Xantrex Link Pro

[osirissail]

Okay, you should have gotten a lot of papers with the Link Pro unit. One of those papers is the "Installation Guide," another is the "Owners Guide." If you did not get these, go to the installer and demand them. Also be sure to get the special "screwdriver" that came with the Link Pro.
- - If that does not work you can download them in PDF format at: Battery Chargers | LinkPRO Battery Monitor | Xantrex

Examine the below diagrams to see exactly where each wire from the Link Pro goes/connects. Especially at the Shunt. Remember the primary battery's negative battery cable is routed to one side of the shunt. If you are using the Link Pro's Aux Battery Voltage feature then its negative battery cable is attached to the "house negative" side of the LinkPro's shunt. (See the diagram) The Positive battery cables are routed to their battery switch(s).
- - Pay close attention to the diagram of the terminal block on the back of the Link Pro. Use the special "screwdriver" to loosen and tighten the little set screws and make sure each wire is clean and full inserted into the terminal block.
- - Additionally, in the Owners Guide you will find the part to set the AmpHour capacity of your main batteries. This is critically important if you want the % function to work. Here is an excerpt from that guide:
F5: “Main” Battery Properties
F5.0 Battery capacity. Your Main battery’s capacity in Amphours (Ah).
Default: 200Ah Range: 20 – 9990Ah Step size: variable

[Sailagain]

Okay. The one glaring difference from your wiring digram is there is not a wire - as shown in the diagram - from the house battery (and monitor) to the charger (in this case a wind generator).

They have the 3 house batteries wired together and the wind generators leads are attached to one of the batteries - but do not directly make contact as indicated

Could it be that simple?

[Opie91]

It could be that simple, but maybe not. It is a little tough to help not knowing your complete electrical system layout.

Did you try turning on a bunch of stuff and see whether the current was shown as a draw or charge? If it shows charging current then the small wires are reversed.

Also as mentioned above, it is important to program the Link Pro to your battery bank. The installer should have done that.

One thing you could try is connecting the negative lead from the wind generator to the engine negative battery, that way the generator current would have to run thru the shunt. Leave the positive connected to the house bank.

[Sailagain]

Yes - turned a bunch of stuff on and it shows a draw

Also can note that when the wind generator kicks on - the draw stays the same - like it isn't even getting a current input.

I did adjust the battery amp size in the monitor to the amp size of the house bank. The monitor was set at 200, but it is 237

[Opie91]

OK sounds like the small wires are right. A few more questions, I think we are getting close.

1. Do all of the negatives on the house bank run thru the shunt?
2. You have 3 12 volt batteries right? I noticed your shunt has only one large negative wire connected to it on each side. Are the 3 house batteries connected to each other in parallel? (Negative to negative and positive to positive)
3. Are there any other wires other than the ones going to the shunt connected to the negative side of the house batteries? If they are the the shunt is not reading all power draw or charging.

Like mentioned above, the wind generator negative lead needs to connect to the opposite side of the shunt that the house batteries are connected to for proper function of your Link Pro.

Follow the wires from the house battery bank to the shunt. Attach the negative wire from the wind generator to the side of the shunt that the battery negative wires are not on. If your guy wired the Link Pro right is should be the side of the shunt with the two wires on it. (Looking at your picture)

Another question: How is your battery charger hooked up to your house batteries? Does it go thru a battery switch or is it a multi output charger that connects to each battery bank?

If you are unsure, pictures of the batteries with the covers off would help.

Good luck.

[Sailagain]

The only question I can answer for sure right now it that the house batteries are wired positive to positive and negative to negative 3 of them.

I will have to go back to the boat and check the connections to answer the rest

Is there any risk of damage just to try to remove the negative from the house battery it is currently connected to and wire it as you suggest to the shunt? I know I could do that pretty easily - there is lots of extra wire in that connection to move it.

Thanks!!

[Opie91]

I can claim to really know a lot about wind generators, but one thing I would do is tie off the wind generator so it is not outputting any current.

Next shut off any battery switches on the boat and disconnect the negative lead from the house and engine battery banks to be safe. If you do this there should be no power on the boat. But still be careful.

I would remove the negative lead for the wind generator after that and move it to the shunt.

After that hook up all the removed wires in the opposite order you removed them and you should be all set.

