What Battery Do You Use?

[kmach]

Yes,
The EarthX are pricey, but in the weight savings they might be worth it if weight is an issue, I think it weighs around 3 lbs or less and has 360 cca if I remember right. My old battery was 200 CCA and 12 lb. I notice a huge difference on starting, but I also have the high torque starter now as well with the new uls.

[Av8r3400]

…and the Earth-X batteries are really fun when they spontaneously explode, melt and spray scalding hot blue goo all over the place.





No, it's not my airplane, but a friend's Avid.

I'll stick with my heavy Odyssey 680. Mounting it in the tail helps the airplane handle better, anyway.

[kmach]

That doesn't look good! What circumstances led to this? Overvoltage ?

I have had mine for only six months, 45 hrs airtime , so far so good.
I know in the instructions they warned about improper boosting.I should look for the book.
I believe the factory is using these , so time will tell I guess.

[Av8r3400]

He was taxiing at the time, low rpm, with lower voltage on the volt meter.

[jiott]

Can you find out exactly what model # that Earth-X battery was? I understand they have many models, but only recommend 3 models for aircraft use.

[kmach]

After seeing the failed battery picture , I did a google search for problems with the EarthX and one of the results was this particular avid story on the avid forum.

[jiott]

I also did a little research on this and find that the battery in question was not one of the 3 "aircraft" batteries. It was a much smaller battery used with a 583 2-stroke Rotax engine with a pull-starter, so it wasn't even used for start cranking. Don't know what kind of a charging system or voltage regulator is used on a 583, so this may or may not have anything to do with it.

One thing worth noting is that the battery failure was not really an "explosion" but rather a bursting of the case with hot material being sprayed out. There was no fire involved. This is quite a bit different than most other Li-Ion (Earth-X is Li-Iron) batteries that do explode and almost always catch fire. I may be splitting hairs here, but want to point out some differences.

I'm not advocating one type battery over another here, but am very interested and will be watching this closely. I have had the AeroVotz Li-Iron battery in my SS7 with Rotax 912uls for 2.5 years now and have had no problems. When time to replace it I was strongly considering the Earth-X but will be keeping my eyes and options open.