Artex ELT 345 dead battery

[Will Kumley]

Turns out the new battery I installed in my ELT 2 years ago is dead. Seems a little off-putting for a battery with a 6 year lifespan according to Artex. I installed a new battery today and the ELT works as advertised.

I emailed their support for advice when I first suspected a dead battery and to see if there was a warranty but got no answer. Aircraft Spruce was better in attempting to help but said as per Artex there is only a 1 year warranty on batteries. If I want, I can send the battery to Artex for them to test it and if they find a problem they won't charge me the fee to troubleshoot it. If the battery is good by their standards or indicates that it was on for more than an hour they'll charge me $200. No word on what Artex will do if they do find a problem so I'm not really seeing the advantage of this. Interestingly, my IA told me this is the second Artex ELT he's seen with a dead battery in 2 years, the last one was on a plane he inspected a couple months ago.

 

[bonefishpete]

Turns out the new battery I installed in my ELT 2 years ago is dead. Seems a little off-putting for a battery with a 6 year lifespan according to Artex. I installed a new battery today and the ELT works as advertised.

I emailed their support for advice when I first suspected a dead battery and to see if there was a warranty but got no answer. Aircraft Spruce was better in attempting to help but said as per Artex there is only a 1 year warranty on batteries. If I want, I can send the battery to Artex for them to test it and if they find a problem they won't charge me the fee to troubleshoot it. If the battery is good by their standards or indicates that it was on for more than an hour they'll charge me $200. No word on what Artex will do if they do find a problem so I'm not really seeing the advantage of this. Interestingly, my IA told me this is the second Artex ELT he's seen with a dead battery in 2 years, the last one was on a plane he inspected a couple months ago.

Probably won't work anyway if you crash . Get yourself a PLB and carry that in the plane.
Never had much confidence in plane ELT's.

 

[Clip4]

Turns out the new battery I installed in my ELT 2 years ago is dead. Seems a little off-putting for a battery with a 6 year lifespan according to Artex. I installed a new battery today and the ELT works as advertised.

I emailed their support for advice when I first suspected a dead battery and to see if there was a warranty but got no answer. Aircraft Spruce was better in attempting to help but said as per Artex there is only a 1 year warranty on batteries. If I want, I can send the battery to Artex for them to test it and if they find a problem they won't charge me the fee to troubleshoot it. If the battery is good by their standards or indicates that it was on for more than an hour they'll charge me $200. No word on what Artex will do if they do find a problem so I'm not really seeing the advantage of this. Interestingly, my IA told me this is the second Artex ELT he's seen with a dead battery in 2 years, the last one was on a plane he inspected a couple months ago.

Did you put a meter on the battery to check charge? I would send both the battery and unit to Artek to be checked.

According to an online search:

• Battery Drain: The internal battery can drain prematurely due to accidental activations, high-vibration exposure, or a software bug in early production models. [1, 2, 3, 4]

• Self-Test Errors: A series of flashing lights or beeps (such as a 4-flash fault) during a self-test can indicate either an internal fault or a programming mismatch. [1, 2]

• Connection Issues: Corrosion or bent pins on the remote switch wiring harness or the coaxial antenna cable often register as unit failures. [1, 2]

 

[Will Kumley]

Probably won't work anyway if you crash . Get yourself a PLB and carry that in the plane.
Never had much confidence in plane ELT's.

Agreed that ELTs are notorious for not working in the event of a crash for multiple reasons. But it's still required to be in the plane and working.

 

[Will Kumley]

Did you put a meter on the battery to check charge? I would send both the battery and unit to Artek to be checked.

According to an online search:

• Battery Drain: The internal battery can drain prematurely due to accidental activations, high-vibration exposure, or a software bug in early production models. [1, 2, 3, 4]
• Self-Test Errors: A series of flashing lights or beeps (such as a 4-flash fault) during a self-test can indicate either an internal fault or a programming mismatch. [1, 2]
• Connection Issues: Corrosion or bent pins on the remote switch wiring harness or the coaxial antenna cable often register as unit failures. [1, 2]

I emailed Artex when it was first noticed at annual to not be working. So far, I haven't gotten a response. I emailed them again after the new battery fixed the ELT not working so maybe they'll respond now.

As far as accidental activations, there is a buzzer that is obnoxiously loud so I would hear it if it was going off and I also have a scanner in my hangar that scans both the CTAF and 121.5 so I'd hear it there and its never gone off. I'd also get a phone call from someone if it was transmitting as it is registered to me and my cell phone number.

The self test was good after install and at last years annual. This annual test resulted in no lights, no beeps, no anything. But once a new battery was installed it tests perfectly good.

Connector has no corrosion, antenna connection is good with no corrosion.

Old battery shows 0.2 volts on a multimeter, should read 6 volts. I imagine 0.2 VDC is not enough to activate any part of the ELT which explains the no indications during test scenario.

 

[Racerx]

Agreed that ELTs are notorious for not working in the event of a crash for multiple reasons. But it's still required to be in the plane and working.

Just got an email this morning that somebody's elt is going of. Can't be mine since I had to send it in for repair