Great review ! thanks i need this , got a question i got the Anker powerhouse 757 my XT60 input is 30V 10 AMP max what type of Victron do you recommended ? or can change the amps in the Victron Orion 12/24-20A non isolated to 10 amp ? or do i need to buy the Victron Orion-Tr 12/24-10A (240W) isolated
Good morning and thank you for the video. Currently my motorhome has the services battery not connected to the chassis of the vehicle. In order to use an uninsulated DC-DC, I would like to connect the services battery with a properly sized cable to the chassis ground. Do you see any contraindications to doing this? What problems might I have? Thank you for the feedback.
This is a great video. If you have a Victron mppt and panel going to main battery can this be used to take the 2nd output from the mppt to the Orion? The 2nd battery is charged when the vw bus is running via the ecu as it's a factory 2nd battery. This is to divert solar power from the mppt to the 2nd battery when the bus is stood up and intention off? 😁👍🏼
Very good video thank you, I currently have a PowerPart PDU and when I start the engine there is a click in the PDU and it turns off my motorhome electrics, except for the Fridge. I would like to replace the PDU with separate units, one of them being this charger. How does this work when the engine is running, does this charge unit stop charging and let the engine take care of it? Also when I plug into a hookup and the engine is off, do I charge both the leisure and vehicle batteries with this?
Trying to figure out if something like this would work for me. I'm currently running a dual battery setup with an H6 Optima Yellow Top as a house battery which is isolated from the main battery with an automatic isolator. Charging voltage is usually anywhere from 14V to 14.8V, but seems to charge closer to 14V most of the time. My Bluetooth battery monitor started showing signs that the battery wasn't holding a decent towards the end of December. I finally had to the pull the house battery and put it on an Optima 400 charger/maintainer this weekend. I'm sure that sulfation occurred because I had to charge and drain it multiple times before it would hold a good charge. It seems to be OK now, but I was wondering if a DC to DC charger would work better. This is on a 2017 Chevy Silverado. DC to DC charger would be installed in the engine compartment (if that's ok). The H6 Yellow Top is a 72 AH AGM battery. Recommend charging current: Alternator: 13.65 to 15.0 volts, no amperage limit. Battery Charger: 13.8 to 15.0 volts, 10 amps maximum, for approximately six to twelve hours. Cyclic Applications: 14.7 volts, no current limit as long as battery temperature remains below 125°F (51.7°C). When current falls below one amp, finish with two-amp constant current for one hour. Rapid Recharge: Maximum voltage 15.6 volts (regulated), no current limit as long as battery temperature remains below 125°F (51.7°C). Charge until current drops below one amp. Float Charge: 13.2 to 13.8 volts, one amp maximum current, time indefinite (at lower voltage). Strictly adhere to all limits. Trying to decide if one of these DC to DC chargers would be better for me and if so, which one would work best for me.
Quick question, in the dc dc charging from starter battery to living battery if the engine is running and the starter battery gets disconnected does the dcdc charger still works? Could you test this? Been searching for days on info on this on the inter webs and couldn't find any info.
Hello, thanks for the info! I have 2 questions: -Witch fuse put in/out in the Orion tr Smart 12/12-18 ? I put the 20a in both the way, it’s correct? - it’s possible when the engine it’s off charge the motor battery from the solar panel that charge the service batterie’s? Thanks again for the info!
I am in the early planning stages of converting my van. It is a Transit Custom and I am intending to put the leisure battery under the passenger seat. I do not plan to earth it to the van chassis. My brain is getting a bit frazzled understanding this bit of the electrics. Would it be better to go for an Isolated or Non isolated charger. Thanks
Isolated will give you 2 negative wires so that you can send one to your starter battery and one to your liesure battery. Non isolated would give you just one negative that you could grount to the chassis if both batteries were also grounded to the chasis
What is the main difference between running isolated vs non isolated? I just bought an isolated 12-24 DC/DC charger for a 24v 100ah solar+DC/DC system.
Hello, nice tutorial! It's possible whit the dc dc 12-12 /30 charge the Motor Battery from the service Battery when the engine it's off and the Service battery it's full and connected at the 220v charger or solar panel solar? thank you very much
Where can I buy that green jumper? Bought a van with everything installed but the green jumper was not there! I'm from Spain, and cannot contact with any Victron Energy supplier! Thanks
I just can't understand the 30a output part. I phoned a victron dealer and they confirmed the 30a would be fine for my 95ah agm battery. I'm sure I have seen in the app settings you can select 95ah agm for the 30a victron model, yet this video says it is not suitable ?
Thanks for the video. Just to be clear, do I use a negative 16mm wire from the Ground on Orion to an individual grounding point on chassis or must it be same grounding point as leisure battery?
It looks like you have used ferrules on the ends of the cables? Any idea which ones they are? I have some 16mm ferrules for mine but they don’t fit in the terminals for the dc-dc charger. Thanks Nick
I think he used heat shrink around the tops potentially, Ferrules dont work to well as its a rising terminal and its set up to squash the connection and get the most contact, I was having a hard time with ferrules and was not having a good time. I did some searching and they said bare copper is the best to use.
The Orion Tr Smart gets to hot without a fan as it has only 88% efficiency. So it reduces charge current just after 15 min driving. Probably it has the lowest efficiency out there. I would recommend to go for a fan cooled dc-dc charger instead, if maximum charge current is important.
