Battery Replacement for PA 24-250

[David Callon]

I just replaced my 10 year old concord because, we'll I just thought it was time. Had a gill in a Cessna 150 go bad after a year. Called them and they said because I just bought the plane the warranty does not extend to me.

[Steve Marcozzi]

No core value that I've ever found. You can usually get rid of them at an auto parts place where they collect them for recycling.

Steve

[Randy Johnson]

And a year later the concord battery won't hold a charge. Will see if aircraft spruce will honor warranty...

[N3322G]

Wow - hasn't happened to me or anyone I know. Is there something unique to your aircraft?

[BobPicker]

I replaced my previous Gill with a Concorde sealed Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) type battery about 3 years ago. Battery box is clean and starting is a breeze. I did find out a slight issue with the change over. That is the battery box needed a slight mod to get the cable spacing correct for the Concorde. I had to make a patch over one of the holes that needed to be moved due to the battery configuration of the Concorde as compared to a Gill. I then re-drilled the hole, made and riveted two new phenolic resin insulators to the box for both the positive and negative cables. All mods to the battery box were inspected and approved by our IA.

As part of the change, I reworked the ground (negative) cable termination to the airframe that was somewhat flaky with resistance that was on the high side due to the bolting arrangement, dirt and corrosion. This cable termination is just adjacent to the battery box. Another area to make sure is properly connected are the grounding straps from the engine to the engine mount and airframe. With the long run of cables in a Comanche a poor ground connection at any point can negate any gains from a new battery.

Now, the Sky-Tec starter turns the engine over like there is no compression and starts occur in about 2-3 blades. Can't say enough positive about the Concord battery and making sure you have a great ground connection to the airframe.

[Randy Johnson]

Only thing I can think of is a very cold New England winter without a trickle charger or regular use. Snow was so high I couldn't get to my hangar for months.

Did get a refund of a whole $85 from Concorde...clearly only a fraction of the cost.