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jmf27614 avatar image
jmf27614 asked

Remote Ignition switch wiring confusion

I have two wires, one is a ground, one is the ignition power. I wired the ignition power line to the H-pin (on the right) and the ground is wired to the L-pin. Originally these wires were attached to the Trombetta Solenoid that we are replacing. Is this the correct wiring to force the Orion Smart Charger off when the ignition key is removed?

1. If charging the input battery with an external charger, will the extra voltage turn on the isolated dc-dc converter when the voltage reaches the shutdown start voltage or will it recognize that the engine is switched off?

2. How much power is used by the dc-dc converter ((12-12/30) when not charging (off).

orion-tr smart
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2 Answers
jmf27614 avatar image
jmf27614 answered ·

I have answers to my questions.

a) The only requirement for the remote input on/off (ie. switching the Orion charger off when the ignition is off) is to wire the H-pin with the ignition switch wire from the Trombetta (the blue/yellow one). Wiring the ground wire (brown one) to the L-pin in addition to the ignition switch wire causes a mal-function of the Engine Shutdown/Remote Input On/Off function.


We proved this by testing.

1. Prior to removing the ground wire I ran a battery-tender using house battery power to the chassis battery via the cigarette lighter socket. Once the voltage reached the shutdown start voltage (14V) the Orion switched onto Absorption charge and then immediately shut off (probably due to current/voltage surge). The voltage dropped and then started rising again. Having proved that the Remote Input was not working as expected, we then:

2. Removed the ground wire from the L-pin, leaving the ignition wire attached to the H-pin. Then retested. Once the Orion reached shutdown start voltage, it switched to Absorption mode. When shutting off the engine using the ignition switch, the display showed OFF "disabled due to Remote Input inactive", followed by OFF "disabled due to Engine Shutdown detected", followed by OFF "disabled due to both input voltage lockout and engine shutdown detected." This is the expected behavior.

3. We then attached an exterior charger to the Chassis battery to charge it. Once the voltage reached 14V, the display showed OFF "charge is disabled due to Remote input inactive". Again, this is the expected behavior.

4. I found the draw on the starter battery by the Orion. It is noted in the manual specs - standby current is < 1mA.


Hopefully, this will be helpful to anyone trying to upgrade their Trombetta solenoid with a Victron Orion Tr-Smart 12/12-30 Charger for a 2019 Thor Siesta (which has a regular alternator). The purpose of this was to ensure that the alternator and/or Solenoid didn't burn up when we swapped out our Lead Acid batteries for Lithium.

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jonathon-vella avatar image jonathon-vella commented ·

I have been having issues with my shutdown detection on an MQ triton (non smart alternator) It was suggested that I wire it up to the ignition switch, however, when i used the recommendations in the manual the charger wouldn't stop charging with the engine detection turned off. This is expected and in the manual.

I started looking online and found this post and my testing has confirmed that it does work the way I expected when the h pin is connected to the ignition wire and as jmf27614 posted.

Thanks jmf27614 you made my day.

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veryactivelife avatar image
veryactivelife answered ·

Pretty much the same answer as I posted to your other question. Additionally, there is minimal draw on the starter battery when the charger is disabled.

veryactivelife avatar image veryactivelife · 4 minutes ago

Connecting the Orion-tr Smart to the ignition is redundant. The L and H pins are intended for a manual remote switch. When engine detection is enabled this is what turns the charger on and off.

Putting a battery tender on the starter battery will increase the voltage enough to start the charger. You can override this by simply turning the charger off in the app. A remote switch as mentioned in the previous paragraph will also disable the charger. In my setup I put a switchable circuit breaker at the starter battery which can disconnect the charger from the starter battery. I prefer disabling it in the app so that the charger continues to monitor the voltage at the starter battery and I can easily see the starter battery voltage.

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