The one that came with the plane when >> I bought it has a (overflow?) drain on the side of it and has made a mess. I >> suppose I could try to catch what comes out but I don't know what with or >> how secure I could make it. >> >> > > ________________________________ Message 5 _____________________________________ Time: 08:23:52 AM PST US Subject: Kolb-List: A better gas can From: Richard Girard Awhile back Grant, I think it was Grant, anyway, asked about better and easier ways to fuel his Kolb. I wrote the attached article for EAA Chapter 88's newsletter over the last few days and did the testing this morning so I could wrap it up. Rick ________________________________ Message 6 _____________________________________ Time: 09:25:28 AM PST US From: "John Hauck" Subject: Re: Kolb-List: A better gas can Rick: Good idea! I do mine a little bit simpler. Drill a hole to vent. Plug it with a golf tee when not in use. Been working for years with no problem. Got the ide a from the Walmart 6 gal water cans that vent using a similar method. As far as refueling, I use a 6' length of 7/8' OD X 3/4' ID clear vinyl tub ing. Get it at the local hardware store. One end is pushed on the spout a nd the other is stuck into the fuel tanked opening. I can stand off, lift the tank higher than the tank inlet, and let'er pour. I'm still able to ho ld 5 gal of gas over my head, but it ain't as easy as it used to be. When I get to the point I can't handle 5 gal, then I'll start using 2.5 gal gans . If it gets bad enough, guess I could go with 1 gal cans. ;-) I also us e a short piece of 3/4' aluminum tubing shoved in one end of the tube. Whe n I am finished refueling, I roll it up and stick the other end of the tube on the aluminum tube to keep out contamination. I also take this "Alabama Credit Card" with me on cross country flights, should I have an opportunit y to buy cheap gas and refuel from a 5 gal can. john h mkIII Awhile back Grant, I think it was Grant, anyway, asked about better and e asier ways to fuel his Kolb. I wrote the attached article for EAA Chapter 8 8's newsletter over the last few days and did the testing this morning so I could wrap it up. Rick ________________________________ Message 7 _____________________________________ Time: 11:06:06 AM PST US From: robert bean Subject: Re: Kolb-List: A better gas can John, I use about the same method but leave the vinyl tubing on the can. I plug it with one of those synthetic wine bottle corks and poke it through the handle when finished. BB On 13, Feb 2009, at 12:24 PM, John Hauck wrote: > Rick: > > Good idea! > > I do mine a little bit simpler. Drill a hole to vent. Plug it > with a golf tee when not in use. Been working for years with no > problem. Got the idea from the Walmart 6 gal water cans that vent > using a similar method. > > As far as refueling, I use a 6' length of 7/8' OD X 3/4' ID clear > vinyl tubing. Get it at the local hardware store. One end is > pushed on the spout and the other is stuck into the fuel tanked > opening. I can stand off, lift the tank higher than the tank > inlet, and let'er pour. I'm still able to hold 5 gal of gas over > my head, but it ain't as easy as it used to be. When I get to the > point I can't handle 5 gal, then I'll start using 2.5 gal gans. If > it gets bad enough, guess I could go with 1 gal cans. ;-) I also > use a short piece of 3/4' aluminum tubing shoved in one end of the > tube. When I am finished refueling, I roll it up and stick the > other end of the tube on the aluminum tube to keep out > contamination. I also take this "Alabama Credit Card" with me on > cross country flights, should I have an opportunity to buy cheap > gas and refuel from a 5 gal can. > > john h > mkIII > > > Awhile back Grant, I think it was Grant, anyway, asked about better > and easier ways to fuel his Kolb. I wrote the attached article for > EAA Chapter 88's newsletter over the last few days and did the > testing this morning so I could wrap it up. > > Rick > > ________________________________ Message 8 _____________________________________ Time: 12:03:29 PM PST US From: "Jack B. Hart" Subject: Re: Kolb-List: gel battery At 08:09 PM 2/12/09 -0800, you wrote: > >I am thinking about a new battery. The one that came with the plane when I bought it has a (overflow?) drain on the side of it and has made a mess. I suppose I could try to catch what comes out but I don't know what with or how secure I could make it. > >Saw this battery on aircraft spruce, but it's a