Hi all. I am installing a 12v LiFePo4 battery system. I am using a Victron Orion DC/DC charger to charge the Lithium bank from my LA bank when the alternator is charging the LA bank.

When I am on long periods of shore power, I would like to disable the LiFePO4 bank and power the 12V loads from other sources e.g. from the LA bank. Would the Orion enable this based on the (rough) wiring diagram below? (Orion charger is on the charge bus).

[image]

Hello, As far as I know, the Orion-Tr Smart DC-DC Battery Charger cannot work with the Smart Battery Sense. And also has no charging temperature compensation. Problem is that I have to charge service batteries which can get quite warm (are in the engine room) So I would like to charge temperature compensated AGM batteries with the alternator. The extensive Buck-Boost DC-DC converter does not have this option either. Does anyone have another idea? Regards, Arnold

I have just installed for a customer a Victron Orion Tr Smart 12/12 30A Charger to an RV.

We are charging 2 x 240ah LiFeP04 batteries in parallel.

There is also a Victron Smart Solar 100/30 Charge Controller connected in parallel.

The problem is that the Orion will not bulk charge at all, if I isolate the solar output and the Orion is left to do the bulk of the work.

I have checked the inputs from the vehicle and ensured the Orion will turn on to charge at the desired voltages. However it starts to charge - then displays a sudden drop in input voltage and stops charging. I have tried 2 different vehicles and monitored their voltage to confirm it is not actually dropping below the threshold.

If I turn on the Solar Charger it (the Solar Charger) immediately starts bulk charging (approx. 22A).

When the Solar Charger is doing the bulk charge the Orion will start working in absorption mode. But if left to do the bulk charge will keep cycling on and off.

It has the latest firmware V1.06.

Reading the threads it seems many are still having similar issues with this Orion Charger. Can you please advise how to rectify it?

I look forward to your response.

Variations of this question popped up before on this forum, but here I go with my specific need. I need the config settings for an Orion TR (non-isolated, if that makes any difference) charger for a Renogy Deep Cycle 12V 100Ah AGM battery (they call it a "valve regulated sealed lead acid battery").

The Renogy website has an FAQ which only mentions the following:

"7. When using a charge controller, which battery type should I set? You should choose the SLD battery settings."

What does SLD stand for and how to apply this to set up the Orion charger?

Also I am monitoring this battery with a Victron Smart Shunt 500. Any special config for that ?

Thank you all.

I have an Orion TR Smart controlling charging on a trailer from a tow vehicle. When the tow vehicle is not hooked up, there is no power on the input side.

Is there a way to power the Orion TR Smart from the battery bank on the output side? Perhaps with a diode? I want to be able to see the system and make changes even when the charging current isn’t hooked up.

Thank you for your help.

I have the float voltage set to 13.6v and the re bulk offset set to .4v. From my understanding this means that it shouldn’t start bulk charging until the output battery drops to 13.2v. However, even if my battery is fully charged and resting at 13.6v, the Orion still starts the bulk phase. This phase only lasts about 30 seconds since it quickly brings the voltage back up, but then it does the whole absorption stage again, which I don’t want to happen. Any ideas?

Hi All, I have a camper that runs solar on the roof, and via a Smart DC DC Orion 24/24 - 17 charger in my truck camper. Currently these are not networked as I am driving along which does cause them to sometimes be in different charging states.

Posts on here have asked the question but have not been updated recently - when will the Orion DC DC chargers join the Victron Networked family?

I am very keen to have all devices working on the same charging algorithm. Is there a workaround with the Victron Dongle?

Does anyone know when these will be networkable?

Cheers

Troy

My motorhome got a starter battery and a leisure batteri,

with a common negative. And for that reason a non-isolated DC DC charger would be my first choise.

How ever; I can not see any reason I should not use a isolated DC DC Charger.

Something I dont get?

Yes, if my two batteries was totally separated both in positiv and negative side,

I would not mix them two. For sure.

But for the typical motorhome i does not matter. Or?

Anyone?

I have a 2017 Promaster with an Orion TR Smart 12/12 - 30 isolated charger. My batteries won't charge above 13.3V. Orion turns on no problem. However, when I look at the Orion app it shows input of 14.5V and output of 14.2V. However, when I measure the output at the terminals on the Orion it measures 13.25V to 13.28V. Orion is set to factory default settings.

I have tried idling the van at 2k rpms for 5 min to see if there was a delay and it had no effect. I can't find anything in the app that is set up incorrectly. Also, I made a 4 hour drive at highway speeds and when I arrived the batteries were ~13.2V

Do I have a bad Orion or is there something else I am missing?

