As many of you are finding extra "alone" time during our self quarantining duration, we thought we would share some tips to maintaining your EarthX battery and preparing it for spring time flying below. This will also be located on the battery charging page and under the DOCUMENTATION tab in the FACT SHEET area.
EarthX Lithium Battery maintenance and start up guidelines at start of season:
Whether you are preparing your vehicle after seasonal storage or simply keeping your vehicle in tip top shape, your battery is a critical part of your charging system and should be high on your checklist. Maintaining and verifying the overall health of your lithium battery is critical to insure you have the peak performance and service life that your battery can deliver.
Steps to maintain your lithium battery:
Visually inspect the battery for signs of damage; plastic case is cracked, warped or swollen. If the battery is damaged, do not attempt to charge or start your vehicle. The battery needs to be replaced.
Verify battery terminals are clean and terminal screws are properly secured (torque to specification [35in-lbs] per the installation & maintenance manual).
Measure the voltage at the terminals.
If at or above 13.28V- nothing needs to be done.
If below 13.28v but greater than 11.5V, the battery needs to be charged prior to engine start attempt with an appropriate charger as starting any engine with a depleted battery is stressful to a battery and can damage it or shorten its service life. Jump starting your battery in this situation should not be done as this is also stressful to a battery and can damage it and shorten its service life. Use a plug in the wall charger to safely and slowly bring the voltage back up to the appropriate level. Here is a link with details about charging the battery: https://earthxbatteries.com/our-batteries/battery-charging
If below 11.5V, it is possible the battery is damaged beyond use and will not accept a charge. Do not force the battery to accept a charge as it can be dangerous and result in cell rupture, release of flammable vapors, smoke and or fire.
After fully charging the battery with an appropriate charger (voltage should be greater than 14.2V at end of charge cycle but depending on how long after the charge cycle is completed, it could be less), verify the battery is ?holding a charge? by confirming the voltage is greater than 13.28 volts 24 hours after charging.
Even with proper care and maintenance, all batteries will eventually need to be replaced and will lose cranking amps and capacity with time. The voltage may not be an indicator of when it?s time to replace your battery. Sometimes it is easier to simply replace your battery if in doubt.
The most accurate way to determine the service life of your battery is to verify the battery capacity when you first receive it and note the capacity. Then annually measure the batteries capacity and compare this to original capacity. Once the capacity is less than 80%, it is time to replace the battery. A battery with greater than 80% of its original ?rated? capacity is consider fit for continued service. Example, the original battery capacity is 16Ah. Once the battery measures 80% of this capacity (16Ah * .8 = 12.8AH) it is time to replace it. (general rule of thumb)
Steps to verify overall health of the battery:
To test the battery capacity with a timer and a voltmeter:
Fully charge the battery with an appropriate charger.
Turn on all electrical loads and start a timer. The same load must be used in subsequent years for accuracy.
Record the time to drain the battery to 12.5V.
Calculate the time difference from original time to 12.5V to annually measured time to 12.5V.
Plug information into this formula:
100 ?((Original time ? Annual time/ original time) *100 )= % of capacity remaining
Example: original time = 90 minutes, annual time is 80 minutes.
100 ? ((90?80/90)*100) = 88.89%
Greater than 80%= good battery
Less than 80%= time to replace
Fully charge the battery with an appropriate charger.
To test the battery capacity using a DC clamp on current meter:
Fully charge the battery with an appropriate charger
Turn on all electrical loads and start a timer. The same load must be used in subsequent years for accuracy.
Measure and record the battery?s discharge amps using a DC clamp-on current meter at the positive terminal of the battery.
Using the measured amps in the previous step and the battery?s nameplate rated capacity (in Ah), calculate the time to discharge the battery to 80%.
Time to discharge 80% (Hours) = (Rated Capacity in Ah * .8)/(Measured Discharge Amps)
For Example (16 Ah Rated Capacity, 5 amp measured discharge rate)
Time to discharge 80% = (16 * .8)/5= 2.56 hours
Terminate the test after the number of hours calculated in the previous step has expired or if the battery is over-discharged (shuts off discharge current). If the battery is still supplying power at the termination of the test, then the battery?s capacity is greater than 80%. If the battery?s capacity is greater than 80% of it rated or capable of supporting the aircraft?s emergency load for the required amount of time, then the battery has passed the test.
