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jerrykeefe asked

Orion Smart 12/12V-18 float voltage drop

In a sailboat install, I have an Orion Smart 12/12V -18A Isolated with firmware v1.13 charging my starter battery. The alternator and multiplus charge the 400 Ah bank directly (2 SmartLithium 12V/200), and the Orion charges the 100 Ah AGM start battery. The Orion is running in charger mode. The system is working well and charges the start bat at 14.2 v, then floats it at 13.2 v as expected. Engine Shutdown Detection is OFF, so Orion should always be ON. No problem here. Working as expected.

After about 24 to 48 hours in Float, the output float voltage drops from 13.2 to 12.9V and remains there indefinitely. If I restart the Orion it behaves normally again, bulk to absorption and floats to 13.2V until about 48 hours, then drops to 12.9V or maybe just stops the output.

Any ideas what is going on? Should I be running this in Power Supply mode at 13.2V?


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jerrykeefe answered ·

I think that Lifeline AGM are to be charged at 14.4V and floated at 13.3V I think you are correct that the Orion charger shuts off somewhere between 36 and 72 hours. However, if I am not at the boat for several weeks, how do I get the Orion to float at 13.2 V for several weeks? If the Orion has disengaged, even without a load on the start battery the resting state of the AGM will drop due to self discharge. Could be a problem over weeks or months in the winter. The Multiplus is on the VE.Bus and the Orion is only on the bluetooth network.

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kevgermany avatar image kevgermany ♦♦ commented ·
Sorry, I meant when output drops to 12.9V, not 13.2.

Need to identify what the Orion is doing before suggesting a remedy


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kevgermany answered ·

Please post a screenshot of your battery settings in the Orion. Also the first screen when voltage drops to 13.2V

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jerrykeefe answered ·

It's been almost 24 hours and Orion is functioning normally. Input V 13.7 output V 13.2 to start battery. I am on shore power at the moment, so Multiplus is charging SmartLithium house bank at 13.7V. I am not using the trickle charge output of the Multiplus to charge the start battery when on shore power.

img-6131.png

Orion Battery settings

img-6132.png

Engine shutdown detection is Disabled. Input voltage lock out is 12.5V, restart is 12.7V

I try to upload the Orion config file, but unfortunately the vcsf file cannot be uploaded to this forum


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img-6132.png (208.5 KiB)
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kevgermany answered ·

Float/absorb are much lower than normal for AGM. Might be an idea to check the makers settings and adjust.

However looking at your settings, I think the drop in start voltage is due to the Orion turning off due to the multiplus seeing a full battery and stopping the charge. Fully charged AGM off charge will drop fairly quickly and stabilise around 12.7V if no load.


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jerrykeefe answered ·

You are correct about abs and float voltage levels being too low for Lifeline AGM. I was using my settings from Mexico (80ºF). Needed to be adjusted for 49º N. No longer on board. Will have to wait weeks to get Victron Connect image of Orion in disabled state.

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jerrykeefe answered ·

Is there any way to stream Smart Bluetooth data from Smart devices to Cerbo then to VRM?

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kevgermany avatar image kevgermany ♦♦ commented ·
If the Cerbo is on VRM, all data goes to it at the configured logging interval..

But don't use cable and smart Bluetooth network connections in the same installation.


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jerrykeefe answered ·

SOLVED. I changed the Re-bulk voltage offset from the default 0.10 V to 0.25 V on the advice of an installer in Annapolis. That fixed the problem. Orion now floats the start battery indefinitely.

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