little pricey isn't it? >http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/gellcellbatt.php > >A fellow airport bum who is rebuilding a wrecked Titan bought a 12 volt 26 amp sealed acid battery from Interstate Batteries store. >Could I go with that or should I spend the extra for the gell cell? Or perhaps I could keep using the one I have... just keep it from making a mess somehow? > >-------- >Cristal Waters >Kolb Mark II Twinstar >Rotax 503 DCSI > Cristal, Due to weight constraints, I use an ULTRASTART-RED BATTERY - 11-00375 - $89.95 from http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/atphighpwr.php. It weighs 4.4 pounds. I am on my second battery. See below - sent to the List July 5, 2008. To get by with such a small battery, I always prime the engine, and pull the propeller through two compressions to move the charge into the case and cylinder. Then I rotate the propeller backwards against compression to give the starter a full run against compression in the forward direction. This approach minimizes battery current capacity. In my case the Victor 1+ never fails to hit on the first time over. The only time it will fail to remain running is if I remove the choker too soon. FWIW Jack B. Hart FF004 Winchester, IN -------------------------------------------------- Kolbers, No July fourth flyby this year. A couple months ago I had trouble getting the engine started after the FireFly had set in the hangar for a couple of weeks. I put a trickle charger on the battery to bet the engine started. When I got home I ordered a new ultrastart-red battery. To keep flying I connected the trickle charger to the battery to keep it topped off while it was in the hangar. The battery was back ordered and it came two days ago. I did not bother to install it as I had been having no trouble with starting the engine. But yesterday, the battery died, and so I did not get to make my flyby. I checked out my log. The battery started the engine for 467 flights over a period of six years and two months. At current battery cost, it figures out to 21 cents per flight to keep from pulling a rope or hand propping. ________________________________ Message 9 _____________________________________ Time: 04:55:35 PM PST US Subject: Kolb-List: Re: Kolb history From: "N111KX (Kip)" Dennis, do you recall the last FS cage serial numbers out of Phoenixville? I am curious as mine is FS-705 delivered around Jan, 1999. I have wondered if it was one of the last. Regards, Kip -------- Kip Firestar II, N111KX Waiex, N111YX Quickie 1, N111QX Atlanta Read this topic online here: http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=230171#230171 ________________________________ Message 10 ____________________________________ Time: 08:24:30 PM PST US Subject: Re: Kolb-List: Re: Kolb history From: zeprep251@aol.com Kip, ? Ordered my FS in Dec 1998,it came from Phoenixville,in January of 1999,F-1274 stamped on the rear of the motor support tube. ??????? G.Aman -----Original Message----- From: N111KX (Kip) Sent: Fri, 13 Feb 2009 4:54 pm Subject: Kolb-List: Re: Kolb history Dennis, do you recall the last FS cage serial numbers out of Phoenixville? I am curious as mine is FS-705 delivered around Jan, 1999. I have wondered if it was one of the last. Regards, Kip -------- Kip Firestar II, N111KX Waiex, N111YX Quickie 1, N111QX Atlanta Read this topic online here: http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=230171#230171 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other Matronics Email List Services ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post A New Message kolb-list@matronics.com UN/SUBSCRIBE http://www.matronics.com/subscription List FAQ http://www.matronics.com/FAQ/Kolb-List.htm Web Forum Interface To Lists http://forums.matronics.com Matronics List Wiki http://wiki.matronics.com Full Archive Search Engine http://www.matronics.com/search 7-Day List Browse http://www.matronics.com/browse/kolb-list Browse Digests http://www.matronics.com/digest/kolb-list Browse Other Lists http://www.matronics.com/browse Live Online Chat! http://www.matronics.com/chat Archive Downloading http://www.matronics.com/archives Photo Share http://www.matronics.com/photoshare Other Email Lists http://www.matronics.com/emaillists Contributions http://www.matronics.com/contribution ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- These Email List Services are sponsored solely by Matronics and through the generous Contributions of its members.