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I am going to add 4 Lion Energy Safari 1300 105ah Lithium batteries to my 2006 motor home. I need to protect the alternator from excessively trying to charge the batteries while driving.
What is the difference between the 30 amp 360watt and the 18 amp 220watt isolated chargers?
Solar will also be added later but would the 18 amp 220 watt work in this case?
The obvious and only difference is the max current.
With the 30A model the charging is faster.
Really, what you need to ascertain is how much load you already have on your alternator from radio lights that sort of thing. Then have a look at your alts output, abs see what you can get away with on top of that.
Sad thing is, there is no current limit so the 18a can charge near 30a also
Sorry @ronhanson01 to dig up this old topic, but are you telling me if I get the Orion-tr smart 12/12-18 it may still charge 30 ampere. I know it has no ampere setting, but surely it is limited to its max?
I believe there were some changes made to prevent units running over rating due to complaints about overheating. I'd be very surprised if you do get a sustained output over 18A.
Well @kevgermany , "I believe there were some changes made" is a bit vague if I am about to spend money on it. It would be good if someone from Victron would chime in, or at least some other users who knows for sure.
Because from the post he made 4 years ago, it seems @ronhanson01 did have sustained overcurrent, and I would assume he kept up to date with firmware (it being a smart device), and would tell us above if it had disappeared.
You may argue it may have been hardware changes, but it seems we jointly believe even the 2020 models already could derate, be it on temp.
