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With 48v, if you lose one cell, you have no battery bank. With 24V, you still would have half your bank. I would go with 24V. As to 30A vs 50A: The dividing line is usually whether the RV has one or two air conditioners.

Anybody switch to LiFePO4 and regret it? <Silence> <Mic drop>

I can't believe how often I see cheap-ass breakers of dubious quality being used, often by people who should know better. Good high-current DC breakers and fuses cost $.

I used to use "real" CAD programs, but Visio works for most purposes. You can grab any image you see on a website, and then import it into Visio.

Were the batteries both fully charged to begin with (both topping out at 14.0-14.6V)? It's hard to kill a BB unless they are run down AND then left for months without recharging. The "dead" battery is likely below the LV cutoff. It's not truly 3-4V (more like 10V internally, which is not fatal)

The ambient temperatures were 55-75 degrees. Other than this issue, the Orion works wonderfully, and the output "foldback" appears to work smoothly. This week, I put an 85cfm 12v computer fan just above the heat sink (powered by the input voltage), and the heat problem is gone. Bloggers have...

The theory, I suppose, is that both + and - are floating/hot, and can potentially generate voltages against ground, so both wires should be protected and switched. That's the safest.

I'm not a fan of aluminum. Solid copper or nickel plated copper is king. When all is said and done, at 1C draw does it get warm?

I'm convinced. Thank you

But so true. Fuses don't often save electronics. They just try to keep it from becoming a big fire.

My solution at the moment for the BMV: --Set Charged Voltage to 0.3V below the Absorption Voltage of the charger(s) (eg: 14.1V for 14.4V Absorption). This is in line with what Victron recommends. --Set Tail Current at 4% (pretty standard) --Set Charged Detection Time to 2 min (instead of the...

Alternator ratings are only valid at ideal conditions: sufficient RPMs and cool temps. A 65A alternator is too small for a 30A DC-DC. Victron makes an 18A. Speaking only for myself: I would want an alternator with a rating 3x to 4x the input current of the DC-DC. Our stock alternator is rated...

Cyclists like kilometers because they tick off faster. People concerned about their weight like kilograms because the lower number sounds like they're lighter. But meters? It's just too large of an increment.

Victron generally makes very good (albeit spendy) products, but calling their 2400 watt inverter/charger the "Multiplus xx/3000/xx", boils my blood. This is the kind of misleading nameplating that smells of the cheap crapola overrated inverters of yesteryear (and still out there to some...

Relion is maybe the only one to do it right, for an internal heater that is internally controlled. Below 0dgC, all incoming charging current is diverted to an internal heater. When the battery is sufficiently warmed, the charging can begin. No battery power is ever used to run the heaters...

The Class T fuses are expensive, but I trust them the most for a main battery fuse. They have extremely high voltage and current interruption capability, and zero chance of melted debris dropping somewhere when they blow (unlike some ANL fuses). Everything is sealed inside a ceramic casing.

While in Frankfurt, we rode with a couple in their new Audi on the silky-smooth Autobahn, at 165kph (102mph). No speed limit signs. We were moving along with typical traffic. The DW/XYL and I were slinking down in our seats with fear.

I'm wondering whether the Orion is switching in and out of low voltage disconnects. In our case, we ran a wire directly from the starter battery terminal with #2 wire (w/MBRF fuse ). It's really important to have a stiff input supply to the Orion, with minimal wiring losses. With 10.8V input...

I'm giving you all I can, captain. She's gonna blow for sure...

Will: There can be a lot of sun at locations well below freezing. Many of them are in your state of residence. :)

Did it live?

Do any of the "residential-grade" MPPT chargers have this? We're using a Victron Smart Solar MPPT, with a BMV 712 with temp sensor/voltage sample that bolts to battery +. We networked them so that the temp and voltage from the BMV is shared with the MPPT. Is the MPPT using the battery sample...

Yes, you should have a 60a fuse or breaker between the 12v starter battery and the Orion DC to DC charger, and arguably 25a protection between the Orion charger and the +24v bus bar. As your schematic (but not the parts list) shows, this unit would be a Orion 12/24-15. What's the red line...

Link for higher-quality version of this chart? This renews my wish for a charge controller that programmably rolls back the max charge rate with temperature.

Fortunately, by the time the battery is topping out and entering absorption, the charge current and therefore the wire/connector voltage losses should be small. In our case, I compute the voltage differential to be 0.0078v.

