I have a Freedom 20 Inverter / Charger with a Link 2000 battery monitor. I notice that when the charger goes to float mode and is left on all the time for refrigeration, the accumulated amperage is negetive. If I turn the charger off and then back on again, the charger goes through its three stages quickly back to float. The constant voltage on float is 13.35. Does anyone have any idea why this is happening?
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Where's the shunt?
If it says negative, then that means that the batteries are discharging. That doesn't make sense, since the charger should easily be able to deal with the 5 amps or so that the fridge draws. But if the shunt isn't where the monitor expects it to be, it might be a source of confusion.
If it says negative, then that means that the batteries are discharging. That doesn't make sense, since the charger should easily be able to deal with the 5 amps or so that the fridge draws. But if the shunt isn't where the monitor expects it to be, it might be a source of confusion.
Where's the shunt!
The shunt is in the negetive side of the battery bank with only one connection between the battery (neg side)and the shunt. The other side of the shunt has all the negetives.
The shunt is in the negetive side of the battery bank with only one connection between the battery (neg side)and the shunt. The other side of the shunt has all the negetives.
Negative Accumulation Link 2000
C'mon, you need to do your homework. The Link website has many technical notes, in addition to the manual information. TECHNICAL NOTE ISSUE 014 12/17/96 SUBJECT: Negative or positive Amp-Hour accumulation When monitoring a battery bank with a Link battery monitor you may observe in some systems that the meter accumulates negative or positive Amp-Hours after the battery is fully charged. There are several conditions that may cause the rapid accumulation of negative Amp-Hours or an excessive accumulation of positive Amp-Hours. A slow or gradual accumulation of negative Amp-Hours is not necessarily an indication of a problem with the charging system or the Link meter. Operational characteristics The Link products have a feature called Charge Efficiency Factor, also referred to as "CEF". This feature allows the Link meter to keep track of battery charging performance as batteries are not 100% efficient when deeply discharged and then recharged. For example, if the CEF is 90%, this means that the battery bank is 90% efficient, also meaning that there is an inefficiency of 10%. During recharge, the Link meter monitors the recharge Amp-Hours and takes into consideration the CEF. With a CEF of 90%, since there is a 10% inefficiency, for every Amp-Hour taken out of the battery, the charging source must put back in 1.1 Amp-Hours to account for this inefficiency. The meter compensates for this by counting the 1.1 amp hours as 1.0 amp hours. Several things must occur before the CEF will recalculate and become more accurate: The battery must be discharged at least 10%, 100% of the kilowatt hours removed must be returned to the battery during charging, and the charged parameters for voltage and current must be met. If an inverter/charger is connected to AC power and left charging for an extended period of time, the charger will be in the "float" mode. This will normally result in a gradual accumulation of positive Amp-Hours as the Link measures trickle current. When there are cycling DC loads in the system (such as refrigerators and water pumps) that periodically draw power while the charger is in "float", the voltage will dip slightly and these loads will remove some "surface" charge from the battery. Once the load is switched OFF and the voltage rises back to the float voltage level and the charger replaces this surface charge. Surface charge is replaced at nearly 100% efficiency. During this removal and replacement of surface charge, the Link meter will count negative Amp-Hours (discharge) at 100% and count positive Amp-Hours at the CEF rate that the meter has "learned" during the process of deep discharge and recharge cycles. This can result in a gradual accumulation of negative Amp-Hours, even though the batteries were always in a charge mode. This same phenomenon can result if an alternator is the source of charging and cycling DC loads result in voltage fluctuations and the subsequent flow of surface charge into and out of the battery bank. Another cause is if the charger is connected to a source of AC that has fluctuating voltage. This fluctuating incoming AC voltage may cause the charger’s output voltage to fluctuate too resulting in surface charge movement into and out of the battery. Normal causes for negative Amp-Hour accumulation If the battery is never fully recharged between discharge cycles, some negative Amp-Hours will accumulate. This leaves negative amp hours showing, and because the charged parameters have not been met, the CEF is never recalculated. The meter will use and display a CEF different than the actual CEF of the battery bank. If the battery is never deeply discharged (at least 10% of capacity) like a starting battery for example, the meter will never recalculate the CEF. The default value for the CEF will likely be
