Leaving on charge

#1

I have purchased a Power Core 10000 from which to run a Pilot Aware conspicuity device in an aircraft as recommended by Pilot Aware. After a flight can I leave the Power Core on charge in the hangar so it will be ready for the next pilot without fear of damage. This could mean for weeks during a spell of bad weather.

#2

I think it would be better to not keep it connected for a long period of time

1 Like
#3

The risk of leaving on charge is subtle.

The electronics within the Powercore won’t let it harm itself when connected, once the cells are charged (reach a voltage and current intake is low) then it stops recharging itself, it remains off until the charge naturally falls, and most Powercore will not even check their own charge level until the cable is unplugged/replugged anyway.

But.

There is always across the entire electrical power grid a small chance of a power surge. You get it in homes with large (kitchen, laundry) items turning on/off, you get it residential areas with local shorts, brown outs, spikes. The longer you leave a low power item (USB charger) connected the more they slowly fizzle sizzle in that electrical hum and so die faster. You normally see this as a charger simply being dead after few years. That can leak slowly into what they are connected to.

So recommendation: it’s a risks vs rewards calculation you have to do. What is the advantage of leaving plugged in? There is some added risk, small admittedly. So this is all about the context. Not a simple do / don’t do.

Personally what I do:

  • I don’t own 1 Powercore. I own 2 at least and aim for about 1 per person, so about 4 total
  • only 1 is plugged in at a time anyway, being recharged
  • the oldest (the one charged the longest time ago) is the one which is being actively used
  • so if at any particular time, a surge happened by bad luck to come through the electrical system, it would potentially fry the USB charger, through it to the Powercore and so fry 1 of the many. But that fried one would not be asked to be used until the next one had already been used and already recharged.
  • so say in my case I have 4 Powercore, I’d have to have 3 Powercore all die, each which had been recharged roughly 1 week ago, 2 week ago and 3 week ago, for me to be in a hole.
  • Otherwise known as N+1

If you own 1 of anything, you put yourself at more risk than if you own 2 or more anything and swap between them, your risk is small.

Math:

  • say the chance of a Powercore being fried is 1% (not this high but is a easier example)
  • chance of 1 fried = 1%
  • chance of 2 fried (when recharged not at the same time so you alternate) = 1% “squared” = 0.01%
  • chance of 3 fried = 0.0001%
  • say you turned 1% into days. Chance a Powercore is fried is 1% or 4 days a year (actually much less). Chance 2 fried is half an hour a year, chance 3 fried is 30 secs a year (actually much less).
  • you get the picture hopefully.