On my recently acquired 73 185 I have noticed it is a bit sluggish on cranking over and the fact that the battery is 7 years old am going to replace it.
After reading a bunch and looking at the options the new Gill sealed 7035-28 has some excellent specs.

Just wondering if anyone has used this and their thoughts.

Thanks,
Tom

I have not tried that one, but looks like a good upgrade over the old one. I had good luck with old gill, but noticed if you didn't keep it on a battery tender they wouldn't last long (2-3 years). My latest is the Concorde; been happy so far but I've only had it for coming up on 2 years.

That said, the most reliable and best cranking set up I've ever had is the small odyssey mounted on the firewall. Seems hard to kill those batteries and with the short cables its just the best set up. JMO of course.

Whenever discussions about batteries come up, it's almost like talking politics. But FWIW, when the new Gill that was in my airplane when I bought it decided that it had outlived its useful life after 4 1/2 years, I switched to a Concorde AGM. That was 8 years ago in 2 more months, and it's still going strong. I do take care of it by making sure that it stays charged when the airplane has to sit, using a 1.5 amp trickle charger in the hangar. But even sitting at OSH this past summer for almost 10 days, and using the airplane's battery to recharge my phone and iPad regularly, it still had plenty of power to start the airplane. At such time as it decides to give up, I'll get another one.

Cary

I went with the Concorde sealed Gel Cell version when I rebuilt my 170B some years ago.

I had seen too many acid corrosion conditions on others.
Battery boxs' little plastic drain tube turns brittle and breaks up.

Put it in and flew it.
Had five or six years of no particular attention to it when I sold the plane.
Last heard it was still going.

Chris C

I agree that the sealed type is the only way to go these days.
My IA has a good friend that works for one of the larger aircraft parts dealers in the US; no not Spruce.
He was ordering a starter the other day and asked about batteries. His friend had just gone to a Concord meeting and they admitted that the new Gill was of the latest sealed type technology and was a better battery. They stated they are working hard to come up with there own version.
In reviewing the specs the:

5sec draw 15sec draw

Gill 7035-28 1599A 1088A

Concord RG-35AXC 1200A 900A

Odyssey SBS J-16 680

Size and weight are essentially the same between the Gill and Concord with the Gill being about $40 less expensive.

In researching the Odyssey many were disappointed with its performance when in the baggage area location on the Cessnas. The firewall mount works well but adds expense with a mount and in the 185 case is not really an option as its already nose heavy.

Ordered the Gill which should arrive Tuesday. Most all of the suppliers include free shipping.

Shall report when it get installed.

Tom