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eyacht avatar image
eyacht asked

Can I leave an Orion-Tr 48/12 connected to a start battery on all the time?

Hi. I have a 48V bank of LiFePO4 and I'd like to use it to keep my AGM starter battery topped off so I'm considering putting in an Orion-Tr 48/12 9A converter for this. My question is: can that stay on all the time - even when the generator is running and charging the AGM at 14.2V - 14.9V? i.e. what happens to the Orion when the battery voltage is higher than the 13.6V it provides? Is there any danger of feedback?

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JohnC avatar image
JohnC answered ·

Hi @eYacht

13.6V is probably a tad high to leave on continuously, but you could adjust that.

I note from other posts you have a Quattro. What I did was add a pair of Assistants to switch the Orion on/off when the main bank is under charge (ie. a higher V). So the starter batts get a daily dose from solar or whenever genset runs.

You'd need to run a signal wire pair from (say) K1 relay on the Quattro to the Orion's 'remote' terminals. And I also added in a manual switch to that circuit for emergencies, but never used.

This works well for me, and I'd recommend.

The Orion won't charge if starter V is high, nor will it allow feedback.

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eyacht avatar image eyacht commented ·
Thank you John - I will look at this and see what can be done ... I think I'd need the Orion to come on when the generator was not running but otherwise stay off .. kind of looking for the starter battery to be held at a good voltage when not in use. Good to know there's no feedback possible so thank you for that also. Perhaps a "holding voltage" of more like 13.4C or thereabouts would suffice ... I'll check the specs for the exact recommendation.
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