System upgrade 250A Alternator & Orion XS

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goldrush asked Jan 5, '24

System upgrade 250A Alternator & Orion XS

Hi All,

I'm planning an alternator upgrade on my boat electrical system. The attached schema is my current setup. I have 1200 Ah Victron LifePo4 that is currently being charged by a stock Hitachi 70A alternator. This alternator delivers between 30A-40A with the engine running at cruise speed. The alternator also charges my 3 Yellowtop 75Ah 5.5. AGM's directly (1 is missing in the schema) using Cyrix CT's (2 total). When on shorepower, the Multiplus charges the LifePo3 housebank and a Cyrix LI-CT also charges the AGM's. I also have a Cerbo GX to monitor the setup.

I wish to upgrade the alternator on my engine to a Genmaax 250A with external regulator (this regulator can be integrated into Victron BMS-500/Cerbo GX). I'm thinking of making the following changes to this system:

Replace alternator and install a direct feedline from alternator to the Lynx Distributor.
Integrate the new alternator regulator with BMS-500/Cerbo-GX (not sure how, but specifics from vendor will follow)
Replace the Cyrix LI-CT with an Orion XS 12/12-50A to charge the AGM's.
Remove all the feedlines from the alternator to the AGM's.

Do you guys & girls think that this will work, or am I forgetting something?

Should I also make a automatic on/off connection between BMS-500 and Orion XS?

I hope I'm not missing anything but I just want to make sure that I do not mess-up a working system. Thanks for understanding and your help!

alternator Cyrix Battery Combiner orion xs

victron-schema.jpg (197.6 KiB)

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Modifications Space

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Answer 1 · 2024-01-05T15:06:32Z

jw1971 answered · Jan 05 at 03:06 PM

Keep the engine starting system isolated. It is a critical life system. The starter battery must be the priority to keep charged by the alternator.

Replace the LI-CT with the Orion 50A to use excess alternator power to charge the house batteries once the starter batteries are full.

It is good to have a plan to start the engine from the house battery in an emergency - this should be documented. A 3 position battery switch is an easy way to achieve this. It should be configured to have zero possibility to deplete the start battery.

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Answer 2 · 2024-02-15T22:17:09Z

Sarah answered · Feb 15 at 10:17 PM

I agree with @jw1971 minimise any changes for the starter batteries. In addition The Orion XS will also let you monitor the charge current that is going to the house batteries. Two Orion XS will give you a little under half the alternator capacity which is good as well as providing redundancy. Hopefully in the next software update for the Orion XS they will include support for DVCC which is a big advantage. This may also offset the need for fancy external alternator regulation. Lastly on the alternator you will need to change to serpantine belts.

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