Renogy vs Victron Orion XS 50 amp DC-DC cell app

[trad]

I need to replace a 20a 12v Renogy dc-dc charger with more amps. I can get a Renogy 40a or the Victron 50a. I would like to have some control over the DC-DC charger and have the ability to throttle it down to say 10-20a when the system is not requiring much charging. However, when my LiFe battery is way down, and I really need to get power into it, I want to be able to throttle the DC-DC charger up when I know that I will be traveling at highway speed and getting good cooling into the engine bay.

I have no other Victron components in my RV at present. Will I be able to control the Orion XS with my cell phone completely, or do I need other blue stuff installed to get the full control of the Orion? I mainly want to throttle the Orion XS and down rate it under most circumstances to say 10-20a, but if needed, turn it on full throttle if I need more charging quickly.

I know with the Renogy there is a Bluetooth BT-2 module you can buy that adds some control over their DC-DC chargers.

Which one is better?

 

[alexalex]

All Victron products have detailed manuals
Both the Orion XS and Orion TR you can modify via BT all their settings including ramping up/down the charging amps

4. Operation, configuration and monitoring

www.victronenergy.com

 

[mikefitz]

to control the Orion XS with my cell phone completely,

Yes. You have complete control of the XS including current, the Orion TR has less control features.
The Orion XS is considerably better engineered then Renogy.
It will be easy to select the charge current on the XS using the phone app before starting a trip but the concept of adjusting the charge current on the move , ( unless you have a passanger to carry out the task), seems a dangerous plan.
One feature you may find useful is to select a long duration between the unit detecting alternator starting and producing charge current.

 

[trad]

Yes. You have complete control of the XS including current, One feature you may find useful is to select a long duration between the unit detecting alternator starting and producing charge current.

Yeah, that might do it by itself. Actually if I could program it to go to full 50a if battery state is low and vehicle state is highway cruising it would be perfect. If idling and not moving, throttle the charge current way back. Who can remember to do everything manually?

 

[HRTKD]

I'm using an Orion XS in my system right now. It works great as long as you program it right. My only issue was I set the low input voltage threshold too low and it wasn't charging. I've tweaked the output current parameter a number of times to get it dialed in. That works!

The Orion XS has much better efficiency than the Orion Tr and produces less heat.

 

[trad]

Yep, should have started with the Orion XS. Thanks All