Freedom 25 Does Not Want to Equalize

[SV Demeter]

I have a Freedom 25 inverter/charger controlled with a link 2000R monitor and over the weekend I attempted to equalize my 200ah bank of wet cell batteries (2) 6 volts in series. The freedom 25 is a white case model if that is of any value.

Heres what happened. I am able to get the monitor into equalization mode by holding the setup button then holding the volt and ah buttons until the E goes out. The red charge LED flashes indicating it is in equalization mode but the battery voltage stays at 13.90-13.95 and the current stays low like 2-4 amps. I have everything else shut down on the boat as I did not want to fry anything. Was expecting 15-16 volts and some bubbling at the batteries. I let it sit like this for 30 minutes or so and nothing changed. Outside temperature was in the 40's F and the charger has a temp sensor on the battery bank. I tried resetting the link to factory defaults then reprogramming it for my battery bank. Got it back into equalization mode but it still never brought up the voltage beyond 13.95. Does this normally take an hour or more to get the voltage up? I seem to recall on other boats that in Equalization the voltage is brought up to 15-16 volts withing a minute or two and then held there for some time.

So it appears as though the Link is telling the charger to go into equalization mode but the charger is not complying? I RTFM for the charger and it says it can only be put in equalization mode via the link panel. Both the link and charger are of 2000-2001 vintage I believe. One last thing I was not able to take the link out of equalization mode by holding the appropriate buttons, it only wanted to come out by shutting down the AC power, although maybe I was not pushing the correct sequence? I tried a few times to no avail.

Suspect the link or charger? Any other ideas to try and get the charger to equalize? I did confirm voltage at the battery bank with a fluke meter and it agrees with the link.

Thanks in advance.

[Rick]

I doubt that there is anything wrong with the charger. The symptoms indicate a lack of communication between the Link and the processor board in the inverter/charger. This is typical of that white unit as the processor board is quite susceptible to glitching from the ac input line.

Remove all ac inputs to the inverter/charger. Disconnect the communications line between the Link and the inverter/charger (either end). Disconnect the battery positive from the inverter/charger including any connections to a 2nd or 3rd battery output. Wait about two minutes. Reconnect the connections in reverse order as outlined above.
Note that now you can (hopefully) command the equalization mode and can command the charger enable and the inverter function enable observing that, yes, those functions do work back at the inverter/charger by remote command.

[SV Demeter]

Thanks a lot Rick I will give it a try next time I can get to the boat! Your diagnosis makes a lot of sense. I was working on another boat a few yeas back with this same link 2000R/Freedom 25 combo and it had trouble coming out of EQ mode. Turned out to be an issue with the Circuit board too...

[SV Demeter]

No luck. I tried over the weekend to equalize after disconnecting AC, then link connection, then the battery cable from the inverter to its fuse. Reconnected after 5 minutes in reverse order. The link thinks its in equalization mode, ie. the red "charge" led is blinking but the voltage never comes up above 13.95. All other functions seem to be fine. The link will tell the freedom to go into and out of inverter mode and all of the montoring funtions seem to be working. Every once in a while when it has been cold the link will freeze up and not take commands. I have to disconnect its power and reconnect.