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EarthX Battery Owners I need your coment

vluvelin

Well Known Member
EarthX Battery Owners On your battery LiPo elements moving or not??

Those who already purchased Earthx EXT680 please take a look at my video
let me know if all of you have same shifting of elements inside battery.

http://cse4.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/IMG_0201.mov

I purchased 2 battery's and they both had shifting elements inside
I shipped them back and as I was told they had an issue and was replaced with new ones.
When new ones arrived they had same shifting inside.( one more one less)

I sent this video to Earthx and they told me that this is sound of I-phone headphones silicon coated wire heating the plastic of the battery and making sound.
Earthx told me that they use neoprene inserts for elements not to shift but when i asked for durometer rating of that material it was no response to question.

is that material too soft that it allows shifting ??????

I shipped 2 battery's back for them to see the problem but I was told that they are perfectly fine and they sent me refund

so after 200$ of shipping back and forth NO battery's

I am trying to figure out if I am wrong here and there is no danger of elements shifting inside the battery
Or I got 2 lemons here
 
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It sounds like the click is the headphones and the heavier clunk is something else. Just a point of view, but you can either take their word (and warranty) at face value, or use an Odyssey battery and forget about this product.

Is the weight saving a requirement to meet a particular goal?

The only other recourse is to do your own battery validation, if you know the test protocols and acceptance criteria.
 
The clunk sound is from element movement
and it is also a filing you have in your hands you can clearly fill free movement

I dont think that there is requirement for element shifting
 
This I believe is the third time in maybe as many months this issue has crept up on these forums ... do a search, you'll find other users with the problem, maybe you can see what they were told as well ...
 
This I believe is the third time in maybe as many months this issue has crept up on these forums ... do a search, you'll find other users with the problem, maybe you can see what they were told as well ...

as i was told In case of guy from Australia the batter's was replaced and as i understand problem solved and Post was deleted from forum by moderator
 
Deleted? Why? Please don't tell me this forum is pulling that kind of thing for advertisers.
 
I am the guy from Australia who had the EarthX issues. I had cell movement of about 1/4" when gently shaking the battery from side to side and a bit less shaking up and down (when viewed from the EarthX label side of the battery). The movement was obvious and could be felt and heard.

The replacement battery they sent had no cell movement when shaken.

Fin 9A
Australia.
 
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Finley Atherton Thank you for responding I had exactly same situation on both battery's but replacement that was sent to me had the same issues like no one replaced them I am starting to believe they shipped me same battery's back second time

I was told about your post but could not find it could you please confirm it is still on forum or it was really deleted???
 
I was told about your post but could not find it could you please confirm it is still on forum or it was really deleted???

If my memory is correct the thread was closed and moved from the Electrical Systems Forum to the Temp / Test / Misc. Forum which auto deletes after two weeks.??

Fin
9A
 
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Response from EarthX

Those who already purchased Earthx EXT680 please take a look at my video
let me know if all of you have same shifting of elements inside battery.

http://cse4.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/IMG_0201.mov

I purchased 2 battery's and they both had shifting elements inside
I shipped them back and as I was told they had an issue and was replaced with new ones.
When new ones arrived they had same shifting inside.( one more one less)

I sent this video to Earthx and they told me that this is sound of I-phone headphones silicon coated wire heating the plastic of the battery and making sound.
Earthx told me that they use neoprene inserts for elements not to shift but when i asked for durometer rating of that material it was no response to question.

is that material too soft that it allows shifting ??????

I shipped 2 battery's back for them to see the problem but I was told that they are perfectly fine and they sent me refund

so after 200$ of shipping back and forth NO battery's

I am trying to figure out if I am wrong here and there is no danger of elements shifting inside the battery
Or I got 2 lemons here


Julian first posted a problem on this forum for his original 2 batteries, (he did not contact us) so I reached out to him via the Vans forum. He purchased the batteries back in October of 2015. He sent the batteries back for us to evaluate and indeed there was a step in the building process that was missed, (there are 2 cell packs inside that are suppose to be caulked together and this step did not happen). This was our error and we told him this too.

We immediately sent him 2 replacements at our expense to Canada per his request. (The original batteries were shipped to and from a USA address). He felt the 2 replacement batteries we sent him had the same issue. Prior to sending them out, the 2 replacement batteries were inspected by our lead engineer and I also checked them as well. These 2 batteries were returned and upon receipt, we detected no issues nor movement and were as designed. At this point, we simply returned his money in full.

