[Rhodes22-list] Link 10

[Bill Effros]

Jeff,

Every year I tout the Link 10 meter, so here I go again.  This is a little (but expensive) permanently installed meter that tells you all about your battery state so you don't have to remove your battery, top it off, or tell people to turn off lights because you are guessing the state of your battery and "want to be on the safe side."

I've had one on board for 6 years.  My batteries have never gone dead, in fact, they have never gone below a 13V charge.  The solar panels top off the batteries.  My batteries are more charged in the spring after a hard winter than they are in the fall when I pull the boat out of the water.  I have never used shore power to charge the batteries.  A pair of cheap Costco batteries lasted for 6 years.  I knew I didn't have to replace them after their rated 36 months ran out.

Here is part of an earlier reply:

I've got the Heart 10/Link 10 also and I love it.  It gives the exact
information you really want.  For example, your meter tells you you have 100
amp hours in your battery.  Your meter tells you your lights are drawing 10
amps.  How long can you run the lights before your battery is dead.
(Hint--the answer is not 10 hours.)  The meter will tell you how long you
can run the lights.  The manual explains why the answer is not 10 hours.

I read about Rhodes owners creating floating electric sub-stations with
another battery in every available space.  If they knew how many amps they
actually used and how fast they replaced them they would know they simply
don't need all the extra batteries.

My boat is on a mooring.  I have 2 solar panels.  My electric starting
Tohatsu puts more power back than it uses.  I use as much electricity as I
want.  I have never had to recharge the batteries outside the system.  The
Link 10 instantly and continuously tells me the voltage, amperage, amount of
power currently being used, and a pretty good estimate of how much longer I
can continue to use the amount of power currently being used.

I never have electrical anxiety.

It's a good system.  My meter is located above the breaker panel--a logical
location--the sensor must be located near the battery.

Bill Effros


  
"Conservatives are so afraid of losing their majority
status right now that.they're showing an astonishing
willingness to spend now and dump all the cost in our
children's laps, and an amazing unwillingness to
reconcile the size of government with the amount of
taxes needed to fund it."

Brian M. Riedl
Heritage Foundation
November 24, 2003

Source:
www.QuoteWithoutComment.com

 
 

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Jeffrey L. Susanj 
To: The Rhodes 22 mail list 
Sent: Saturday, November 06, 2004 4:08 PM
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list]Thanks re winterizing


I think the reason that people remove the battery is that a discharged 
battery will be more likely to freeze which would ruin the battery. 
Since you drive cars all winter, they are seldom discharged. Also, the 
gel and glass mat batterys will hold a charge much longer so they would 
be less likely to discharge. If I were to leave a battery in all winter, 
I would top up the charge every once in a while.


Jeff S.


P&M Beals wrote:

>Thanks everybody for the advice. I am saving, copying and will invariably
>end up using a tip from here and a piece from there. Clearly there are
>varied opinions but I would much rather have more information than less.
>
>I am surprised  Bill you don't have to pull your battery out...everything I
>have read in articles recommends it, but maybe the key is the solar
>charger...and NJ winters tend to be not that brutal...we hit 0 rarely, and
>the average temps are in the 30's.
>
>  
>
...

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