RE: Jumping batt monitor !!
Well after trouble shooting with Xantrex for a while mi went ahead and discoonected everything too see where the issue was and low and behold i think its actualy the monitor, i know i know i assumed it was something i was doing wrong and am still not sure but no matter whats connected to the monitor it jumps back and fourth, the only time it ever holds steady is when it and only it are connected to the monitor and only then does it hold, but at that point its not measuring anything aside from the voltage in my batts. But beyond that if you hook anything up it starts its jumping around again, so does this sound like a defective monitor or is there still something im missing. The only reason im still not 100% sure that its the monitor is because it holds steady when nothing else is connected. So the next step is to send it back and hope they find the same issue, let me know if anyone has any suggestions, thanks!
RE: Leaking barb connections?
Ya that sounds about right, i actually made a point today that we will have to check in on these connections every now and again to make sure they are holding. Im not even sure they hold yet, still waiting for the caulk to dry up and then we'll pump up and try again. Its funny we thought just mapping out a system was the hard part, now i see that was the easy part...
RE: Leaking barb connections?
Just a simple tip. When using the screw-type hose clamps, always use the type of hose clamps that can be tighten with a nut driver. You can get the clamps tighter with a nut driver than you can with a screw driver.
Ya know i would say out of everything we did to remedy the situation, using the nut driver to tighten may have helped more than anything. Its frustrating too because the hose clamps we used were the type that takes nut drivers but for some reason we used a flathead. Anyways we also went with the caulking idea as a measure of overkill and i think it was a good idea, while it may be a pain in the butt to deal with if we ever have to disconnect, im sure it helped as much if not more than using the nut driver to tighten. Oh and the last thing i think made a big difference was using hose clamps that fit a lil better, there were only a few that were too big but replacing them was big. Anyhoo hope this helps anyone to not make the same mistakes we made, till nex time....take care enjoy the ride and thanks for the help
RE: Dometic or Norcold
I hate when no one responds.... I have the smallest Norcold out there, only been using it for a few days now, so my input is almost useless, but its run good so far and gets things pretty cold, seems to run more than expected but it is summer time, and i am in Virginia.
RE: Leaking barb connections?
Just checked and the 1/4" hose clamps dont fit ont he 1/2" ID braided i have, perhaps HD has something just a lil bit bigger....
RE: Leaking barb connections?
Ya know that cud very well be it, we had a leftoever box of hose clamps that were just a lil big but i figured we'de just tighten them a lil bit more and they wud work, perhaps ill go get a few and see what happens, but what about the caulking idea, i kinda thought that was a decent, i figured once it dries what ever is left we'll just flush and if we ever need to disconnect the caulking will come right apart....
RE: Leaking barb connections?
Just went and grabbed some leftover hose and it doesnt say anything about PEX, it just says 1/2" ID Braided Vinyl??? WIth a bunch of numbers after that...
RE: Leaking barb connections?
Oh and the barbs are just the hard plastic things you find at Lowes or HD. And the pressure is coming from a 12volt 3.7 FloJet VSD, nothing crazy in other words.
RE: Leaking barb connections?
All the hoses fit right, that im sure of, pretty simple 1/2 ID, aside from the water purification line which is 3/8 and the inlet which is 1" but i dealt with those, and actually those dont leak. However im not entirely sure if its PEX hose im dealing with or not, it is pretty stiff/hard, its got the string lining which keeps its shape? Uhhhhh, well will it say on the hose? I could go look real quick
RE: Jumping batt monitor !!
Everything was installed around 2 maybe 3 weeks ago, there should be no contact issues, they're still shiny clean, and everything seem to be nice and tight. And beyond that everything worked well the first time it was connected, and im really not sure what happened but its something very recent. Perhaps Xantrex customer service will pick up the phone some time this year, but i wont keep my fingers crossed :)
RE: Jumping batt monitor !!
The link 10 does have a shunt but its all wired right, ill look it over again but im pretty sure it all goes through the shunt. On top of that it seems almost too intermittent to be a contact issue, usually when you are getting intermittent contact it changes every time it moves, usually if you stay still for a few moments the connection will hold one way or the other. Either way ill look that over again, do you think that if there was something drawing power that dint go through the monitor it the other main reading such as amp hour and time used would be all voer the map too?
RE: Jumping batt monitor !!
Thanks for the guess, unfortunately it reads everything between, from 7.2 to 7.5 to 7.8 although it does seem to jump incrementally, but not consistent, it can jump 2 tenths or it can jump 7 tenths there is no rhyme or reason, and more importantly it was pretty stead for a while, this is a recent phenom. The only things i have installed since the problem has started is the fridge and fan though, oh and stereo but i have totally disconnected those and it still does it, thanks for playing though :) I suppose your guess is still a possibility, perhaps with so many things connected at once its never sure exactlyh how much is going out versus how much is going in, then again in that case it should theoreticalluy stop when everything is off including solar charge......