The cells we use are a soft side cell pack, so they must be encased in something soft to protect them from impact and vibration. The soft neoprene foam we use can be compressed when you shake the case. Again, the soft neoprene foam can be compressed when you shake it.

We can not, and do not build them with a rigid structure inside the case around the cell. We have done extensive vibration and impact testing and our method of surrounding the cells in soft neoprene foam has proved to be the best protection.

Sincerely,

Kathy
 
To Kathy

Julian first posted a problem on this forum for his original 2 batteries, (he did not contact us) so I reached out to him via the Vans forum. He purchased the batteries back in October of 2015. He sent the batteries back for us to evaluate and indeed there was a step in the building process that was missed, (there are 2 cell packs inside that are suppose to be caulked together and this step did not happen). This was our error and we told him this too.

We immediately sent him 2 replacements at our expense to Canada per his request. (The original batteries were shipped to and from a USA address). He felt the 2 replacement batteries we sent him had the same issue. Prior to sending them out, the 2 replacement batteries were inspected by our lead engineer and I also checked them as well. These 2 batteries were returned and upon receipt, we detected no issues nor movement and were as designed. At this point, we simply returned his money in full.

The cells we use are a soft side cell pack, so they must be encased in something soft to protect them from impact and vibration. The soft neoprene foam we use can be compressed when you shake the case. Again, the soft neoprene foam can be compressed when you shake it.

We can not, and do not build them with a rigid structure inside the case around the cell. We have done extensive vibration and impact testing and our method of surrounding the cells in soft neoprene foam has proved to be the best protection.

Sincerely,

Kathy

If this shifting of lithium cells is normal then maybe you should provide information on durometer hardness of material used to absorb and restrict movement of cells. This will help other people to judge if you guys forgot to put it in or not.
But so far i didn't get any indication that any one else have EarthX battery with free moving element inside.
 
EarthX Perspective

Just to add some personal perspective:

1. EarthX batteries are being operated, successfully, in motorcycles and ATVs which are not exactly vibration-friendly from an operational standpoint.

2. EarthX has taken the trouble to specifically design their batteries for aircraft operation. That is showing in their increasing OEM aircraft business. EarthX appears to be becoming the ?go-to? LiFePo4 battery for experimental aircraft.

3. As shown by Kathy?s post, EarthX stands behind their products. That?s a very big deal for us in the experimental aircraft world. EarthX answers our questions, has great customer service, and is in experimental aviation for the long haul.

4. If you want to be conservative from a vibration standpoint, you can shock-mount your battery box. I did this, because I purchased my first EarthX battery in 2013 before a lot was known about their operational history and durability. If I was going to mount my two EarthX batteries now, I wouldn?t bother shock-mounting them other than, maybe, a pad or two.

5. I might be careful about high temperature due to the fact that these batteries are electronic devices. It might be wise to insulate a firewall-forward-mounted lithium battery just as a precaution, but I haven?t heard about any temperature-related problems; either. My two EarthX batteries are mounted firewall aft. Because these new lithium batteries are relatively light, mounting location is very flexible from a weight and balance standpoint.

Hope this helps. :)
 
I don't see reports of elements shifting!

Yes it looks like customer service is responsive and looks like they try to solve problem.

but

1) I am out of 200$ on shipping back and forth and have no battery's

2) I also believe that I was shipped same 2 battery's back to me because they had different amount of shifting one had more one less.
the replacements had exactly same difference

3) I don't see any one else reporting shifting of LiFePo4 elements when shaking battery!!!

it meens to me that I got 2 bad battery's and some one shipped them back to me as replacement
I have no evidence I didn't mark battery's when shipped them back
 
but

1) I am out of 200$ on shipping back and forth and have no battery's

My experience is that this is becoming an increasingly larger problem ordering things from the US. Very few know how to ship things outside the US anymore, they seem to be completely ignorant to the cost of shipping and exclusively use UPS/FEDEX, ignoring the costs even for the smallest of parts. The quality of what is shipped is also going down. It's as if they don't care because a bad/wrong part can always be replaced, in the same way a buggy program can be patched. It's just that this doesn't really work all that well when shipping costs are a large part of the total cost.

I was going to order EarthX battery, but seeing this, it's simply not worth it, not by a long shot.
 
