jrhelm

My Feedback: (1)

I found an inexpensive starter on ebay and was wondering if I could just use a motorcycle type battery for the 12v's or do I need to get a hobby specific type of batter? Is there a difference in the Amps that I should be worried about?

J

67ssmike

Should'nt be any difference 12 volts is 12 volts ..just make sure that your motorcycle battery is a 12 volt.some of the older ones are 6 volts .I use a garden tractor batter it's cheap and lasts a long time before it needs charged .And it also depends if your gonna try to fit it into your flight box or not..mine is way to bulky and wide to fit so i carry it seperate ..hope this help ..mike

joesabido

I use a 7amp 12v sealed battery, i think it's just like a car battery but smaller.

The best way to know if it will work is to test it

If you're going to use it to start a 40 or 60 size engine it will be ok

raideron

My Feedback: (1)

jrhelm... They should work.. I got my 12v 7a gel cell battery off of ebay a year
ago and its still going strong... Here's the people I got it from. I paid $15 including
shipping...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=5971778644

bruce88123

$7.15 plus shipping. Not a bad deal at all and a good battery from the looks of it.

DBCherry

My Feedback: (4)

That looks real close to the ones that Tower and other places sell, at a much better price.

If I'd seen that one I might not have bothered making up my own 14.4 volt pack from RC car packs.
Dennis-

jrhelm

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks for all the information and the website. Does look like a good deal!!

J

jagnweiner

My Feedback: (1)

J-

I agree with Mike. The problem you run into is down the road when you want to put together a field box. I started with a motorcycle battery and an electric starter. Later on I got a field box. The motorcycle battery was barely too big for the field box. I ended up having to get a gel cel hobby-type battery. If I were you, I would go ahead and get the hobby battery now. It is about the same price.

-Scott

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

I went to Sears and bought one of those emergency car starter things with that has a build in charger that plugs into the 110VAc wall socket. It's basically a sealed lead-acid 12 volt with about 20 amps capacity. Works great, has a socket like the cigarette lighter in the car for other accessories.

red head

I use a motor cycle battery and have for years, just make sure you get the smaller one and not one for a big bike, also make sure you use the right charger. The small ones should fit a flight box. Walmart or Kmart should have them for around $15. ENJOY!!!!

Red

FOD MAN

/

IBrakeForNobody

My Feedback: (16)

I got one of those "Jump-start" battery things that they sell at Kragen auto parts. I used it for 2 months then bought a 7 amp hobby battery. Now that thing sits and powers my Triton...so if I were you, I'd just get the hobby battery the first time.

HTH

Pilot Chad

My Feedback: (4)

I have used the following for starters:
Airplane Batteries (how ironic)
Lawn Mower batteries
And Car batteries
And The small ones for your flight box

So, All in all i like the flight box ones best.

2slow2matter

My Feedback: (1)

radio shack also sells the 12 V gel cell batteries for like 19 bucks, plus tax. Same exact battery as tower and other sells--without the hassle of shipping. Save yourself the time and get one now.

stick flyer

I have used the batteries that power the Riding lawn mower or my tiller for years. That way I have not purchased a battery just for the planes as it has duel use.

martno1fan

simple answer is yes thats exactly what im using for my starter and its great !!!ive not needed to charge it since i 1st charged it and that was 6 months ago.

2slow2matter

My Feedback: (1)

I'd rather be kicked in the crotch than to have to take my battery off my riding mower every time I wanted to go flying. Spend the 15 bucks and get a battery for your flying purposes.

red head

You've never been KICKED in the crotch have ya 2 slow!!!!! ENJOY !!! RED

bruce88123

Maybe that is something about 2slow we just don't want to know. [:@]

Lowlevlflyer

My Feedback: (3)

heheh, does that mean your lawn mower battery is a bit hard to get to?

2slow2matter

My Feedback: (1)

there's a reason they call me "2slow"!!

BillS

I had a motorcycle battery and two gel cell batteries go bad in the last five years. So this year a garden tractor battery was purchased thinking that it might last longer. Don’t know yet but it doesn’t hold a charge as long as anticipated.

Bill

horace315

My Feedback: (15)

the portable vehicle jumpers are perfect for this sport,i modified mine with female banana plugs,it has a built in 20 amp fuse and is 200 cranking amps,the telephone battery's the hobby shops sell don't seem to have the amperage to turn over the bigger engines without bumping the spinners first.i made a flight box out of a black and decker two Price tool box with wheels and a pull out handle.i had one of those telephone battery's in the bottom and a partition between that and my fuel bottle,charging the battery made me nervous because i usually charged it at night,i dreamed of a fire one night that made me uneasy and removing and putting the battery back in became a hassle.so i opted for the jumper battery and it serves as my power panel power and also a portable starter battery and is pretty simple to carry around,the cigarette lighter port on the jumper is good for field charging anything you need.the cost was around $28 and to me that was a good value i have been using it now for three years,and i left the booster cables on it so it still works as that also.it weighs about 15 pounds give or take a few.