Kitfox Aircraft Stick and Rudder Stein Air Grove Aircraft TCW Technologies Dynon Avionics AeroLED MGL Avionics Leading Edge Airfoils Desser EarthX Batteries Garmin G3X Touch
Results 1 to 9 of 9

Thread: battery jump/charge jack

  1. #1
    Senior Member ken nougaret's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    North Florida
    Posts
    778

    Default battery jump/charge jack

    Does anyone have a jack on the outside of the aircraft for easy jump starting or charging the battery. Is it possible to have one jack that will do both. The cessna and piper plugs are too large. My battery is in the tail so it is kind of a pain to get to.

  2. #2
    Super Moderator Av8r3400's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Merrill, WI
    Posts
    3,044

    Default Re: battery jump/charge jack

    I ran a plug for a battery tender to the cabin on my plane. It is not sufficient for jump starting, but will allow a dead battery to be charged or, in my case, plugged into the tender to keep it up in the cold weather.
    Av8r3400
    Kitfox Model IV
    The Mangy Fox
    912UL 105hp Zipper
    YouTube Videos

  3. #3

    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Las Vegas, NV
    Posts
    118

    Default Re: battery jump/charge jack

    I don't do to much flying in July and August because of the heat here, so I keep mine on a battery tender. I run the cable through the flaperon opening on the turtle deck. It has a convenient quick attachment connection that is fastened to the battery. As was mentioned earlier it is not enough power to start an engine with a completely dead battery, it does keep my battery fully charged during periods of prolonged inactivity.
    Michael Meyers
    KF IV
    Las Vegas, NV

  4. #4
    Senior Member SkySteve's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    Huntsville, UT
    Posts
    1,054

    Default Re: battery jump/charge jack

    I hard wired a battery tender plug on my battery. It comes out of the battery compartment thru the battery access door. I keep it plugged in when the plane is parked in my hangar. Handy to have. The RED arrow shows where the black plug comes out of the side of the battery access door.

    Steve Wilson
    Huntsville, UT
    Kitfox 85DD
    912A / 3 Blade Taper Tip Warp Drive
    Convertible Nosewheel & Tailwheel
    SkySteve's SPOT Page
    SkySteve's You Tube Videos

  5. #5
    Senior Member jiott's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Portland, OR
    Posts
    2,959

    Default Re: battery jump/charge jack

    My battery is in the normal location on the firewall (SS7) and I ran a full size + and - cable from the battery terminals down the firewall and terminated in the bottom cowl rear air outlet area. The ends are normally capped so they can't be shorted together, but can be easily reached for battery charging or jump starting without removing the cowl.
    Jim Ott
    Portland, OR
    Kitfox SS7 flying
    Rotax 912ULS

  6. #6
    Senior Member colospace's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Littleton, CO
    Posts
    322

    Default Re: battery jump/charge jack

    Jim,
    I'm not quite to the wiring stage yet, but I had planned to "permanently" install the a Battery Tender cable and route it thru the firewall to be accessible under and forward of the panel. I'm liking your approach though that doesn't bother with having to pass thru the firewall with the other wiring and yet would still be very accessible.
    - Gary
    S7 SuperSport Tri-gear
    w/Rotax 912, Oratex, Dynon

  7. #7
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    KDKB (Dekalb, Illinois)
    Posts
    644

    Default Re: battery jump/charge jack

    I have a big quick disconnect under the CP side of the instrument panel, the
    pluggable side is a modified set of jumper cables. The plug looks like this one:

    http://www.parts-express.com/smh-sy1...ector--263-120

    The inside connector ties to the starter solenoid, and ground.

    I use it from time to time in the winter, since the IO-120 is a bear to start
    when the temp gets down to zero-ish

    Jeff

  8. #8
    Senior Member Dave S's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    St Paul, MN
    Posts
    1,833

    Default Re: battery jump/charge jack

    Jiott,

    Your design sounds like something that a person could connect to the traditional jumper cables - meaning a person could get a jump just about anywhere if needed.

    Do you happen to have a photo of your installation?

    Our S7 would be similar as we have the standard location on the firewall for the primary battery.

    I like the idea of no firewall penetration and something that does not interfere with removing the cowl.
    Dave S
    Kitfox 7 Trigear (Flying since 2009)
    912ULS Warp Drive

    St Paul, MN

  9. #9
    Senior Member jiott's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Portland, OR
    Posts
    2,959

    Default Re: battery jump/charge jack

    Dave, sorry no pictures. Actually right now the cables are not on due to some fooling around I was doing. When I put them back on I will try to remember to take some photos. Actually it is really simple:
    I used the same gauge cables as goes to the starter.
    Crimped and soldered on the large ring terminals on both ends of the cables.
    Sandwiched them under the existing battery cables on the battery posts.
    I may move the negative off the battery and connect it to engine ground.
    The two cables bend 90 degrees at the battery and come straight down the firewall to a couple inches below it.
    The are held in place in a couple places by some rivet-on zip tie anchors.
    The large ring terminals on the bottom make an excellent place to clamp on jumper cables or battery charger.
    Just make sure you cap off the bottom ends (or spread them far enough apart) so there is no chance of shorting them together when not in use.
    That's it folks, super simple.
    Jim Ott
    Portland, OR
    Kitfox SS7 flying
    Rotax 912ULS

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •