Vixtron Orion-Tr Smart Isolated DC:DC Battery Charger Install

In this video I install a Victron Orion-Tr Smart Iso;ated DC to DC battery charger to allo me to charge the Lithium Iron Phosphate battery I installed aboard Tortuga my 1936 wood power boat. This DC:DC charger protects the alternator from overload during charging of the lithium battery and has its own lithium charging profile to allow proper charging of both the lead acid starting battery and the lithium iron phosphate house battery.

[@cristivpopescu]

Thank you so much for this video! There are so few videos of the Orion-Tr Smart Isolated DC-DC 12 | 12-18 charger that I was starting to doubt that it exists 🤣. Everybody is using the 12 | 12-30 version, but I am worried that it would put too big a load on my alternator. I own a small SUV (Dacia Duster 4x4 150HP) and even though it has a smart alternator of 150A, I don't want to worry about RPMs when charging my battery, especially since I do a lot of driving through the city, so the engine runs at idle for extended periods of time, especially during traffic. With this 18A charger, I don't have to worry, it's just 220W and since the car already has 2 cig sockets of 120W each, 220W is actually less than the 240W max i can draw with the factory cig sockets. This means I will feel confident to use the dc-dc charger in any situation, which means I will actually be charging my battery most of the time while driving, and also while off-roading. With the 30A version, I was planning to only charge while on the highway, where RPMs sit above 2000. Also another bonus, as far as I can tell the 18A version is about the same physical size as the 30A one, and I read online that the 30A gets quite hot. Since it has the same heatsink (I think, not sure), I am hoping this smaller one will run cooler. Another reason why I prefer the 18A version is I don't need to buy a separate "mains" charger for my lifepo4 battery, as they are quite expensive. Instead, I can easily find a PC or server power supply that can deliver 25A on the 12V rail, connect it to the Orion and charge from "shore" or "mains" power. I have both PC and server power supplies sitting around in my house doing nothing, but you can also buy a cheap used server power supply online. The 30A version can draw as much as 60A for 10 seconds when you start charging, which is too much for cheap PC/server power supplies.

[@todddunn945]

It sounds like you have thought it out well. I bought the 18 amp unit because I planned to put it on my sailboat which only has a 50 amp alternator. Now that it is located there I am very pleased with it. I haven't noticed that the 18 amp that I have gets particularly hot.

[@gregsdesigns3923]

My favorite part is hearing that sweet purr of Tortuga's engine! Thanks for the info you provided on your charging set-up, there are so many options available, it is interesting to see the choises you made.

[@todddunn945]

Glad you enjoyed it. I do have to confess to doing a bit of sound processing to reduce the level of engine noise the camera picks up to make my voice clearer. I find that my GoPro camera is much more sensitive to the low frequency rumble of the engine than my old Nikon DSLR.

[@jeffgrier8488]

That looked like a fairly straightforward install, there is certainly some great battery technology today. Thanks for the video.

[@todddunn945]

Yes, except for pulling the four new #8 wires through it was quite easy. Just connecting four wires and programming the charger. There is definitely a lot of new battery "stuff" available now. Going with a lithium house battery is still expensive by the time you set for alternator charging. In my care the battery cost $485, the DC:DC charger cost $162 and the wires, connectors and fuse for the DC:DC charger cost $71 bringing the total cost of switching to lithium to $718. Thanks for watching.

[@kkots]

This is interesting and I thank you for posting your install. So, if I follow you correctly the output from the ships alternator is connected to the start battery and then from the start battery to the LiPo bank via the output from the DC to DC charger?

[@todddunn945]

Yes, that is correct. The DC to DC charger is a full function battery charger that uses a DC power source. It does several things. 1) It isolates the LiFePO4 battery from the lead acid battery, 2) It provides the proper charging voltages to the Lithium battery independent of the lead acid battery voltage. 3) It limits the amount of current that can be drawn from the alternator to prevent over stressing the alternator and 4) It only charges the Lithium battery when the engine is running so that it can not draw the start battery down when the engine is off.

[@kkots]

@@todddunn945 Thx Todd for the follow up. I have a "not smart" alternator and do not want to spend big$$ getting one if it is not needed. This method of safely charging the LifePO4 bank is a keeper and one that I will be using.

[@edgarmartinez963]

Please explain connections I don't see what you do with the cables where to where. How about the remote u- ring you need to disconnect and connect later ? How about output

[@todddunn945]

It is a very simple install. You connect the two wires (pos/neg) of the input side to the source battery and the two wires of the output side (pos/neg) to the battery you want to charge. That is all you have to do. If you want to you can also connect a switch to the aux terminal to turn charging on/off manually. The system senses source battery voltage and only turns on when the battery is being charged such as from the alternator. When the charge source goes away the system turns off automatically. That is all there is to it.

[@donnie8266]

Why are you using the 18 amp model if your alternator is 110 amp? Why not more amps to lithium battery.

[@todddunn945]

A couple of reasons. First, these DC:DC chargers are designed to put out their rated current all the time when charging - 18 amps from the moment they begin charging if the lithium batter is depleted. That will occur while the engine is running at idle (say 800 rpms. At engine idle a 110 amp alternator doesn't produce anywhere near 110 amps. The maximum alternator output at engine idle is more like 30-35% of rated capacity (35-40 amps for my 110 amp alternator). Since the purpose of the DC:DC charger is to reduce stress on the alternator, installing a charger rated at or above the alternator's idle output would be counter productive, particularly when you consider that alternator cooling is worst at low engine rpm. The second reason is that I plan to move this charger to my sailboat which only has a 50 amp alternator, so a larger capacity DC:DC charger would be a bad idea. Note that if the amp output of the DC:DC charger is above the alternator output that in addition to stressing the alternator, running the DC:DC charger will make up the deficit between its charging amps and the alternator output amps from the starting battery - i.e., it will discharge the start battery.

[@cristivpopescu]

@@todddunn945 exactly, everybody goes for more amps, and then they end up (forcefully) upgrading their alternators. It depends on the use case, but people don't realize that for most use cases, 18A is more than enough. Unless you live out of your campervan/boat, and need tons of energy, and don't drive or sail often, in which case yes you might need a bigger amp charger.

[@todddunn945]

@@cristivpopescu very true. For my use case I use solar for most of my charging. The DC:DC charger simply makes sure my batteries are topped up after an engine run although the primary reason I bought it was to isolate the LifePO4 battery from the lead acid starting battery.

[@jamesfalvey77]

What size wire gauge?

[@todddunn945]

I used 6 gauge because the wire runs were relatively long (and I had it on hand). #10 would have been adequate since this is an 18 amp unit.