Craig & Graham, Right from the start I planned to have my
battery in the engine compartment, and it has worked very
well. It sits on top of the passenger footwell with a one
inch retaining wall around its bottom end and fixed with a
nylon strap from the firewall over the top and down. that
is a much simpler and lighter mounting than any I have
seen in the rear. I have an Oddyssey 17 amp hr battery
which has had more than enough welly to start the engine
instantly even after a 3/12 break in the winter. I made no
provision for cooling and it doesn't seem to have noticed.
As to weight and balance I have a mono XS, 914
and a Woodcomp SR 3000 W wobbly prop and a very well
equipped panel (although much of this electronic rather
than steam age!), so my plane might be expected to be nose
heavy. I calculated what I thought was the optimum
position for the Ready for Service C of G as what would
allow any combination of pilot/s, fuel & luggage and came
up with the figure of 59 ins or thereabouts (but the
precise figure will depend on the base weight of the plane
but I guess the optimum will be very close to this) To
achieve that precise CoG position I found I needed a
small, 3 lb block of lead bolted to the front of the tail
bulkhead (accessed conveniently through the trim slots). I
suspect I had saved most or all of 3lbs in longer cables
and more elaborate mounting & fixing of a rear battery. My
advice would be to assume this is wha.t you will do with
the battery and only shift it to the much more
inconvenient rear position if your plane turns out to be
unexpectedly tail heavy.
Regards, David Joyce, G-XSDJ
GRAHAM SINGLETON <grahamsingleton@btinternet.com> wrote:
> Craig,
> you're right. moving the battery forward would require
>roughly half it's weight in the tail to compensate.
> You save the weight of the cables too. You need to
>consider keeping the battery cool if it's in the engine
>bay though.
> Graham
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: craig <craigb@onthenet.com.au>
> To: europa-list@matronics.com
> Sent: Saturday, 28 April 2012, 0:04
> Subject: RE: Europa-List: starter battery - LiFePO4
>
>
>
> Philip
>
> You mentioned the issues of weight and balance, for not
>using
> the LiFePo battery, assuming you had the battery in the
>rear
> As per most builds, was the option of another half kilo
>of ballast
> near the tail considered, if so and you opted not to
>proceed
> Could you explain why. Given the weight saving would
>still be
> about 6kg, it would seem worthwhile to pursue
>
> Craig
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