The Green LED indicator light on my Xantrex
Echo-Charger sometimes flashes and sometimes is solid. I wonder why since I
have never had any trouble with my batteries?
The
green light’s purpose is to display the voltage conditions on the two battery
banks. When the light is solid it means the domestic battery bank voltage is
between 13.0 and 17.0 VDC; and that the difference between the domestic and
chassis banks is not greater than 10 volts. If both conditions are not met, the
light will flash. The echo-charger will only provide a charge current to the
chassis battery bank when both conditions are met. The amount of the charge
current available will depend on the difference in voltage between the two
banks with the maximum amount produced when the difference is approximately 1.5
VDC.
To verify that the charger is working use a DC amp clamp on the red/yellow
wire to measure the output current. The manual for the echo-charger has a graph
indicating how much current one can expect for a given voltage difference
between the two banks.
If
a coach is plugged in to shore power, or the generator is running, and the
inverter is charging the domestic bank, one would normally expect to see a
solid green light. If the coach engine is running the light is normally on
solid as well. If the light is flashing during either of these two scenarios,
the fuse or output wiring (red/yellow wire) that connects to the chassis bank
may be suspect.
No green light at all would indicate a problem with the fuse or
input wiring (red wire) connected to the domestic bank. A red LED indicates
that the unit has shutdown due to overheating.
