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New wire run for Victron Orion-Tr Smart Isolated 12/12-30

Voyagr12

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Mar 24, 2022
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In the process of changing over my travel trailer Battery to lithium. In doing so it is my understanding to use something like the Orion Smart 12/12 - 30 DC - DC charger. It is also my understanding that best case is to run a new wire from starter battery back to trailer battery. I actually have 2 questions.

1. My vehicle has a positive terminal in the fuse box in the engine compartment that I have planned to connect the positive to. But where to connect the negative wire? From what I have researched you can just connect to any bolt just about on frame or engine compartment. Is this true and then at that point do I need to run negative wire all the way to the front of the vehicle or just attach negative to frame at rear of vehicle and save the extra length of wire?

2. I know I need a fuse on that positive wire but not sure exactly what type of fuse to use. I have seen the inline wired fuses with the two wires hanging out of either side but having troubles finding a 6 AWG 40 amp inline fuse of this type. Could someone post a picture or link of an example of the correct fuse to use in this case?

Thanks so much and I realize these are really basic stupid questions for the pros most likely but...just trying to learn and do it right with little experience.
 
In the past I would connect directly to the battery. But the battery cable connections on recent vehicles can make that difficult to do. Find a solid connection on the biggest cable downstream of the battery. There are usually negative connections in the engine compartment. Start at the starter and trace the negative cable back to its source. The same could be said of the positive.

I would want something more stout than an inline ATC fuse. It could be something like an MBRF fuse, MEGA fuse or ANL fuse.

Keep in mind that your trailer's breakaway system needs to have power. If you sever or bypass the 12v charge circuit from the 7-pin you'll still need to run power back from the LiFePO4 to where the trailer breakaway system is connected. One way around that is to put a small lead acid battery in place of the current battery and keep that connected to the 7-pin circuit. However, if there are long periods of time between when the trailer is used then the lead acid battery won't last long.
 
Thanks for the help. I will trace back from the starter to find a good positive and negative connection. I will also look into using one of the fuses you mentioned. Thanks so much!
 
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