question

corbijn avatar image
corbijn asked

Orion TR Smart 12/12 18a - says its charging, no current.

Hi There,

I have an Orion TR Smart 12/12 18a (Isolated) which I believe may be faulty.

  1. The voltage at the input is 13.8v
  2. The voltage at the output is 13.2v which is true to the battery
  3. The charger says it is on bulk mode however there are no amps going to the battery (BMV712 confirms this)
  4. I also tested the device on Power Supply mode and it was producing enough volts to turn the display on but the fridge compressor would not start. It was reading 9.6v at the output terminals

Actions I've taken to remedy it

  1. Checked all wiring and bypassed the shunt to confirm no issue there.
  2. Reset the device to the factory settings and set it up again (including the remote wire bridge)
  3. Used larger cables
  4. Tested the battery would charge via an MPPT and 240v supply
  5. I had the car running for 30 minutes to give it a chance to kick in ...

I believe I have exhausted all options however I thought I would put it out here to the brain's trust. The device is new to me so it's not a case of it was working for me before.


Here is the screen of the charger in Bulk Mode, reading the voltages correctly


img-2340.png


This screen shows that the BMV smart shunt is showing no amps to the battery. Note the 0.00a under the SmartBMV line.,


img-2344.png


My settings are below. I did try dropping the start voltage to 13.6 to see if it made a difference - no difference.img-2341.pngimg-2342.png


I'm assuming this unit is faulty ...

orion-tr smartfault
img-2340.png (305.6 KiB)
img-2344.png (200.2 KiB)
img-2341.png (174.3 KiB)
img-2342.png (180.2 KiB)
2 comments
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klim8skeptic avatar image klim8skeptic ♦ commented ·
An isolated or non isolated Orion?
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corbijn avatar image corbijn klim8skeptic ♦ commented ·
Hi @klim8skeptic - it is isolated - thanks! I will update the description.
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1 Answer
kevgermany avatar image
kevgermany answered ·

Yes, seems faulty.

One point, your second image. Orion's don't have the extra information you're seeing for the BMV/Smart Solar. But the BMV would show the current. If wiring correct.

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corbijn avatar image corbijn commented ·

I might be mistaken but the extra info on the BMV is drawn from its reading. So if it sees current on the meter it would show it there? I am 99% it's all wired correctly,

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kevgermany avatar image kevgermany ♦♦ corbijn commented ·
Yes. Common problem is that there are extra connections to the neg terminal of the monitored battery. This causes current through them to bypass the shunt. Should only the battery side of the shunt connected to the battery neg. All other neg connections to the load side of the shunt so it seems everything.


. But the Orion first print shows it doing nothing in bulk mode and with voltages that don't match your settings.

So looks like the Orion.


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corbijn avatar image corbijn kevgermany ♦♦ commented ·
Thanks for that. The voltages at the "Output" side of the Orion do seem to read the battery, albeit with a slight difference. I do need to look into that!


The only cable connected to the neg terminal on the battery is the cable running to the shunt so that is all good. Thanks for checking though!

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