Operation

Although the Link 10 is a very sophisticated device, obtaining basic battery informationfromitissimple.Withtheunitturnedonandthe (Volts)LEDon, let's learn how to display the four most important DC system parameters.

When you touch the

 

 

 

button, you

 

 

 

are SELecting the display

you wish.

i4.25

operation, you will toggle to the next

Each time you touch SEL in normal

 

item to the right

(volts) goes to

(amps) to (amp hours) to (time).

Now press SEL to bring up these functions.

Volts is the electric potential to do work. Voltage is useful to assess the approximate state-of-charge and to check for proper charging. Examples: An at-rest, fully charged battery will show about 12.8 V. A 12 V battery is 100% discharged when it reaches 10.5 volts with a 20-hour rated load applied. A typical charging voltage would be 14.2 V.

Amps is the present flow of current in or out of the battery. For example, a refrigerator may draw 6 amps of current. This is displayed as - 6.0 (6 amps are being consumed). Discharge is shown as a negative number and charging is shown as a positive number (unsigned).

Amp hours consumed represents the amount of energy removed from the battery. If you run a 10-amp load for one hour then ten amp hours are consumed. The Link 10 will show -I0in the display. During charging the Link 10 will compensate for charging efficiency and count back up toward 0.

Time is an estimate of how long (in hours) the battery will sustain a load. It is based on a selectable, time averaged, rate of discharge. Default is the

18average of the last four minutes of use (see page 24).