Leaking barb connections?
I installed a very simple water system in my class B and fired it up just last night, works fine except there are a number of barbed connections with hose clamps that aren't holding water very well. What would anyone suggest i do? My first thought was to start at one spot and disconnect each hose from barb connection and then wrap the barb with a good deal of teflon tape and then re-clamp. My second thought was to take some silicon caulking (sealant) and apply to barb connectors and then re-clamp hose over that hoping that once it dries it will hold water. Any other ideas, im kinda stabbing in the dark here, thanks!
RE: Jumping batt monitor !!
I guess its possible the wiring to the batt monitor is experiencing some interference from the other wires its close to, i cant think of the technical term for it right now but im pretty sure its why the monitor requires twisted pair wire. However i did use twisted pair wire so i don't think thats it but its possible i guess.
Jumping batt monitor !!
Without getting into all the details of my electrical system; lets just say my Link 10 batt monitor is getting some pretty strange readings. Everything seems fine accept the amp output reading, or in other words what im using for power. When everything is off, or even when anything is on the amps on the batt monitor are jumping up and down by .5 amps all the time. Basically the reading, whatever it is constantly jumps back and fourth a half amp, for example from 3 to 3.5 and back and fourth. My first reaction was that there was a bad connection somewhere so i pulled every fuse on the circuit individually to see if something was drawing, but nothing changed. I unplugged the solar charge controller to see if maybe it was causing it, nothing. I turned off the fridge and still nothing. My last resort is to disconnect everything from the batts; including the batts and then re-connect only the batts and batt monitor to see if it stays steady, and then re-connect everything one by one to see what is causing the fluctuating, but i just wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions before i go down that road. Sorry bout the novel, hope all is well otherwise....
Connecting Charge Controller?????
I have a 40amp multistage dig charge controller for charging my aux batt's. It requires (2) 60amp circuit breakers on either side of it, one between the starting batt and it, and one between it and the aux batt. The circuit breakers say, aux on one side and batt on the other....
my question is, do i connect the wire from the starting batt to the aux side of the breaker? Or batt side? I assume batt in this case. But on the other breaker, do i connect the wire coming from the charge controller to the aux side? or batt side?
Hope this all came out clear enough, and thanks for the help!
RE: AGM Overcharge????
Looking for something I can mount in my rig to monitor my battery.
I do recommend you get a GOOD digital voltmeter, They can be a real battery saver
What is a good digital voltmeter? Make, model, etc.
Where does one get a good digital voltmeter?
I am using a Xantrex Link 10, dint get to use it much before i disconnected the hole system but ive heard good reports and its reasonably priced.
RE: AGM Overcharge????
A slight overcharge will shorten battery life some but not do much otherwise
If you seriously overcharge.... You will not need to ask questions.. You will just need to clean up the mess.
I do recommend you get a GOOD digital voltmeter, They can be a real battery saver
Well the problem is if the batts were compromised in any way because of overcharging im going to go the company that sold me the multistage charger and demand new batts. They sold me a unit that was defective and if it overcharged my batts then they should replace them!....
RE: AGM Overcharge????
What is the battery brand? What is the charging voltage? How many hours at this voltage?
Generally if you are charging at the proper voltage, most likely they are fully charged when accepting just 0.6 amps.
Just disconnect from the charger and use them. Don't worry unless there is a problem.
AGM can stand a lot of charging abuse. If they were truly ruined by overcharging they probably would have vented and would be rather hot. You would know. My experience is with Optima D31T and I found undercharging is easier to do than overcharge.
Sorry, the bank consists of (2) 300ah 6v Lifeline batts, the charging voltage is around 14.5, and it was charged for maybe 3 hours at this voltage. Long story short, the 4 stage 40amp digital charge controller i installed was charging the batts as lead acid no matter what i set the batt selector switch to. I only ran the charge controller for around 3 or 4 hours over a few days before i disconnected and returned the charge controller, but then i got paranoid that perhaps i overcharged in the process, but it sounds like i should be ok, thanks a lot for the info!!!
AGM Overcharge????
How does one determine if there AGM batts have been overcharged? I have a voltmeter and batt monitor thats not connected right now but dont know how to measure overcharge. There are no visual signs, i.e. splits or leakage but when the batt monitor was connected it was reading a 0.6 positive charge and the manual says it should read 0 when batts are full, or negative otherwise. Thanks in advance for any input...
