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rfdon avatar image
rfdon asked

two Orion-Tr Smart: one for power, one for charge

Hi,

I recently purchased a 2023 Chrysler Pacifica PHEV and want to set up an AC and DC power system for general use, camping, and ham radio deployments.

The initial plan was to get an Orion-Tr Smart 12/12-30 (non-isolated) to sit in front of the 12V starter battery and charge a 100Ah Bioenno LiFePO4. The 100Ah LiFePO4 would then supply power to a Phoenix 12/800 inverter for 120V AC loads and a buck booster for 13.8V DC loads.

However, the voltage boosters I’d been looking at were expensive and sometimes difficult to obtain, and it seems like a second Orion unit configured in ‘power supply’ mode could do the job just fine. I’ve attached a diagram for clarity.

I would be grateful for any comments and suggestions.

Much appreciated.


rfdon

Phoenix Inverterorion-tr smart
acdc.pdf (196.3 KiB)
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2 Answers
kevgermany avatar image
kevgermany answered ·

Battery voltages are nominal and variable. Generally consumers are designed to be tolerant of the variations.

You don't say what needs exactly 13.8V, it's rather unusual. And is well within the normal range for a 12V battery. 13.8V is about the float voltage of lead acid 12V batteries.

Unless there's a load that must have 13.8V, there's no need for a second Orion as a power supply. But it will work as you drew.

Have you checked that the LiFePO4 battery can handle the inverter load? The inverter will draw up to about 70/80A and may cause the BMS to cut the supply.

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rfdon avatar image rfdon commented ·

13.8V DC would enable my radio transceivers to run at full power.

The Bioenno 100Ah LiFePO4 battery (BLF-12100AS) can provide 100A continuously (200A, 5-sec).

I would take care to ensure that the load on the inverter does not exceed 500-600W.

Thanks, @kevgermany.

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prein answered ·

Why can't you just power your DC loads from the lifepo4 battery? so remove the Orion in power-mode ..

LiFePo4 gives 13.2V in most part of the SOC range. So quite expensive to implement an extra orion for this 0.6V gain.. And: If using a radio, what is the peak power requirement? the battery will have no problem at all with high Amp spikes.. maybe the orion has, dependent on the specs of the radio..

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rfdon avatar image rfdon commented ·
Powering the radios directly from the LiFePO4 battery is certainly possible, and the extra Orion-Tr does add expense, but I need/want to know precisely how much power I'm putting into an antenna. This is useful for calculating RF propagation, RF exposure, and for ensuring that a transceiver can operate at full power. Thanks, @Prein​.
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