EarthX Battery
 

Has anyone installed a ETX680 EarthX battery in their -10.
I'd like to know the pros & cons and does it fit in the stock Van's battery box in the 10.

Thanks
Tom Clark
N646LC
85% complete

I know of several who have installed EarthX in their '10. I'm planning on it. It will easily fit in the battery tray in the tailcone. I expanded the tray to fit two EarthX, actually.

In addition, if you're asking about a battery box, EarthX sells one.

EarthX in RV-10
 

I have an EarthX ETX900 in my RV-10. With it powering the Skytec starter it spins the IO-540 seemingly effortlessly. I went with the 900 mainly for the additional capacity, not the extra cranking amps.

Since I went with a Whirlwind prop that is lighter than the factory stock Hartzell I opted to mount the battery on the firewall to keep the weight down and CG where it should be. It all worked out exactly as I had hoped.

Vic Syracuse - Georgia
 

Tom,
PM Vic Syracuse on this site. He has an EarthX in his -10 and can possibly help you out in this regard. (I have one in my -9 and love it)
Good luck!

Please ensure that you install ONLY the aircraft batteries that has the overcharge protection.

We installed an EarthX 900 in our RV10. It spins the prop SOOO much better than the Odyssey PC925 did. The weight savings is just a bonus. It fits the tray fine, but did require modifying the hold down a little for us. The EarthX battery is smaller so modification will most likely be necessary.

Yes, I have installed a few of them in rv10's, including a 1200 in my own 10. It's been there about a year now and you can almost taxi on the starter alone!

Vic

From what I understand it won't charge fully with the standard 14.2V regulators. What do you guys do to get the bus voltage a bit higher on built-in regulators like PlanePower has?

Lenny

I haven't heard the about the Earthx batteries. The Odyssey batteries require the higher voltage you are mentioning. In fact, the Earthx batteries have a number of automotive and sports vehicle applications and none of those alternators have adjustable outputs.

I remember asking about optimum charging voltage a long time ago and it was more I needed line with automotive alternator output, but I am traveling right now and don't have it handy (actually flying in the Blue Angels Homecoming air show. What an honor. )

Vic

I wish they had a battery that would work for me :mad:

I have a unique electrical system. Due to all electric air conditioning I need 24 volts and a lot of charging capacity so my system is built with 2 odyssey 680 batteries in series to make 24 volts.

I tried using a plane power 24 volt 70 amp alternator but that was not enough. The AC alone pulls close to 50 amps resulting in a discharge when operating at taxi RPM.

The next alternator size available was the new Plane Power ALT-FLEX which is capable of 150 AMP at 28 VOLT. This thing works great for my application. It is just loafing but here is the deal.

The EarthX batteries have a maximum charge rate that you are not to exceed. In the case of the ETX680 the maximum rate is 60 amp. Even the ETX900 is not enough it has a max charge rate of 80 amp. The only time this would be a problem is if I ran the charge down (Like the scenario that happened to Vic ) and then started charging the drained battery, the large Alternator would initially charge the battery at a higher rate than specified and could cause a failure (not sure what failure mode. explode? Fire?). Make sure you match your components with your charging systems.