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Victron Orion DC to DC charger with solar

loverofpeace

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Have solar in my van already with a Victron mppt. Would like to add a dc to dc charger in the coming months as power generated from solar will decrease.

Does anyone have a diagram of how to hookup this Dc to dc charger so that both it and the solar can charge my lifepo4 house battery? I’ve seen Victron’s diagram for the dc to dc but it leaves out the solar component.

Thanks!
 
Have solar in my van already with a Victron mppt. Would like to add a dc to dc charger in the coming months as power generated from solar will decrease.

Does anyone have a diagram of how to hookup this Dc to dc charger so that both it and the solar can charge my lifepo4 house battery? I’ve seen Victron’s diagram for the dc to dc but it leaves out the solar component.

Thanks!
Just wire the solar and alternator charger in parallel to the house battery. Include a fuse or circuit breaker at the starter battery and one at the output of the Orion.

Which model of Orion are you planning on using?

I am using an Orion TR 12/24-15 Smartcharger to do alternator charging of my 24V house battery. For this particular Orion I am using a 50A breaker at the starter battery and a 30A breaker at the Orion output to the house battery.

I chose to use breakers instead of fuses so I could use them as disconnects. If you don't care about that, fuses would be a lot cheaper.
 
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12/12 30a isolated smart charger but i need to check my alternator. It’s an 86 T3 and if it still has the original one it 30a could be a bit too much for it. If so I may end up going with the 12/12 18a instead.
 
12/12 30a isolated smart charger but i need to check my alternator. It’s an 86 T3 and if it still has the original one it 30a could be a bit too much for it. If so I may end up going with the 12/12 18a instead.
Same power draw from the alternator as mine.

I am using this 50A breaker to feed my Orion.



Locate it right were you tap into the alternator. That way the breaker will protect the wires between the alternator and the Orion in the event they get shorted out. Dirt cheap and easy to mount. No reason to add a disconnect here. It is in a terrible place anyway. Something like the linked breaker is designed to live in an engine compartment.

50A is fine assuming your are using reasonable sized wire. I am using 6 AWG wires to connect the alternator to the Orion. That can easily handle 50A without burning up.
 
Here is a diagram on the Victron website. I'm trying to figure out this part too. I currently don't have alternator charging of the house batteries as part of my plan, but I'm in an RV with a 10k generator as an option if solar is not sufficient. Still deciding.

https://www.victronenergy.com/uploa...example-4-PIN-VE-Bus-BMS-Lithium-Orion-Tr.pdf
Interesting 60A breakers in and out on the Orion. My design uses a 50A in and a 30A out.

Breakers are to protect the wires anyway.
 
LOP, I think you're overcomplicating things. Connecting solar and the DC-DC charger is no different than solar and a AC-DC converter. On my RV trailer, the solar throttles back when the converter is active.
 
LOP, I think you're overcomplicating things. Connecting solar and the DC-DC charger is no different than solar and a AC-DC converter. On my RV trailer, the solar throttles back when the converter is active.
Agreed just connect them in parallel to the battery.
 
A follow up question for those in the know. I have a Victron Orion DC-DC Charger. I want to install a lithium as my house battery on my teardrop. I know the converter is meant to charge Lead Acid and probably only puts out 13.6V or so charging (I need to measure it with voltmeter but I think that's what it outputs).

Can I wire a DC DC charger in parallel with output from the converter to power the DC DC charger to charge the battery? I'm not sure how I can do that and still have the battery supply power back to the 12v systems when boondocking, however.
 
Can I wire a DC DC charger in parallel with output from the converter to power the DC DC charger to charge the battery? I'm not sure how I can do that and still have the battery supply power back to the 12v systems when boondocking, however.

You can always start your own thread on this. If you include a sketch, even on a napkin with a cell phone pic, that would help me understand.
 
A follow up question for those in the know. I have a Victron Orion DC-DC Charger. I want to install a lithium as my house battery on my teardrop. I know the converter is meant to charge Lead Acid and probably only puts out 13.6V or so charging (I need to measure it with voltmeter but I think that's what it outputs).

Can I wire a DC DC charger in parallel with output from the converter to power the DC DC charger to charge the battery? I'm not sure how I can do that and still have the battery supply power back to the 12v systems when boondocking, however.
I don't know enough to say it's a bad idea but it sounds like something you would only want to do if you were in a situation where you didn't have the ability to acquire a converter designed to charge a lithium battery. You should seek to avoid unnecessary complexity.

You should ask Victron and see what they say. You may run into problems if the converter doesn't want to supply the appropriate amount of current to the DC-DC charger, or you may not.

That being said if you did that I don't see why it would prevent you from using 12v loads.
 
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