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ehfrancisco avatar image
ehfrancisco asked

Shorting the input to the output of a Orion-Tr Smart 12/12-Volt 30 amp, Non-Isolated Charger

I am upgrading the house batteries on my 2019 Winnebago to lithium. I will be using an Orion-Tr Smart 12/12-Volt 30 amp, non-isolated charger to charge the batteries from the alternator while driving. The house lead acid batteries are currently charged while driving via a solenoid that is activated when the engine is running. This solenoid will be disabled or bypassed when the DC to DC charger is installed.

My question is this. That solenoid serves a second purpose. The solenoid also allows the house batteries to be used to start the engine should the chassis battery go dead. I want to keep that function. This function is controlled via a momentary switch on the dash. Can the 12 volt input of the Orion charger be shorted together without damaging the charger?

What I would like to do is disable the solenoid when the engine is on function and install the Orion charger in parallel with the solenoid, with the input connected to the engine side and the output connected to the house battery side of the solenoid. With the solenoid disabled while the engine is running the house and chassis batteries will be isolated from each other. Leaving the Orion charger to do it s thing. But if needed, I could activate the solenoid and bridge the positive side of the house and chassis to jump start the engine. This would short the positive input and output connections of the charger. Would this cause any damage to the Orion charger?

Lithium Batteryorion-tr smart
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fmeili1 avatar image fmeili1 commented ·

Hello,

I exactly have the same question (for my 2020 Entegra Odyssey 26D). More in general

a) must the solenoid be replaced/removed completely when using the DC-DC charger because under no circumstances, the input+ and the output+ of the DC-DC charger must not be connected?

b) or is it safe to use the DC-DC charger in parallel to the solenoid (usually only for a short time to start the engine with the support of the house battery). For sure, in this case the solenoid wiring have to be changed that the solenoid is only active while the AUX start button is pressed but not when the alternator runs?

But I'm not sure if b) will work in general because, as far as I know, a solenoid will stay always in ON state as long as current flows (a relay would behave different). If that were true, the solenoid would not disconnect after releasing the AUX button?! In such a case, b) would not be an option.

But anyway it would be interesting to know, if the input+ and the output+ of the DC-DC charger can be connected without damaging it - this would provide a possible option to have a jump start feature with an additional relay between input+ and the output+, only activated while pressing the existing AUX start button (of course, in this theoretical scenario, the existing solenoid would have been removed).


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gsalgado avatar image gsalgado commented ·
Did you find out what happens?
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michael-roslyak avatar image michael-roslyak gsalgado commented ·

I have the same question:

short-term shorting out IN and OUT of the isolated Orion DC-DC converter, just in case the car battery gets too discharged for starting an RV, so I could charge it from the house batteries.

Would it blow the converter's circuit?

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