question

twitcomb avatar image
twitcomb asked

Orion-Tr Smart 12/12-30 DC-DC Charger (Non-Isolated) - distance from aux battery

Can't find any specific advice on this.
I understand the reasoning behind having it as close as possible to the aux/leisure batteries, but I can't find any further definition of what would be considered too far away.

I've got a lovely vented metal space underneath my passenger seat that would very nicely fit the requirements of the DC-DC being in a well-ventilated area, mounted vertically on a non-flammable surface... but my battery bank is at the back of the van, around 3.5m away.

Uno problemo, or should be good, with 16mm2/6AWG cable?

battery chargingcampervanleisure batteries
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3 Answers
Sarah avatar image
Sarah answered ·

Hi @twitcomb at 30 amps and 12 volts you are looking at a .5 volt voltage drop if you use 16 mm2 cable (take a look at the cable calc app). The Orions can get quite hot so ventilation is important. You can increase the voltage on the Orion slightly to compensate for this.

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twitcomb answered ·

Great, so on a 30A charger, over 5m (one way) I'm looking at 2.7% (0.3V) voltage drop on 16mm² cable? Or would it be double that to account for +ve & -ve?


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Sarah avatar image
Sarah answered ·

Hi @twitcomb you need to double the length to account for the loss in both directions. Have a read of the wiring unlimited document for some good back ground. https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Wiring-Unlimited-EN.pdf

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