02/11/98
8
HOW TO USE YOUR
Link 1000
SIMPLE BATTERY MANAGEMENT RULE:
Recharge When the Battery is 50% Discharged!
The
Link 1000
is a guide to the battery's state of charge. Our Mid-Capacity Rule
says you should begin charging when your
Link 1000
shows that 50% (or more) of battery
capacity has been consumed. In Marine and RV systems, which are trying to minimize
charging time with an engine driven alternator, or generator powered charging, the battery
is normally charged only to the 85% level. This means only 35% of the battery capacity
is actually available for use. The Mid-Capacity rule is a very conservative approach to
battery use. Occasionally discharging a battery more deeply is perfectly acceptable. The
Mid-Capacity rule is intended as a design and operating guideline, not a law which must
be obeyed without exception.
We recommend synchronizing your
Link 1000
to the 100% charged level of the
battery. You should begin recharging when 50% of the your battery capacity has been
consumed.
When recharging from an engine driven source, you do not need to charge
until the meter reads 0 Amp-hours consumed. You may cease charging even though
15% of capacity has not been returned by charging. See example below. When you plug
back into AC power, or when a long drive provides power which exceeds demand, the
remaining Amp-hours consumed will be replaced. Periodic conditioning or
Equalizing
should be used to remove any negative Amp-hours that are not replaced during normal
charging.
OVERCHARGE AMP-HOURS
If the battery is 100% charged, and the
Link 1000
is in sync with the battery,
overcharge A hrs are displayed as a positive Amp-hour number. Some accumulation of
overcharge A hrs is normal with systems continuously connected to a charger. For
example: A 100 A hr battery at Float voltage, will normally have a little less than 0.1
Amp flowing into it. This means you would expect about 2.4 A hrs of overcharge to
accumulate each day. If your battery system is larger, proportionately more current flows
and more overcharge A hrs will accumulate.
If the charging system is a constant voltage type set at 14.2 volts, as much as 1 Amp
of current may be flowing all the time after the battery has reached the charged parameters.
Prolonged high voltage applied to a fully charged battery will likely cause gassing. You
would expect to see a large A hr overcharge every day. This is a clear indication that you
are destroying your battery by overcharging. Check your
Link 1000
before turning off
a charging source to see that you have not accumulated too many over-charge A hrs. When
discharging begins, overcharge A hrs are erased and the
Link 1000
resets to zero and
begins to report Amp-hours consumed.
If you Equalize your batteries using a Heart Interface
Freedom
inverter/charger,
you will accumulate some overcharge A hrs during Equalizing. This is normal and insures
that the
Link 1000
stays synchronized with the battery state of charge.
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