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EarthX Battery in a RV14 Battery Box

TASEsq

TASEsq

Well Known Member
Patron
I am planning out my electrical system at the moment, and looking at locations for a second battery in a -14. (before i sort out the wiring and close out the top skins).

Have read all the forums i can find about fitting an EarthX into the STOCK battery box on the -14. I am mostly confused!

Can anyone actually post a picture of their EARTHX battery in the battery box (and which model)?

The reason i ask, is i can't seem to find ANY of the EarthX models which would fit... They all seem too deep? (even the "compact" sized ETX680C).

A PC680 (which the box was designed for) is: (W x D x H) 7.15 x 3.00 x 6.65
The battery box riveted to my firewall is this exact dimension.

The ETX680 and ETX 900 are both E cases: (W x D x H) 6.5 (ok) x 3.1 (too deep) x 6.6 (ok)
The ETX680C (supposedly compact version): (W X D X H) 5.9 (ok) x 3.4 (even deeper!) x 4.5 (ok)

I am considering whether to de-rivet my Van's battery box, and replace it with an EarthX one (bolted on), or add a second Van's box and just go with 2 PC680 batteries. The ETX680C is compact in the sense of width and height - two of these battery boxes would take up less real-estate on the firewall.

I have a IO-360-C1E6 which i am looking to get overhauled - this is already listed as 30lbs heavier than the IO-390, so i think i will need to probably go with EarthX if i am going to install a second battery on the firewall. (although i will be removing the mags / fuel system replacing with SDS-EFI so maybe it comes out close to the same ??).

Thanks for the help!
 
TASEsq said:
I am planning out my electrical system at the moment, and looking at locations for a second battery in a -14. (before i sort out the wiring and close out the top skins).

Have read all the forums i can find about fitting an EarthX into the STOCK battery box on the -14. I am mostly confused!

Can anyone actually post a picture of their EARTHX battery in the battery box (and which model)?

The reason i ask, is i can't seem to find ANY of the EarthX models which would fit... They all seem too deep? (even the "compact" sized ETX680C).

A PC680 (which the box was designed for) is: (W x D x H) 7.15 x 3.00 x 6.65
The battery box riveted to my firewall is this exact dimension.

The ETX680 and ETX 900 are both E cases: (W x D x H) 6.5 (ok) x 3.1 (too deep) x 6.6 (ok)
The ETX680C (supposedly compact version): (W X D X H) 5.9 (ok) x 3.4 (even deeper!) x 4.5 (ok)

I am considering whether to de-rivet my Van's battery box, and replace it with an EarthX one (bolted on), or add a second Van's box and just go with 2 PC680 batteries. The ETX680C is compact in the sense of width and height - two of these battery boxes would take up less real-estate on the firewall.

I have a IO-360-C1E6 which i am looking to get overhauled - this is already listed as 30lbs heavier than the IO-390, so i think i will need to probably go with EarthX if i am going to install a second battery on the firewall. (although i will be removing the mags / fuel system replacing with SDS-EFI so maybe it comes out close to the same ??).

Thanks for the help!
Click to expand...
Hi Trent ... see my RV14 EarthX installation in G-STRV which has worked out just fine ...

43 – Vertical Power PPS & EarthX Battery

<p>Vertical Power PPS The Vertical Power PPS (Primary Power System) combines the functions of multiple high-current, electro-mechanical components into a single, solid-state device. I decided to locate it using the existing nutplates which had been installed on the firewall. These were for...
vansrv14project.uk vansrv14project.uk
 
Trent,

I read your posts with great interest as you and I seem to have found many of the same issues along the way. The battery "fit" is a good example of such an issue. While my -14 is now flying, I remember fighting the battery box and location as well. I thought I had better/more pictures of my solution than I do, but I did use an EarthX battery and box. I used an ETX-900 with a BB-MU box. In reviewing the EarthX website, it appears that EarthX doesn't make the BB-MU box anymore.

