Concorde battery....data point.

[Mooneymite]

I'm about to buy my third Concorde battery.  The first one I replaced after 5 years but it was still holding a good charge.  However, the second one has failed after only 2.5 years.  Apparently one cell has gone bad and it failed suddenly....

 

The other surprise is the increase in costs for batteries!  I paid $239 in May of 2011, today's replacement was $272.  I hope the new one lasts better than the last one.

 

The worst Gill I ever had lasted just over 4 years.

 

Since my battery is my back up power when I fly IFR, I really like the idea of a reliable battery.  The suddenness with which this one failed makes me nervous.

 

 

[Marauder]

I wonder if they are having a manufacturing problem. I am currently working on year 10 with my Concorde.

[carqwik]

Well it's better than any Gill sealed battery...I only got about 18 months before each Gill died and my plane needs two of them.  Now using Concorde with a BatteryMinder...hopefully I'll get 3+ years on a battery (AZ heat is very hard on batteries so I have somewhat lower expectations of battery longevity).

[Steve65E-NC]

I would call Concorde.  I believe they will give you some relief or at least a discount on a replacement.  You did not mention the type battery.  Is this one of the RG or RGX batteries or a regular lead-acid. 

[Mooneymite]

RG 35 AXC.

[CCowboy]

Residing in the battery test track of central Arizona, batteries are put through the longevity test with hangar temps in the summer getting up to 130 deg F. Even the Sears DiHard batteries only last 18 months in my vehicles. I have had Gill and Concord over the last 15 years. The Concord last the longest. Will never go back to Gill.

[Seth]

I had to replace a car battery recently (those of you who have the 2002 BMW e39 M5 know it's not a tiny battery - and I know at least 8 of us have the e39 M5) and after searching and searching, it was only a $50 off online coupon on any purchase that got my cost to $137 for a generic battery. $187 without the coupon and that was the least expensive of the batteries that actually fit.  The innerstate battery was over $200 and the dealer and local shops wanted $400-$500 to install it.  Did it myself for $137 as noted, but that's one heavy battery.  I replaced it 5 years ago for less than that without the coupon.

 

Battery prices have gone up.  The market has consolidated.  The auto batteries are made by basically two firms and then branded.  One is Johnson Controls, I forget the other one.

 

-Seth

[VetRepp]

My Battery went dead today as well - At least I hope it is the battery.

I have an Ovation 2 w/ dual Concordes RG24 - 15?'s  and maintain them always on the Batteryminder. They have lasted longer than the 'Manufacturer expected replacement times'.

Anyway, I went thru all pre-flight start up w/ the G1000 and even raised the Flaps (I keep them down when hangared so my 5 year old won't step on them) and everything went fine, Then I started to crank and all power was lost - G1000 shut off , no engine turn over - nothing.

I cycled the master - still nothing, I then switched to Battery #2 and everything went fine, as normal, Plane flew well on Batt #1 - alternator power and the ammeter read normal voltage and charging on both batteries.  But if I shut off alternator  on Batt #1 --> Power lost.  Batt #2 Did OK.

 

My Question:  I thought batteries usually died by losing ability to hold charge or crank power, Not sudden death. are the concordes somehow different? or does this sound like a different problem? Solenoid or connection?

I'll check it out tomorrow, and if nothing obvious perhaps switch batteries to see if it is indeed the battery before popping $500+ for a replacement.

Any Ideas?

(Didn't mean to hijack the post - If it is proper protocol to start a new post - Let me know)

 

Thanks

 

Roger

[DonMuncy]

Batteries have a mind of their own. Generally they die over a period of time, but sometimes they just die.

[Mooneymite]

My Battery went dead today as well - 

 

My Question:  I thought batteries usually died by losing ability to hold charge or crank power, Not sudden death. are the concordes somehow different? or does this sound like a different problem? Solenoid or connection?

 

(Didn't mean to hijack the post - If it is proper protocol to start a new post - Let me know)

 

Thanks

 

Roger

 

In the past, my batteries have slowly lost their ability to hold a full charge....something you notice over time when you do a load check.

 

In my case, I left a baggage door open over-night (interior light on) and when I tried to revive the battery, it would not take a normal charge.  The battery had not had any previously noted degradation, so I'm postulating that one cell died since I can't get it above about 11 volts.

