Battery Monitors

[Jeff Bacon]

Hi All:I have been looking at two Xantrex products.... the link (10 or 20), and, the Xantrex Battery Monitor.The web site has virtually identical descriptions for each product, but the price is signifigantly lower for the Xantrex Battery monitor.Anyone have any info on the difference between these 2 productsThanks..... Jeff

 

[GailForce]

Xantres 20

We have the Xantrex 20 amp model which does a terrific job. Although I don't have the monitor I believe it plugs into the charger itself. I held off on the monitor because it required a hole to be cut for a recessed mounting. I did opt for the battery temp sensor though.Jeff Morrison

 

[Denis]

Battery Charger

The Xantrex 10 and 20 are battery chargers (10A and 20A). The battery monitor is just that: It indicates the level of charge in your battery banks.

 

[Ed Schenck]

Jeff, what are> > >

you wanting to do? And what are the Xantrex 10 and 20? I am only familiar with the "Link" series. The 10 and 20 are strictly monitors, one bank or two(Link 20). The Link 1000 and Link 2000(what I have) are battery monitors plus controllers. The controller has all the values for the charger and the inverter. It is what allows you to see "amp-hours remaining" for example. And adjust for gels or AGMs.There is a 2000R which adds a 3-stage voltage regulator to the mix. This is what you want if you ever plan to add a high amp alternator.Whoops! I checked the website and see that there is an "XBM" battery monitor. It is only for one bank but seems to have some controller capability. You could use something like that for two banks if you added a switch. But the switching has to be pretty complex because there are lots of wires when you are measuring and controlling. And that would not work for the functions where it saves information about charge cycles, amp-hours, etc. It would get confused when you switched between banks. Still think you want a Link 2000 or 2000R. But two XBMs would be close to the same thing as the 2000.