A little help / comments… I just got my Victron Orion XS installed in my camper. A few questions. I have the L/H jumper running through a single pole switch so I can turn the unit on and off manually. Even with the Orion shut down with the switch and with the app, the blue “Bulk” like continues to flash along with the three solar charge controllers. AND, every once in a while all three lights on the Orion will flash. The app tells me the Orion is “Not Charging”. Secondly, can you look at these screen shots and help me understand with the batteries at 76%, the Orion is in ABSORPTION mode and only 16.10 amps is charging the batteries. As you can see I’m getting 9.7a from the 700 watts of solar panels…Battery bank is three, 12v, 100aH Lithium batteries. (I’m just south of Boston with a relatively sunny day. Thanks in advance…
The Victron Toolkit app for smartphones gives you the LED codes for many Victron devices, download that and check and if the code is not shown then let us know.
You did not include any screenshots.
What that tells me is you have a high resistance between the Orion output and the bus bar or batteries. All your devices say 13.8V for the batteries but the Orion says 14.2 so the high resistance is causing a lot of voltage drop. If you stip the Orion charging it will likely show the tight voltage with little current flow.
This is very common in DIY builds. Get your multimeter out and check voltage at each connection when the Orio is charging. Common causes are poor crimps, screw terminals not tight enough, poor bolting torque, undersized cables and quite often the cheap resettable breakers shown below.
Thank you…No resettable breakers in the system. ANL fuses as needed. Orion is 30" with 4g welding cable from the batteries. Voltage at “in” on the Orion is 14V +/-…(smart alternator)…Voltage out is 14.2…My concern is the lower amperage of only 17A during absorption…
The amperage is low because that is thd amperage required to generate the absorption voltage of 14.2V at the output terminals. The Orion is limiting because it believes the batteries are at 14.2V not 13.8V. Sort out your high resistance and high voltage drop and it will work. If it could charge at tje rayed 50A, the voltage drop would be 1.2V and the Orion would be 15.0V at the output. As noted above, get your multimeter out and find out where the high resistance is occurring. Feel all terminals for a warm one, this is often a give away.
OK, here’s the deal. I just went outside to check everything with a meter and clamp on amp meter. Realized I had not added the Orion to the VE Smart Network. Added it…Started the truck, flipped the switch to turn on the ORION. It is now heavy overcast. Panels are in Absorption and putting out nearly nothing…BUT, now the Orion is in Bulk and outputting 45.2A (with 50a input)…Interesting. Double checked all connections crimps (hydraulic crimper)…All perfect. Is there 10% loss in the Orion XS?
QUESTION…Since I am showing 50a on the input to the ORION, and 45A output…Does this suggest the connections from the truck battery are good, and the potential poor connection issue is after the ORION?
Yes, the poor connection is after the Orion. Note, I predicted you would need 15.0V and that is what you have. The Smart Network has sorted the symptom, but you should still find the poor connection.
Note, the Orion will be 50A input at say 14.4V, but is outputting at 15.0V so it boosts the voltage by reducing the current. Plus there will be conversion losses, 720W in and 675W out, losses = 45W, 94% efficiency is about right.
THANK YOU!..Great help