Link 2000/Freedom Question

[Rick D]

Just returned from a couple weeks in Catalina Island. While there, I ran the Honda 2000 once a day for somewhere around an hour to bring the bank up to about 80%. (I have 266 watts of solar, but it only banks about 30 amp hours during the six hours of material output.) Anyhow, toward the end of the second week, I noticed the charging amps appeared to enter accumulate earlier and earlier, from -90 amps to -130 amps. The practical effect was to significantly increase the run time since the charge output reduced from 60 amps to something in the 30's. I noted the battery voltage was in the high 13's to 14 when it started to reduce the input. So, I wondered if over time the amp-hours calculation became erroneous? I assume the actual charge control is driven by the Freedom inverter/charger's voltage sensing. Any ideas or experience?

 

[Stu Jackson]

Aw shucks, Rick, I thought you'd been reading all the Link 2000 posts over the years!

For starters, when was the last time you reset the Link? (when you knew you had a completely full house bank)

 

[Rick D]

Reset Recently I Think...

Aw shucks, Rick, I thought you'd been reading all the Link 2000 posts over the years!

For starters, when was the last time you reset the Link? (when you knew you had a completely full house bank)

I did too! I think it resets automatically as I recall. I did have to do a reset when I changed the bank configuration, but I thought it would reset itself when it got to full float. No? I haven't looked at the manual for a while, and I can hardly remember call signs, so can you give me a hint what to look for? I am going back to the boat so I can pick up the manual.

But Stu, this happened during a time when I was going from 80-50% and was fine at the beginning and the acceptance seemed to kick in just as it should have.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Rick, you're right, when it hits "full" it should reset, but that's why Maine Sail and I have been discussing coulomb counters for so long. (Going into) Float isn't full.

In any event, yes, you're also right that the Freedom sets the charge parameters. In fact, regardless of the Link settings, the Freedom controls, cleverly hidden in the manuals for both - it took me a while to find it.

The manuals are both online. If you can't find them, pm me and I'll email them to you.

I'll go find the highlights as you requested as we move along here.

Question: You originally wrote: "I noticed the charging amps appeared to enter accumulate earlier and earlier, from -90 amps to -130 amps"

I don't understand that sentence. Help.

 

[Rick D]

OK, so what I mean is, after the second day, about 0700, the Link would read about -180 amp hours. During the day, that would reduce to -150 hours as the solar ran the frig & freezer, radio, etc and added about 30 amp hours back. At about 1700, I turned off the solar and started the Honda. It would charge at 60 amps and would do so to-90 before it would reduce to 30-ish. However, as the weeks wore on, following this same process, the charge began to reduce sooner and sooner until it was at -130 when the charge reduced to 30-ish amps. Thus, I am wondering if the Link somehow got out of sync with the Freedom who is controlling the charge off direct voltage readings.

Hope this is clearer... ;-)

Edit to add: the bank is set at 400 amp hours for the Link, but is actually 420 new.

 

[Rick D]

Additional Info...

OK, so 24 hours after being hooked up to shore power, it was -30 amps indicated with volts at 13.85. 72 hours later, it is at +16 amps. Haven't had a chance to download the manual and forgot mine on the boat. Will review but it does look to me as if it was out of sync and the battery bank was not as depleted as the Link indicated.

 

[John Nantz]

Current on-line Link 2000 Owners Manual

Here is the link to the Xantrex Link 2000 Owners Manual:

http://www.xantrex.com/documents/Discontinued-Products/Link2000-445-0198-98-01_rev-1(Vendor).pdf

This amazing control panel was way ahead of it's time.

 

[Rick D]

Yup... Out of Sync

Here is the link to the Xantrex Link 2000 Owners Manual:

http://www.xantrex.com/documents/Discontinued-Products/Link2000-445-0198-98-01_rev-1(Vendor).pdf

This amazing control panel was way ahead of it's time.

That unit was very sophisticated for the time. After reviewing the manual, it's pretty clear to me that the amp-hours calculation simply got out of sync given the number of partially charged cycles.

So, it seems that my conclusion is that I should ignore the amp hour read and simply quit charging with the Honda 2000 whenever the charger amps drop significantly if the charge value is in the neighborhood of 14.+ volts.

Curious if anyone else agrees.

 

[John Nantz]

Suggest double-checking the Link 2000 wire harness

The Link has a wire harness with a bunch of pairs - 8? 10? don't remember how many. One thing that might be worth while doing is to double check the manual and the connections to make sure they're all going to the right places. If this doesn't find a fault, then read the manual some more.

The other one other thing that could be done is to say to heck with the readout (save the troubleshooting for winter or next year) and just run the generator long enough to give it a good charge but not necessarily a full charge. It isn't efficient to run the generator to charge to a full charge anyway.

Heck, let the solar panels top the batteries off.

I'd be curious what, if anything, you find out about the issue.

 

[Rick D]

Link 2000 Update

So, I went to Catalina Island for two weeks and hung on our mooring. I motored over since it was flat, so I arrived with a full charge, having left after being connected to shore power. I started the routine of running my 266 watts of solar the second day. After the third day, I began running the Honda 2000 for about an hour, although it would go out of bulk in 30 minutes or so. I began to check the the amp hours used compared to the voltage and detected a growing mismatch. At about 10 days, the batteries at rest, no draw and solar off, were 12.65 volts at an indicated -160 amp hours. In between, I ignored the amp hours readings and simply used the indicated volts for a condition evaluation. So, it's out of sync somewhere and I'll have to do some more work to check where. Maybe I'm over thinking it and voltage is the simpler way to go. Unfortunately, there are not many times when you can check rested batteries without any draw or charge. Here is a photo of the amp hours remaining after the trip back and being connected to shorepower and in float for 12 hours.