Surprised that victron doesn’t technically support their own products, but oh well. I have an orion xs, does anyone happen to know if the charger provides true reverse current blocking from output to input when powered off or disabled? Is it safe to bypass the charger in an off state (connect input to output) and does it have FET/diode isolation at the terminals to protect itself from equalization currents during battery combine? The manual offers “comprehensive electronic protection” but the details are vague
Nothing flows backward from the house battery to the starter when the Orion is off. And there is no way to charge the vehicle battery from the house battery, although it has been a requested feature.
Connecting input to output is not the same as bypassing. Bypassing would imply it is disconnecting from the device (or isolating it) and those connections then being connected together. {Break before make} So the scenario should not happen if good installation principles are followed.
I would be concerned about what power flows from the input of the Orion to the battery when you bypass the Orion. One of the reasons Victron and others recommend charging through a DC-DC charger like Orion is so battery charging currents are managed to a safe level and are based on battery voltage. This is especially important for lithium batteries since their internal resistance is extremely low. With lead acid batteries, paralleling batteries or charging directly from a dumb alternator is a common practice but managing charging is essential for lithium.
Maybe I didn’t explain myself clearly. See attached (from @rong ). There can be quite a shock of voltage/current that travels thru that path when the lead acid batteries are paralleled. The rest of the system can handle that, can the charger or is there a path thru it that can burn up? Particularly when commanded to be off.
Another relay that takes it physically out of circuit first is feasible. but I would like to avoid the complication if the unit was already designed to handle such events when off. It is a question for engineering, whom are unfortunately unavailable at victron. They would have had to intentionally designed it into the circuit board. Given the quality of the custom board (and price) it is not unreasonable to think they did.
Yes. Current both ways is a concern. I occasionally need the batteries directly on the alternator to recharge faster. At steady state I think the orion will be fine since it is both turned off and would see negligible voltage delta anyway. The question is does it have protection (at all terminals, but in/out in particular) when off to block the transient when they combine. Would need something like back-to-back mosfets as final stage to block bidirectional current when unit is in off state. Basically I would like to confirm the device is intentionally designed to behave like open circuit when in off state. Lead acid btw
Maybe I didn’t explain myself clearly. See attached (from @rong ). There can be quite a shock of voltage/current that travels thru that path when the lead acid batteries are paralleled. The rest of the system can handle that, can the charger or is there a path thru it that can burn up? Particularly when commanded to be off.
Another relay that takes it physically out of circuit first is feasible. but I would like to avoid the complication if the unit was already designed to handle such events when off. It is a question for engineering, whom are unfortunately unavailable at victron. They would have had to intentionally designed it into the circuit board. Given the quality of the custom board (and price) it is not unreasonable to think they did.
Nice! I would like to avoid all that extra wiring under the hood though. If I don’t get a definitive answer, I will likely discharge one battery and do a “high power” test. I think it will be one of those: it either fries instantly or it’s made for it. I will post with results if it comes to that