One note the Link Pro might have to be reprogrammed since power will be removed from it, I do not know what kind of memory it has.

[osirissail]

If I understand you correctly the wind generator has its positive wire attached to the positive terminals of the house batteries. Is that correct?
- - And the wind generator (and solar if you have it) negative wire should NOT be connected to the negative terminal of the house batteries.
- - This is important. If the negative terminals of the the 3 house batteries are connected together - then one and only one negative battery cable should be run between the house battery bank and the shunt as shown in the diagram.
- - No other negative wires or cables should be connected to the batteries negative terminal. All other negative wires and cables should be connected to the "other side" of the shunt (on the diagram labeled as Battery Negative / System Ground).
- - Again, there should be only one cable/wire between the house battery negative terminals and the shunt (shown on the diagram as the single black line connecting the "main" battery to the shunt).
- - As far as repositioning the wind generator negative, other posts explained that but the only controlling requirement is to be sure that the wind generator is turned "off" if you have a switch for it. If not either do the re-wiring when there is no wind or tie down the blades so they cannot rotate if there is wind.
- - The battery charger is not a factor at all in the Link Pro system so long as its "negative" 12VDC wire is connected to the house negative bus and not to the actual battery negative terminals. Remember, nothing can be connected to the house battery negative terminals except the single wire to the shunt.

[Sailagain]

I will have to check all the other negative connections you mention when I get back to the boat

But I can say 100% without a doubt the wind generators negative lead is definitely connected to the same house battery that the positive lead is connected to

Does that configuration even charge the house batteries properly?

[osirissail]

Absolutely, it does. But you will have no indication that it is charging the batteries except that the battery voltage will show an increase if the batteries are being charged.
- - Any gauge or indicator must be between the charging source and the batteries in order to measure anything. That is what the shunt does with the Link Pro.

[Sailagain]

Okay - it sounds like the wind generator is definitely not wired properly to interact with the monitor - but what about the engine alternator?

Because when motoring - the monitor never indicates a charge either.

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by Sailagain

Okay - it sounds like the wind generator is definitely not wired properly to interact with the monitor - but what about the engine alternator?
Because when motoring - the monitor never indicates a charge either.

It is the exact same thing as the wind generator as stated in the last paragraph of my post #23. However, the negative of the Engine Alternator is normally connected to the 12VDC system by the mounting bolts which connect the alternator to the engine block. It is rare that a separate negative wire is run from the alternator to the boat's 12VDC ground system.
- - The engine block has a large "battery" size cable connecting it to the house main 12VDC negative bus on the main electrical panel. Or this cable can be connected to the "other" side of the shunt just like the aux battery is as shown in the diagram. There is no reason to change the engine block negative cable to main electrical panel 12VDC ground system so long as it does not go directly to the battery negative terminal posts.
- - Remember there is only the one "negative battery cable" that is connected from the main/house battery bank negative terminal(s) and connected to the shunt. NO other cables can be connected to the main/house battery(s) negative terminal(s).
- - The positive (red) cables from anything can be connected anywhere and the LinkPro does not care.
- - The Link Pro operates by measuring the electrical flow to and from the battery through the "battery negative cable" which is the only thing connected to the battery negative terminals.

[Opie91]

Osirissail, it sounds like we are saying the same thing. Now he has to take a look at his batteries and let us know.

Basically:

No negative connections to the house batteries other than the shunt. Any other configuration will not work properly


Good Luck

[Sailagain]

No wind today - so plenty of time to crawl around finding battery connections. Thank you so much to everyone who responded. It seems obvious to me what the problem is.

None of the house batteries negatives are directly connected to the shunt. They have wired something up from the Beneteau ground to the shunt. Also complicating the problem is the negative of the third house battery is wired to the negative of the engine battery - which goes to the inverter. Ugh! Attached is my diagram.

So if I am understanding the situation correctly I should have someone remove the negative connection between the house 3 and the engine battery. Instead wire the negative from house 3 to house 1.

Remove the connection from house 2 to the Beneteau ground and put that on the shunt - and from the other side of the shunt - to the Beneteau ground. And move the negative from the wind generator to the shunt as well.

Does that sound about right?



Thanks again!

[Opie91]

Where would the shunt be currently hooked up to in the diagram?

Is this a diagram of all of the wires hooked up to the batteries?

What type of inverter do you have? Brand/Model.