DA40 replacement battery

[smoss]

If you look in your Airplane Flight Manual (Not any old POH, but the one that needs to live in the plane), you will find a list of all the specific installed parts on your plane, as well as the options for approved parts. I've got 40.696 and the RG24-15M was the OEM installed battery on mine.

[Kent Shook]

Bump!

We have a 2006 DA40-180 with a dying battery and I'd like to go with the Concorde RG24-15M to replace the Gill battery that's currently installed. Any idea what's required to do that?

Thanks in advance!

Can someone confirm whether the -15M is approved on all DA40s? My mechanic installed one in mine about a month ago and it hadn't occurred to me that he might recommend something that's not certified. I don't see any Diamond aircraft listed on the manufacturer's web site: http://www.concordebattery.com/otherpdf/finalfaapma.pdf

So I thought this was going to be an easy answer... But after coming up empty everywhere I looked, I finally had to call Concorde Tech Support. They told me that Diamond supplies their RG24-15M as the standard OEM battery, but Diamond refuses to release the PMA to Concorde. Therefore, Concorde cannot show any Diamond aircraft in their list of STC or PMA approved aircraft on their website, and technically we must buy our RG24-1xM batteries directly from Diamond (who then buys them from Concorde).

He also said that they are working on a list of "compatible aircraft" that they know the battery will work in (with no reference to the FAA), and they are going to post that on their web site "soon". He also said that Diamond was not the only manufacturer that has put them in this position. Interesting...

[Rich]

Well, now. This got me digging.

First of all, the older DA40's were delivered with either a Concorde CB24-11M or a Gill G243. These are both flooded cell designs. Both list weight at 28 lbs.

Concorde has no listing for Diamonds on their website BUT here's something interesting. Concorde has discontinued their flooded cell batteries altogether. On their site they advise clicking on the discontinued model of interest to see what replaces it. Doing so for the CB24-11M yields 2 suitable replacements: RG24-11M and the RG24-15M. They are rated at 11 and 13.6 Ah, respectively. The former is 26.5 lb., the latter 29.5 lbs.

Gill does show two options for the DA40: 7243-14 and 7243-16, rated at 14 and 16 Ah, respectively. Both are sealed batteries with weight listed at 30 lbs. You can still find the G-243 listed, so I assume you could still order it but here's something else: Both of the 7243's have a big "TSO Authorized" annotation, whereas the G243 does not.

Any of these batteries will fit in the DA40's battery mount, but as you can see all the RG types have different weights from the old flooded cell batteries.

Here's my suggestion: See if your mechanic would sign off a 337 for the battery change you want. In theory, you presumably should alter the empty weight/moment for the RG anyway.

[astaib]

Hi,

Once again I have my battery (GILL G243) dead after a few years of service.
Every 6 months, the acid level is very low in almost all the boxes, and the lead plates appear dry...

Last annual visit, 2 months ago, there was even black dirt (I guess that this is a decomposition of the lead plates)... I refill the battery, charged it and it was OK.

Yesterday after a 1 month no-fly period, the battery was down and it was impossible to start the engine (it was enough for the pump and flaps but not the starter). I started it with a GPU, flew and it was Ok to restart after a 4 hours break.

Back home, I put it to charge, and the level of charge never went very high (even after 24h).

I guess that it is not serious to continue like this. My mechanic told me that Gill battery always to that and that I should buy a Concorde.
I found the following ref: RG24-15M.

What do you think about this?

Is this the correct ref for the Concorde battery?

Thank you.

Arnaud.

[Steve]

Arnaud:

Buy the Concorde RG24-15M. That's what I have used in my aircraft for the past 13 years or so. First one lasted 7 years, second 6 years. I keep them on a BatteryMinder when in the hangar. Living in TX is tough on batteries - I prophylactically replace my car batteries at 3 years, to avoid getting stuck somewhere (of course, I don't load test the car batteries every year like I do with the aircraft battery).

[astaib]

Thank you Steve

[Charles]

I second the Concorde + BatteryMinder pair. Just keep in mind that as it gets older, the battery may look like it's in perfect condition and pass a load test with flying colors, but only to have an internal mechanical failure that creates an internal short circuit soon after, rendering the battery as useful for the plane as a boat anchor. And as Murphy would have it, that will undoubtedly happen at the most remote airport possible. Happened to me last summer with an 8 year old battery. I will be replacing mine every 5 years regardless of condition.

[astaib]

Other question.

I red in the posts that the RG24-15M is the one to use for our DA40, but I'm asking myself if this isn't only for the NG version?

When I checked on the concorde website, they recommend the RG24-11M for the DA40-180 (Lycoming version) and the RG24-15M for the NG.
On the correspondance table they mention also the RG24-11M as an equivalent to the Gill G243.

Additionnal remark, Concorde only says "TSO" on the RG24-11M (not for the RG24-15M).

Which one shall I choose?

Thank you.

Arnaud.

[Steve]

You can use either for the DA40-180. The -15M is a couple of pounds heavier, but stores a bit more energy.

[CFIDave]

The same Concorde RG24-15M is used on the Lycoming DA40, DA40NG, DA42, and DA62. Great battery.