I recently installed a brand new Orion XS 12/12-50A on my sailboat. I want to use it to charge my starter battery and the 12V battery of my freediver (portable diving compressor to clean the hull).
After installation my first test was to charge the freediver battery. Voltage over the terminals of the battery was 12.04 V. It should need a bit of topping up. The Orion XS is hooked up to my lithium battery which was at 99% SOC and 13.38V. I used the default setting on the Orion but dialed back the maximum output current to 10A.
Started the Orion and monitored the status. Voltage went to 14.2V and current 0.0A, charging stage “Absorption”. That does not sound right. The voltage over the battery terminals was still 12V and not 14V. Using a DC clamp multimeter I indeed measured no current.
I tried the starter battery which was at 13.3V. Same problem. Orion reported about 14V output and no charging current. Even with no battery connected in charging mode the Orion still reported 14V on the output. The input voltage matched the lithium.
I checked for short circuit, reverse polarity or bad connections. Not the case. I use all 10 AWG wiring, should be ok. All fuses are OK. Disconnected the power (reset) and tried again. Same problem, the Orion is not doing anything.
What am I missing?
Additional info:
Orion XS firmware version: v1.12
Output voltage when nothing is connected: 0.2V
Have you connected the negative of the lithium battery to the negative of the freedive and starter batteries. The Orion XS needs all batteries to have a common negative.
Use a multimeter on the Orion terminals whilst charging and connected to a battery. If the Orion terminals are at 14.0 or 14.2V and the battery is at 12.X Volts then you have a wiring problem.
That is a good suggestion Michael. The engine/alternator detection was indeed turned on. I turned it off meaning the Orion is always on. Tried again but it unfortunately did not resolve the issue.
Indeed, the negative of the freediver/starter battery is connected to the main negative bus bar also used by the lithium.
I checked the Orion terminals while charging the freediver battery. Input terminal measures 13.3V which is lithium and the output terminal 14.2V. The freediver indeed 12.2V.
I checked the wiring (didn’t replace it yet), all connections tight and secure. Measured the Ohm resistance of the wires and they are a perfect 0. The wires are also new.
I anyway replaced the wiring to check and the results are still the same.
A few other observations:
While the charger is on with the freediver attached, both the input and output current displayed in the Victron app are 0.0A.
When I turn off the charger with the freediver still attached, the output voltage slowly drops from 14.2 to 0.2V. Should it not display the voltage of the attached battery instead?
Yes it should, but the output of the Orion IS NOT connected to your battery. If the output of the Orion is at 14.2V then the Orion is working but you have an open circuit somewhere. No current is flowing because nothing is connected. There are only 2 ways to simultaneously have 14.2V and 12.2V, one is a break and no current, the other is continuity and a very high current.
Do you have the Orion connected to the common negative and have made sure of continuity.
Do you have an isolator switch or fuse on the output, have you checked these for low resistance or volt drop when charging. Do you have one of these cheap no name breakers on the output, these are very poor quality. Do you have a plug & socket on the output that is not making contact. This is basic electrical circuit trouble shooting.
There is no isolator switch in between the Orion and the freediver battery. There is between the Orion and the starter when I switch over the connection. That one is from Blue Sea Systems which I regard as a quality brand.
There is an inline fuse in the output cable to the battery. The fuse itself is OK but perhaps the socket is not. When I rewired I bypassed that one using a new cable without fuse in it (not best practice just to trouble shoot).
That did not solve the issue so it must be elsewhere. I will reassemble the setup testing connectivity/continuity at every step. I will keep you posted on the results.
I don’t know what to say. I checked all the wires in the setup and found a ground wire with a very high resistance. I tracked the resistance down to inside of a factory molded connector. It is a connector that allows to quickly swap out the starter battery charging cable for one that I can use to connect the freediver battery to. I replaced it and now the setup works as intended.
Valuable lesson for me that even if a set of wires is ripped out of plastic new, doesn’t mean its good.