XS Power I-bar Failure. Warranty?

[TheBetterMethod]

One year ago I installed an S3400 with I-bars. Only 4 months later, in July, I was a thousand miles from home when my car wouldn't start. The battery rested at 13 volts. So what was wrong? Turns out the Positive terminal had broken loose from the I-bar. The threads were not stripped, they were intact. But a lead nut had been pulled out of the I-bar and was sitting loosely in place, giving intermittent continuity and open circuit.

So I got that fixed by attaching my cables directly to the battery terminal rather than the I-bar. I figured it was a fluke thing and haven't had any other problems with my I-bars until yesterday.

So last night I was on my way home and was bumpin' along watching my voltage gauge. When I stopped at a red light I Saw my voltage drop to 10.4!!! But it went back up pretty quickly and I went on my way.

But tonight I was about to leave work and the car wouldn't start. I immediately popped the hood and checked the terminals. I couldn't tell that anything was loose and the car started up again and got me home charging at 14.44 give or take a bit.

So I got home and checked the terminals again and the Negative terminal was loose so I wiggled it a bit and it popped right out just like the positive terminal had done months earlier.

So now within 1 year of purchasing and installing my I-bars, both have failed and nearly left me stranded twice. Very disappointing.

[OrionStang]

What i-bar model do you have? They are basically a solid piece of metal with a protective coating. Hard to 'invision' your problem.

[TheBetterMethod]

I'm uploading photos now. You can clearly see what I mean. I think they're 556s?

[SnowDrifter]

Any pics?

I just don't see an i-bar breaking off like that without there being some sort of significant stress on it. Which, in that case, would be user error.

[TheBetterMethod]

Todays negative terminal failure:

Positive failure from 8 months ago:

Both failed I-bars:

[SnowDrifter]

How tight are you cranking down those bolts?

It almost looks heat related, but that could have been from sparking after it came loose. So it's hard to tell

[TheBetterMethod]

And there was definitely no unnecessary stress on either of them. The cables had slack to allow the motor to rock, and the bolts were not overtightened. The battery is installed in the factory location, and with all the hardware supplied by XS Power. I don't see how this could be user error.

They both suffered minor melting caused by the loose bits arcing and sparking.

Edited March 20, 2013 by TheBetterMethod

[OrionStang]

SHit. I know they are soft metal and overtightening could be factor. BUT, I get mine pretty tight and never had that type of problem.

Have you contacted XS before posting this thread?

[SnowDrifter]

Honestly, I don't know

I've never seen the i-bars in person. But it looks like they are lead with a bolt recessed into it designed to hold the threads - a harder material.

And that bolt pulled out from the i-bar?

[TheBetterMethod]

Orion,

No, I didn't contact XS directly yet. I was too excited and decided to post here first.

SnowDrifter,

The bolt screws into what seems to be a lead nut that is is molded into the rest of the bar. Looks to me like there wasn't a good bond between said nut and the rest of the casting, hence the nut-shaped nugget that popped out of both I-bars.