Same VE.Smart Network and/or Cerbo GX for a two-battery setup?

DIY
, , ,
5

Hi,
your answer confuses me, but I assume you answered to two different aspects.

That’s unfortunate. But I assume as long as my combined chargers two MPPT 75/10 and one Phoenix Smart 30A are not able to deliver a combined charging current higher than my battery allows (Eco Worthy 100Ah, 50A max charging current), I will be fine.

This question is a different aspect and unrelated to the question about VE.Smart Network, right? Yes, I am aware of the problem, that the Orion-Tr will kick in if the starter battery is charged via the Phoenix as the Orion-Tr will falsely assume that the engine would be running.

Currently, I am considering various workarounds:

  1. Option 1: The alternator has a dedicated “charging control output”. Usually, this signal drives a small light bulb to indicate whether the alternator provides energy and this signal is independent of the main output of the alternator, i.e. the signal is not affected by the Phoenix. So maybe, I connect this signal to the H signal of the Orion-Tr and disable engine detection. However, I am not sure how well this works as the output signal of the alternator is not a clean DC signal but some wild half-sine wave like voltage curve. The engine is from the 60s and the “charging indicator lamp” was a simple filament bulb which was also happily working with a distorted half-sine wave forms. However, I don’t know how happy the H input of the Orion-Tr will be.
  2. Option 2: I install a relay which is triggered by 230V on-shore power and drives the L/H input of the Orion-Tr. I only need to figure out whether I need a NC or NO relay and whether I need to connect L or H. Also see my other post about the L/H input signals of the Orion-Tr.
  3. Option 3: I install a NC relay which is triggered by 230V on-shore power and cuts the connection between the starter battery and Orion-Tr when on-shore power is available. So the Orion-Tr is cut-off from power.