I have been AOG up in Groton Ct since Saturday with an Earth X battery that had a circuit failure. I bought the battery April 2017 at SnF and it is 31 months old. The airplane’s first flight was in February 2018 and it has been flying for 21 awesome months. Having a hurricane hit our place impacted my build and shut me down for five months, delaying my completion. Until Saturday the battery has worked well. When I went for a start up last Saturday it was 1 degree Celsius with wind blowing. The airplane had been outside all night. When I cranked, the prop began to move, then a complete electrical failure occurred. After 2 minutes the power restored. Two more attempts same thing. One last attempt everything started and all was normal, like it never happened. Just prior to take off battery fault light came on and the airplane was grounded. Shut down and then restarted the plane without issue, but battery fault light still on. I pulled the battery out. It has a LED fault indicator still illuminated, but it still has 13.4 volts.)
My Call results with Earth X: Battery was out of warranty (warranty is 24 months) even though my plane has only been flying for 1.5 years, That is on me. No complaints on their warranty policy. I was given two options. They would discount a new one, but the cost was still greater then a new Odyssey 925L. I could ship the battery back and they could replace the circuit board for 75 dollars.
Both are time issues since the Earth X can only be ground shipped so we are looking at over a week minimum for a battery replacement. They believe the BMS (battery management system) probably failed due to a spike in the start up demand as a result of the outside temperature. If I don’t at least change out the circuit board then my current battery makes a great lawn mower battery. That’s what I was told.
Results:
Amazon is shipping an Odyssey 925L, which gets here on Thursday. The negatives: I will be adding 20 lbs additional weight, it has less cranking amp, and I need to do a new W&B. Positives are no circuits to fail and the battery cost less then half of a new Earth X.
I like the Earth X. It is a good battery. It cranks the engine great and gives you 20 lbs more useful. I now lack trust the BMS system. If it fails as in my case, even though the battery side is normal you are Stuck. No options. It’s not like a weak battery you need to jump start. It’s game over. Past 24 months, if your BMS fails, this 470.00 dollar battery is good for a riding lawnmower. Fortunately we are at our kids place so room and board is free. If we had been stuck at some airport I would have spent hundreds on just hotel, food and a car.
So if you are considering an Earth X, understand that the BMS can fail and leave your battery useless for flight. I believe Earth X Should consider extending the warranty on the BMS for at least 36 months, keeping the battery portion at 24 months. That gives it some value. But as of now it’s not. If you are considering the Earth X, I would recommend talking to them more about the BMS portion of the battery. Technology is great until it fails. I’m adding 20 pounds but taking a battery circuit system That can fail out of the picture. I can easily jump start a weak battery and be on my way. Not so with the BMS on the Earth X. It just adds one more complexity into a simple system.
Safe flights....
My Call results with Earth X: Battery was out of warranty (warranty is 24 months) even though my plane has only been flying for 1.5 years, That is on me. No complaints on their warranty policy. I was given two options. They would discount a new one, but the cost was still greater then a new Odyssey 925L. I could ship the battery back and they could replace the circuit board for 75 dollars.
Both are time issues since the Earth X can only be ground shipped so we are looking at over a week minimum for a battery replacement. They believe the BMS (battery management system) probably failed due to a spike in the start up demand as a result of the outside temperature. If I don’t at least change out the circuit board then my current battery makes a great lawn mower battery. That’s what I was told.
Results:
Amazon is shipping an Odyssey 925L, which gets here on Thursday. The negatives: I will be adding 20 lbs additional weight, it has less cranking amp, and I need to do a new W&B. Positives are no circuits to fail and the battery cost less then half of a new Earth X.
I like the Earth X. It is a good battery. It cranks the engine great and gives you 20 lbs more useful. I now lack trust the BMS system. If it fails as in my case, even though the battery side is normal you are Stuck. No options. It’s not like a weak battery you need to jump start. It’s game over. Past 24 months, if your BMS fails, this 470.00 dollar battery is good for a riding lawnmower. Fortunately we are at our kids place so room and board is free. If we had been stuck at some airport I would have spent hundreds on just hotel, food and a car.
So if you are considering an Earth X, understand that the BMS can fail and leave your battery useless for flight. I believe Earth X Should consider extending the warranty on the BMS for at least 36 months, keeping the battery portion at 24 months. That gives it some value. But as of now it’s not. If you are considering the Earth X, I would recommend talking to them more about the BMS portion of the battery. Technology is great until it fails. I’m adding 20 pounds but taking a battery circuit system That can fail out of the picture. I can easily jump start a weak battery and be on my way. Not so with the BMS on the Earth X. It just adds one more complexity into a simple system.
Safe flights....
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