Emergency battery pack issue

[SamoL]

This might affect everyone with a newer avionics and a 30V emergency battery pack D60-2560-91-00:
Under the same part number Diamond used to sell a pack of batteries in a heat-shrink wrap. Now they sell a plastic housing for batteries and also batteries that shall be inserted into this housing. The only issue is that the plastic housing is EASA certified and the batteries are not. So our service organisation (Urbe) refused to put the batteries (regular CR123A lithium 3v batteries) in our aircraft and they have notified Austro Control that Diamond does not have a certified solution for our aircraft and as a consequence our aircraft is AOG since May 19th when it came to Urbe for a yearly inspection. Diamond is not able (or not willing) to produce a part in the old way, so the only alternative is to certify CR123A batteries. I guess that all of you that have now CR123A batteries in the new format (just inserted in the plastic housing) are flying with non-certified parts.

I will keep you updated with how things progress.

Regards
Samo

[Rich]

This is bogus behavior on the part of the shop. The IPC specifically lists the CR123 as the appropriate battery. This is analogous to our older DA40s with Duracell MN1500 AA as the approved item. I doubt any shop in the US would give you grief over this.

[Steve]

In the US, owners/operators are allowed to replace batteries under Appendix A of FAR Part 43 as Preventive Maintenance. As Rich noted, our Emergency Batteries fall under this (as do the aircraft main battery, ELT batteries - 3 different ones in my airplanes case, and the VM1000 memory battery). As long as "complex assembly" operations are not required...

[SamoL]

Things might be different in the US. I believe that according to EASA only certified batteries can be built into a certified aircraft. Few other service centres have confirmed this and there is another DA42 grounded with the same problem in Europe. We haven't heard back from Diamond and don't know when solution for this problem will be provided. Our DA42 is already grounded for three weeks.

[Karl]

Things might be different in the US. I believe that according to EASA only certified batteries can be built into a certified aircraft. Few other service centres have confirmed this and there is another DA42 grounded with the same problem in Europe. We haven't heard back from Diamond and don't know when solution for this problem will be provided. Our DA42 is already grounded for three weeks.

What is the manufacture date of your aircraft?

[Karl]

This is bogus behavior on the part of the shop. The IPC specifically lists the CR123 as the appropriate battery. This is analogous to our older DA40s with Duracell MN1500 AA as the approved item. I doubt any shop in the US would give you grief over this.

EASA has a requirement that all lithium batteries exceeding a specific size must have documentation to show that they are approved for aviation use.

[Karl]

Things might be different in the US. I believe that according to EASA only certified batteries can be built into a certified aircraft. Few other service centres have confirmed this and there is another DA42 grounded with the same problem in Europe. We haven't heard back from Diamond and don't know when solution for this problem will be provided. Our DA42 is already grounded for three weeks.

Chapter 4 of the MM requires replacement of the battery pack after 25 months, or on its expiry date. However, the Flight Manual states that the battery pack is only required for Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) flights.

I would meet with the Quality Assurance Manager and request (or perhaps demand) that the aircraft be released with an ADD for Day/Night VFR flights only.

[SamoL]

What is the manufacture date of your aircraft?

The plane is two years old so this is the first replacement of the battery. Diamond has found one battery of old design and we are picking up the aircraft tomorrow.

[Rich]

This is bogus behavior on the part of the shop. The IPC specifically lists the CR123 as the appropriate battery. This is analogous to our older DA40s with Duracell MN1500 AA as the approved item. I doubt any shop in the US would give you grief over this.

EASA has a requirement that all lithium batteries exceeding a specific size must have documentation to show that they are approved for aviation use.

What is that size? Individually these are pretty small.

[Karl]

This is bogus behavior on the part of the shop. The IPC specifically lists the CR123 as the appropriate battery. This is analogous to our older DA40s with Duracell MN1500 AA as the approved item. I doubt any shop in the US would give you grief over this.

EASA has a requirement that all lithium batteries exceeding a specific size must have documentation to show that they are approved for aviation use.

What is that size? Individually these are pretty small.

I cannot remember the wattage limit, but it is basically button or watch-type batteries that are exempt.