I want to charge a 140 Wh gel battery with an Orion 24-12/25A from a 24V system. Would direct be OK or should I use a MPPT charger in between to regulate? What voltage is best to set the Orion to? Anything else I should consider? Thanks
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Can I charge a 12V directly from 24V with an Orion?
An MPPT would not work connected as described.
Ideally you would use an Orion smart to give 3 stage charging.
With the standard Orion you adjust the voltage to the float voltage specifications of your batteries.
Adjust the voltage with nothing connected to the output then connect the battery.
I would also add a fuse near the battery as well as the input to the Orion.
You will have to check the datasheet for your batteries to get the best voltage to set to.
Due to this system only supplying a float charge, you will also want to occasionally charge the battery from another source for best battery life.
I already got the Orion and looking at the price of the smart I think I'll stick with it. Thanks for the info. Very usefull.
Now something else (though related)! When I connect the Orion to the load output of my Smartsolar 75/15 the "load status" switches to "off". The Orion is switched off via an external switch. I want this setup, so I can see how much goes out of the 24 V system. I suspect it has something to do with the fact that the "minus" of the 24 V system is connected to the minus 12 V battery. Is there a way to make that work?
Hi Marcel, I have the same setup were I need to charge a 12v AGM battery from a 24volt system. I use a Orion Tr Smart 24/12-30A. With the smart version you can Adjust the charging voltages So you prevent overloading / damaging the battery.