Are those roof-rack rails on the front of your trailer? We went with Anderson/PowerPole connectors, with jacks on the outside of the trailer. Where does Zamp get off on reversing the industry standard polarity?

I have it mounted vertically. My clearance above the device is slightly less than the specs, so I added a small computer fan to pull air over the fins. In past experience, I've found that any amount of forced air circulation over heat sinks is a huge improvement over passive cooling. This...

Good points from Snoobler and Dzl. It's very rare that more than 40A is ever drawn from a fuse box. The slideout motors and furnace fan might be the biggest draws. The fusebox can be anywhere. Get under 2 or 3% loss (round trip) at 40 amps if you can. OEM probably is probably #6 wire. My...

My business is technology. We will never go back, nor should we. Far fewer errors with metric. Quick, what is the next size up from a 13/64" drill? Time is up....

If the battery has a BMS, it would disconnect before destroying the battery. Also, the brakes only pull a few amps - much less than I would have guessed. If a trailer gets loose, there are many other things that could break that would be more concerning.

2000VA is not 2000 watts. (Google: real vs apparent power). The Multiplus 12/2000 is only rated at 1600W continuous at 75dg F, and 1450W at 100dg. In a closed compartment, it will very often be over 75dg. It's really a 1450W inverter, which is barely big enough to power an AC with a...

It appears that most of the time, the Lion batteries are not available at all (even by special order) at Costco, and then they pop up for limited promotional periods.

For devices with inrush currents, we go with 1.5x. Otherwise, I completely agree.

The BMV 712 is great, and sells for just over $200 at many locations. The optional external wired temp sensor can be bundled for $20 more, which also replaces the positive battery lead, and adds temp measurement at the battery terminal. I'm not sure why you might also need the wireless battery...

SolarTech sells 100w 24V panels https://www.toboaenergy.com/product/solartech-power-spm100p-wp-n-solar-panel-100-watt-24v/?_vsrefdom=adwords&gclid=Cj0KCQjwutaCBhDfARIsAJHWnHvUdhadFZ0aJB2qGQd423J9NJ5Z36urta8vYGObUkVbeKtstgBFHe4aAp_VEALw_wcB Newpowa sells 24V 120W and 200W panels.

Noalox helps. I hate aluminum for electrical, but it's an unavoidable reality. More commonly it's a copper alloy or plated copper joining with aluminum.

What loads are on the batteries? (Obviously, the Smart Shunt current is showing the charge current minus any loads). Does the Orion run hot? Does the Orion have more output when it's first turned on, in a cool state? If you were to first run your batteries down below 13.2V, what kind of...

Good points. Will's tests appear to cut off the bottom at higher than 2.5/10v. Typical BMS bottoms appear to range from 2.0/8 to 2.625/10.5. There's not much % left below 2.625, but still.....

Recommendations on micro inverters?

Regarding short cycles: there was an article that mentioned that chargers with excessive AC ripple unnecessarily age Lithium batteries. In essence, it's like having 60 mini-cycles per second. The take away, as I recall, was that for longer life, it's arguably better to have a few medium...

The most important thing is to size the wiring to the fuse you intend to use. For 2000W, something around a 250A fuse is usually recommend, at which point most charts recommend 4/0, even for a short run.

For Li, has anyone tried programming in a lower absorption voltage (e.g.: 13.8V), and then used the equalization function to absorb at a higher voltage (e.g.: 14.4V) at pre-programmed intervals (e.g.: once a week)?

I've had long conversations with utility company execs. It's all about $$. New subdivisions are generally undergrounded, but there is NO money for undergrounding the established neighborhoods, unless the landowners pay for it all. You want real spider webs? Try India!

I've had the 30A version of your unit for nearly a year. It charges at 28-33A until it gets hot to the touch, at which time the current folds back. The lowest I've seen it was 16A on a very hot day. The Orion has inadequate cooling, in my opinion. If you're only seeing 8-10A output with the...

With 4/0 throughout, it's pretty damn close.

BB recommends an 11.5V inverter cutoff, but nothing wrong with being more conservative. (I too want enough juice left to run the furnace fan overnight!) Their BMS cuts off at 10V. Other LiFePO4 batteries are often set as low as 8V/2.0 per cell, which is scraping the bottom.