My Orion TR 12/30 is overheating and I’m getting reduced performance from 30amp charging down to as little as 18amps, this is much lower than that specified in the user manual.
This is in UK winter too, so ambient temperatures inside the vehicle are typically only about 15-23°C. The charger itself seems to be reaching temperatures well in excess of 60°C, which is concerning as this could lead to a potential fire risk or damage to cabling and cable sheathes.
is this normal or is there cause to return this for a refund or upgrade to an Orion XS?
These get pretty hot even during normal operation. Make sure its ventilated well, mounted vertically for good passive cooling, doesn’t have undersized cable. Check all these first.
I guess you are talking about an Orion smart non-isolated 12/12-30. The datasheet states a derating due to overtemperature of 3% for every °C above 40°C, so at 60°C that would be a 60% derate, or 40% power output left. Out of 30A this would be 12A. Quite good that you still get 18A out of it.
The older Orions are rated at 87% efficiancy, so for 360W of output power you can expect about 47W of heat. By reducing the output power the heat loss is also getting reduced, essentially settling at a spot where the heat input (from the electronics) and output (to the environment) are balanced.
How is it getting that hot, is it in an enclosed space? Mounted flat or with the cooling fins pointing sideways? If you cant mount it differently, then maybe forced cooling might be necessary
Yes it’s a non-isolated. It’s mounted vertically in the rear of a campervan garage space, so plenty of breathing room, using 16mm / 6AWG cable and there’s a one way run of about 4m on the positive side to the battery. The negative run is less than a metre to a dedicated chassis ground at the rear of the vehicle.
Cables seem to be fine, though some slight discolouration on the positive battery cable at the charger side, could just be from the heat of the charger.
I’ve been thinking about using forced cooling, I have a 12v temperature controller I can use, so just need to source a fan and I’ll position it so it cools the heat sink.
Yes and no. The XS is more efficient, they produce less heat at the same output power. But they will also derate if too hot.
You can limit both input and output current on the XS, so you could set it to 30A for the time being and change the cabling down the line if you want more power. However, also keep in mind that the power has to come from somewhere, your alternator might not be happy supplying 50A longterm
That’s a common sign of a loose connection. Perhaps you should cut off the end of that cable (if it’s really damaged), re-insert, re-torque and test again?
This would be a good idea. Or use the fan to evacuate the heat from compartment it is in if its enclosed.
Like @chrigu said the XS is quite a bit more efficient and stays cooler as a baseline. But you would need to upgrade to 4 AWG so it may not be your first choice.
It’s actually a bit of hassle to replace it, hence asking…