EarthX Battery Cautions

[DRL]

DRL, with your EarthX battery experience, could you recommend the value ranges and colors we should setup on our EFIS to monitor the EarthX?

We changed the amps caution message to show yellow at 0A, and red at -10A. The only time amps should be zero is at a very low idle or if the alternator is not working. It could be an alternator fault or just the field breaker tripped. We do that when loading the Dynon and occasionally forget to reset it. With a full electric load, without the alternator working, we see about -9A discharge, the -10A red line will give both an audio and the red warning message. You may have to adjust that for your airplane, we rarely have that much load. Our shunt is in position "A" it would be different if yours is not setup that way. I can't remember the maximum settings, but I think they are the same as the factory's D180 set up. We use a vertical meter for both volts and amps.

The Volts are set to give the yellow message at 13.6v and the red at 12.0v. Normally, we see 13.9v to 14.1v in-flight, so anything other than that would be of concern. If the battery gets down to 12.0v, it will only take a few minutes before the battery protection cutoff will shut it down at about 11.0v. At that point you will be on the ignition battery.

Since the old volt light hole was in the panel, I hooked up an LED. The problem with this is the LED light has a dim glow when the alternator is working normally. It is not a problem if we had used a standard bulb, but it was the reason the factory added the extra circuitry for the airplanes without an EFIS. It is overkill with the Dynon or the Garmin.

We plan to hook up the extra Dynon volt meter to the ignition battery. Mitch had something here about how to do that and it would be useful to monitor that battery.

At two years the EarthX is still doing fine.

Dave

[stede52]

DRL,
Thx for the info.

[peterb]

Hi All,
One more data point on the battery situation for early Carbon Cub EX.

For our 2011 EX I switched to the Braille Battery B14115 after our EarthX slowed down and this treads warning from the factory. After leaving the key on a couple of times and recharge it would stop on compression and shut off the battery. Had to reboot with master after waiting a minute or so and even jump start a few times with the micro start battery I carry at all times to get the plane to start.
Sorry the factory isn't getting back to us on a solution for the EarthX so I jumped to the Braille.

So after reading this post;

10-27-2017, 02:50 PM
jim plaster

Re: Best Battery for our Carbon Cubs?

Finally installed the Braille battery in my bird after trying the Antigravity battery for almost 3 years. Bought mine from Jegs for $169 and they shipped it FedEx next day...free shipping over $100! Currently out of service for a week now with horizontal stab issues...hopefully be flying again soon. The Braille fits nicely in the smaller battery box without any modifications. It's also a AGM style battery. If you go the Odyssey route you'll need to do the bigger battery box modification if you own an earlier airplane....the kit cost north of $600 I believe....so check your serial number to determine which size yours is..The older airplanes use a smaller battery....

Last edited by jim plaster; 10-27-2017 at 02:57 PM.

I didn't need to change the battery box size with the Braille and after a couple of months now and a new shut down procedure for the key the Braille has been working good. At this point even if the Braille quits with a few years use I feel I'm in a better/safer situation for the electronic ignition on our planes.

Best,
Peter

[Dan L]

Hi All,
One more data point on the battery situation for early Carbon Cub EX.

For our 2011 EX I switched to the Braille Battery B14115 after our EarthX slowed down and this treads warning from the factory. After leaving the key on a couple of times and recharge it would stop on compression and shut off the battery. Had to reboot with master after waiting a minute or so and even jump start a few times with the micro start battery I carry at all times to get the plane to start.
Best,
Peter

Your comment about the key caught my eye. So you must have the master contactor wired into the key switch and that turns the master on and off?

As I’ve mentioned before, my experience with the lithium batteries has been poor. I went back to the Odyessey and never have a problem. Or a worry.

[Pete D]

Your comment about the key caught my eye. So you must have the master contactor wired into the key switch and that turns the master on and off?

Leaving the key in the on position drains the battery as the Lightspeed ignition boxes are powered up, regardless of what position the master is in. It's not much draw (compared to having the master on) but it is enough to drain the battery slowly. Plus the engine is "hot" and could fire if the prop is moved.

[Dan L]

Leaving the key in the on position drains the battery as the Lightspeed ignition boxes are powered up, regardless of what position the master is in. It's not much draw (compared to having the master on) but it is enough to drain the battery slowly. Plus the engine is "hot" and could fire if the prop is moved.

Thanks Pete, I didn't know that.

[randylervold]

Leaving the key in the on position drains the battery as the Lightspeed ignition boxes are powered up, regardless of what position the master is in. It's not much draw (compared to having the master on) but it is enough to drain the battery slowly. Plus the engine is "hot" and could fire if the prop is moved.

When the master switch is on the master contactor is engaged and if I remember correctly consumes 1.1 amps just to keep it engaged. Then what Pete indicates above is true, when the key is also on then the ignitions are engaged. They each consume just over an amp each at idle. So, if one leaves the master AND they key there is over a 3 amp draw just sitting there. Won't take long to kill the battery at that rate, might not have enough juice to start even after an hour lunch break.

Lithium batteries by nature provide a lot of current in a cold start cranking situation, but their overall amp hour rating is typically quite low so they are even worse at surviving an inadvertent master/key on situation.

[DRL]

Does the EarthX BMS depend on the limited capacity of the alternator to control maximum charging current, or does the BMS control the charge current? If the latter, why the discussion (and limits) to alternator amp ratings?

The EarthX does not control the charge current. The BMS simply protects the battery from damage due to a battery undervoltage or overvoltage. On the CarbonCub, the crow-bar will also protect it from an overvoltage by the alternator as it does on the other type batteries.

My comments on amps were related to the limits to set on a Dynon EMS to warn if the alternator was not producing enough or no current. The battery accepts whatever it needs on the high end, but recharging from a minimum charge, I have not seen it take more than 28 amps with the standard 40 amp alternator. EarthX has some limits on their website for larger batteries and alternators that are probably compatibility related.

We are at three years and all is well so far, at this point, it has paid for itself. We have run it down to the shutoff a few times and it has recovered with no ill effects. If we need another one, we would still choose the EarthX. It now has a redundant BMS that the FAA thought was a good idea. It has become standard on some RV's, they may have better information.

[Sandybb]

I read the Pat Horgan post about EarthX cautions dared 12/06/16, then all the other posts. What I don’t see is another follow up test by CubCrafters of the suitability of the Earth X battery. The battery that came in my Carbon Cub failed at about two years. The Odyssey SSBSJ16 I replaced it with also from Cubcrafters store failed at 10 months service, always on the CubCrafters trickle charger. Now I’m on my third battery in less than 4 years. Other pilots must be looking for alternatives too.
Is there any new info about the Earth X. Plenty of pilots, including those with electronic ignition are using them.
Thanks, Sandy Beebe

[40m]

I read the Pat Horgan post about EarthX cautions dared 12/06/16, then all the other posts. What I don’t see is another follow up test by CubCrafters of the suitability of the Earth X battery. The battery that came in my Carbon Cub failed at about two years. The Odyssey SSBSJ16 I replaced it with also from Cubcrafters store failed at 10 months service, always on the CubCrafters trickle charger. Now I’m on my third battery in less than 4 years. Other pilots must be looking for alternatives too.
Is there any new info about the Earth X. Plenty of pilots, including those with electronic ignition are using them.
Thanks, Sandy Beebe

Why the constant trickle charge? Might just be wearing it out.