Replacement battery 77G NA with battery box
 

Time to replace the Gill 242. I’ve heard good things about the Concorde sealed batteries, but I’ve searched this forum and noticed several different Concorde part numbers being used.

I still use the Cessna battery box with the cover. Which Concorde will fit this? What about the Gill 242 sealed?

I have an extra battery box, but the suppliers don’t seem to have much stock that I could test fit.

Thank you in advance.

Kevin

I use a Concorde RG24-16 with the original 337 battery box in my ‘77 NA G model.

kbecker,

I've been navigating this battery issue for a while now. There are two STCs out there that I'm aware of to install a Concorde battery for us.

Concorde has one - SA01118WI, and
Wilco has one - SA00897WI.

The Wilco STC has some Concorde batteries on it the Concorde STC does not. If you select a Concorde battery that is on the Wilco STC, Wilco will give you the STC (a $100 savings) if you buy the battery from Wilco.

I'm not sure how the Concorde STC works.

The Concorde battery website has a good airframe/competitor search page at www.concordebattery.com (look under the "Search by your Aircraft" tab at the top of the page) but I suspect it might only show the batteries Concorde owns the STC for ... not the Concorde batteries Wilco owns the STC for.

I have a Concorde RG24-15M I'm working on getting a Field Approval for. Concorde did not include the RG24-15M battery in their STC, Wilco did - but Wilco did not include the Reims assembled Skymasters in their STC. I have an FT337GP 1976 P model and the RG24-15M is a perfect fit in the battery box and uses the original hold down clamp. My battery box is Part No. 1470090-10. This battery does not require venting, so no lid, or vent tube, is needed, as I understand it (I'll be surer about this once the Field Approval is granted.) The RG24-15M is a 13.6-amp hour battery, so it will give me 3.6 more amp-hours of energy than the currently specified Gill G-242 battery, and no acid to deal with!

The fitment in the battery box might be an issue, depending on the battery you select. Concorde alludes to this on their search page. A call to Concorde could help you ferret that out. The RG24-15M and the RG24-16 are remarkably close to the same size. there does appear to be a difference between the top of the two batteries though. That might affect the hold down clamp.

Once you select a Concorde battery and STC to use, and prior to your purchase/installation, I suggest you run it past your IA to make sure you've covered all the bases, so you don't wind up with a problem during your Annual Inspection.

Best wishes,

Rick

Rick,

Thanks for the info. I understand the Concorde batteries that end in "M" are meant to be "mounted" in the plane without a battery box--thus the different top. According to the Concorde website the RG24-16 is covered under STC# SA01118WI for the 77 337G.

Kbecker,

I didn't know that about the "M". Interesting, maybe I can do away with the battery box...

Rick

Apparently that plastic piece on top of the "M" has two holes in it, which the original tie down blots go through---it eliminates both the box and the cross piece that goes over the battery.

I can see where the design of the "M" battery could eliminate the hold town bar. However, this is what my installation currently looks like.

Diagram 140 in the parts manual shows those two bolts that go through the top brace above the battery:
AN3-63A
AN3-10A

The plastic piece on top of the M battery takes the place of 1470090-3.

So those two bolts, which are visible in your picture, go through the two holes on top of that plastic piece on top of the M battery

KBecker,

Thanks, I’ll discuss this with my IA.

Rick

Run the same, 73 G

Thanks. I will be ordering one tomorrow. They seem to be backordered for about a month.