Happened to me in France c. 2008.
Happened to me 2012 at Losinj but it was easy – I got new battery next morning.
Yeah… had I known it was just the battery I would have had a new (Concorde) one shipped in, too. But the problem was misdiagnosed. IMHO Dimme made the right decision, given all the constraints (passengers, etc). That sort of decision is extremely frustrating but we have all been there, or we will be one day… Actually the presence of passengers makes the decision easier.
And in my case the starter motor was heading for being defective too, so I had the extremely unusual situation of two unconnected faults in the same department. I got home OK but it went up in smoke (literally) a few starts later.
I consulted with our certified mechanic over the phone before I did anything. The battery was not completely dead. I did not fry any avionics so don’t worry =)
Also, changing the battery in Dresden could have been an option if the aircraft was mine, but as others mentioned I don’t call the shots here.
Sorry to hear about the setback Dimme.
Looking forward to your next shot at the epic trip :)
Also really glad to learn a bit about everyone’s battery experiences from your sharing.
Had a battery go dead overnight, but a good stiff external charge fixed the problem.
Need to buy a BatteryMinder trickle charger, but they cost as much as a battery…
I got roped into buying Gill’s for my plane, but will switch to Concorde shortly and install BatteryMinders for them. My colleague has had his Concordes for 5 years in his 681 with BM’s. That’s an exceptionally long time for an aircraft that’s notoriously heavy on batteries for the startup.
To OP, hope you make the trip next time.
AF wrote:
Need to buy a BatteryMinder trickle charger, but they cost as much as a battery…
Nowadays you can get those trickle chargers very cheaply. They all work the same way way. A lead acid battery is a lead acid battery.
achimha wrote:
They all work the same way way. A lead acid battery is a lead acid battery.
You’re right.
Thanks, just needed someone who knows to say it.. ;)
