I’ve noticed that the Orion Smart Isolated DC to dC (18 amp) charger is not so smart as I expected it to be with regard to talking to my other Victron gear. I need to make sure my DC to DC charger isn’t trying to charge my lifepo4 batteries when it is below freezing. I have two Victron MPPTs and a Victron Smart Shunt (no BMV), so the temp sensor on the Smart Shunt can deal with low temp shutoff for the MPPTs but not the Orion, as I understand it. I built my battery bank myself ( it’s a little bit of a complicated setup that doesn’t allow me to use the low temp cutoff function of the BMS).
For now, I’m thinking of connecting a generic temperature relay off Amazon to act as a remote shut off for the Orion when the temps drop below freezing. Does this make sense? I just want to make sure that doing it this way won’t disable the low Input Voltage Lock-out? I don’t want to be draining the starter battery when the engine isn’t running, and I don’t want to have to also wire it into the ignition to avoid that, if I can help it. I have read that people usually address the Orion issue with a BMV, but I would also prefer to avoid having to buy a BMV when I already have a Smart Shunt. At least for now.
