I have a Xantrex Freedom 30 charger with a Link 1000 remote. This month I received a bill from the marina where my boat is moored for $125.00!! A few days ago I was at the boat and the batteries had been boiled almost dry. What could be the problem and could a charger run up a 125 electrical usage in a month?
Charger and High Electrical Issue
- Thread starter Solitude
- Start date
Consider yourself lucky you didn't have a bigger bill for the consequential damage caused by a fire.
Similar setup as yours. I'm not a battery expert, but usually a short in the cell will cause it to boil dry. At least that is what happened to our 8D battery.
No dead cells. Checked the batteries after filling with water and re-charging. Would like to figure out if it is a charger problem or a remote control (Link 1000) problem. Just got the bill yesterday so am going over to Anacortes today to see what the charge state is. If it is still overcharging I am going to shut down the system.
How much do they charge you for a kilowatt-hour?
I did some thumbnail calcs and it doesn't look like the Freedom can burn that much electricity.. Could it be that they'd been estimating for a few months and just read the meter and caught up after undercharging for a while? Anything else turned on? check bilge pump to make sure it didn't fry and is causing the battery overcharge.
I did some thumbnail calcs and it doesn't look like the Freedom can burn that much electricity.. Could it be that they'd been estimating for a few months and just read the meter and caught up after undercharging for a while? Anything else turned on? check bilge pump to make sure it didn't fry and is causing the battery overcharge.
1238/30=42 per ay /24 = 2 kw per hour = 2,000 watts per hour. Freedom 30 is what?, 100 A charger? at 12V
Just another reason to never leave your boat plugged in when you're not there. I've been saying this for 30 years.
And these days, with a small solar panel and a controller, you won't kill your batteries. I just did it for a month, worked just fine while I was out of the country.
Just another reason to never leave your boat plugged in when you're not there. I've been saying this for 30 years.
And these days, with a small solar panel and a controller, you won't kill your batteries. I just did it for a month, worked just fine while I was out of the country.
I dunno.. sounds fishy.. The Freedom 30 is rated at 140 amperes at 12 volts; at 86% efficiency, that is 1976 watts of AC needed at max DC output..close to the 2000W required, but there is no way the batteries could have sucked down max output for those many days.. once the juice level starts falling below the top of the plates, the battery can not pass as much current.. so it'll boil water and then the current will start decreasing pretty quickly. Think about all the heat being generated.. my ceramic 120Vac heater burns only 1500 or so watts.. so that thing running at full power should have heated up the cabin and surroundings by pulling that much power for the month.. Should have left heat traces on a 30 ampere shore power connector ..unless you have 50 ampere wiring. You'd have noticed the heat at some point.. I think the dudes made a mistake.. unless the air conditioner is set on "Meat Locker" and the hot water tank is running too. and the Xantrex failed.
I dunno, Stu.. We pretty much have to run a dehumidifier here when not on the boat to keep the mildew/mold at bay.. can't run one on solar..
I dunno, Stu.. We pretty much have to run a dehumidifier here when not on the boat to keep the mildew/mold at bay.. can't run one on solar..
How? The Link only turns the charger on and off. The Freedom, while a three step charger, is pretty "dumb" by today's standards. I'm not knocking it, but I have a Freedom 15 and a Link 2000 and there is no way I know of that the Link could be a contributing factor, even if it leaves the charger part ON all the time. Why? Because even if it left it on all the time, the fact that your batteries aren't boiled out, seems to imply that the Freedom turned on, did it's "timed" routine and either stayed at bulk voltage or eventually went to float anyway.
But, I'm all ears if you can find out.
I hope everything goes well for you. Please let us know.
The batteries were boiled almost dry. I am trying to determine if this is a charger problem or a Link 1000 remote problem. Which one would control the charger and keep it charging at 14.3 (or so) volts continuously (bulk charging rate)?
The Link is an on/off IF you use the telphone cable to the Freedom
RTFM? F stands for Funny.
I know, it took me a while, twelve years ago, to figure it all out. It is in the Freedom manual and the better Link manual is the one for the Link 2000 available online in discontinued Xantrex products. Might be similar to the Link 1000 manual, but IIRC has more info.
As Maine Sail is fond of saying, even three stage chargers are not really smart.
The Freedom is a three stage charger generally controlled by time, not battery's condition or voltages.
The two occurrences could be unrelated. Do you have a separate electrical meter or are you adjudicated a portion of the Marina bill?
What marina are you in? Looks to me like a wrong meter read or someone stealing power. Take your own readings for awhile
What does your Link1000 say is the charging voltage. Our bulk charge rate is 14.2 where it remains through the absorption stage. Once it reaches the float stage it drops to 13.5.
When in the slip I always keep shore power connected and the charger on. As I stated above, the only time I ever experienced the battery boiling the water away was when there was a cell short.
Normally, our electric use is low during the summer months and increases when I keep a space heater on. Never experienced anything like what you have. Anything new on cause?