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tiktaalik avatar image
tiktaalik asked

How to wire Orion DC Charger for a single combined Lithium Starter and House Battery

I am fairly new to the Victron Universe and I am in the process of helping someone with a wiring diagram where they want to remove starter battery in the engine bay and replace it with a combined starter/house Lithium battery in the rear of the vehicle. Looking at the two wiring diagrams for the Orion DC-DC charger, this scenario is not included, which is why I am asking for help here.

I’m assuming they would need to follow the Victron Charger Diagram but the starter would be omitted and there would need to be additional battery cables from the starter/aux (installed after the DC Charger)?

The DC Charger can only accept 6AWG cables and for a relocated starter battery the cables from the starter to the starter battery would need to be 1/0 so I am assuming those would need to be run independently of the DC charger?

If anyone has attempted something like this before I would very much appreciate your input.


Thanks!


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orion dc-dcwiring diagram
7efcdcae-94c4-4972-8f3a-c5026c4f7f0e.jpeg (143.0 KiB)
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mkeefe237 avatar image mkeefe237 commented ·

Hi. Did you ever get an answer to your question above. I too am currently installing a lithium Ion battery, (Dakota Lithium + 12V 320AH LIFEPO4 DUAL PURPOSE BATTERY with 1000CCA) I was looking at either the (Orion XS 12-12v 50A DC-DC Charger) or (VICTRON ENERGY® ORION-TR SMART 12/12-18A ISOLATED DC-DC CHARGER) I'd prefer to use a chassis ground (Orion XS 12-12v 50A DC-DC Charger). Any help on how you ended up wiring the DC-DC charger would be appreciated.

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pwfarnell avatar image pwfarnell mkeefe237 commented ·

@MKeefe237 See recent answer below

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3 Answers
dc4me avatar image
dc4me answered ·

Depends on what you are starting, be careful with using Lithium for a starter battery.

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kevgermany avatar image
kevgermany answered ·

This risks getting to a low house battery/no start situation.

Starter battery should be retained to smooth out alternator fluctuations. What's the reason behind this change?

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pwfarnell avatar image
pwfarnell answered ·

There have been several posts over the years of people trying this with the Orion DC to DC chargers and having voltage regulation problems on the alternator. The trouble is the voltage regulator on the alternator can get out of phase with the Orion control because there is no buffering of the alternator output if it is only connected to the Orion. The alternator regulator can not respond quickly enough. You can get alternator to battery chargers that do this but they have extra control circuitry in them to manage the alternator. You also have to consider what will happen to the alternator if the lithium battery stops taking charge suddenly and the Orion shuts down. If the Orion is the only load on the alternator then the alternator see a load dump and can generate a very high voltage. The alternator diodes may be avalanche type but downstream electronics may still be damaged. Having a battery between the alternator and the Orion will limit such spikes.

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