Link 2000 Resets on Engine Start

Fairly recently, the Xantrex Link 2000 on my boat has been showing error code E-10 after I start the mains. This resets the "amp-hours used" value to zero (100% charged.)

E-10 indicates a low voltage condition, and the manual mentions this can happen when starting an engine. But it never used to. Or at least, not often enough that I ever connected it to starting the main.

Any ideas?

For the record, I have a starting and house bank, and start one main from each. The starting bank is "bank 1" which IIRC powers the Link 2000.

Assuming nothing has changed in your battery configuration or switch settings, when you say this didn't used to happen - NOW the voltage is dropping lower than it used to when starting the engine. Could be a battery getting weak or not properly charged, poor or corroded battery connections, starter is drawing more current than it used to or motor is more difficult to turn over than it used to be.

Ken

Pull the link display fuse out for a minute then reinstall. It should be an in-line fuse close to the house battery terminal. That'll reset everything & the E10 message should go away.

I'd switch the Link to the house battery for power. The start battery is always going to fluctuate a lot more. I think your battery or connections just got to the point where the wag was more than the Link could stand.

Sounds like you have two battery sets. One is for one engine only , the other is the house set which is also used to start the second engine. Correct?

So which set is the link connected to, the house? It should be but just asking to confirm.

Agreed that the house may be either not getting a full charge, being used a little bit harder, or showing its age so the voltage is lower with the result the voltage dips below the tolerance level of the link. As suggested it could also be the starter motor or the engine itself being a bit harder to start.

Have a good hard look at the house set. Connections, charging, condition.

Also stop using the house set to start the other engine. If the existing starter battery is adequate it should be able to start both engines, one after the other.

Are the batteries wet cells? If so, do you use a hydrometer to check the specific gravity of the cells? THat would show a degradation over time if some simple records are kept. Just learn how to check it properly..

Just some suggestions.

You definitely want to power the Link from the house battery, not the starting one. Some of the reasons that kchace indicated above may be why it is happening now and you probably need to sort through those in any case. But change where the Link is powered and the low voltage error should go away.


After changing the source of power, if the error reoccurs, then measure the voltage on the house battery where you picked up power and see if it drops when you start. If it drops, then you have some sort of cross connect between the two battery banks that needs to be sorted out.


David

Thanks for all the great tips!

First I'll verify which bank the Link 2000 is powered from, and if it's on the starting bank I'll switch it to the house bank. I'll also do a visual check of the batteries, then check and tighten all the connections. After I posted, I got to thinking that a terminal connection starting to loosen a little might cause this symptom.

From there it's into more detailed battery checks, along with the connection and fuse for the Link itself.

CaptTom said:

I'll also do a visual check of the batteries, then check and tighten all the connections.

Click to expand...

If you're going to check and tighten connections, why not complete the process and check, remove, clean, and re-assemble the connections? You're already there. There's often degradation of the connection that's not apparent with just a visual inspection.

I'll second Maerin's suggestion that those connections be actually disassembled and cleaned. While reassembling, each terminal should have a light smear of grease or something like No Alox applied. Any excess will squeeze out still making metal to metal contact but will exclude air and seriously slow any corrosion or oxidation.
Get a proper battery terminal cleaning brush for a few bucks, some sandpaper and a small ss wire brush and make it easier.

Wipe the squeeze out away.

Roger. I'll disconnect, clean, and reconnect all terminal connections. I just did that in the spring, but it certainly won't hurt!

If your battset has auto posts , instead of flag terminals , there are some really fast cleaning tools for the batt and cable at most auto supply.

OK, I did find one terminal nut on a ground which accepted a little bit of tightening. Also one crimp connection on a positive terminal which had a little "wiggle." Both now fixed, along with a good cleaning and re-coating on all the terminals.

I confirmed that the Link 2000 is powered from the house bank. Changing it would require removing and opening up one of the MBSS switches. Not an easy job, because it's bolted to the front of the battery box, so a couple of batteries would have to come out to get at the nuts. I'd probably add a switch to power it from either bank before I made that modification.

The other possibility (and the one I'm leaning toward now) is that the house bank was allowed to get unusually low this trip, and starting the main from it pushed the voltage just a little lower than previously. We were running the mains for a couple of hours for a short transit to a new anchorage every day for a few days, but rarely started the genset this trip.

I'll be doing a similar trip next week. I should know more after that. For one thing, I'll keep an eye on the charging current while running the mains or genset, rather than relying on the % remaining value on the Link 2000.