Fully charge the battery with an appropriate charger.
EarthX Lithium Battery maintenance and start up guidelines at start of season:
Whether you are preparing your vehicle after seasonal storage or simply keeping your vehicle in tip top shape, your battery is a critical part of your charging system and should be high on your checklist. Maintaining and verifying the overall health of your lithium battery is critical to insure you have the peak performance and service life that your battery can deliver.
Steps to maintain your lithium battery:
Visually inspect the battery for signs of damage; plastic case is cracked, warped or swollen. If the battery is damaged, do not attempt to charge or start your vehicle. The battery needs to be replaced.
Verify battery terminals are clean and terminal screws are properly secured (torque to specification [35in-lbs] per the installation & maintenance manual).
Measure the voltage at the terminals.
If at or above 13.28V- nothing needs to be done.
If below 13.28v but greater than 11.5V, the battery needs to be charged prior to engine start attempt with an appropriate charger as starting any engine with a depleted battery is stressful to a battery and can damage it or shorten its service life. Jump starting your battery in this situation should not be done as this is also stressful to a battery and can damage it and shorten its service life. Use a plug in the wall charger to safely and slowly bring the voltage back up to the appropriate level. Here is a link with details about charging the battery: https://earthxbatteries.com/our-batteries/battery-charging
If below 11.5V, it is possible the battery is damaged beyond use and will not accept a charge. Do not force the battery to accept a charge as it can be dangerous and result in cell rupture, release of flammable vapors, smoke and or fire.
After fully charging the battery with an appropriate charger (voltage should be greater than 14.2V at end of charge cycle but depending on how long after the charge cycle is completed, it could be less), verify the battery is ?holding a charge? by confirming the voltage is greater than 13.28 volts 24 hours after charging.
Even with proper care and maintenance, all batteries will eventually need to be replaced and will lose cranking amps and capacity with time. The voltage may not be an indicator of when it?s time to replace your battery. Sometimes it is easier to simply replace your battery if in doubt.
The most accurate way to determine the service life of your battery is to verify the battery capacity when you first receive it and note the capacity. Then annually measure the batteries capacity and compare this to original capacity. Once the capacity is less than 80%, it is time to replace the battery. A battery with greater than 80% of its original ?rated? capacity is consider fit for continued service. Example, the original battery capacity is 16Ah. Once the battery measures 80% of this capacity (16Ah * .8 = 12.8AH) it is time to replace it. (general rule of thumb)
Steps to verify overall health of the battery:
To test the battery capacity with a timer and a voltmeter:
Fully charge the battery with an appropriate charger.
Turn on all electrical loads and start a timer. The same load must be used in subsequent years for accuracy.
Record the time to drain the battery to 12.5V.
Calculate the time difference from original time to 12.5V to annually measured time to 12.5V.
Plug information into this formula:
100 ?((Original time ? Annual time/ original time) *100 )= % of capacity remaining
Example: original time = 90 minutes, annual time is 80 minutes.
100 ? ((90?80/90)*100) = 88.89%
Greater than 80%= good battery
Less than 80%= time to replace
Fully charge the battery with an appropriate charger.
To test the battery capacity using a DC clamp on current meter:
Fully charge the battery with an appropriate charger
Turn on all electrical loads and start a timer. The same load must be used in subsequent years for accuracy.
Measure and record the battery?s discharge amps using a DC clamp-on current meter at the positive terminal of the battery.
Using the measured amps in the previous step and the battery?s nameplate rated capacity (in Ah), calculate the time to discharge the battery to 80%.
Time to discharge 80% (Hours) = (Rated Capacity in Ah * .8)/(Measured Discharge Amps)
For Example (16 Ah Rated Capacity, 5 amp measured discharge rate)
Time to discharge 80% = (16 * .8)/5= 2.56 hours
Terminate the test after the number of hours calculated in the previous step has expired or if the battery is over-discharged (shuts off discharge current). If the battery is still supplying power at the termination of the test, then the battery?s capacity is greater than 80%. If the battery?s capacity is greater than 80% of it rated or capable of supporting the aircraft?s emergency load for the required amount of time, then the battery has passed the test.
Fully charge the battery with an appropriate charger.
