I have the following battery bank I am working on for off grid emergency radio deployments. I have multiple source recharging capabilities to increase options for recharge enroute and infield.
Currently without isolation, the various inputs can cause fuse blows on load side. I think I need to add line and load side isolation’s. I have the Orion XS which is providing some isolation for the batteries. The rest of the system is not isolated. I think I need some more isolation (maybe Argofet Battery Isolators or maybe Lynx system (not sure since the BMS would already be in the Battle born batteries ). Some proper design / product direction would be great, in consideration of existing system with Orion XS.
There should be only one connection on the shunts battery side, to the battery negative. Everything else, all chargers and loads, need to be connectef on the shunts load side. Otherwise its SOC wont be accurate.
Why did you use two circuit breakers in series on the car side, but none on the radiobattery side? The two CBs in series wont help, and leaving an anderson plug without CB or fuse isnt that great either.
The MPPT is way oversized for 200W, but maybe you want to expand in the future.
I personally would place the Orion on the radiobattery side, so that as much contact and cable resistance is on the Orions input
Some clarifications:
Fuses blow because they are either overloaded or there was a shortcircuit. No amount of charging input will blow a fuse on the load side
There is no isolation in your schematic. You have separated both input/charging and output/load onto two busbars, but electrically thats not really a difference. Further, the Orion XS is a non-isolated DC/DC converter. The negative conductor of the car is connected through to the anderson plug, wich is then connected through to each radiobattery busbar.
I did this to protect specifically the line between the engine battery and the bed of the truck. For maintenance disconnecting and also accident protection, I have already been hit last year in the bed so this is to electricall disconnect should there be a short on that connecting cable.
Good point on the Anderson pole side I can put another 40A inside the battery bank from the OrionXS via the anderson pole interconnect (used to separate the battery bank for transport).
This was reclaimed from a totalled Airstream I think they hook up to 4 panels on this controller.
The Orion is currently installed in the bed of truck next to battery bank so it’s taking the largest length of the 1/0 gauge run. (roughly 38’ round trip). I was looking at smaller Orion which was isolated, thank you for reminding me this is not isolated on the larger.
This blew a 12V LED lighting systems fuse with 14.5V coming from the charger. I will double check the cable to make sure it is not causing a short.
Originally I was thinking those bus bars would be isolating but then started to have to cross connect to complete circuity so I struck out with that being an error though I guess it provides more mount points vs stacking all the connections.
So I guess the question then assuming I size the fuses properly for each device do I need to isolate from the varying Voltage being delivered by the various line components. The range of the system seems to have a fluctuating Voltage of 12.9V (on the low) to 14.5V on the high side. I know there is a tolerance for some equipment that can handle this but other load pieces may not be able to handle that variation.
Variation in voltage is normal. However charging up to 14.5V might be a bit high, but i dont know what battleborn (i guess those are battleborn batteries) recommends for both absorption and float.
Its possible that the LED system increased its output power due to the higher voltage. An increase in power also means an increase in current. If that higher power is still within spec i dont know.
If you want a stable voltage, i guess thats preferred for radio equipment, then you would need another Orion but for the loads only, a non-smart model would be enough, since they are designed to be DC/DC converters but not chargers. I dont think an isolated model is necessary, but it could help if you have issues with DC ripple, or alternator hum on the radio (but then keep the output negative isolated from the other negative poles)
Oh, and concerning the fuse for the anderson plug, i meant to say that the fuse should be between the radiobattery and the anderson plug. Since if its not plugged into the car, then the contacts are carrying radiobattery voltage, that should be protected against shortcircuits. The open end coming from the Orion is not that critical since the Orion will limit the current to whatever is set as the max.
