What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Concorde battery charger

A5555

Well Known Member
I use Concorde battery RG-25XC but I only get 3 yrs out of these. my latest battery made it to 3.5 yrs. it's probably down to 80-85%. starts easily if the engine is warm but when colder I detect a slight decrease in power. Concorde says I should be able to get 5 yrs. I have an older style battery charger (Battery Minder) for Concorde. Concorde has a new battery charger. Does anyone have experience with the new vs old style Concorde charger providing any benefit in extending the battery life?

IMG_20211206_142359.jpg


IMG_20211206_160004_(1).jpg


IMG_20211206_155911_(1).jpg
 
I bought a Concorde RG-25XC on 12/13/19. I bought a Batteryminder 128CEC1-AA-S5 on 12/26/19. I had to replace the battery this September. I opted for an EarthX. I hope it lasts longer. I’m at 0I8 if you want the newer charger.

Thanks,
Brian
 
I have a Concorde battery and also use the newer style charger made of the Concorde battery. My battery is 6 years old and still going strong (unless I now jinxed it.)
 
Try this- put battery on a 10 amp load- 100+W box fan on inverter or a few old landing lights.

Cut off at 10.5ish volts under load. My inverter alarms and cuts off there, just time it to the alarm, box fan works easier than DC load if you have a 300 to 500 watt inverter handy.

Recharge with that same charger.

If the run time to the cutoff gets longer the second time as well as the time to recharge, you likely will get another 2 years and should see less cold sag.

If not, replace it. I like the Deka 30AH $100 battery, if you stay SLA/AGM.

I do this each CI as a capacity check.

I'll recharge preflight if plane sat 2 weeks, takes 5 minutes. Same post flight just to make sure the plane and charger both vote the battery is topped off.

I do NOT leave it on trickle charge.
 
Last edited:
maybe I'm sensitive to battery capacity drop and it would go longer until it completely failed but I don't want that. I only charge it when it's cold and it is on a two-hour timer that I call before start. this year I used the charger less and it got another half year, but it could just be Winter timing that I made it to 3.5 vs 3 yrs. albeit the Concorde only lasts 3 years, it has been reliable for those 3 years.
 
battery sag

I use a load tester to simulate starter cranking , cranking the dial up to whatever brings the voltage drop to 10.0V.
I like to see around 350+ amps for a few seconds at about 10 volts.
sounds like battery is on its last leg.
By the way... Can you 3D print a battery case enclosure ?
similar to PC680 size
I'm making a custom lithium battery replacement .
PM me
 
Replaced my concord 25XC with a lifeline racing battery. Exact same battery down to the tooling and mold identification on the battery case, as well as same patents plus guess who makes it, yes Concord. Happy so far for $130
 

Attachments

  • 25355E70-ABFC-44EE-9116-44F5A017F392.jpg
    25355E70-ABFC-44EE-9116-44F5A017F392.jpg
    137.1 KB · Views: 150
  • 915892BC-7510-4E02-AC22-8EFC07CF6616.jpg
    915892BC-7510-4E02-AC22-8EFC07CF6616.jpg
    681.4 KB · Views: 132
Replaced my concord 25XC with a lifeline racing battery. Exact same battery down to the tooling and mold identification on the battery case, as well as same patents plus guess who makes it, yes Concord. Happy so far for $130

looks to be the same battery
 
maybe I'm sensitive to battery capacity drop and it would go longer until it completely failed but I don't want that. I only charge it when it's cold and it is on a two-hour timer that I call before start. this year I used the charger less and it got another half year, but it could just be Winter timing that I made it to 3.5 vs 3 yrs. albeit the Concorde only lasts 3 years, it has been reliable for those 3 years.
Parasitic draw is hard on AGM batteries. The Battery Minder chargers do draw some when connected to the battery and not connected to power. So, I avoid having my Concorde AGMs connected to the charger unless the charger is plugged in and working. Otherwise, I think it is better for the battery to be disconnected. I have been using Concorde AGM batteries for many years (since they first entered the market), and have always seen at least six years useful service from them.
 
