Very beginner with all this, so please bear with me.
My main question is this: do the DC-DC converters use a little bit of power to change voltage, even before load is added to the system?
For context:
I recently connected a DC-DC converter (Orion 12/24-20) to my van’s battery. I am using it to boost the voltage from 12V to 30V so I can charge my Eco Flow Delta 2 better. I don’t have a switch installed, so I am just manually connecting the Eco Flow when I turn the vehicle on, and disconnecting it when I turn the vehicle off.
Recently the van has sat overnight at the mechanic for a few nights… and the battery has died. The Eco Flow was not connected, so I am lead to believe that the DC-DC converter itself draws a little bit of power to slowly discharge the car battery over time.
I just did some testing with a multimeter, and when I tested the cable that connects to the Eco Flow, it read 30V. I unplugged the little green connector for the remote on/off, and the voltage slowly dropped down to 12V. I interpret this to mean that the converter is still boosting the voltage, even while the Eco Flow is not connected. So is the converter using a little bit of power to do the conversion? That’s my only guess I can come up with for why the battery would be slowly discharging (the battery wasn’t dying overnight before the converter was installed). Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Standby current is listed in the datasheet/user manual for the device - there are a few versions, so I won’t link the specific one since I don’t know your specific version, but all user manuals and datasheets can be found directly at https://www.victronenergy.com/
Also worth noting that a DC-DC Converter is not a charger, and is not supported for use as one, so aberrant behavior may occur.
I assume “off load current” is the same thing as “standby current” that you mention. So < 30mA is pretty low. So would this be < 30mA per hour? And do you think that by unplugging (or connecting to a switch, like the datasheet suggests) the green connector for the remote on/off, it would stop pulling current?
The off load current (which I also read as standby consumption) can’t discharge a starter battery.
Measure current flow on the input and output of the converter, using a DC clamp meter, to figure out if the starter discharges through that route.
Other option is to use FLIR thermal camera to look at the whole system (while the starter battery has charge)… while energy can kind-of vanish into thin air, it’ll always heat up the location where it turns from electricity into some other form of energy.
Recently the van has sat overnight at the mechanic for a few nights… and the battery has died.
Occams Razor: The most likely reason is an open door keeping the lights on, draining the battery.
