Battery box vents and drain with light weight battery?

[shelbysautosales]

I have purchased the stc to delete the old fuse box and starter switch button to relays under the seat, and install a odessy light weight battery. My question is why would I need the battery box fresh airs vents and the drain?
I’m making new sheet metal now and looking at these gear pans and tins and thinking of deleting a few holes on the belly. Can I get some opinions, on thoughts? Thanks

[Stephen]

Check with the manufacturer. But, most information says gasses are not released.

[walt.buskey]

As I understand it, because the TC says the battery box needs vents, they're supposed to be there...

So I repaired them and set them up when I did my Odyssey battery & Bogert battery box mod STC. But no, I don't believe these batteries outgas. Another of those situations where technological advances have made some of the old "rules" superfluous, but what're ya gonna do?

[Steve Pierce]

I would delete them, the battery is seal, not like the old lead acid batteries that out gassed acid onto the belly fabric. Don't miss fixing the damage they caused.

[Glen Geller]

Walt, will the new box still be big enough for a Concorde or Gill?
A future owner (or even you) might in a pinch need to put a full size battery in there, just because emergencies happen and stuff.
Will the new arrangement allow that, ie, box size, cable connections, venting necessary for acid breather?

Also, if you overcharge an Odyssey, it really swells up (I've seen it in another plane that had a charging problem) and who knows what might come out of it? In flight, those vents might keep things cooler and stop released gasses from entering the cabin.

Food for thought...

GG

[dgapilot]

If you we replacing the battery box with something different, you will need an AMOC on the battery box AD


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[walt.buskey]

As I said, I repaired and left intact the vents on the box, and the box itself remains the same size -- but I did paint it bright red (on top of the "required" acid-resistant black paint).

The box mod consisted of removing the OEM through-bolt connectors so the new copper cables can pass through nylon insulators, with rubber grommets, into the box and connect directly to the battery.

Per the STC, I had to fashion an additional steel strap to secure the smaller Odyssey battery in the now-what-appears-to-be too big box. A standard-size battery, either the old FLA Gill or a newer Concorde of the correct size, will fit right in with removal of the steel strap.

Wish I had some pics to post here, but those I took back in 2013 all seem to have disappeared from my computer....

[PA-16]

I use the original box, there was a drain tube about 5 inches long sticking out the bottom of the fabric, I chopped that off even with the fabric, and secured the battery in the box.

[Jim Hann]

As I said, I repaired and left intact the vents on the box, and the box itself remains the same size -- but I did paint it bright red (on top of the "required" acid-resistant black paint).

The box mod consisted of removing the OEM through-bolt connectors so the new copper cables can pass through nylon insulators, with rubber grommets, into the box and connect directly to the battery.

Per the STC, I had to fashion an additional steel strap to secure the smaller Odyssey battery in the now-what-appears-to-be too big box. A standard-size battery, either the old FLA Gill or a newer Concorde of the correct size, will fit right in with removal of the steel strap.

Wish I had some pics to post here, but those I took back in 2013 all seem to have disappeared from my computer....

i did the exact same thing in 2015, might be some pictures in my recover thread, “N7743D is a project.” Two AN-3 bolts and the strap is out, shoving the cables around should be doable. The tough part is the lugs were replaced with smaller ID pieces so they work on the metric terminal bolts, so on my bird you may not be able to sub in a Gill.

[walt.buskey]

When I did mine (again, sorry, but no pics), I used a piece of soft-drawn 1/4" copper tubing as an insert, or more accurately a bushing, on the cable lugs to reduce the ID of the lug hole.

I sawed off a short piece (1/8", +/-) of tubing, slid it into the lug hole, then squished it in a vise so it expanded and stayed put, then used a small round file to enlarge the ID to just fit the metric bolts on the Odyssey battery. Final step was to file of any excess copper sticking up above the top & bottom surfaces of the lugs.

Made for a nice, tight, electrically-solid connection, easily popped back out to return to original lug ID if necessary.

Walt