Parasitic draw is hard on AGM batteries. The Battery Minder chargers do draw some when connected to the battery and not connected to power. So, I avoid having my Concorde AGMs connected to the charger unless the charger is plugged in and working. Otherwise, I think it is better for the battery to be disconnected. I have been using Concorde AGM batteries for many years (since they first entered the market), and have always seen at least six years useful service from them.

thx for that. I am not going to connect the battery to the charger unless it needs it.
 
thx for that. I am not going to connect the battery to the charger unless it needs it.

Exactly correct. Some other rules:
- Monitor battery terminal voltage anytime a charger is connected.
- Never leave a charger on a battery unattended.
- If you abuse your battery (e.g. leave a master on) consider it dead. Replace it. You may be able to breath some life into it but you are rolling the dice on reserve capacity. Use your abused battery in a tractor or such.
- Never run anything electronic with a battery charger connected (e.g. avionics and electronic ignitions). The old wives tale that the battery will smooth out the AC noise and trash from a charger is just that…. There are high end chargers that are ok, but for a lot less money do the next rule.
- If you want to run the panel while charging the battery(s) get a real regulated power supply. You can get a nice 30 amp unit for less than $100. Set the output voltage at whatever you want (typically the voltage the alternator puts out).

Carl
 
RG-X35

Steve, Have used the RG-X35 twice now. First one lasted 7 years, the second one a little over 9 years. In all that time NEVER was a charger of any type placed on either. ( about 900 hrs total time both batteries(450+450 ) ).

No Parasitic draw........ John
 
Replaced my concord 25XC with a lifeline racing battery. Exact same battery down to the tooling and mold identification on the battery case, as well as same patents plus guess who makes it, yes Concord. Happy so far for $130

Where did you source this battery? Over $200 everywhere I find it.
 
The thing that causes battery failure is sulfer compound bridging of the plates, causing shorting, and that’s caused by leaving the battery in a discharged condition. The more it’s discharged, the more sulfation and the shorter the battery life. The key to battery life is keeping the battery as fully charged as possible at all times, and the best way to do that is keep the battery on a float charger at all times.

Parasitic draw only hurts a battery if it discharges it enough to allow sulfation. The degree to which it does that depends on the amount of draw and the time over which it occurs, but all batteries have some degree of sulfation and therefore some degree of self-discharge. It may be insignificant at first, but over time it will progressively kill the battery. Leaving a battery, AGM or otherwise, continually hooked up to the battery charger (with power on) is the best way to prevent sulfation, therefore keep it healthy

Some chargers have a mode that supposedly reverses sulfation. I don’t know if those help much, or at all. I suspect that if the sulfation is light, it would be helpful.

I religiously plug my airplane in to both an Odyssey battery charger and a dehydrator as soon as I roll it back into the hangar. I don’t know if the dehydrator helps, but I have a LOT of seasonal rolling stock around here that spends their entire off-season on a float charger (cars, boats, motorcycles, snowmobiles, etc) and it’s a very rare thing that I ever have to replace a battery on any of them.

I agree that a battery charger shouldn’t be left on a battery unattended, unless it’s a “float” type charger (Battery Tender, Battery Minder, etc) that senses the rate of charge and shuts down when charged, comes back on with any discharge. Those are designed to be used 24-7 unattended and are safe and won’t overcharge and boil off the electrolytte like a regular charger can. As to running electronics….I don’t know. Theoretically, the mfrs say that it can harm electronics. I know that the previous owner of my airplane ran the electronics for years while on a plain old Battery Tender without damage. However, I did recently get a 13.7v 30-amp power supply from Amazon and now I disconnect the float charger and plug in the power supply if I’m going to run the panel on the ground.
 
Last edited:
Replaced my concord 25XC with a lifeline racing battery. Exact same battery down to the tooling and mold identification on the battery case, as well as same patents plus guess who makes it, yes Concord. Happy so far for $130

I have been using the Chairman AGM-1234T to replace the Concord XC battery. Same size, spec, and weight but posts are backwards compared to the aircraft battery. It is also made by same manufacturer.
 
Back
Top