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jamesw avatar image
jamesw asked

ORION 12/30 setup

Victron cooling fan.jpgI am in the final stages of installing a Orion 12/30 isolated DC2DC charger. I have installed a cooling fan in advance of any potential overheating issues and it's mounted on a 1.6mm steel sheet over plywood in a caravan with good space around it. My question after all that background information is this. After having another brand of charger controlled via an ignition source previously in another camper is the Victron app to control startup/shutdown better OR an ignition switched source to control startup/shutdown? I do have a smart alternator in the tow vehicle, ie variable voltage.

orion dc-dc
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Sarah avatar image
Sarah answered ·

hi @JamesW it depends a lot on the type of alternator you have - lots of people, particularly those with smart alternators, have had mixed experiences with the engine detection features of the Orion. I would suggest configuring engine detection first and see how well it works in your environment. You can always add the additional ignition wiring later.

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jamesw avatar image jamesw commented ·
Sarah, I have a variable voltage (Smart) alternator. I like to be prepared for any scenario if I can.
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kevgermany avatar image kevgermany ♦♦ jamesw commented ·
Bearing in mind that all we see here are problems, not trouble free installations of which there must be many thousands, I'd still install the extra wire and switch using the H pin.
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jamesw avatar image jamesw kevgermany ♦♦ commented ·
As my tow vehicle is set up with an ignition trigger wire already in place at the caravan plug, it is easy to run a trigger wire to the Victron DC2DC. Despite modern electronics being fairly trouble free I still like to have a fail safe in place.
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jamesw avatar image jamesw kevgermany ♦♦ commented ·
All fitted up and running with Victron standard settings. My faith is restored! I may need to tweak the values a little but like you said many thousands of installations are probably running with no issues. Add mine to those!
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