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bluenomads avatar image
bluenomads asked

Paralleling Orion buck converters

I need to get more amps to my 12v system from the 48v battery.

It is written that, since each Orion 48-12 are internally short-circuit proofed (the manual), an unlimited number can be paralleled (the manual). Note these are not chargers. So if I have a 70amp 12v draw, I could use 1x30amp + 2x20amp Orion's to match the need: the Orion's will self-limit their current output without one short-circuiting if impedance is slightly different.

To be clear, yes I know the Orion can output more than it's rating for short periods. Think of my requirement being the 12v amperage for 48hours.

So my plan was to have a 48v busbar on one side, an Orion bunch in the middle, and a 12v busbar on the other side.

The question is: each Orion outputs voltage according to the small pot. This pot is not easy to manipulate. There seems to be no electronic control (CAN, Cerbo, etc.).

How can I get identical voltage off more than one Orion 48-12 so they perfectly match?

Is it needed?

orion dc-dc
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3 Answers
Michelle Konzack avatar image
Michelle Konzack answered ·

No chance to get this PERFECT adjusted.


I have tried this with four Orion-Tr 24/24-12 and failed (charging my 24V electric tractor using a PzS 220Ah Battery). You can set it up +-0,2V and that it is.


I hope, you want to charge only Lead-Acid Batteries because Lithium one would not forgive.


However, I have four DC-DC Inverter and the Voltage difference is in a range of 0,2V. I set it up to charger 29,6V and it works very fine.


Note: I bought the Orion-Tr 24/24-12 in a time, where the isolated DC-DC-Charger did not exist (2020)

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bluenomads avatar image bluenomads commented ·
Thanks Michelle. That's what I was afraid of.

Fortunately (or not?) I'm not using the Orion to charge, just to provide a stabilised 12v busbar from the 48v battery for those things that can't be 48v natively. I'm not electrical savvy person, so don't know if having different voltages (by 0.2v) going into a single busbar will make a difference when there's a large spike in amps needed that's far beyond a single Orion...

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kevgermany answered ·

I've been able to adjust to 0.1V. I've not paralleled the outputs, but as the manual says it's ok, connecting to busbars will work.

Is it an option to have the outputs separate and distribute the loads?

Give yourself plenty of headroom in the capacity of the 12V system. And make sure there's plenty of cooling air. They'll reduce output to prevent overheating if operated at high power for too long.


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prein avatar image
prein answered ·

Just connect them together. Only result of the voltage difference is that one orion will supply more amps to the loads. There will no current going back to another orion..

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