The International Cessna^® 170 Association

I hate to do this because I know it will bring up the possibility of a debate but here goes anyway....

The presentation by the Concord rep at convention this last summer was a good one. I liked the guy and he was very informative. His job is to promote Concord batteries and their other vended products like certain chargers.
He suggested the Battery Minder* brands, and don't be confused by a similar-sounding "Battery Tender"* brand. I found that very interesting since both the one he suggested and the similar competitor are both automotive type chargers.

I have read many times over the detailed differences between automotive and aircraft batteries and their electrolyte specific gravity differences and all the warnings about using special chargers (constant current vs voltage) etc... and it still raises a question in my mind: How is it that bench-top chargers for aviation batteries are so promoted over simpler, cheaper automotive chargers.... when in actual practice the charging systems IN THE AIRPLANES using those batteries are still essentially the same as those found in automobiles using common automobile batteries?

There is nothing "magic" about your airplane's charging system so why would your battery need anything different to charge it up for immediate use than a common automotive charger?
The only reason I conclude for a different type charger is when the battery is kept constantly connected to a charger, in which case one needs to have a charger which will not overcharge... i.e., "boil" your battery when it's connected long-term.

The problem with most automotive battery chargers is that few of them are designed to remain constantly connected during periods of inactivity. Most automotive chargers are used to service a low battery in order to return it to immediate service.... not to maintain the battery during long periods of sitting in a hangar.

There is a simple, inexpensive battery "maintainer" which I bought at Sears, but which is sold under different badges including Schumacher, etc. which can be had for less than $25 and can be left connected indefinitely as a battery maintainer.
Here's Tractor Supply's version: http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/s ... _vc=-10005
I have kept my boat, tractor, airplane (with Concord), and all sorts of spare batteries connected indefinitely and it has always done the job. I have therefore concluded that the need for special equipment costing big bucks is not necessary because this unit has a solid state regulator which monitors the battery constantly. In other words, it is designed specifically for long term connection to the battery.

*Edit: accidentally reversed these two brands, now corrected.

I purchased the Concorde sealed battery.

1 Concorde Sealed Battery RG-25XC 237.95

1 Battery Minder 12 V 12448-S5 189.95 Total bill 427.90 Aircraft Spruce

Yes I probably paid 100.00 too much for the Charger.. The determining factor was the labeling on the Charger 'AVIATION CALIBRATED FOR CONCORDE ONLY"

I understand that the -S5 in the model number is special designation for Concorde. This is probably the 4th or 5 th generation minder style charger.

The charger can be used for sealed or wet (filler caps) lead acid GA batteries only . Not for ni-cad. Unit states on side of case maintenance charger - Desulfator..

VDC Electronics, Inc 800379-5579 (ET)

I purchased a new battery for my Dodge Ram truck several months ago. Shocked at current battery prices. Tried and tried to get a deal. No Way.
Truck battery cost was with in 5 - 10 dollars of aircraft battery. Can we be expecting a major jump in aircraft battery prices? Can we?

Keep your Voltage up

Regards

The last time I bought a new Concorde RG 25 XC I was concerned about charging it after reading all the data that came with the battery. I called Concorde and talked to one of the engineers about what kind of charger was required. He said just charge it with whatever you have. I didn't ask him about constant long term charging/maintaining as I do not do that with any of my batteries and I regularly get 6-8 years life out of the AGM s. I specifically asked and his answer was he was not that concerned about charging with the exact voltages listed in the data.

I replaced a Gill with a sealed Concorde about 5 years ago and never had it on a charger. 2.5 years later the Concorde died and I replaced it with another Concorde. This time I picked up a battery tender and kept it plugged in while in the hangar. 2.5 years later (about a month ago), the battery went belly up again. It didn't actually show any problems but the battery load test showed 56% capacity. Now I've got another new Concorde and a new $25 battery minder/desulfator. The extreme temps in Vegas most certainly play a huge role in battery life so I'm not very surprised. We'll see how the battery minder works on this battery...

