Victron Orion DC-DC Charger Question

[Vic Harder]

What voltage are you seeing at the batteries?

 

[bajaphile]

So when it was bulk charging, I am pretty sure it was at 13.8V, but I didn't take a screen shot at the time.

When it got to absorption and when I started smelling (and hearing a little gas escaping) it was at 14.8V. I found and fixed my clamp on ammeter and it said 12amps at 14.8V.

My original post has the screen shot of my battery settings. I have not changed that. I got the T-105 spec sheet and input the values, however I am not 100% sure they are correct.

 

[Vic Harder]

T105_Trojan_Data_Sheets.pdf (trojanbattery.com)

Those numbers in your original post are what Trojan calls for. Is that the right data sheet? It is for flooded lead acid batteries.

If so, are your batteries in a ventilated compartment? Is the venting adequate? Have you checked the water level recently?

 

[bajaphile]

Thank you Vic for all the help.

Yes, that is the correct spec sheet.

The batteries are within the stock location next to the water tank under the front bench seat in my model. The only ventilation is from the little slider door to access the turnbuckles. I do not believe that since I've had these new Trojan T-105's have I had them charge correctly with the bench seat open. I will monitor this. From what I can tell some off gassing is normal.

I haven't checked the water levels. I will need to read up on this... Looks like Trojan spells it out for us laymen:
https://www.trojanbattery.com/pdf/TrojanBattery_UsersGuide.pdf

FYI - My tinned double jacketed 6 gage duplex wire got lost in the mail (common occurrence for me lately?). Both local West Marine locations were also out of the 6/2 wire. I gave up and just bought 20ft 4 gage jumper cables from Walmart. Needed this fixed before next weekend so hopefully they hold up...!

 

[bajaphile]

Just following up. I checked the water levels per the manual and they are all correct at the "full/fill" line.

I am going to drill some small holes in the side of the camper so they can properly vent. Unfortunately the smell has been pretty bad with the Orion hooked up. My assumption though is that they haven't been properly charged since I bought them 6 months ago with my faulty wiring and BlueSeas ACR not working correctly (due to wiring). I read that the first few charge cycles can be more smelly.

 

[Jon R]

The battery compartment in my Grandby has two roughly 1.5 inch diameter holes, one high, one low, that are covered by round metal louvers. The cabinet door has a foam gasket to prevent fumes getting into the living space.

 

[Jon R]

You can see the louvers in this picture.

 

[bajaphile]

Thank you for that information. I'll add some foam insulation to my list to help seal the cabinets from the living space.

I haven't been able to drive my truck/charge the batteries much since installing the Orion. Hopefully a few more drive cycles will help.

 

[bajaphile]

Final update (hopefully): The Victron unit has been working great and keeping my batteries topped off, finally. The rotten egg smell was just due to the batteries being so badly discharged apparently. They do not smell anymore.
Only drawback and it is pretty bad, is the Bluetooth range. I can't monitor when driving even though the unit is about 6 ft away. Will need to wire a monitor into the cab and into the camper as the Bluetooth app is also just wonky and annoying to use.

 

[kmcintyre]

Final update (hopefully): The Victron unit has been working great and keeping my batteries topped off, finally. The rotten egg smell was just due to the batteries being so badly discharged apparently. They do not smell anymore.
Only drawback and it is pretty bad, is the Bluetooth range. I can't monitor when driving even though the unit is about 6 ft away. Will need to wire a monitor into the cab and into the camper as the Bluetooth app is also just wonky and annoying to use.

Interesting... mine's further away and it works fine, even through the camper, etc.

 

[Vic Harder]

+1 on the lousy bluetooth range with the DCDC. The other Victron units work from 50' away, the DCDC won't even reach the cab of the truck.

 

[buckland]

+1 same here... I have to hold the phone and put it into the back seat (3 ft from the unit) to get a a link

 

[nikonron]

I know it's likely a silly question but what happens if my solar is on the input side of the Orion DC-DC charger so that it would also keep my truck battery topped off? One problem I see is the MPPT would be set to either AGM profile or Lithium. Ron

 

[Vic Harder]

I know it's likely a silly question but what happens if my solar is on the input side of the Orion DC-DC charger so that it would also keep my truck battery topped off? One problem I see is the MPPT would be set to either AGM profile or Lithium. Ron

Are you suggesting that the raw output of the solar panels go to your truck batteries? Not good.
If you are suggesting feeding the output of the MPPT into the DCDC and from there into the truck batteries, the MPPT would be awfully confused, not knowing what to make of the input side of the DCDC.

I battery switch or switch and relay to flip inputs would be better. I tried creating a really complex system last winter and gave up. I think a simple battery switch in parallel with the DCDC would enable you to bypass the DCDC when desired. The downside of that is a simple switch (vs including an ACR/Isolator) would mean it either system could drain the other.

If you still have an isolator, you could wire the bypass to include the isolator, essentially going back to how your system worked before the DCDC was installed.

 

[buckland]

Just to say … I wish I had your electric knowledge of these things
I am basically always on the line of confused and understanding… so great to read these threads picking up bits that build the bigger picture
Thanks Vic

 

[nikonron]

I suppose the Victron is way too smart, I'll just wire it up as per Victron specs.

 

[nikonron]

What's going to happen if I should connect a battery charger to the starter battery while the truck is sitting in my shop? Should I disconnect the Victron DC-DC charger via my resettable breaker?

 

[Jon R]

It won’t hurt anything, but the Orion may see the higher charging voltage as a running engine and attempt to charge the lithium battery, discharging your truck battery some until the charger catches it up. Another user discussed this a few months ago (Phil maybe?) and I think he decided to open his breaker when charging the truck battery.

 

[nikonron]

Well, if it doesn't hurt anything it'd be good to get the Lithium topped off too.

 

[Jon R]

Well, if it doesn't hurt anything it'd be good to get the Lithium topped off too.

Except if you are charging the truck during extended storage. Most battery companies recommend you store lithium batteries in a partially charged state. In that case you may want to disconnect the camper if you are charging the truck.