12
The C
The Link 20 depends on correctly set Charged Parameters to stay in sync with
battery state-of-charge, to automatically reset to zero, and to automatically calculate the
Charging Efficiency Factor of your battery. The two numbers which define Charged
Parameters are Charged Voltage and Charged Current Percent.
What these Charged Parameters mean is simply this: If you charge a battery above
a given charging voltage and hold it there until the charging current drops below a few
percent of battery capacity, the battery is effectively FULL. Although you could continue
charging, once voltage is held high and charging current drops to a few percent, any
additional energy going into the battery will be turned into heat.
Based on extensive studies, we have selected a default Charged Voltage of 13.2 volts
and a Charged Current of 2% of declared battery capacity. This means a 200 Ah liquid cell
battery held over 13.2 volts until charging current drops below 4 amps is effectively full. (4
amps is 2% of 200 amp hours.) Once your system is able to fully recharge your battery, we
can then calculate battery efficiency when five conditions are met:
CONDITIONS TO RESET TO ZERO
1. Discharge 10% of declared battery capacity to trigger algorithm.
2. Recharge until kWh becomes a positive number.
3. The voltage must be above the Charged Voltage Parameter.
4. The current must be below the Charge Current % Parameter.
5. Conditions 3 & 4 must be met for 5 minutes (1 min. for AE [F05] mode).
If your battery voltage is other than 12 or 24 V, you must set up an appropriate
Charged Voltage.
If the charged parameters are not set correctly, the Link 20 will never recalculate
the CEF. If you accumulate negative amp hours, check your charged parameters.
Please consider changing only the battery capacity unless your system falls into one of the
following categories:
1) Battery chemistry other than lead acid.
12 Volt NiCad (and NiFe) systems would normally use 15.5 to 15.7 as the Charged
Voltage. See your battery specifications for guidance. The Charged Current % can
probably stay at 2% of declared battery capacity.
2) Charging normally ends before current drops below 2%.
If the charging system is normally shut down before charging current drops below
2%, the Charged Current % will have to be changed.
3) Your system operates at extremes of temperature. For example, below 45 °F
or above 90 °F.
WHEN TO SET UP AND