I have just installed a new Orion XS 1400 to charge a 24V AGM battery bank from 12V sources (alternator, AC charger). I have configured it with the default 24V AGM battery setting (AGM spiral cell), and the other settings are on default.
In general it works fine, the voltages correspond to the charging phases, the input is stable at 13.8-14.1V.
The device shows a scary / abnormal behavior when switching modes, i.e. from storage to bulk, from absorption to float, from float to storage, etc., and randomly during storage - it gradually increases the INPUT voltage to up to 30V, then slowly goes back down to what it has on input.
More precisely, all these are on input:
when switching from absorption to float or float, there is a 25V-30V abrupt spike for about 10 seconds
during storage from time to time there is a spike of 15V-16V for about 5 minutes, gradually decreasing
seldom, during absorption, there is a repeated spike of up to 35V (equalization voltage?) which goes on for a long time (I turned the charger off in this case)
An example log from yesterday is attached.
Initially I though one of the charging sources is causing this, and I tested by physically disconnecting the input source when the spike started, then measured both the source and the Orion charger input voltages. The voltage spike was on the Victron site, not the source, so it is 100% caused by the charger.
Please assist. The tech support inquiries went into “well, new product, must investigate”. In the meantime other devices might get fried.
Exactly what do you have on the input of the Orion. Do you have a battery on the input to the Orion. You need a battery between an alternator and the input to the Orion, possibly the same for a charger. All chargers rely on there being a battery to buffer the output voltage if there are rapid changes in the current flow. If all you have is a wire between the charge source and the Orion then without a battery the voltage can be unstable.
On the input I have two different sources: alternator (120A, 12V) and 230V charger (80A). It’s one or the other at any given time. There is no battery present on the input side, it’s “just a wire”. The previous charger (Schnider) never had a problem with that. The output voltage (orange line) is okay, never had a problem with it. The problem is the input voltage on the Orion - even when disconnecting the source, I have a spike on input, up to 35V (the blue line in the plot). Why would I have 35V output on the input connector? Thanks!
An alternator when it is told to stop charging is a load disconnect and the magnetic field in in the rotor takes some time to dissipate. If the downstream item suddenly stops taking current, the energy has to go somewhere so it increases the voltage, this is well.known, look.up alternator load disconnect. The same is true for an ac charger, it takes time to react. Your older device may not have shut off current draw so quickly so the alternator or ac charger had time to respond. If you have a lead acid battery on the input to the Orion then the lead avid battery absorbs the spikes and stops it going above 14V.
There are many people who have tried Orions without the buffer battery and they have seen voltage issues. As far as I am aware all the Victron manuals shoe a battery on the input.
Thanks for the clarification, I thought about that - so I did the following test: when the spike started, I disconnected the input of the Orion, and I measured the voltage source-side and Orion-side. The spike continued on the Orion input side (now disconnected from the source); the source voltage immediately dropped to the normal value. I expected to see the opposite, i.e., the source to show the spike, but it’s not the case…
The Orion input will have capacitors so will hold some charge but that should be very short lived. It sounds unusual.
Perhaps the unit is faulty, perhaps it has been damaged by voltage spikes because there has been no buffer battery. Dead heading an alternator can create significant voltage spikes.
Checked again my connections: actually the load dump should never have happended, as both sources (alternator, charger) are connected to a battery isolator with 3 outputs; one output is the one going to the charger, the other two are connected to 12V battery banks without DC-DC chargers in between, so that should take any sudden load.
