Battery Discharge from Battery Monitors

[Stewartn]

Have Xantrex Link Lite meter wired to 2 4D batteries (as house) which is wired to a Hart Interface to keep the dedicated starting battery fully charged, without draining the house. All works as it should. No problems. But, when all swithces are OFF, meter still shows .1 amp draw. From 5/19 till 6/7 meter showed 100% full to 93%. Is it possible that the meter itself and the interface uses this current? Only other hot wired battery connection is Fcty instyalled wiring for bilge pump. To my knowledge, ther bilge pump never cycles on auto. Boat is dry. I am at a mooring, so the minimal drain bothers me. I don't have a ready way to re-charge. Any info is helpful. Thx. BTW, these are brand new 4 D's.

[Gary Brockman]

Stewart -

My Link Lite has the same ongoing draw of.1 amps as yours. I believe the only way to stop it is to disconnect the Link when you are gone from the boat.

Gary

[Stu Jackson]

In the "Gotcha Algorithm" topic, I suggested downloading and reading the Link 2000 manual to better understand the operation of the battery monitor, because the Link Lite manual leaves a lot to be desired.  The .1 amp draw is most likely the parasitic load of the monitor, and it's usually less than 0.1 A but the unit only measures in 0.1A increments.

For everyone installing a battery monitor:  The "Gotcha Algorithm" thread, a "MUST READ"

http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,4922.0.html

DEFAULTS are factory settings that are made to be modified to suit your setup.

Since you're on a mooring, I recommend that you get a small solar panel.  It'll offset the self discharge of your house bank, and keep your batteries healthier, much, much healthier.

[Roland Gendreau]

Over the course of a week, the draw on my house batteries recorded on the Link 2000 is about 25 amp hours - so I spent a few hours trying to find source of the .1-.3amp draw

After disconnecting wires one at a time and watching the panel, I ruled out everthing  - then I discovered in the back of the Link 2000 manual that the Link panel's draw was 3 watts.
Bingo.

The draw really doesnt cause us any problem as a small amount of motoring on and off the mooring recharges it quickly.
But I had to know.

Roland Gendreau
Gratitude #1183

[Stu Jackson]

There are usually two things:  backlighting and meter power.  This is for the Link 2000.  That manual is available here:  http://www.xantrex.com/documents/Discontinued-Products/Link2000-445-0198-98-01_rev-1%28Vendor%29.pdf  Pages 37 to 39 explain it, as well as the specs on page 39.  RTFM  

If you disconnect the meter when you're gone, you will lose the data.  NOT a good idea.

[Ron Hill]

Guys : Way back (1993/4) I installed my Link 10.  They said it was for a single battery bank, so I decided to let it get it's power and battery readings from the Perko battery selector switch (into the center pole).

So when I change the selector switch I get my battery readings accordinly.  When leaving the boat I turn the Perko to OFF and there is no drain. This has been written up before.
 
It's worked well for almost 20 years!!  A thought

[Stu Jackson]

Whether wired to the 1-2-B switch, as Ron has done, or from the banks themselves is really the other end of the same wires.

What Ron also contributed to the Gotcha Algorithm topic is the way that he uses his meter:

To double check on the "Got'ya Factor" I note the blinking light on my Link 10 - here's what I do.

To really know what's up check the amps that are charging.  If the charging amps (with nothing ON) are about .2/.3 amps; that tells me the battery bank is fully charged.   Wink

I use our monitor differently.  I never turn it off, and we have a small unregulated 11W panel to keep up with the self discharge and battery monitor drain.  Before I leave the boat I charge the house bank up to as much as I can in the time available (if the bank is deeply down, I leave it plugged in overnight, but rarely and hate to leave the boat plugged in while I'm not there).  When I return a week later, the amp hours are always positive, always.

I couldn't have that information if I turned the monitor off.

Your boat, your choices.