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druss1677 avatar image
druss1677 asked

Orion Smart 12/24 shared negative distribution for both 12v and 24v?

I have a boat with a 12 volt DC system and am adding a bow thruster which runs on 24 volts. I will be using the Orion 12/24 to charge the new thruster battery bank from the existing house battery bank. Many other posts have said that using the non-isolated version will work on the boat and the installation diagram shows the black negative wires from both battery banks being terminated/grounded together. My question is…can a black wire from a 12 volt battery bank and a black negative wire from a 24 volt bank both be connected to the same negative distribution busbar. Many thanks for any help you can provide.

dc-dc charger
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kevgermany answered ·

Short answer, yes. But be careful not to do it with red as well.

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blindbadger answered ·

Yup! This is how I get voltage readings from both my 24v house bank and my 12v buffer battery on my rv. Like was said in the other comment, you can’t do the same with the positive connections, just the negative.

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kevgermany avatar image kevgermany ♦♦ commented ·
@Druss1677

In fact if you want voltage readings to be accurate in a mixed voltage system, the negatives have to be joined.

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druss1677 answered ·

Got it! Thanks so much to both of you for the info.

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