Earth X Battery Warning!!!

77 posts in this topic

Posted (edited)

So I finally made my first engine start this past weekend! all was good went through the rotax break in procedure then did a little taxing, (love the extra wide gear)]when I pulled back up to my hanger I notice blue liquid dripping down into my floor boards followed by lots of white smoke. when I finally had the whole instrument panel to firewall soaked in water and got the battery out it was not a pretty sight. bad ending to an otherwise great day. as it turns out its not too uncommon for these earth x batteries to just have a major melt down like this I'm just grateful I wasn't in the air when it happened. I was hoping to be ready for inspection in a week or so but now im a couple more weeks out as I have to go and fix all the damage. also plan to relocate the battery to the engine side of the firewall in case there ever were an incident again it would at least be going down the fire wall to the ground rather than on my feet. I will not be using nor would I ever recommend an earth x battery to anyone after this and reading about many others who have had this exact same problem. when I get my money back I'm going with a different brand.

 

post-352-0-14407500-1406127318_thumb.jpg

post-352-0-84141300-1406127358_thumb.jpg

post-352-0-88786600-1406127679_thumb.jpg

post-352-0-07567600-1406127721_thumb.jpg

Edited by High Country
1 person likes this

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Posted

I'm sorry for the misfortune, but as you say at least you weren't in the air at the time.

Personally I'm not sold on lithium batteries at at this point I wouldn't have one in my plane. I'll stick with my pc680 odyssey.

1 person likes this

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Posted

For what it's worth, I wouldn't have any battery that close to an unprotected fuel line, either.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Posted

I've decided to relocate the battery forward of the F/W and at some point plan to replace the fuel lines with aluminum. I've contacted earth X and am working on getting this taken care of. will definitely be going with a different battery. I've lost faith in lithium technology. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Posted

That scares me glad you were on the ground!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Posted

I was one of the first to warn of the L-bat dangers.  Didn't know anything about the EarthX, but was very skeptical about it.

Possibly, our charging systems are not as finite as the ones Boeing makes, and look what happened to them.

Until a new type has been proven by thousands of hours in our planes, I wont be using them.

EDMO

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Posted

HighCountry,

I'm glad the meltdown ended up as an inconvenience instead of an incident.  EarthX claims to use Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) cells to make their battery pack which are known to be the safest Lithium technology.  These cells shouldn't exhibit this behavior, so it would be helpful for others on the forum to hear how EarthX can explain the event.  The only thing I see from their website is a maximum of 15 V should be applied from the charging circuit.  Maybe if you have a Rotax regulator, it isn't a good match for the battery pack.  In short, I'm curious what went wrong.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Posted

I'm still not too sure myself. Currently they are trying to void the warranty saying that it isn't big enough to turn the starter... I have pull start grrr. I sent pics of the engine showing no electric starter and they haven't replied yet. in the mean time now I have to decide on a different battery... any suggestions I'm running a 532 with pull start mainly just need it for my MGL engine monitor. I will keep you all posted as to what we find with the problem and what results come from it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Posted

Robert,

     I don't know anything about your pull start system - once it is started, is there a charging system?

EDMO

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Posted

Wow......Holy Shit....I'm cured.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Posted

I think that Randy Suberavid was going to buy a big EarthX bat for his plane - sure hope he don't have a meltdown in the bush.

EDMO

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Posted

Wow, that is pretty scary.  Which battery is it?  It should not matter what size the battery is since you are not using it for starting.  I assume you don't have a volt meter on your plane or you would have said what charge voltage you were showing.  Just speculating that it might be over charging so you should check that no matter what battery you go to.

 

Where have you seen the other examples of EarthX failures?  Please keep us up on what they say and what you determine to be the cause.

 

I probably have about 15 to 20 hours on mine now with no issues but this does make me nervous.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Posted

I was running the ETX 12A

 

Earth X had and engineer call me direct at home last night. He seems to be a great guy that knows what he is talking about. My voltage output is only 14V so thats not an issue. None of my fuses were popped. It may have just been a bad battery and not a huge concern for others... hopefully this is the case. I'm going to send them the battery for him to analyze and will post up the findings.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Posted (edited)

There is an article in "AeroElectrics" in this months Kitplanes mag about the L-bats - From what I could understand, they are probably NOT the equivalent replacement for our Lead-Acid batteries, and there is little info that the makers will give out. 

