Unable to Fly Battery Hot and Overheat
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Hi,
I've been trying to fly some FedEx ops around SoCal in the Caravan but have not been able to get off the ground yet because I am constantly getting Hot Battery and then Battery Overheat warnings on taxi out before eventually the avionics shut off.
I am sure I'm starting the aircraft properly, been meticulously following the proper steps and I can't see anything I've missed on the Electrical systems but I can't stop the battery from overheating.
Can someone please point me where I'm going wrong here as I'd really like to actually fly and not keep going AOG! -
I can't find it now -- even searching overheat or battery only this post comes up in my results -- but I swear I read a thread addressing this yesterday. I experienced it myself starting a flight in Papua New Guinea. I think at least part of the solution was to get the generator going quickly to reduce battery load in hot temperatures, but I don't recall what else was suggested in that discussion.
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Oh, I see why I couldn't find it... it's on the MSFS forums lol... anyway, this may help you, along with some later posts a bit further down: https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/black-square-caravan-professional/760197/187
It's the standby generator they suggest turning on immediately, apparently the regular gen doesn't kick in at first at idle.
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I've been trying to reproduce this for a while now, and then I had a realization.
I was surprised to hear this, since it's the same basic battery temperature code I've been using in all my aircraft. I couldn't reproduce this with a 50% drained battery, 140°F ambient temperatures, and maximum electrical load in the aircraft. Then I remembered a problem I hadn't seen since my Analog King Air. MSFS erroneously connects the generator output to the propeller speed, instead of the gas generator in free turbine aircraft. Apparently my last minute beta range changes before release dropped the RPM just low enough in beta that the generator doesn't output sufficient power, and the battery is taking all the load.
This problem will go away as a result of my beta range fixes in v1.1, but in the meantime, the fundamental problem is low propeller RPM. If you just keep the power lever at the flight idle detent when you don't need beta for taxiing, the battery will recharge and cool down.
Feel free to pass this along to the Official Forums. We're planning on getting v1.1 out this week, as soon as Boris and Just Flight are back from FSWeekend. Sorry for the delay!
