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Victron DCDC 12/12-30 charger no bluetooth on new install

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Roadrunner27

New Member
Joined
Nov 8, 2023
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Location
Maine
Just finished wiring system in an RV with two 200 AH batteries in parallel. Charger doesn't show up on APP, says no devices found. Tried numerous
times. Disconnected battery, etc and no change, have app for the 712 and has worked fine.
LED on on charger and power supply is correct.
Not sure what to do
Any thoughts or help appreciated.
Thanks
 
If you have a shunt on the system to show overall charging and discharging, does it matter?

Either you have enough power or you don't.
 
Okay just went back out to check. It isn't the Smart version, honestly didn't realize there were two versions. So I guess the only adjustment to be made is on the output.
Is it worth it to replace it with the Smart version?
Does this play well with LifePO4 batteries?
Have 712 in place so I guess it can be monitored just no other adjustments.
Thanks all
 
Roadrunner27 said:
Okay just went back out to check. It isn't the Smart version, honestly didn't realize there were two versions. So I guess the only adjustment to be made is on the output.
Is it worth it to replace it with the Smart version?
Does this play well with LifePO4 batteries?
Have 712 in place so I guess it can be monitored just no other adjustments.
Thanks all
Click to expand...
Would you mind sharing the model number?

Is it the Orion 12-12 30 amp converter. There’s many different options based off the model number.

If its not a smart version, and it does not have a VRM port, the only way I can thing of is adding a seperate shunt and that is pricey. THere’s also programming with Rasberry pi, but that is beyond me.

Honestly though, I get enough info off my one shunt the BMV-712 for when my AC to DC converter is chargign to make me happy, its just not in one place. On the Bluetooth app, I check the shunt to see amps in or out, check the same app for MPPTs to see how much its feeding, then look at the wattage load on the Samlex inverter screen, and I can figure out if the converter is feeding. Easier, is to just watch the 712 as I power the converter up and see the load go down by 35 amps and start chargign with any excess.
 
If you want it to charge a battery pretty sure you need the smart version, as it actually switches between stages of bulk, absorption, float etc like a proper charger. The non smart Orions are like a power supply, for powering devices. So it's not just the BT connection that differs between them.
 
Last edited:
Only practical way to use that is to set it to 13.6V. You will get limited charging with negligible risk of overcharging. Here's an example of charging a 12V 100Ah to 13.6V @ 20A (just happened to do this last night):

1707576356653.png

Battery was dead empty (discharged to 10V @ 30A).\

Charged at 20A for about 2.5 hours when 13.6V was hit.

Dropped to 12A over less than 1 hour at about 55-62% SoC.

Current drop rate slowed to a fairly steady taper until 2A termination where battery received 104.6Ah after having 105.5Ah pulled out.

Total charge time at 7.5 hours.
 
If I wired the bridge to a switch and kinda monitor it is that acceptable? Could I leave it at 14.2 and just shut it down when approaching a full battery?
Thanks all
 
I agree with @sunshine_eggo . Set it to 13.5 volts constant. Which model Victron converter do you have?

I have a small solar generator that I have not paid attention to and twice killed the battery from over draining it. I’m sure the capacity is less,but I am not going to go through the effort of load testing and top balancing to be sure.

That was the human BMS failing.

99% of the time I get it right, 1% of the time I might forget I have a 230 watt load on a 1200 watt hour battery as the sun sets. Twice I woke up to find that the BMS voltage of 2.25 votls per cell tripped from being under voltage. THat 2.25 volts is fixed on the BMS and can’t adjust and I want the cutoff to be 2.7 - 3.0 volts to prevent battery damage.

A lot of effort went into making that battery pack, not to mention the expense, and it is now degraded.

I would not want to risk charging a battery to a higher voltage and risking the cells getting unbalanced and tripping the BMS or worst cells swelling and being ruined..
 
If you routinely drive for 20-30 hours without stopping then I would definitely set it to 13.6v.

Really, you should probably just get a proper charger with a higher output. Even if you're getting 30A that's only .075c for a 400ah battery bank. Not a lot of bang for your buck, and you'd only get 30A when the battery has low SOC.

Say you have it set to 13.6v and your battery is at 90%, you would have to drive for about 4 hours before the battery is full, assuming the 10A from the chart above.
 
What is this used for? Do you have another charger you'll be using as well? Typically these are just for alternator charging while driving thus setting to 13.6v will get you the charge you want and as long as you use an actual charger sometimes it'll be fine.

BTW I've had multiple issues with my Victronconnect app not showing any BT or even networked cerbogx's and I have like 5-10 BT Victron devices all in/around my rig. For some reason I need to restart my phone for them to pop up. Unrelated since your device isn't "smart"
 
Okay I'll set it at the proper voltage for now. What would be your choice for a DCDC charger with 400 AH?
The one I have now is a 12/12-30 Orion-TR DC/DC isolated converter.
And yes it's just for alternator protection although I'm not sure it's needed. Alternator output at idle is 185 and max is 275
Have a proper charger I could use if needed at times, solar is very minimal and would be next upgrade if I survive this one.
Thanks all
 
That's perfect. It'll only get you 400w but you can add more in parallel if you want more output.
 
Roadrunner27 said:
Okay I'll set it at the proper voltage for now. What would be your choice for a DCDC charger with 400 AH?
The one I have now is a 12/12-30 Orion-TR DC/DC isolated converter.
And yes it's just for alternator protection although I'm not sure it's needed. Alternator output at idle is 185 and max is 275
Have a proper charger I could use if needed at times, solar is very minimal and would be next upgrade if I survive this one.
Thanks all
Click to expand...
If the Orion is your main method of charging you'll definitely want something more robust like around 100A.

I charge my 200ah battery directly from the alternator via the starter battery and a relay. I'm not usually driving for hours at a time so it's a good way for me to rapidly charge. Haven't had any problems doing that for 3 years or so with a Ram Promaster, but all vehicles are different. So definitely want to do some research if you think you want to go down that route. Mostly you want to make sure the voltage and current your alternator outputs is tolerable.

In my experience wire size and resistance will limit the current. When I upgraded my busbars I went from 50-60A to 80-90A with the same wiring. Never had any problems with things getting hot or blowing fuses.

But a DC-DC charger is a very safe bet, just kind of spendy to get up to a reasonable charge rate for your battery.
 
Okay so I swapped it out for a DCDC smart charger. Everything seems just fine wiring wise but it doesn't charge while driving. Charging off generator and shore power but not alternator. Believe it's in my settings but not sure, have them listed below.
on charger
charger enabled
absorption at 14.4
float at 13.6
bulk time at 10 hr
re-bulk volts at .10
Shut down
start voltage at 13.9
delayed start at 13.8
delays start delay at 120 min
shutdown at 13.5
Input voltage lock out at 12.5 to 12.8
Do I need to change any of these parameters for charger to work?
Thanks all
 
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