Jumper Cables with thin prongs/clips?

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Narwhal

Pre-takeoff checklist
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I'm wondering if anyone knows of a place to get jumper cables with thin alligator clips? The battery terminals in my plane are impossible to access with the normal thick ones.

I've seen some people with cables that have normal sized prongs then a metal extension coming out of the end of the prongs/clips for 1-2" that's maybe 1/4" to 1/2" wide. That would be perfect, yet I can't seem to find these cables anyplace on the internet. I figured maybe they were discontinued due to the thin parts being uninsulated and therefore deemed unsafe.

Sort of like these, but with even longer metal extensions coming out of the end:

cable.jpg

https://www.amazon.com/Performance-...rn-20&linkId=a4ddef098cfc5e1978f29c815bbbb355

Thanks in advance!
 
I can't help with those cables specifically, but I've been using one of those small jumpstarter battery packs, the clips are much smaller than normal jumper cables.

I also don't clip to the battery, which is in a box behind the seat; I clip to the + terminal on the master solenoid and a point on the airframe.
 
You can buy all different sizes of alligator clips and cut off the end of the jumper cable to crimp the new ones on. However, I would recommend just getting a small harness on the battery with a quick connect if this is something you do often. I have a heavy duty set of power cables (1/0 gauge) that run from the batteries in front of the Excursion all the way to the hitch receiver in back and terminated with a quick connector. That could be connected to a trailer/winch or to a set of jumper cables to help stranded vehicles or equipment.

shopping
 
Dana said:
I can't help with those cables specifically, but I've been using one of those small jumpstarter battery packs, the clips are much smaller than normal jumper cables.

I also don't clip to the battery, which is in a box behind the seat; I clip to the + terminal on the master solenoid and a point on the airframe.
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Our Honda Odyssey has a habit of running the battery down. It has the worse user interface of any vehicle I have been around. I will beep at you, but give you now idea why it is beeping at you and then an hour later it will have a dead battery. I carry a jumper box with me. I wired a pigtail to battery that uses the same connector as the jumper box. So I just plug the jumper box directly into the pigtail and don't have to worry about using jumpers. This is helpful because the battery is buried in the engine compartment. So getting clamps on is challenging anyway.

I have recommended my friend with the Mooney do something similar.

Brian
 
Keep in mind that running that much amperage through small clips will likely melt the clips. Get big enough ends to carry the current.
 
Narwhal said:
I turned on the master to find it at 0.5 volts. I tried letting it power the avionics and lights for a few minutes and sure enough the voltage jumped back to 13.5 volts, but it was still not strong enough to turn over the starter or run the electric fuel pump; battery voltage fell back to <1 after attempting that.
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FWIW: this sounds more like an electrical system problem than a battery problem. Batteries are not in the habit of going from .5v to 13.5v on their own regardless of chemistry. My 1st guess is you have a connection or relay problem and if your battery resting voltage is continuously below 12v then I would look for parasitic drains on the system as well.
 
Bell206 said:
FWIW: this sounds more like an electrical system problem than a battery problem. Batteries are not in the habit of going from .5v to 13.5v on their own regardless of chemistry. My 1st guess is you have a connection or relay problem and if your battery resting voltage is continuously below 12v then I would look for parasitic drains on the system as well.
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The battery resting voltage on my EarthX ETX680c is always in the mid 13's when I do a preflight. Even after just a 15 minute flight the time it wouldn't work the other day it was at 13.5 when I checked it during postflight with just the master on. I called EarthX and they had a great tech support guy that answered some questions about it. The battery has some interesting safety features and I'm wondering if somehow one of them was disconnecting the battery in this case. Unfortunately due to the way the battery is mounted I cannot see any of the fault lights on the battery itself, and other than a voltage indication it wasn't wired into my instrument panel. The battery was mounted as it is to facilitate venting it overboard since it is mounted under seat.
 
Narwhal said:
The battery has some interesting safety features and I'm wondering if somehow one of them was disconnecting the battery in this case. Unfortunately due to the way the battery is mounted I cannot see any of the fault lights on the battery itself, and other than a voltage indication it wasn't wired into my instrument panel. The battery was mounted as it is to facilitate venting it overboard since it is mounted under seat.
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My experimental plane requires power to run and for that reason I use an Odyssey AGM battery as I don't trust the EarthX batteries in my situation. The BMS system of the EarthX can shut the battery down for other reasons and not allow it to charge. From their website:

To determine the actual voltage of the battery, remove the negative battery cable and measure the voltage at the terminals with a voltmeter. If less than 8V, it will not accept a charge. Once a lithium battery is approximately 8V, it can be permanently damaged and the EarthX BMS is designed to not allow the recharging of the battery as this is no longer safe to do and can be dangerous and cause cell rupture. Never force a charge into the battery. This is not a battery defect, nor a failed battery, but instead the protection working as it is designed.
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This makes these batteries unacceptable for my purposes.
 
You should add a trouble light to the panel. Cheap and easy. Then you should verify you have a battery back-up for your ignition and that it works properly. Maybe upgrade to an ETX900 for more starting power.
 
Narwhal said:
The battery has some interesting safety features and I'm wondering if somehow one of them was disconnecting the battery in this case.
Click to expand...
I'll go out on a limb here, but if your battery has a solid 13 volts I think you may want to take a serious look at your electrical system. What you describe doesn't sound like an internal battery issue but to be sure perform a capacity check as shown in the battery manual on page 31. If your battery passes this check then look to your electrical system.
 
Narwhal said:
I've elected to do whatever it takes to get some some pigtails installed on my battery that will plug in easily to a micro start XP-1. I'm going to try to put one of these in so that it easy to connect a jump pack. I had an incident the other day with my earthx ETX680c after it was cold soaked for about 3 hours at 10 F. I turned on the master to find it at 0.5 volts. I tried letting it power the avionics and lights for a few minutes and sure enough the voltage jumped back to 13.5 volts, but it was still not strong enough to turn over the starter or run the electric fuel pump; battery voltage fell back to <1 after attempting that. I jumped it off a truck because that was my only option to get home. The battery seems fine now but I don't think I'll ever trust the thing again! Not the greatest feeling when you're running on electronic ignition to boot! I know of at least one incident in which a drained main battery caused the alternator breaker to trip shortly after takeoff due to excessive current draw, resulting in engine failure due to the electronic ignition then being unpowered. I certainly had the backup ignition battery powering the right ignition for that first takeoff.

As it stand now, just having the microstart on hand did no good because the alligator clips on the end of the standard cable are impossible to fit over the battery terminals the way it's installed.

https://antigravitybatteries.com/pr.../cables-parts/starting-harness-newer-xp1-xp3/
https://antigravitybatteries.com/products/micro-starts/xp-1/
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I did something similar on a Cub I maintain and occasionally fly. Depending on the conditions (mainly temperature) the battery can be drained before you can get the engine to start. I used the EarthX kit which utilizes the standard 2 pin connector that most battery maintainers use, which makes the lead dual purpose.

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/earthx-jumppack11-15073.php?clickkey=369324
 
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