I have made some changes to the Discus to remove these problems.
Firstly, the batteries are now wired the same as all the other club batteries. Whilst I recommend that the Discus batteries are only ever used in the Discus (since they are the only batteries that physically fit), they will work in other aircraft and they can be charged via workshop charging station if necessary. The Discus batteries are both Lead Acid types and there is no plan at this stage to move to Lithium batteries for this aircraft.
Secondly, to make things easier there is now no need to remove the batteries from the Discus for charging. A charging socket has been added behind the seat which is easily accessed. See photograph below.
Together with a new charging cable the dedicated Discus charger (the red box that has been kept in the Office until now) can now be connected straight to the aircraft in the hangar. Of course a mains extension cable will be required to connect the charger to a 13A wall socket.
MAKE SURE THE BATTERY MASTER SWITCH IS OFF, before connecting the charging lead otherwise the batteries may not charge properly.
At the moment the charger is placed on a chair near the aircraft. I plan to make an easy-to-move caddy to hold (and protect) the charger and act as a storage point for the charging cable. Hopefully I will get this done in the next week or two. The new charging cable is fed through the DV panel to reach the new charging socket. This arrangement will make it a very simple matter (at least from battery perspective) to prepare the aircraft for use in the morning and get the batteries on charge after flying.
Some care is required when connecting and removing the charging cable to ensure that the metal end does not come into contact with the canopy when it is fed through the DV panel. The canopy cover can still be used in the hangar as usual.
I will update this post with more pictures, including the caddy, and any relevant guidelines for use when I have completed them.
Tim F