C'mon, you need to do your homework. The Link website has many technical notes, in addition to the manual information. TECHNICAL NOTE ISSUE 014 12/17/96 SUBJECT: Negative or positive Amp-Hour accumulation When monitoring a battery bank with a Link battery monitor you may observe in some systems that the meter accumulates negative or positive Amp-Hours after the battery is fully charged. There are several conditions that may cause the rapid accumulation of negative Amp-Hours or an excessive accumulation of positive Amp-Hours. A slow or gradual accumulation of negative Amp-Hours is not necessarily an indication of a problem with the charging system or the Link meter. Operational characteristics The Link products have a feature called Charge Efficiency Factor, also referred to as "CEF". This feature allows the Link meter to keep track of battery charging performance as batteries are not 100% efficient when deeply discharged and then recharged. For example, if the CEF is 90%, this means that the battery bank is 90% efficient, also meaning that there is an inefficiency of 10%. During recharge, the Link meter monitors the recharge Amp-Hours and takes into consideration the CEF. With a CEF of 90%, since there is a 10% inefficiency, for every Amp-Hour taken out of the battery, the charging source must put back in 1.1 Amp-Hours to account for this inefficiency. The meter compensates for this by counting the 1.1 amp hours as 1.0 amp hours. Several things must occur before the CEF will recalculate and become more accurate: The battery must be discharged at least 10%, 100% of the kilowatt hours removed must be returned to the battery during charging, and the charged parameters for voltage and current must be met. If an inverter/charger is connected to AC power and left charging for an extended period of time, the charger will be in the "float" mode. This will normally result in a gradual accumulation of positive Amp-Hours as the Link measures trickle current. When there are cycling DC loads in the system (such as refrigerators and water pumps) that periodically draw power while the charger is in "float", the voltage will dip slightly and these loads will remove some "surface" charge from the battery. Once the load is switched OFF and the voltage rises back to the float voltage level and the charger replaces this surface charge. Surface charge is replaced at nearly 100% efficiency. During this removal and replacement of surface charge, the Link meter will count negative Amp-Hours (discharge) at 100% and count positive Amp-Hours at the CEF rate that the meter has "learned" during the process of deep discharge and recharge cycles. This can result in a gradual accumulation of negative Amp-Hours, even though the batteries were always in a charge mode. This same phenomenon can result if an alternator is the source of charging and cycling DC loads result in voltage fluctuations and the subsequent flow of surface charge into and out of the battery bank. Another cause is if the charger is connected to a source of AC that has fluctuating voltage. This fluctuating incoming AC voltage may cause the charger’s output voltage to fluctuate too resulting in surface charge movement into and out of the battery. Normal causes for negative Amp-Hour accumulation If the battery is never fully recharged between discharge cycles, some negative Amp-Hours will accumulate. This leaves negative amp hours showing, and because the charged parameters have not been met, the CEF is never recalculated. The meter will use and display a CEF different than the actual CEF of the battery bank. If the battery is never deeply discharged (at least 10% of capacity) like a starting battery for example, the meter will never recalculate the CEF. The default value for the CEF will likely be
Where is the website
Stu, I have had this problem since install of my Link 2000, over a year ago. I have reported it here several times. I can't find this article on the Xantex web site, and would not mind learning the location where you found it. Be nice to read the ending. Dan Jonas (S/V Fejie II)
Stu, I have had this problem since install of my Link 2000, over a year ago. I have reported it here several times. I can't find this article on the Xantex web site, and would not mind learning the location where you found it. Be nice to read the ending. Dan Jonas (S/V Fejie II)
Xantrex Support Documents
Link 2000 @: http://www.xantrex.com/support/docserve.asp?id=83 Link 2000R @: http://www.xantrex.com/support/docserve.asp?id=424
Link 2000 @: http://www.xantrex.com/support/docserve.asp?id=83 Link 2000R @: http://www.xantrex.com/support/docserve.asp?id=424
Probably normal.
Mine did that until I configured it more closely to reality. That is what Stu's article would have led you to do. It still happens and knowing why means that I can ignore it. See Related Link.
Mine did that until I configured it more closely to reality. That is what Stu's article would have led you to do. It still happens and knowing why means that I can ignore it. See Related Link.
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