question

clubbers avatar image
clubbers asked

Orion 24/12 70amp charging my 12 lead acid

Hi.

I have very large 24v lifepo4 house bank on my boat, and I also have 2x Orion 24/12 70a in parallell to give my boat 12v. Now I want to connect that (in a very safe way) to trickle charge my normal lead acid start batteries.
Can I just connect them directly, or should I make sure they're only trickle charge in some way? How? I'm thinking I should be able to charge them directly, and once they're are topped up, they will just stop taking more charge, or is this wrong and I will overcharge them and blow them up? (I'm not gonna connect them when empty, since that will charge too fast, as they are only 80ah each).

Orion DC-DC Converters not smartorion dc-dc
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2 Answers
kevgermany avatar image
kevgermany answered ·

Safest way is to add an Orion 24/12 charger between the lithium bank and the starters. But are the starters wired together? If not then add an Orion per starter, otherwise there's a risk of high current between the starters on the charging wiring.

Probably worth getting a marine electrician to check your setup first and follow the advice given..

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clubbers avatar image clubbers commented ·

You need to read my question again. I already have 2x Orion chargers. This model is both dc to dc and charger. I just need to make sure it's absolutely safe.

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JohnC avatar image
JohnC answered ·

Hi @Clubbers

What I do is trickle charge the starter batts at a flat rate of 13.6V, and switch that in using the Remote terminal, driven by Multiplus Assistants. Swiched on when my house bank is above 90% SOC and has a healthy Charge V (ie. the solar is working well, and past the point where I need it to prioritize the house bank).

So the starter batts usually get a daily trickle dose for a few hours, but aren't left on all night. Works well..

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