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bwilless avatar image
bwilless asked

12/12/30 DC/DC charger drawing >>30 A

I have my 12/12/30 mounted ~25' from my Alternator source. I have a 60A breaker protecting the connection from the alternator source. When I start the engine, then turn on the converter it draws ~77A and trips the 60A breaker. I have #8 cu for the feed. I've ordered some 1/0 wire to replace the #8, but I'm afraid that something is wrong with my converter. I expect it to draw ~30A to protect my alternator. Any ideas why my unit is drawing so much current on the line side?

charge current limit
2 |3000

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1 Answer
jkmann avatar image
jkmann answered ·

The AWG 8 wire is undersized for a 25' run to the Orion. Replacing that could fix your problem. You could try running a jumper from the battery to the Orion to see if that resolves it.

When the Orion first kicks on it will get a normal voltage reading from the boat battery and then almost immediately it will drop down due to the voltage drop across your 25' run. The back and forth as the Orion is presented with these different voltages could be causing your issue.

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