Xantrex Freedom 458 question

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SMR

SMR

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have question about my Xantrex Freedom 458 inverter / charger. on the remote panel in the coach there is an "equalize" option. can someone  explain to me how that works. I have 4- 6 volt house batteries.

thanks

Steve
 
Equalize will "cook" your batteries at 15.5 volts and low amps for several hours, this really stirs up the electrolyte and and gets the sulphides back out of the spongy lead plates which lowers the PH of the electrolyte. Use it occasionally to rejuvenate and extend the life of your bats ,,,, BUT,,, you want the bats fully charged normally and the fluid levels up at the top limit, for this use only distilled water and I recommend the battery filler tankard, simple to use and controls the level automatically. Google is your friend,,,,,,,,, http://www.trojanbattery.com/BatteryMaintenance/Equalizing.aspx
 
Expanding on what Dazed said, you probably want to disconnect the rest of the RV from the batteries while equalizing, since the high voltage used can be hard on other 12v items, e.g. lights, control circuit boards, etc. They are designed primarily for 12v-14v operation and may be stressed by higher voltages. The 458 produces a whopping 16.3v during equalization.

Also make sure the 6v's are in pairs to make them effectively 12v batteries, so that equalization can work properly..

Your 458 manual describes equalization. Download it here if you don't have one.
http://www.xantrex.com/documents/Inverter-Chargers/Freedom-458/Freedom458%28445-0193-01-01_rev-2%29.pdf
 
This would fall under Gary's "disconnect the rest of the RV" but if you have an Echo Charge or similar system to maintain the charge on your chassis batteries while connected to shore power be sure to disconnect them if they are "No Maintenance" type batteries. The equalizing charge does cause boil over and there is no way intended to replace the electrolyte on those type batteries.
 
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