Orion Smart 12V/12V 30A with MPPT - I do not believe it is charging properly

I have a Orion Smart 12/12V-30A Isolated DC to DC connected to my system from my tow vehicle which has 2 batteries and a 220A alternator into a 400ah LION Battery bank. I am also running a Smart Solar MPPT100/50, with 800W of Solar (feeding down at 24V). Also in the system are 2 Victron 3000 Inverters and a BMV 712 Smart Battery monitor. .

While doing some testing, driving down the road and turning on the A/C it seems that the DC to DC is not helping with the Charging and is remaining in “Float” while the MPPT is in “Bulk”.

I am not sure all of the settings are correct… Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Eric

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blutow commented · Jul 01, 2021 at 02:52 PM

What are your charge settings on the solar charger and the orion? Most people would align those settings and that should generally have both charges in the same mode most of the time. With your battery at only 13v, any appropriate setting for lithium batteries should be putting the orion charger into bulk mode. I'm pretty sure the orion should go into bulk when the battery drops below the float setting.

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eapatten blutow commented · Jul 01, 2021 at 06:37 PM

Thanks for the reply. I will make sure what you said is correct, but I do remember that the batteries where below the Float setting (on the Orion) and it was still in Float.

I was able to force the Orion into bulk by switching it from Charger to Power Supply and back again.

Quick question - should I only be seeing about 360-390W of input from the Truck/Orion (12V/13V X 30A). If this is the case then it is very plausible that I am getting all I can out of the truck The A/C draws anywhere from 1400W to 1600W. I might have had higher expectations of what I could get out of the truck.

Here are my MPPT settings. I will have to wait on the Orion Settings (but I think they are close) until I get my truck back and plugged in.

Thanks again for the help.

Best regards

Eric

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blutow eapatten commented · Jul 01, 2021 at 07:32 PM

The orion is only rated at 30a, so I wouldn't expect it to push more than ~360watts continuous. I've heard that they are rated pretty conservative and push a bit more, but it certainly isn't going to be pushing 1000+ watts. You can parallel multiple Orions to increase output, but subject to your alternator output limits.

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