I used .125 aluminum spacers between the box and the Fiberfrax to make sure I could get the battery out, so the box was a bit deep for the battery, but EarthX sends material to take up the space. Unfortunately, the material was only enough to fill the gaps on the sides, you'll need to find similar material to take up the space front/back. I wanted the battery to be held so that it would slide in about out easily, but have no ability to "rattle" or vibrate. Note that I "think" the size of the ETX-900 may have changed since I purchased mine.

The fight I had was that the battery box didn't fit exactly where the box from Vans fits. I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to get the battery out of the box due to the battery depth and the forward angle on the firewall just above the battery. Also, I used Fiberfrax on my firewall so several adjustments had to be made. I wanted the Fiberfrax to go between the battery and the firewall. Ultimately, I drilled out the rivets that hold the original Van's box (replaced them of course) installed a .063 aluminum doubler under the Fiberfrax, and bolted the battery BB-MU box in place. It wasn't hard, but it was time consuming finding just the right spot, installing nutplates, etc.

Of the hundreds thousands of pictures of my project I don't seem to have any really great pictures of the finished product. Below may help get you started and I'll try to get over to the hangar to get some additional pictures this evening. It's -5F here and we have snow (which is odd for this area), so it might be a day or two until I can get something else posted.

Good luck,

Fred

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Last edited:
I bought another battery box from Vans and cut the bottom out. With the front lip removed from the installed battery box, I have an adjustable bottom on the tray if/when I switch to an EarthX so that it will sit inside the lip.
 

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Thanks for the replies,

Seems that i might be correct that the battery doesn't fit properly. Good solutions in the packing at the bottom and the removeable bottom, but i kinda feel like it's not a solution i would be happy with.

If i had to go with the EarthX battery box / doubler method, i reckon i may as well go with the ETX680C battery and the matching BB-CO battery box - it seems like these take up less height / width on the firewall (but more depth). https://earthxbatteries.com/product/bb-co-light-weight-battery-box-for-c-case/

This would mean i can'y use the higher AH ETX-900 tho.
 
TASEsq said:
I am planning out my electrical system at the moment, and looking at locations for a second battery in a -14. (before i sort out the wiring and close out the top skins).

Have read all the forums i can find about fitting an EarthX into the STOCK battery box on the -14. I am mostly confused!

Can anyone actually post a picture of their EARTHX battery in the battery box (and which model)?

The reason i ask, is i can't seem to find ANY of the EarthX models which would fit... They all seem too deep? (even the "compact" sized ETX680C).

A PC680 (which the box was designed for) is: (W x D x H) 7.15 x 3.00 x 6.65
The battery box riveted to my firewall is this exact dimension.

The ETX680 and ETX 900 are both E cases: (W x D x H) 6.5 (ok) x 3.1 (too deep) x 6.6 (ok)
The ETX680C (supposedly compact version): (W X D X H) 5.9 (ok) x 3.4 (even deeper!) x 4.5 (ok)

I am considering whether to de-rivet my Van's battery box, and replace it with an EarthX one (bolted on), or add a second Van's box and just go with 2 PC680 batteries. The ETX680C is compact in the sense of width and height - two of these battery boxes would take up less real-estate on the firewall.

I have a IO-360-C1E6 which i am looking to get overhauled - this is already listed as 30lbs heavier than the IO-390, so i think i will need to probably go with EarthX if i am going to install a second battery on the firewall. (although i will be removing the mags / fuel system replacing with SDS-EFI so maybe it comes out close to the same ??).

Thanks for the help!
Click to expand...
My EarthX 900 battery fits perfectly depth wise with stock vans battery box. You can see it bottoming out in the picture.
 

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Lucmac said:
My EarthX 900 battery fits perfectly depth wise with stock vans battery box. You can see it bottoming out in the picture.
Click to expand...
When did you buy it?

I’ve heard that they have reduced the width of the “E” cases but it seems 50 / 50 in people’s replies.
 
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