As I understand it, due to the use of VE.direct and DVCC, the Orion assumes that it is charging the bank that the voltage sensing is on. I am using the Orion XS to charge my engine start AGM battery from a LiFePO4 bank charged by a Wakespeed regulated Balmar alternator. Even though I have an AGM profile entered in the Orion XS, is showing up to 16V charging, so I turn it off.
Everything was fine with my Orion-Tr Smart 30A, but I wanted to see output on my Cerbo, and free up space in my battery compartment, hence the upgrade. But is the only solution to this problem to literally unplug the VE.direct cable that I purchased specifically for this application, not to mention the new XS?
I see references to “disabling” DVCC but it sounds like that would disable it on the entire system, which would eliminate it for the solar MPPT and Wakespeed regulator. Am I interpreting that correctly?
Thanks, as stated in my post that was my interpretation but I was looking to verify.
Is there anyway to turn off DVCC on the Orion XS only?
Does anyone have a workaround to at least view voltage and current of the Orion XS on the Cerbo while leaving it in battery charger mode? (Bluetooth, Ethernet, LAN)
Are others in this position simply changing the Orion XS to power supply mode with a suitable voltage output for starter batteries (eg. 13.2V continuous) and not using the Orion XS as a proper charger?
Any Victron representatives on here who can confirm if/when there will be a firmware update that would allow us to use our Orion XS to charge starter batteries as intended with a different profile than the supply battery and view the data on our Cerbo?
There are many of us who use the Orion XS to charge other batteries from the main battery. On my boat I have 4 places where I would like to do this (Starter(s), Genset, Bowthruster, Dinghy, etc). Can you pass a request to the developers that we be made able to monitor such chargers via VE. Direct, and exclude them from DVCC control?
It’s fine if you default to the current behavior, but give us a setting to specify it as a load rather than a source.
If you cannot do this, it would be great if you could put forward a technical rationale for a seemingly arbitrary choice.
Power supply mode is not a proper way to charge/maintain a battery. It damages the battery and wastes the capabilities of the charger.
On a related note, I am using AC powered Blue Smart IP chargers to maintain some of these batteries (despite the inefficiency of using the inverter). It would be great to be able to monitor & control them via the Cerbo/VRM, rather than being stuck with strictly local monitoring via Victron Connect.
Agree. The product and the documentation are very misleading. It appears you can’t actually “monitor” the Orion XS on a GX device. It needs to be more explicit that connecting to VE.direct results in control over the Orion XS by said GX device/network which overrides all Orion XS charger settings.
Any idea if Victron intends to adjust this? Is the VE.Direct cable recommended solely for programming purposes and then we’re meant to leave it unplugged? But when unplugged, you don’t get easy monitoring of the Starter battery voltage via the Cerbo - which I thought was a key point.
