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bathnm avatar image
bathnm asked

Orion TR Smart and Euro 6 Engines

Hi the collective hive of information.

I am in the middle of commissioning an Orion TR Smart 12/12-30A on a VW T6 Camper van. The system doesn't seem to be triggering that often, and even after a couple of hours driving the Lithium batteries are not full.

All default settings have been used, but the start battery is regularly at 12.3-12.5v.

Are the default settings too aggressive, do they need to be dropped. If so any recomendations. I have done various searches and running second battery charging with Euro 6 engines seems to be a dark art with little information about what a good set of settings should be.

My instincts as opposed to science or knowledge is to:

Drop Input Voltage Lockout to be 12.1v / 12.3v. After starting the engine and idling the starter battery is regularly at 12.2v, so restarting shouldn't be an issue at 12.1v.

Setting Start Voltage to 13.2v

Setting Delayed start to 12.8v

Setting shutdown voltage to 12.7v

Any guidance, are these values too low?

Many Thanks


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Lithium Batteryorion-tr smartOrion DC-DC Converters not smart
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pau1phi11ips avatar image pau1phi11ips commented ·
Did you ever sort this out?


I've got a Euro 5 engine and not noticed a problem but I have just kinda assumed it was working tbh and not actually required the extra charge boost from the Orion so far.
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5 Answers
thomasl avatar image
thomasl answered ·

I am having the same issue, barely getting 5A of charging current. Did you ever find a way to convince the alternator to send more power?

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bathnm avatar image
bathnm answered ·

Unfortunately I have not.

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Oscar avatar image
Oscar answered ·

Hi , I have a VW T6 Transporter and I am struggling me too with Orion DC-DC settings ( please refer to my post below ) . If I will find a solution I will let you know.

I think the Engine shutdown detection and the Smart Alternator settings could be change to "custom" so you can "customize " them.

Also the "voltage lockout" settings can be disable.

Did you have the same issue I reported in my post ? Thanks

Orion DC-DC smart 12/12/30 draining lithium battery when engine

is running


Oscar

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kevgermany avatar image
kevgermany answered ·

Check wiring/earth's for bad connections/high resistance. Orion earth/negative must have a good connection to battery/neg/earth.

Usual problem is the ECU drops the alternator voltage, basically to a voltage at or close to the battery resting voltage. This makes setting shutdown voltage tricky. Best you can do is check input voltage when engine has been turn off for a while, set shutdown slightly above that. Lower start voltage a bit if necessary, lower delayed start voltage to fractionally above shut down.

If this fails, you need to wire from a switched positive (e.g. switched radio feed) to the H pin and remove the LH bridge and turn off shutdown detection.


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t61-t30 avatar image
t61-t30 answered ·

Hi I am new to the site but have the same issue. I run 2 Orions in parallel. I found the only way to get a full charge on the lithium was to set the values at

Setting Start Voltage to 13.0v

Setting Delayed start to 12.4v

Setting shutdown voltage to 12.2v

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The van is a new T6.1 T30. The resting van battery voltage before Orion installation was between 12.2v and 12.1v and has remained the same after Orion installation. Even after a 1600mile road trip over a 2 week camping period off grid the van battery seems to remain at 50% charge level.




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