 

As Don noted above, batteries sometimes have a mind of their own.  How true!

[Hank]

Gus--

Your C has an inside light hooked to the baggage door? I routinely leave my baggage door wide open in the hangar, but am learning to change that practice due to prevalence of spiders here.

The wonders of improvement in only four (4) model years!

[Mooneymite]

I have heard that it is very bad for sealed batteries to completely discharge them. If so, perhaps that was your problem? Not sure where I heard that, though.

Jim

 

Obviously, I'm a believer now...

 

Gus--

Your C has an inside light hooked to the baggage door? I routinely leave my baggage door wide open in the hangar, but am learning to change that practice due to prevalence of spiders here.

The wonders of improvement in only four (4) model years!

 

Yes.  I'm not sure it was an "improvement" since I virtually never fly at night.  $275 seems to be a high cost for forgetting to close the cabin, or baggage door.

[Hank]

My hangar has a light, but I've had the pleasure of unloading away from home in the dark. Thankfully I've not had to load in the dark! But I can see interior ceiling light being nice to have for my occasional trips in the dark.

[Amelia]

My baggage area light has a rocker switch, and it was a source of considerable frustration when someone unloading a suitcase in daylight would accidentally hit that rocker switch. The dim light was easy to miss on a bright day, but drew enough power to flatten a battery overnight. I cured the problem...unscrewed the bulb.

[Mooneymite]

. I cured the problem...unscrewed the bulb.

 

Since I almost never fly past dark, this seems the most efficient solution...though there are apparently much more elegant, technological solutions.  (Thanks, Don!)

 

Naturally, this points up the weak point in all my aircraft systems:  me.   

[rbridges]

I have heard that it is very bad for sealed batteries to completely discharge them. If so, perhaps that was your problem? Not sure where I heard that, though.

Or perhaps it was the Deep Discharge Recovery procedure on page 22 that I am thinking of. I honestly don't remember and should have researched it before posting.

http://www.concordebattery.com/Chairman_Technical_Manual.pdf

Jim

 

I've heard the same thing, too.  Maybe it's an old wives tale.  I don't know how long it takes for sulfating to be irreversible, but I'm sure discharging the battery didn't help.  

 

So, batteries are creeping towards $300.  Lovely. 

[stevesm20b]

Battery prices have gone up lately. Just bought a battery for my Honda Civic and it was over $100.00 dollars.

[Mooneymite]

Well, I write this somewhat red-faced.

 

I made a faulty diagnosis and unfairly threw Concorde under the bus.....Mea Culpa.  

 

So, how this unfolded was I ordered a battery from Aircraft Spruce.  Then I went out and removed the battery from my plane.  It was then that I discovered something that made me wonder about my original diagnosis.  I found corrosion inside the negative terminal.  The outside was bright and shiny and was nicely treated with anti-corrosion paint; inside was thickly corroded.  I got fooled.

 

I spent about an hour doing clean-up and then put the battery on slow charge.  After a couple of hours, the battery was showing above the 10.5 -11 volts the battery had previously stabilized at.  A glimer of hope.....

 

I went in and cancelled the Aircraft Spruce order.

 

I slow charged the battery overnight.  Next morning it was at 12.8 volts, so I dragged the plane out and started the engine and let the alternator top off the battery.  Last night I left the battery alone all night.  My neighbor with the capacity tester is out of town, so  this morning I started the engine, then shut down the engine, turned on all the avionics, strobe, etc. and watched the voltage for 30 minutes simulating loss of an alternator in flight.  It went from 12.75 down to 11.97.  I restarted the engine, the alternator quickly brought it right back to 12.8.

 

I still need to do a real capacity check, but, I am on the verge of declaring my battery "fixed".  Unfortunately, there seems to be no cure for the operator's  ineptitude.

 

Lesson to self:  always check the simple/cheap things FIRST.  Don't assume the worst.  However, there is a part of me that wonders why the battery is making so much corrosion and if the battery suffered any permanent damage.  We'll see.  

 

I just flew the plane to CNI and back for lunch with a friend.  All seemed well.

 

My apologies to Concorde.