EarthX at Great Alaska Aviation trade Show

I was able to spend some quality time in Anchorage talking to Kathy and her husband. I have been around vendors, trade shows, manufacturers and aircraft electronics for three decades now. You develop a sense that can sort out the wheat from the chaff. I will not go into details, but did discuss some particular concerns that a customer had. They were resolved fairly in my observation. On the other side of the coin, I am absolutely astounded by the EarthX battery technology. Performance, construction, quality... design, weight, current capacity, charge control board manufacturing with in house pick and place machines. The whole enchilada... as they say down in Arizona where I reside.
If you have not taken a close look at this company, I suggest you do so.
I am VERY impressed. A show special caught my eye as well. A 400 amp jump start battery that looks and weighs about as much as my shaver in the hotel bathroom. Picked one up mid morning Saturday. Last night, leaving our nice halibut dinner I came across a young lady with a car that would not start out in the hotel lot. I got to be the hero. Now, she could give a toot about technology, but that thing cranked fast. In conclusion, I have a solid feeling about their ethics, design and customer service. I suspect we will see a gradual shift in most RV's away from our old heavy Odyssey boxes. And I will not miss the finicky behavior one bit. Have a blessed Sunday.
 
I was able to spend some quality time in Anchorage talking to Kathy and her husband. I have been around vendors, trade shows, manufacturers and aircraft electronics for three decades now. You develop a sense that can sort out the wheat from the chaff. I will not go into details, but did discuss some particular concerns that a customer had. They were resolved fairly in my observation. On the other side of the coin, I am absolutely astounded by the EarthX battery technology. Performance, construction, quality... design, weight, current capacity, charge control board manufacturing with in house pick and place machines. The whole enchilada... as they say down in Arizona where I reside.
If you have not taken a close look at this company, I suggest you do so.
I am VERY impressed. A show special caught my eye as well. A 400 amp jump start battery that looks and weighs about as much as my shaver in the hotel bathroom. Picked one up mid morning Saturday. Last night, leaving our nice halibut dinner I came across a young lady with a car that would not start out in the hotel lot. I got to be the hero. Now, she could give a toot about technology, but that thing cranked fast. In conclusion, I have a solid feeling about their ethics, design and customer service. I suspect we will see a gradual shift in most RV's away from our old heavy Odyssey boxes. And I will not miss the finicky behavior one bit. Have a blessed Sunday.

Ditto on Kathy and crew. Good people that are trying hard to supply good service.

Regarding their little "jump pack", I have been using one for some time now. Several times I have been playing with avionics for a long time and forget to attach the charger before I leave. I get to the airport another day and need to start the engine and "ooops!", I forgot to connect the charger! Each time, the little jump pack has saved the day.

More impressive though is the other day a friend had a weak battery and I use jumper cable (made for a connection wired directly to the battery) to give a jump using my car. For some reason it was not enough to start the plane. I assume that we were making good connections as I checked everything.

Went and grabbed the "jump pack" and that little thing CRANKED the plane engine! Rather impressive this new battery technology!
 
Guys Lets keep apart food, flys and Earthx battery issue

1) I never wrote that quality of elements is not good
( i didn't have chance to use or install this battery's)
2) The customer service was trying to help

3) but as you can see there is no other reports about
elements shifting freely inside case from any one else

PS
flightlogic and jclark Can you write here if your battery have shifting elements or not instead singing song about how good service is!!!!
 
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Better than just having one at home, and shaking it...
I viewed and held a whole table full of the EarthX batteries this weekend.
Since the manufacturer was on display in Alaska. NONE of the batteries had loose things inside. All quiet. All stable. All very very light.
Discussed worst case scenarios when a battery is DEAD shorted.... dumped in corrosive salt water. Anyway, I am way more afraid of my avgas than I am batteries. I have seen what avgas will do in a fraction of a second. It releases more energy than you can control, contain or run from... in a split second than I care to think too hard about. And we carry hundreds of pounds of it around with us on each flight. We fill it, spill it, wipe it up.... dip it... buy it and use it.
Anyway, as mentioned I have a BS meter from over three decades in aviation and business. EarthX passes all my tests. Fly safe and enjoy beautiful Canada.
 
1) I never wrote that quality of elements is not good
( i didn't have chance to use or install this battery's)
2) The customer service was trying to help

3) but as you can see there is no other reports about
elements shifting freely inside case from any one else

PS
flightlogic and jclark Can you write here if your battery have shifting elements or not instead singing song about how good service is!!!!

Experience with six. No shakes.
 
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