The article also says that they cant be treated the same way as the old batteries as far as charging and maintenance.

They are definitely still in the "experimental" stages of development.

Robert L. Nuckolls III, the author, also wants input to his site about problems with them to add to what others have written.

EDMO

Edited by Ed In Missouri

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Posted

I also have about 20 hrs on my EarthX without a hitch so far but I will keep an eye on new data and my battery.  No plans to pull it from the plane at this point.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Posted

I run high voltage Lithium Polymer batteries in my RC helis. I've had good luck but others have had them spontaneously combust while sitting on their workbench. Some great technology available out there but its still being refined.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Posted

I thought Lithium Iron's were safe and Lithium Ion's were the bad boys.

To hear that the Earth X is Iron technology makes me no longer trust my Aero Voltz which supposively is Iron technology or am I over reacting?

What safe batteries are recommended to start the Rotax 912uls (100 hp) ?

Herman

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Posted

Generally I have not seen any issues with any lithium unless you are overcharging or charging too fast, or trying to pull more current than they are designed to dump (discharge rate).  I know they have a "built in charger" but unless you have a good regulator/rectifier (not the stock Rotax POS) you are giving it dirty power with a good dose of AC in the mix.  So far I have had very good and stable power out of the Key West regulator.  The old lead acid batteries are much more tolerant of over draw, over charge etc. therefore everyone thinks that lithium's are the devil.. Without lithium's, our technology and toys would be light years behind what they are now.   What used to be a 3 pound battery pack for my RC airplane is now 6 oz's.  I use lithium's every day but I have not yet made the jump to putting it in my plane.  I love the idea of saving weight, but I hate the idea of giving up 75 gallons of flight time to do it :lol:  I would be a whole lot of money ahead to loose that weight off my ass instead of my battery :lmao:

 

:BC:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Posted

The question is, where do you draw the line at?  I am sure we all know of someone who lost an engine and died... Lycoming, Cont. Franklin, all the certified engines, all have failed, all have killed people.  Does that mean that we are scare shitless to fly behind ANY Lycoming or other certified engine??  There have been a whole lot more Cessna's kill pilots than Avid's or Kitfox, so do we ban all Cessna's??  I am not one to panic and run with the lemmings off a cliff.  I appreciate the warnings that others give, I try to learn from others mistakes (cause I know I wont live long enough to make them all on my own) but at the end of the day, I still believe that when its my time its my time, till then nothing I do can speed it up or slow it down.  Yes you read about the Lithium fires here and there, but you don't read about the 10s of thousands of safe flights every day or week that involves lithium's.  I for one would not run out and replace a lithium battery with a lead acid if I already had the lithium, but I would keep an eye on the amp meter and volt gauge.

 

:BC:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Posted (edited)

Test Post - the 680 battery is the most used.

EDMO

Looks like it is now working for me.

Ed

Edited by Ed In Missouri

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Posted

For the reliability and proven power, the weight of a 680 is an easy trade off for me.  Plus the weight in the back of the plane helps it fly better.

 

I could skip the doughnuts or a couple cheeseburgers and take the same amount of weight off the pilot.  (but I probably won't)

 

 

I'm sorry but I'm not in competition for the Valdez trophy, a couple of pounds doesn't mean enough to me to compromise the safety of my plane.

1 person likes this

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Posted

Did you ever hear back from EarthX about this?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Posted (edited)

Did you ever hear back from EarthX about this?

I just did... I was emailed by our latest member to sign up on the forum (earthx).... I called and talked to the person who emailed me and she was unable to answer any of my questions but at my request or prompting she has said she will have the "engineer" who dealt with this issue post up here to state what they believe was done wrong that led to the melt down.

I will wait to see what they post up here before further elaborating on the subject.  I can tell you that despite being asked to remove this thread I will leave it up for all to see the answer and I am sure future responses to this thread.

 

:BC:

Edited by akflyer
1 person likes this

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Posted

2 people like this

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!


Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.


Sign In Now