As I started to put together my Xantrex LinkPRO battery monitor yesterday, I needed clarification as to where to fit my main 150A fuse into their wiring diagram. They had the battery monitor fuses tied directly to the positive battery terminal, while my battery bank wiring diagram has only the main 150A fuse tied to the battery and all other positive connections attached to the fuse.

I also wanted to know if my battery monitor cabling could follow the same route to the study as would the 120V wiring from the inverter.

I fired off an email to Andy Baird. His memory was fuzzy as to where I should locate the fuses, but he said that the frequency emitted from the 120V wiring would interfere with the battery monitor. Darn! Since finding one route from the battery bank to the study was difficult, finding two is out of the question. So it looks like the battery monitor will be installed in the living room. 🙁

That said, my mother had originally found a way to route wiring fairly neatly from the living room to the study, so I may be able to convince her to help me route the battery monitor cable under the rig and the 120V wiring through the rig. We are running short on time, but it never hurts to ask. 🙂

Since my guru left me at an impasse, I decide to try emailing Xantrex directly late Sunday, making sure to include my monitor’s serial number so it would be clear that I had purchased one of their products. Can you believe I just received an answer (noon Monday) from them?!

My question:

I would like clarification on two steps of the battery monitor connection kit instructions. This is in reference to an RV battery bank that includes a 1,000W inverter and a 150W solar panel. So all the positive connections are made from a 150A fuse.

Step three (3) of the instructions states:

“Connect the single inline fuse holder to the main battery + terminal.”

Should I be adding the inline fuse holders to the battery terminal (before the 150A fuse) or to the fuse 150A itself?

(Incidentally, the wiring diagram shows that that should actually be fuse holders, plural.)

Additionally, my battery bank is located below the living room of my RV, but I want to install the monitor in my home office, a distance of about 25 feet.

The instructions state in note one (1) below the diagram: “When routing the cable from the battery monitor to the battery system, avoid running it along with mains cables over long distances or in the neighbourhood of large relays or generators/motors.”

The connection kit comes with more than enough cabling to do this, so I know the distance is not an issue. But would there be a problem with running the monitor cables along with 120V wiring that provides a hard wired connection between the inverter and an outlet in the office?

Reply from Xantrex:

The fused power lead can connect to either side of the 150A fuse, however, if the 150A fuse blows, you will also lose meter power if connected to the inverter side of the fuse. The link wires should not be run with AC wires, as this can induce noise that may corrupt readings.

So not only does Xantrex answer its emails quicky, it actually reads them and provides clear and pertinent answers. I am very impressed!

I just may get a battery monitor installed in this lifetime!