I read some post on another forum that quoted emails from battery minder regarding aviation vs. non-aviation chargers. It seemed that although battery minder would not directly support the use of standard chargers on an aviation battery, they DID confirm that they would NOT damage an aviation battery. Effectively, the only difference was that the aviation chargers always have the over-temperature shut off (only an option on standard chargers) and the aviation chargers maintain a charge at 14.1V instead of the standard 14.3V (I think those numbers are right...). I find it hard to believe that such a small voltage change would make much of a difference. Note that battery minder sells different chargers for Gill and Concorde batteries. Are they interchangeable? Probably so. What's the difference? Each manufacturer does their testing and comes up with their own specific charge rates and voltage levels that they think will be more beneficial for battery life. Personally, I think it's all a bunch of nonsense to justify a $150 increase for a charger that isn't much different... but to each his own.

I realize this is an old thread but I'm interested in hooking up a battery "minder" charger built for my concord 25 xc battery. I just bought the plane but I have experience with battery maintainers in my garage at home, hooked up constantly. The battery in my 170b is (like most) in an aluminum box with a lid mounted on the firewall and the battery minder terminals are screwed to the battery terminals and fed out through grommets into the engine compartment so I can easily plug in the minder.

My plane is in an open T hangar so I don't want to leave the engine cowling open to the weather. Upon hooking everything up last night and seeing the battery minder performing as intended I just couldn't bring myself to leave it unattended because the instructions for the minder say have the battery in a well ventilated area if installed in the aircraft. I think the worry is that if a cell in the battery shorts out it can produce hydrogen gas so there is a spark/fire risk if the gas builds up in an enclosed area.

Picturing my battery in the sealed aluminum case and in the engine compartment with closed cowlings just got me worried I might be doing something stupid with my beautiful new purchase..... Am I overthinking this? It seems I've gotten over it at home in my garage and I think the risk is exceedingly low with these sensing high tech "minders" but I thought I'd check if others are leaving them hooked up for maintaining all the time while the battery sits in the aircraft?

Personally I don’t think I would worry about it. Just think about that primitive charging system that you used on that last four hour flight!

Joe
4518C

Many years ago when dinosaurs walked the earth we only had the pink gill batteries here in Australia . The pink batteries slowly ate our battery boxes and failed at any time . Many times I had to swing start my aircraft on my own and that’s so much fun. Then came the concord battery . What a difference they made but they were heavy also and cracked the fire walls . We were getting about 3 to 4 years from them . I had only a 25 amp generator recharging the concord battery. It took forever to bring the battery up to a full charge state. We didn’t have the privilege of battery minders or charges as we did not have electricity in the hangars. A new Lycoming engine was fitted to the aircraft and an alternator was the charging power source . Then a new type of battery was offered at about half the weight and twice the price . The Odyssey.battery was now the flavour of the month. Mine lasted about 9 months . It failed .Initially we were told my battery was in a too hot a place and too much vibration and it should be down in the tail. Rubbish was my answer. Then we found out a bad batch had been sent out to Australia . Back to,Concord batteries. Then I noticed liquid dripping out of the bottom of the battery box. The concord battery had split . NOT HAPPY. PSST.. Do not tell anybody ,but I started using a auto battery for about 12 months and it worked well. At A fifth of the cost. Then at a aircraft show I was shown a newer type of battery . It was Earth X .
The Earth X has been in the aircraft now for 12 months and I was away in the USA for 2 months . No battery minders or charges . I was stunned. It turned the aircraft over with no hesitation. This battery can be fitted sideways , upside down, it’s your choice and only weighing about 6 lbs . I am totally happy with battery.

I have been using batteryminder on both the 170 & 195 Concorde batteries--airplanes sit for extended periods and I have had no troubles. I installed the Anderson connectors on each battery so it is easy to connect & disconnect the tender. 1 tender with their Y connector handles both airplanes just fine. Everything available at Spruce.