Configure Cerbo GX to trigger relay upon Orion XS internal temp / charge status?

DIY
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1

I understand the Orion XS has an internal temperature sensor it uses to derate its current output when it rises above a specific temperature. As a precaution, I’ve installed several 120mm fans connected to a relay on the Cerbo GX which I manually switch on to keep the charger cool.

It would be great if the Orion XS can share its internal temperature data as a sensor with a connected Cerbo GX, so that the Cerbo GX can be configured to trigger the relay, thus turning on external fans to keep the Orion XS cooled before it reaches the temp it starts to derate at. Alternatively, if you could trigger the Cerbo GX relays when the Orion XS is in a bulk/absorption stage, that would be great too.

I know I can connect another temperature sensor to the Cerbo GX and attach it to the backside of the Orion XS, but this seems wholly unnecessary and a waste of a temperature sensor input.

2

I haven’t had a chance to check out the Orion XS yet. A mate of mine was planning to get one, but instead we ended up using the Bluetti alternator DC-DC charger along with a 100/50 MPPT. From what I’ve heard, the Orion XS only delivers around 30A of charge, which makes it less appealing, especially considering the older Tr model also does 30A and is a better value for money.

The Bluetti puts out about 560W, and the MPPT handles it all without overheating, which has been great.

We were also planning to set up some cooling fans for the Orion using Node-RED, since I was helping him install the MPPT and Bluetti. The idea was to monitor the current and control the fans accordingly, but we never got around to checking what kind of data we could actually extract from the node.

3

Looks like there’s a Node-Red node available for monitoring the state of the OrionXS. See https://github.com/victronenergy/node-red-contrib-victron/wiki/Available-nodes#dcdc

In particular:

/Dc/0/Temperature (Degrees celsius), dbus path: /Dc/0/Temperature, type float

Next time I’m at the boat, I’ll have a look at this, and see if I can wire it up to a Relay Control node. Looks promising!

4

You could even feed it into a Virtual temperature sensor when V3.60 is released and then it will be available on the gui as any other temperature sensor.

5

Would this require node red still or is that internal temperature going to be a “virtual sensor” in the upcoming release? Are there pre-release notes available?

6

The Virtual temperature sensor is created in Node Red and populated with a value in Node Red. It then becomes a device in the GX same as any other temperature sensor.

7

Sounds good! And to confirm, the float value from /Dc/0/Temperature of the DCDC input corresponds with the OrionXS internal temperature?

8

No that is battery temperature.

The internal temp is not available.

What you could try is make a flow that looks at output voltage and current & when too low engage the dan. Thats the best I can offer at the moment.

9

Can the internal temperature be made available? I’d like to submit this as a feature request.

10

Not easily