This same question is posted over on the Ford Transit USA forum.
We've got a 2021 Transit (smart alternator); 30amp Orion TR-Smart Isolated running off CCP1 (60A).
Wondering if anyone else has the same setup, and has theirs working well.
Spent hours fiddling with the settings on the Orion trying to get it to play nice with the starter battery/smart alternator; to varying degrees of success. It seems like the stock "smart alternator" settings from Victron don't work at all for this vehicle. Is this other people's experience? The shutdown and lockout voltage settings are way too high, and the Orion will basically shut down as soon as it starts to draw any current at all. I know some people rely on the timed relay, thus allowing the Orion to continue drawing current well after the engine has shut down, but this being a customer's vehicle, I don't want to risk leaving them stranded with a dead starter battery down the road.
Here was my initial setup experience: at vehicle startup, input voltage jumps to 14.7V, Orion kicks on; almost immediately after that (due to Orion current draw) the input voltage drops to 11.8V, and Orion shuts down. Then input voltage recovers to 12.6V and stays there.
If you adjust the input voltage lockout restart to <12.6V, the Orion will turn back on, but then input current will still drop to 11.8V, and it will shut down. Then, if you adjust input voltage lockout to 11.8V or lower, the Orion will stay on; but it will stay on indefinitely (or until CCP1 switches off).
After hours of fiddling, we finally got settings that appear to be working; i.e. Orion kicks on with engine start and stays on when starter battery voltage drops, then shuts down with engine shutdown. I say "appear to be working" because the Smart Alternator is a bit unpredictable; or is it the Orion playing with the smart alternator?
