Power stations and charging batteries

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Stormswift

Filing Flight Plan
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Stormswift
Hi everyone. I am back with another question. Winter is here. We have had mixed bag of weather and tight school and flight scheduling so plane ( Aerobat 150 with Lyco engine) is not flown as often as we would like to. It has Concord battery pretty new RG 25. I've ordered battery minder for it specific to Concord batteries. The issue is plane is not hangered. (She has full body covers though). The issue is there is no where to plug in. So I am thinking power station with car pass through charging if need be. His plane is the last one in the row and cAe can be parked on the grass next to it. Would this idea work with the power station? Money is a challenge. The battery under was not cheap but it would help to have something that can supply steady current and minder plugged into the DC would take care of the rest? Any thoughts or suggestions? We can't afford a 1k power station and would rather limit rental use of the power station airport has if possible
 
Stormswift said:
Any thoughts or suggestions?
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One option is to remove the battery and take it with you. A number of my old customers did that in similar situations. If that is a pain for you then perhaps give Concorde a call for off-grid options. To get the most life out of your battery always best to follow the OEM recommendations. You did that by purchasing a Concorde rated battery minder so keep along that same route and get their input? I'm sure they will offer several options as well.
 
solar panel charger, pretty cheap. depening on where you're located, should do an awesome job keeping hte battery topped.
or take i home with you
 
Unfortunately taking battery out is not an option. It's not in the front. The reason is it's the bigger engine, Lyco 150, so it was moved to the back behind firewall and previous owner who replaced it with his mechanic said it was a tight squeeze to get it there). Ideally it should be AC receptacle we can plug into. Solar would be a steady charge but it's not a private hanger situation so leaving it out where wind can knock it over may not be the way. I was hoping for a portable battery charger of some sort that would take maybe some hours to top off the battery vs days. I don't believe in leaving larger capacity batteries on battery minders or tenders unattended/unchecked. So I am just not sure which one to get that would have enough juice to be able to power the plane battery
 
Get the proper solar charger with the correct charge voltage for a SEALED lead acid batt. Due to newer tech batteries, getting the right solar charge voltage has become a challenge. Don't confuse and set up for flooded lead acid.

edited to correct battery chemisty.
 
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He has an RG25 - they are sealed AGM batteries. A good solar controller will be able to take the charging parameters from the Concorde manual and keep the battery healthy.

Stormswift said:
Solar would be a steady charge but it's not a private hanger situation so leaving it out where wind can knock it over may not be the way.
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A 10-20w panel doesn't take much to secure. You could just leave it laying flat on the grass behind the plane. Or stitch attachment points on the top of the plane's cover. Drive a couple stakes in the ground and attach it to them. And solar charge controllers are really good at keeeping batteries healthy. Otherwise they'd lose customers quickly.
 
AV8R_87 said:
He has an RG25 - they are sealed AGM batteries. A good solar controller will be able to take the charging parameters from the Concorde manual and keep the battery healthy.


A 10-20w panel doesn't take much to secure. You could just leave it laying flat on the grass behind the plane. Or stitch attachment points on the top of the plane's cover. Drive a couple stakes in the ground and attach it to them. And solar charge controllers are really good at keeeping batteries healthy. Otherwise they'd lose customers quickly.
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Thank you, I should have looked it up. I'm used to getting the batt with the box of acid, and this is a sealed. My mistake.
 
I'm in a similar situation and the suggestion regarding solar charging is an eye-opening one. I didn't think such a thing was possible. Are there any brand recommendations?
 
Probay the cheapest solar panel you can buy in that power range is this one:

This is also a decent 50W option:

I don't think the setpoints for battery float/boost/equalize voltages can be modified in those cheap controllers, though. So I'd be a bit cautious using them. Worth buying the kit just for the panel, though. That being said, those voltages are pretty standard and I've had a pair of old Concorde RG35A batteries in a backup application for a year or so with no apparent ill effects (but I haven't done a capacity check on them before and after).

If you want to spend more money, this charge controller can have all the voltages adjusted, using the front panel controls or a phone app via bluetooth. A bit overkill for a 20-50W panel, but it will take good care of the battery.
 
I have used BatteryStuff.com to get chargers in the past. They have a pretty informative website and you can call them and ask their advice on getting the right solar charger and controller for your battery application. Hope this helps
 
My previous glider I was able to mount a 10 Watt Solar panel in the turtle deck cover just behind the cockpit. The battery ran my flight computer, radio, and charged the tablet battery. The 9AH battery would last me about 10 hours of flight time without any charging. With the solar panel it would last me about 18 hrs of flying everyday without any additional charging. If I took a day off with the glider tied down it would charge enough for another day (about 6 hours) of flying.

I would think a 10 Watt solar panel would keep A C-150 battery easily topped off when not in use.
a 10 Watt solar panel peaks out at about .8 amps. I bet if you check with Concord or the data sheet you would find that the battery would easily handle a .8 amp trickle charge, especially since that is the maximum and even under Ideal conditions you might get that for only 12 hours per day. Reality is it will be quite a bit less. at the that rate you probably don't even need a controller. But a controller would ensure you didn't over charge the battery and/or would allow you to use a larger solar panel.

I also agree the only reason you should even need a charger is because the battery is getting old or deteriorating in capacity. In this case a trickle charge (solar or otherwise) can add a few years of life before you need to replace the battery.

Brian
 
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