question

brownbear avatar image
brownbear asked

Orion Isolated or not?

I going to fit two Orions to charge two separate auxiliary batterie. They will be fed from the main service bank/various charging sources.
There is no definition in the spec sheets that tells me the difference between the two types and how the isolation works.


can anyone help?

orion-tr smart
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3 Answers
wkirby avatar image
wkirby answered ·

The isolation refers to the galvanic isolation between the input side and the output side.
An isolated version has the negatives of the in and out separate from each other. This is useful when either of the two batteries concerned does not share a common negative with the other one. Usually the start battery negative is connected to (referenced to) the vehicle chassis, an isolated charger will allow connection to a leisure battery which is not referenced to the chassis negative.

A non isolated version does not have the negatives separate, they are common, so both the start battery and the leisure battery need to share the same common negative.

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brownbear avatar image brownbear commented ·
Ok Thats great thankyou, all my batteries are sharing a common ground on the boat, it was the positives I was concerned about. That will save me some money
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shea avatar image
shea answered ·

I had this same question and discovered the isolated versions use inductance between coils to suck da powa on a isolated circuit - AKA a transformer. Good for sensitive equipment that may not like the noise on the chassis ground.


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Robert Friberg avatar image
Robert Friberg answered ·

So if adding a new battery bank and you have the option to isolate or share the negative, what are the pros and cons?

Also can use the isolated orion in an uninsolated system? i e connect the separate negatives?

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