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randallemarshall asked

Will a vehicle alternator damage an Orion-TR 48|12-30 Isolated DC/DC Converter?

My travel trailer came with a 12v lead acid house battery. The output of my Orion will be connected directly to the house battery. My tow vehicle also charges the house battery with up to 14.5 volts from the vehicle alternator but at a low current through the 7-pin tow cable. The Orion input will be connected to my 48v LiFePO4 battery.

Last year my Chinese brand converter failed spectacularly, I believe as a result of the unexpected alternator voltage reaching the 12v output side of the converter. I also didn't have a house battery. It wasn't meant to be a battery charger either. Lots of failures on my part.

But anyway, this Orion is a battery charger. So back to my question, the fluctuating alternator's voltage won't damage the output side of the Orion right? If I removed the 12v house battery could it then damage the Orion? I don't plan to remove the house battery this time, especially because I should be able to turn the Orion on and off remotely based on house battery voltage, but I am still curious. And 30 amps is a little low to rely on. Thanks!

EDIT: Is this DC-DC converter smart? All I can find online says it offers a float charge so no 3 stage charging?

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1 Answer
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kevgermany answered ·

It's not really a charger, but is a fixed voltage converter. So it's ok as a charger if your batteries are suitable for fixed voltage charging and the output voltage is set to meet the battery. This you need to check with the battery specs/suppliers. The Orion TR Smart range does have three stage charging.

Damage from vehicle alternator? No idea, sorry. It's going to depend on what the vehicle sends through the seven pole. For this you need to go back to the vehicle supplier. I'd guess that if the vehicle output is within the output range of the Orion, it will be ok, but if you have a smart alternator feeding direct it could be much higher.

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randallemarshall avatar image randallemarshall commented ·

That is unfortunate. It seems Victron does not yet have a smart 48v to 12v DC-DC battery charger. I may instead utilize the trailers converter which takes 120v ac and smart charges the 12v dc battery. Not exactly ideal to go from 48v dc to 120v ac and back to 12v dc. The efficiency would be roughly 80% vs 87% with the Orion. This would solve my alternator concerns also.

The Victron Smartshunt has an aux battery input I could hook the 12v system to. Would I be able to use the relay on the Cerbo GX or Multiplus 2 to turn on the inverter when the 12v battery reaches lets say 50% and back off after reaching 100%? (Assuming no other AC loads active on the inverter)

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kevgermany avatar image kevgermany ♦♦ randallemarshall commented ·
Where is the 48V battery and how is it charged?

What's the low current on the 7pin?

Might just be best to put a 12/12 smart Orion on the 7pin feed. If you're traveling enough keep it charged. They're designed for smart alternators, so voltage spikes shouldn't damage it.


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randallemarshall avatar image randallemarshall kevgermany ♦♦ commented ·
I'll charge the battery with a Multiplus 2 48v 120v that I have on order. It's back-ordered right now. The battery will be in the same compartment as the Multiplus. The 7-pin only puts out a trickle charge of an amp or two. Eventually I may take advantage of the alternator but it hasn't been a top priority for my driving amount.
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