Question about bulk/absorption/float on charger

Changed battery type from lead acid to AGM Lifeline group 27s (4 in house bank). I have a Freedom 2000 watt charger/inverter. I changed the battery type on the Freedom (received a fast-flashing red LED light on AGM). Manual does not indicate whether light should be red or green, only that the light will blink fast on the battery type selected after you are in the battery type setup mode.

My charging voltages are:

14.55-14.8 in Accept (absorption)
13.75 in Float

Lifeline says absorption should be 14.2-14.4 and float should be 13.2-13.4, so I am worried that my charger is overcharging. However, I understand voltages are a function of temperature.

My question is am I seeing the "high" charger output as a result of temperature? My engine room is probably 50F. I will check after a cruise, but shouldn't I see those voltages come down as the engine room heats up? Table says difference between 50F and 100F can be 0.72V for absorption and a little less for float. Seems like the charger should be able to regulate this?

Any input welcomed.

Jamey

The Freedom SW 2000 manual I found via Google says:

"Indicator light is flashing red when the Freedom SW 2000 has entered an equalize cycle and is currently equalizing the batteries."

Is yours an SW 2000? Is that what you want it to be doing?

Do you have a temperature sensor hooked up?

RCook said:

The Freedom SW 2000 manual I found via Google says:

"Indicator light is flashing red when the Freedom SW 2000 has entered an equalize cycle and is currently equalizing the batteries."

Is yours an SW 2000? Is that what you want it to be doing?

Do you have a temperature sensor hooked up?

Click to expand...

Whoa, how did it get on equalize? My Magnum charger will go to equalize if fully charged and you hold the Charger button for 5 seconds. I did that by accident once. Fortunately I have the remote panel that reads out "Equalizing Charge" that I saw before walking away so I could cancel.
Pretty sure you do not want to equalize those AGMs.

Not a Freedom SW. It's a Xantrex Freedom 20 2000 watt inverter/charger. Pic attached. Not sure if there is a temp sensor on the unit or on the Next Step Regulator. Manual Wayback Machine says "One of
the four LEDs will blink rapidly, indicating the existing battery type selection." Doesn't say red or green.

I'll venture that if the manual does not indicate another colour that red is the only colour.
The flashing is the indicator, not the colour. Lots of devices use a fast flash, a slow flash or somewhere in between to offer a code that you then look up to see what it is telling you. Usually you count out how many flashes in a given time interval of say 10seconds for example.

jhance said:

Not a Freedom SW. It's a Xantrex Freedom 20 2000 watt inverter/charger. Pic attached. Not sure if there is a temp sensor on the unit or on the Next Step Regulator. Manual Wayback Machine says "One of
the four LEDs will blink rapidly, indicating the existing battery type selection." Doesn't say red or green.

Click to expand...

You have a battery temp cable and a remote cable plugged in. The remote should have an easier way to switch from wet to AGM type battery, otherwise follow the instructions for

Battery Type Selection
• Battery type setup. To enter the battery
type select mode, press and hold the INVERT
switch for five seconds. The status LEDs will
change from indicating status information to
OFF. Press the CHARGE switch once. One of
the four LEDs will blink rapidly, indicating the
existing battery type selection.
Press the CHARGE switch again to
change the battery type. Continue to press until
the desired battery type is selected. If the
CHARGE switch is not pressed for five seconds,
the unit will return to normal operation and the
battery type selection will have been made.
Refer to page 20 for additional information on
battery type settings.
These are the 4 small lights
WET GEL 1 GEL 2 AGM

Caution, this instruction is wrong, I cannot find the correction to DC from AC. I probably just blew a fuse after the AC ground wire was applied, hindsight. but the unit died. worked great without ground.

Grounding
For safety purposes, the chassis of the
inverter/charger must be connected to your AC
ground system. Use 8 AWG bare copper or
green insulated wire, strip one end and use a
screwdriver to secure it to the chassis ground
bonding lug on the side of the unit. This wire
will connect to the ground in your AC electrical
system. Make sure the connection is clean and
tight.

The charge specs from Lifeline are at 77 deg F. If the batteries are really soaked at 50 deg F, charging should be 14.72V bulk, 13.7V float. Temperature coefficient is about -4.0 mv/deg C/cell. Sounds like you are in the ballpark, I'd want to check them after a long engine run to see how warm they are. It takes a long time to warm up batteries from the outside, on the other hand charging them heavy can warm them up from the inside pretty quickly.