skywagon8a
MEMBER
SE Mass MA6
I've used a Diehard cart battery from Sears with good results for years. :smile: Just sayin.
To call out a single issue with a particular battery is very subjective. Did he leave the master on and kill it at some point? These batteries and the AGM batteries (Hawker) are susceptible to the same thing. It is all a compromise. Lots of people getting 7-8 years out of them like the Hawker. Concorde and Gill about half that if you are very lucky.
What did Earth X say about the problem? I’d like to hear the rest of the story.
The battery they arecertifying is big enough for 520s or 540s. Overkill for my 320. They are not certifying a battery comperable to a 680. That is my motivation for the field approval. Need to get back to round 2 with the FAA on that.
What did Earth X say about the problem? I’d like to hear the rest of the story.
The Concord in our RV-4 went from fine to unable to fire up the alternator in just a few starts/flights. Had to hand prop it to get it home.
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FWIW, Earth X recommends sizing the battery based on the charging system output, not the storage capacity. When I asked a couple of years ago the known failures of Earth X batteries were caused by improper charging.
All
I was the one who had the EarthX ETX900 die on him at JC in June.
The battery would not take a charge and registered 3.46V on a tester. It had been acting up slowly over the past few weeks. Started cranking slower than normal. I was able to start it with my EarthX Jump Pack but it would not keep the battery contactor relay closed once removed. I was unwilling to make my “plan B” a “plan A” and rely on the Jump Pack to fly around the Backcountry for a week!
I had to buy a Gill 35 (worst battery ever) from McCall Flying Service at $170 over Spruce’s online retail ( not happy) but it was that or nothing. That alone added 23 lbs back on the plane!
I called Kathy Nicoson at EarthX and explained the situation. She confirmed I had done all I could to trouble shoot it and when I returned home there was a new ETX900 waiting for me. It was 6 months out of warranty but she honored it.
The most troubling thing about the failure was the fact that the BPM under voltage circuit ( a feature of all EarthX aircraft batteries) and light did not come on.
This is my second EarthX battery aircraft. I ran one in my SC for 6 years without a problem.
EarthX stands behind their products, knowing that these type of failures do happen on rare occasion. Just the fact that their main battery line is made in the USA as opposed to China is comforting.
Oh, and in the spirit of full disclosure, I am an EarthX dealer and have faith in all their products, or I wouldn’t sell them.
Lou
The ONLY time alternator output has ANYTHING to do with a battery capacity or charging limits, is when you ran a battery down/dead. Other than that the alternator is just keeping up with the buss demands and a small amount to recover from starter use. Alternators are not really meant to be battery (re)chargers after you kill battery. Or so I’ve been told(even comes on sheet of paper with your new car alternators)....
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