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HOW TO USE THE LINK
CONTROL PANEL
BATTERY MANAGEMENT PHILOSOPHY:
Recharge When the Battery is 50% Discharged!
The LINK 2000 is a guide to the battery's state of charge. Our Mid-Capacity Rule
says you should begin charging when your LINK 2000 shows that 50% 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 driven charger, 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 to provide optimal battery life and ensure the most energy
output from the battery over its life, not a law which must be obeyed without exception.
We recommend synchronizing your LINK 2000 to the 100% charged level of the
battery. You should begin recharging when 50% of your battery capacity has been
consumed. When recharging from an engine-driven alternator or generator
supplied battery charger you do not have to charge until the meter reads 0 amp hours
consumed. You may cease charging when the LINK 2000 is displaying that 15% of the
battery capacity is still consumed. See the example below. When you plug back into AC
power, or when your Alternative Energy production exceeds demand, the remaining amp
hours consumed will be replaced.
MANAGING A TWO-BATTERY SYSTEM
With a two-battery system we recommend using battery #1 until you consume 50%
of its capacity, then switch to battery #2 and use 50% of it. When both batteries are 50%
discharged it is time to charge. You should never leave either battery partially discharged
for more than a few days.
Suppose you have two 200 Ah batteries for a total system capacity of 400 Ah and
you have synchronized your LINK 2000 to 100% charged batteries. You would use battery
#1 until the LINK 2000 showed that you had used 50% (the display would show -100Ah).
You would then use battery #2 until you had used 50% of it (-100Ah). At this point charge
both batteries up to about the 85% level (-30 Ah on each). If you have other reasons to
continue running the engine or plug back into AC power you may continue charging until
the meter reads zero.
OVERCHARGE AMP HOURS
If the battery is 100% charged, and the LINK 2000 is in sync with the batteries,
overcharge amp hours are displayed as positive. Some accumulation of overcharge amp
hours is normal and harmless with systems continuously connected to a charger. For
example: a 100 Ah battery at the Float voltage will normally have less than 0.1 A flowing
into it. This means that a maximum of 2.4 Ah of overcharge would accumulate in a 24 hour
period. If your battery system is larger there will be proportionately more current flow and
positive amp-hour accumulation.
If the charging system is a constant voltage type set at 14.2 volts, as much as one
amp of current may be flowing all the time after the battery has reached the charged