I want the trickle charge only to work when on Shorepower. So when i Use Nodered to determine this and operate a cerbo gx relais where the trickle charge cable is connected to, will that work? Because the negative cable of the starter battery and to the Multiplus, i do not need an extra cable negative cable to the starter battery?
Yes you could use Node-RED and a Cerbo relay to control this to certain times or events.
The starter battery negative must be connected to the domestic battery negative for this to work.
All negative (also negative from starter battery to Orion XS) is on the smae busbar. So i would not need to draw an extra cable?
Correct, as all negatives are connected, the trickle charge will use these existing wires.
I have an Orion XS 12/12 50. Two very think cable from the Orion to the starter battery in the front. Is it possible to attach the positive trickle charge cable to the positive IN cable. The think cable already has a fuse near the starterbattery. If it is possible, should i add an extra fuse to the cable i am attaching to the Positivde in on the Orion?
You could use the Orion positive cable for the trickle charge but you Must still have a small fuse (1A) on the trickle fuse wire where it connects to the Orion. The 60A fuse at the battery will not protect a small trickle charge wire.
- I have a 5A fuse (the max is 4A from trickle charge) near the starter battery. Is that OK?
- I measure no voltage between trickle charge point on Multiplus an the BIg DC negative. When THe trickle charge cable is not connected to the starter battery
- I measure no current between Plus on starter battery and plus of trickle charge cable
- So something is not working here. Am i missing something?
- The start battery is very bad. 10.7V at the moment. Can that be a reason?
See above answers
My 5A fuse at the starter battery pops out. Tried a 10A fuse: Also popped auto.
I have Orion XS with shared GND. All GND is on a busbar. So also the House battery LifePO4, the Multiplus 12/3000 and the sterterbattery (there is a ground cable from the starter to the busbar), I have tickle charge from Multiplus connected to Common on CerboGX and the Open to the start battery. Very near the Plus of the starterbattery is the Fuse .The cerbo relay is controlled via Nodered (Shorepower ON → Relay1 on Cerbo ON).
WHen i connect shorepower, after some seconds the Mulitplus switches to Bulk. I hear the relay on the cerbo and immediately i hear the fuse popout.
Where to look for the error/solutioin?
What you are describing is a breaker or a resettable fuse, never liked the cheap ones as they are prone to erratic behaviour especially if they are somewhere hot. Try a real fuse.
Do you have the capability to measure current using multimeter or DC clamp meter.
The one thought would be a wire that was somehow touching negative, ground etc so you are connecting the starter battery to ground rather than to the Multiplus trickle charge connection. Can you check you have +12V on the input to the Cerbo relay or both sides of the breaker when it pops open. This is basic DC troubleshooting.
Maybe, (just maybe) i made a stupid mistake. I connected the cable on the multiplus on the small philips screw. Now i also see a 6,3mm spade connector. Between the philips and ground i measure 0.0V. Between the spade connector and ground i measure 16V.
It is a spade connector.
Everything works! Thanks for the support.
A maybe related question. I can read the input voltage of the OrionXS. I want the trickle charge only to work when on Shore Power. I achieved that with the build-in Cerbo relay. Is it wise to also use the input power of the OrionXS as a criterium to start trickle charging? WHat should be the low Voltage level of the OrionXS? And is there a maximum Voltage level on the Orion Input in which case i should stop the trickle charge.?
The trickle charger has a diode so if the starter battery is higher than the domestic battery current does not flow backwards, so I do not see this as an issue.
It’s still an issue because the Orion engine shutdown protection will think the trickle voltage is the engine powering up. So it tries to turn on charging, which of course causes the voltage to take a dive. Needs a relay: Coil driven by AC shorepower input, Normally Closed output across the remote disabling contacts of the Orion. Silly that an external relay is needed given the inverter/charger already has a programmable one available. But no simple solution to get the software to actuate the relay when shore power is available.