question

afljafa avatar image
afljafa asked

Orion charger alongside an existing dual battery system

I am currently building a camper and I am considering the charging options. I have the solar and inverter/charger worked out but am having a little difficulty working a solution for charging the camper battery from the car whilst driving.

The car already has a dual battery system with a CTEK charger charging a 120 amp AGM battery from the alternator and a solar panel on the roof of the car. I have a BMV-712 on this setup for monitoring. It works well so I am not looking to change this side of the system.

The camper set up will be lithium (so different battery types). I think I can just run an Anderson plug to the vehicle hitch from the second battery (after the CTEK charger) and connect the Orion charger to this circuit (in charger mode). I am considering the Victron Orion-Tr Smart 12/12-18A for this install. Can anyone offer their opinion on this setup given that the Orion would not directly connect to the vehicle alternator in this scenario.

orion-tr smart
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2 Answers
Mike Dorsett avatar image
Mike Dorsett answered ·

There is no reason why this should not work though you do risk running the AGM battery in the car low. If your intent is to be able to transfer all of the stored charge in this battery into the trailer this will happen. However, the charging will occur all the time, not just when the engine is running. Depends on how you set up the Orion charger.

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afljafa avatar image
afljafa answered ·

Thank you Mike for your response. I do have a switched relay (with ignition) next to the CTEK. I was thinking I could run the charging circuit thru a second higher amp relay that would be active only when the vehicle was running.

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