question

e350 avatar image
e350 asked

I want Always On - Orion-Tr Smart 12/12 18a House Battery to charge Starter Battery

1. My 2016 Sprinter 3500 XD 4x4 diesel van has chassis ground (as opposed to isolated ground) so can I just run a two black 10 AWG ground wires from the negative posts on the unit to a single bolt to the chassis near where I am installing the Orion-Tr Smart 12 12 18a Isolated DC-DC Charger?


2. My goal is to use the Orion-Tr Smart 12 12 18a to be always on so that my 320Ah Lithionics House Battery will be constantly charging the Starter Battery -- whether the engine alternator is on or off. I have a separate undercarriage diesel generator and shore power to charge the House Battery. My engine's alternator does nothing but charge the Starter Battery -- it is entirely independent of, separated from, not connected to the House Battery/House System in any way.

But when the van sits unused for a week or more, the constant going in and out of the van starts up the van's ECM/PCM computer, the exterior and dome lights, and deploys the slider's electric step in and out -- all of which draws down the Starter Battery such that, at times, I have had to jump the Starter Battery to be able to start the van's engine.


3. None of the four installation options in the Victron Energy's Manual seem (to me) to address my goal except maybe for the last option, which seems complicated. Must I do this? Must I set it up for remote switching?

And then must I run a Yellow wire (as shown in the Figure 5) from the Chassis/Starter Battery all the way back to the engine detector jumper to effectuate "engine shutdown detection override"?

Speaking of which, does the Orion-Tr require a signal input from the engine's alternator to "turn on" in the first place? I always want the Orion-Tr Smart on. If there is an amp left in my House Battery, I want it to go to charge the Chassis/Starter Battery. Is Figure 5 in the Manual the way to do it?

Or is there a simpler way to do what I want?

battery charging
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1 Answer
JohnC avatar image
JohnC answered ·

@E350

If you wire in a little jumper across the Remote terminals it will be always-on. You can see it in the first pic here.. https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Datasheet-Orion-Tr-Smart-DC-DC-chargers-isolated-250-400W-EN.pdf

You can run the grounds from the Orion to the same chassis point, but the Orion will no longer be 'Isolated'. If your house batteries are chassis-earthed too,then it won't matter.

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