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yek avatar image
yek asked

Weirdest voltage loss

Hi,

I can't wrap my head around a problem I have although not directly linked to Victron equipment. When I plugged my orion in i measured the + input was 3 volts although engine running (and app saying 14v input...). I thought the wire were too long so i pulled the red wire in between batteries out of the path i have led it into to check the wore was not damzged. Wire was ok so I mesured the current straight at the end while the other end was on battery and it read the same. So i put the wire back in, from the hood down the Stirling wheel up the driver side all the way then back down a wall behind drivers. And surprise when i tried to connect again to front battery it went back to reading 2 volts instead of the 12.8 v of the battery when engine is off! I even tried with a different cable and it does the same, current is the same until i put the wire "in place". I don't understand how the direction/ path of wire can cause that, it is beyond my understanding so I am seeking your help !

The thing is I did this same installation on.the exact the same car and had no problem in the past.

Any feedback is welcomed as I am losing it haha.


Thanks,

Yasmine


voltage
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2 Answers
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wkirby answered ·

I think when you say you are measuring current, you mean that you are measuring Voltage?
With the wire disconnected from the Orion, then it would expected to measure the same Voltage at the end and at the battery even if there is a fault connection along the way somewhere. Then if you connect the wire to the Orion and the Voltage does drop to 3V then that suggests that there is a high resistance somewhere along the wire between the Orion and the battery.
It could be a bad crimp, a bad connection terminal, a bad fuse or connections to the fuse or fuse holder.

The part I find a bits strange is that you said that you measured 3V while the Orion was saying 14V. At what point did you measure 3V? Was it at the terminals of the Orion?

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yek avatar image yek commented ·

Yes sorry i meant measuring voltage with a voltmeter. Weather it is at the end of the wire or at the orion the current said 3 v.

I even undid all lugs and measured voltage by putting the stripped wire directly on car battery on 1 side and measuring it just as it reaches the other side of the car where all my install is. So basically just the wire drops voltage. But if i take it out of its path and put it in front of the hood and measure one end to the other it shows the same voltage as battery. So basically it loses voltage just when the wire is 'in position', not even connected. I can't understand it. I am thinking to try and run the wire through another way today and see how it goes.

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wkirby avatar image wkirby ♦♦ yek commented ·
Then it makes me think that the wire is broken inside.

When it is in its position the copper inside is separated and the problem shows up, but when you take it out and run the wire a different way, then the copper inside is touching and so it works.
Maybe try to replace that wire with a new one.

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yek avatar image
yek answered ·

Hi, I found the problem ! Simly mistake my auxilliary battery was not grounded to the van chassis. It solved the problem.

Always remember to ground your auxiliary batteries :)

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