Hello, I've had such good luck lately finishing my series 6, I have one last obstacle to overcome! I'm hoping the huge amount of knowledge here will help solve the problem!

I moved the kitfox to the airport today and planned on starting it again and triple check everything before Wed. when my FAA inspector was to arrive ( may need to postpone).

This would have been the second time I actually started the plane! When I purchased the Kit it had a plastic battery box and a battery that was not filled with acid yet. This battery would not fit all the way down into the battery box(bad mold). I decided to buy a battery that would fit instead of retro fitting the box. On first start up day the battery would not crank the engine enough to start it. It would only move the blades 3 or 4 positions then start to chatter. So I took a full size car battery with 800 CCA and made some leads and had the intial engine start that way, thinking the battery was not adequate. Next I purchased a Odessey PC 680 which many 912 owners have, thinking this will solve the problem. Today I tried with the new battery, I tested it and it read 13.98 volts. It started off ok but then slowed to a crawl then the chattering again. So, I visited with another pilot this afternoon and he mentioned putting a volt meter on the battery while turning over the engine. I did and while cranking It dropping to 10.54v. I then took the battery out and took it to my local napa store and they load tested it at the name plate rating of 170 CCA. the machine said the battery is good. So I am stumped at what is causing this????? Is the engine so tight that the compressions are high and needs yet another bigger battery, could it be the starter ( I have the light duty, black starter), could it be the starter solenoid?. My battery is on the back side of the firewall. The leads are as short as I'm gonna get them and I used #6 awg stranded copper that came with the kit. All ends are crimped and tight. Last thought, what about the diode that is attached from the starter solenoid to ground? Heck my trouble shooting skills are fried!!! All thoughts are appreciated

Patrick
series 6 (still building)