I have checked continuity through the entire system and confirmed a good ground.

When on shore power through the victron blue smart the batteries charge to ~13.55V no problem

Batteries are 2x LiFePo 400Ah

Hey there, as I commented on the blog post,

Have installed a 12/12 30 Victron Orion isolated DC-DC charger connected to a Delta Max. When I plug the Delta into lighter socket from a Toyota Sienna minivan I get about 99watts charge. When I charge via the Orion, I only manage about 10 more watts at about 111watts. That's a far cry from the 360 watts I thought I would be getting. I did notice that sometimes it will go up to about 165watts for a second or two before resetting back to about 100watts again.

I'm hoping changing some settings in the app can help and looking for advice, tips, thoughts and suggestions please.

Thanks for your time!

Hi,

I'm planning a set up for charging a Victron Smart Lithium 12v 200ah battery from the alternator of my van (a 2012 Mercedes Sprinter 313cdi).

I will have Dometic Freshwell 3000 air conditioning unit in the back of the van which I would like to be able to use while driving and on hookup. The plan is to run it through a Multiplus Compact 12 2000 as it requires 230v AC - 4.2amps to run.

4.2a @ 230v = ~1000W, the Multiplus will need maybe 1250W supply when considering losses?, more losses in getting the power to the multiplus, through the leisure battery, from the charger/alternator means maybe working on the basis that 1500W is required from the 12v alternator?

125amps required from the alternator - is that a fair estimate?

I need to check the alternator I have fitted but could look at upgrading if it is not 180a+

What is the best way to ensure that the supply of power from the alternator/starter battery to the leisure battery is enough to offset the demand of the multiplus/aircon and not result in flattening the battery(s) on long journeys?

Options that might work:

• Multiple Orions in parallel - seems over the top to have 4+ orions in parallel just to achieve 120amps
• 1x BMS CL 12/100 for 100amps, in parallel with 1x orion for 130amps total - benefit of BMS included and the voltage controlled charging from the orion to help top up the Lithium battery.

Any suggestions on how to make this work are much appreciated.

Cheers,

K

I have a multiplus compact connected to lithium drop-in batteries and the supplemental output from multiplus to the starter battery. I would like to add charging from alternator to lithium batteries through the Orion tr dc dc charger. Question is will Orion tr start to charge the lithium batteries when connected to shore power because the multiplus will charge the starter batteri and by that increase the voltage on the starter batteri. I would prefer to only charge through the multiplus when powered from shore.

supplemental questions:

1. is it at all a problem to have both the multiplus and Orion charge at the same time.

2. will the Orion tr start charging, it only receives 4 A from Multiplus.

I have three Lead Acid battery banks installed on my boat (house bank, starter battery, bow thruster battery) which are charged by the alternator (let's only focus on the alternator and ignore other chargers)

All three battery banks shall be strictly separated which is done with an ArgoFET (B+ --> ArgoFET --> 3 Battery banks).

Now I want to replace the house bank by a LiFePo4 battery. In order to protect the alternator from overheating I am planning to insert an Orion Tr Smart between the ArgoFET and the LiFePo4 battery. A great solution for me, because it's a minimal change in wiring.

In other forums I've read that this solution might not work out, because the hungry LiFePo4 will draw all the current from the alternator with the Lead Acid batteries left with next to nothing. What do you guys think, is this correct?

An alternative could be to connect the starter battery directly to the alternator, and to charge the LiFePo4 and the bow thruster (LA) battery via two separate Orions from there. But shouldn't the problem with the hungry LiFePo4 occur there as well?

Are there good reasons why this is the better setup? Well, for me it means more work and more cost.

Or is there another solution that is even better?

Regards

Christian

Installed -

Orion-TR Smart 12/12 30A

Smart Solar MPPT 100/30 - fed by 305W single Victron panel (so 25A max?)

TN Power (LifePO4) 100Ah battery

Installed in a 2022 Fiat Ducato

Battery spec states a max charging current of 50A. If both DC2DC charger and MPPT are running at max charging current this then exceeds the max charging current of the battery.

How do I know if the Amps from the van will ever reach the max 30A from the DC2DC?

Do I need to setup the MPPT or DC2DC config to ensure 50A total max? I do not want to throttle either solar or DC2DC ideally.

I appreciate that in the UK I'm unlikely to see both devices providing the max but I just want to understand and make sure there will be no issues.

Thanks

Guy