Hi @Justin Cook - Bay Marine Supply USA
I am from Brazil and I am very happy to have found friends and this Victron Energy community because I have been looking for help for a project of mine for a long time, which I explain below:
I intend to buy an Orion-Tr Smart isolated 12 / 12-30A (360W) or 12 / 12-18A (220W) but I have technical doubts about which one to buy and how it works!
Well, I have a S10 Chevrolet 4x4 Diesel 2019 Pickup with alternator of these new (smart) 140A and a "Camper" on top of the bucket we want to travel across countries, and I need to charge my batteries better during the trips and I don't want to depend on energy external electrical. So I have the following equipment.
- In the Pickup an original lead-acid battery of 70Ah (12V) with alternator of 140A.
- In the "Camper" four Lithium-Ion batteries (but I'm changing to 4 LifePo4 equals I think are better) of 12v - 125Ah each connected in parallel totaling 500Ah.
Ps .: In "Camper" I also have a 310W solar panel with an MPTT controller (not from Victron) connected to the batteries, which gives me in good sunny conditions, a current of about 23A. This is currently my only source of battery charging for the "Camper/Mini Motorhome" and I depend on the sun and good days. So I intend to connect the Pickup's alternator and battery with my Camper to help with the charging of the Lithium batteries while driving or when the engine is running. Looking for the solution, that's when I arrived at the solution of an Orion-TR-Smart, but which ?? Will it work? !!
Doubts:
1- In Orion's 360W datasheet, it shows that it delivers 30A at the output (and up to 40A), and you wrote in a post (@theodk) that at any given moment it would pull in the input (battery / alternator) from 38 to 45A. I ask, could that force the alternator, warm up a lot more and work harder at the limit? See that the Pickup when I drive at night and with rain for example and have everything on, like high and low headlights, headlamps, air conditioning, windshield wipers, radio, GPS, cell phone chargers, charging the Pickup battery more etc.etc. the alternator must be generating high currents, and having to send as many 45A as possible to the Orion-TR Smart wouldn't it be bad or do these alternators work very loose even at maximum loads of all electronics that the car originally requires?
Taking this situation into account, would it be better this 360W or the Orion 220W model that would pull less from the van / alternator?
2- Orion will be installed inside the "Camper" next to the batteries, and this should give about 6m of wires from the front of the truck's engine to inside the Camper. (I intend to use 5 or 6 AWG wire). I ask, do I need to take the two wires straight from the battery or could I just take a red one (from the battery's positive) and pull the negative back there straight from the chassis of the pickup truck and then go inside the Camper. In other words the red thread would be 6 meters long but the negative black would only have 2 meters at the end! Or should the two wires run straight out of the battery terminals? The negative of the Pickup and alternator battery are connected to the car chassis by thick wires in more than one point, it seems to me!
3- Another doubt and important question! Remembering that I have a solar panel on the "Camper" with an MPTT controller (not Victron) connected to the Lithium batteries and charging them (in good sunshine, up to a maximum of 23A delivered by the controller of the panel, and when I install the controller / charger Orion -TR Smart more) , the two will be connected in direct parallel with the Lithium batteries, so when I'm driving on a sunny day, the two will be sending currents to the batteries and charging at the same time. I ask: Is that possible? Will one disconnect or cancel the other due to their intelligent systems? Or will they both add up to the charges and when they get close to the nominal charge value, will they fluctuate in charge until they disconnect when fully charging the batteries? Someone must have already gone through this type of situation, have solar panels in your RV and connect an Orion TR-Smart Isolated to the alternator to also charge by the vehicle alternator while driving and they must know how they behave or if they need anything else s for this type of connection!
PS. I know that when I'm driving at night, the only source of charge will be from the alternator / Orion even due to the fact that there is no more sun on the solar panel!
4- I think the 18A Orion would be a more conservative system, would require thinner wires, less alternator current, etc. I ask: The Orion 18A model HEATS less than the 30A or equal ??? I also saw in the forum many saying that the Orion 30A heats up a lot, complaining about overheating and this must also be taken into consideration!
5- I ask: Can the Orion 30A configure it to deliver lower current values? Example change it to 22 to 25A maximum at the output and do not go beyond that ??
* I will send a photo of my van equipment with "Camper".
A big hug to the friend, all members of the group and anyone who can help with questions and tips!
Best Regards!
Att,
Granada.
