Dc to Dc charger Victron Orion 12 I 12 - 30

[Geronimo John]

On 3/25/2025 at 5:48 PM, jd1923 said:

Is it a coincidence that @johnwen and I are the only two installations that grounded to frame vs. another 20 ft cable to reach the battery B- terminal? 🤣

And I "ASSUME" that you have  run a #4 AWG all copper cable from the frame to the B- terminal as well.  

I have to adopt a different set of charging parameters, and once done will check performance.  If it does not improve, then I will likely try adding such cables to the anderson connection at the TV rear bumper and battery.  Would certainly prove your hypothsis.

BTW:  Assume is often spelled Ass of You and ME.  LOL

[johnwen]

28 minutes ago, Geronimo John said:

And I "ASSUME" that you have  run a #4 AWG all copper cable from the frame to the B- terminal as well.  

I have to adopt a different set of charging parameters, and once done will check performance.  If it does not improve, then I will likely try adding such cables to the anderson connection at the TV rear bumper and battery.  Would certainly prove your hypothsis.

BTW:  Assume is often spelled Ass of You and ME.  LOL

Hi GJ,

Wiring from my vehicle is all 6 AWG to the charger and wiring from the charger to B+ and B- busses are all 6 AWG.  I could have used 4 AWG if I trimmed some strands to fit receptacles on the Victron charger but I chose to use 6 AWG on advice from installers.  The terminals on my 30a Isolated Victron (4 terminals) will allow up to 6AWG, thus the need to trim strands if larger wire is used.  I'm certainly not an expert in this area but this is the way I ended up installing everything.  Hope this helps.

John

[jd1923]

3 hours ago, Geronimo John said:

And I "ASSUME" that you have  run a #4 AWG all copper cable from the frame to the B- terminal as well.

Yep, on the Oliver side, 4 AWG everywhere, front-to-back from the Anderson connector to the rear dinette area. B+ to the Orion in and B- to the ground bus. The Orion B+ out to the new HD +bus and the Orion ground to the Oliver neutral/ground bus directly adjacent to the harness ground.

On the TV B+ all the way to the battery. B- to the rear frame. Then two short runs at the starter battery, B+ directly to the alternator and B- to the front of the same frame member as grounded at the rear. Remember, I got 30A charging when the Orion was set to 30A max and I got 40A out when it was set to 50A, with Cummins diesel idling at 800 RPM. 

We're leaving tomorrow to camp at the NW corner of the Prescott NF. If the road is good, my plan is to camp west of above the Apache Creek Wilderness area (see map). For 20 years we've gone dirt riding in the Prescott NF at the Sheridan Mountain-Smith Mesa OHV area and up to Camp Wood. This time we're heading further north and we do not plan to see a sole once we get up there! Should be an awesome adventure and we also have a brand new Starlink Mini to try out. Plan to activate service today.

It will be my first driving test of the Orion 50A charger. There's only 23 miles of paved road at 45-55 MPH, then about 25 miles of dirt, 90+ minutes one-way so not much time to charge. Chris will check the Victron Connect app as I'm towing. We'll get a picture of the charge rate while towing.

These are the Motor Vehicle Use Maps that they have of all NFs in Arizona. Not sure if the neighboring states have these or not. Wherever you see dots alongside the Forest Service (FS) roads dispersed camping is allowed. The trick is that some FS roads are good enough to pull a trailer and some are NOT! We'll see when we get there. 🤣 County-5 is Williamson Valley road out of Prescott which is a well graded and maintained road after it turns to dirt. County-125 heading west through Walnut Creek should also be a graded road and I'm hoping that the offshoot FS roads in that area are passible and not blocked by fences since there are patches of private land here and there (the white-out areas on the map).

Edited April 4 by jd1923

[johnwen]

GL, JD,

Have fun out there...doubt you'll get stuck with your rig :)  And congrats on your starlink!

John

[Geronimo John]

On 3/19/2025 at 12:31 PM, jd1923 said:

Our hull sits outside, never in storage, and with solar it's always between 97-100% SOC,

JD:

SOME mfg, like Battle Born, specifically warn not to keep their batteries on charger at 100% for long durations.  You may want to verify what your MFG says.

GJ

[jd1923]

5 hours ago, Geronimo John said:

JD:

SOME mfg, like Battle Born, specifically warn not to keep their batteries on charger at 100% for long durations.  You may want to verify what your MFG says.

GJ

I certainly believe that to be true for converter/chargers connected to shore power (reason why ours is only plugged in at home during August for A/C). When parked ours stays in the 90s SOC most of the time from solar charger only. Solar is naturally OFF all night long! 🤣 So the batteries should stay healthy.

Edited April 6 by jd1923