Just skips over for 4.59...how many fuses in that positive run. One 40a close to the van battery then another 2 on the run from the charger to the L.Battery....plus what looks like an isolator switch. Just very confusing.
The maximum length of cable that Victron suggest at 10 m. for 16mm sq is much too long. For a 5% power loss from the alternator, 4 m. is the maximum cable run. And the feed to the house battery should be shorter to accurately charge the LiFePO4 battery. Might have been okay for Lead Acid but LiFePO4 have a flat charging characteristic. 20mm sq. will fit Victron's terminals. I used square ferrules to prevent problems from "whiskers". My cable run was 5 m. then 1 m. to the batteries.
Thank you very much for your post! As the matter of fact, I am about to mount my Orion and I am obliged to mount it at a 4 mt distance from the engine battery. Considering the loss of tension and fairly high current, especially in hot weather, I was really NOT fond of Victron holes accepting a 16 squared mm terminal and was trying to understand how to fit a larger cable (I was actually thinking about a 25). So, do you confirm that you were able to fit in a 20mm cable?
@@ludovicobonsignore4284 Hi, I can confirm that 20mm sq. will fit Victron's terminals of an Orion Smart TR 12 | 24 15A Isolated. I used square ferrules to prevent problems from "whiskers". The physical cross sectional area of 20mm2 cable depends upon the diameter of individual strands and how well they pack together. Then you have to consider the thickness of the ferrules. You must use ferrules. There was no spare room. I have since changed to 10mm2 wiring to get positive and negative through the firewall grommet because I changed from using the chassis as the negative return to accurately connect to the starter battery shunt (Euro 6). This does violate my target volt drop but I'm coming to accept that in campervan build you will have compromises. The B2B does not contribute much to charging my batteries because England is small and driving distances are short. So I gave up worrying. Regards.
I remain confused in regards to Isolated & Non Isolated to charge our 400ah LifePo4 batteries ********We have a trailer that is electrically connected: 1) via the 7 pin plug so that signals, brake and running lights work with voltage input from the vehicle, a bonded GROUND needs to be maintained for use. 2) I assume the negative entering the trailer from the 7 pin connector is grounded to the trailer frame. 3) also the ground is connected by way of metal to metal physical connection at the hitch. 4) the 7 pin connector also has a small conductor (12vdc) used for house battery charging. ******* We know we will be disconnecting the 12vdc charge wire to the trailer and running #6 awg. from engine compartment to the B2B Victron 12/12-30 installed in the battery compartment in the trailer. ****************************The Question************************ Which Version of 2B do we need Isolated or Non Isolated?
Just replaced my lead acid batteries and split charger to a lithium and Victron dc charger, with the old system the solar would also charge the vehicle battery when voltage was high enough, can’t see how this can happen with new system, anyone got any ideas ?
@@12VoltPlanetTV Hi, not sure I explained my question correctly, I have the Epever MT 50 solar controller, it charges leisure battery no problem. With the old split charger system it worked both ways, charged leisure battery from engine and solar then with engine off and when sun shining it charged leisure and vehicle battery
@@copperknob1971 12v planet may come back with a better answer, but it sounds to me like your old system may have been making use of a VSR. Sorry if you already know what one of those is, but I'll explain anyway just in case. The VSR would sense the healthy voltage coming in from somewhere (the solar) and would activate, thereby connecting the leisure battery and starter battery together. When the voltage drops (i.e. at night when the solar stops providing power), the VSR would detect that and deactivate, thereby disconnecting your starter battery from your leisure battery. The risk with this setup though is that during the day when your solar has activated the VSR and your batteries are connected, starting the vehicle will draw from BOTH the starter battery and the leisure battery. This really isn't at all healthy for the leisure battery, which isn't designed to take big cranking loads. I hope that at least partially helps! 🙂
@@clearprop hi, yes it was a VSR. It all worked well but we recently started to do much more of grid camping hence the upgrade to lithium. Big improvement but it seems the only downside is the option to keep vehicle battery topped up with solar.
@@copperknob1971 I feel your pain! I'm wondering whether perhaps a 'normally closed' relay could be used, and you pick up an ignition feed for that. When you turn the key the leisure battery is then automatically disconnected from the starter battery, which would prevent the heavy draw on your lithium when cranking the engine. You then just run some suitably sized cables between the batteries, via that relay.
Sounds fine to me. He was fine, understood everything that was said. Perhaps you need to upgrade your hearing! You can always PAUSE and REWIND, how about that?
You guys have the best wires for that. Bought wires in your store for my Victron setup.
Informative, good labeling and a clear, direct presentation
An excellent and informative Video, thank you. Lots of technical information delivered in a very friendly style.
Great review ! thanks i need this , got a question i got the Anker powerhouse 757 my XT60 input is 30V 10 AMP max what type of Victron do you recommended ? or can change the amps in the Victron Orion 12/24-20A non isolated to 10 amp ? or do i need to buy the Victron Orion-Tr 12/24-10A (240W) isolated
Good morning and thank you for the video. Currently my motorhome has the services battery not connected to the chassis of the vehicle. In order to use an uninsulated DC-DC, I would like to connect the services battery with a properly sized cable to the chassis ground. Do you see any contraindications to doing this? What problems might I have?
Thank you for the feedback.
Very nice and clear presentation.
When you set up battery type, is the setting for the output or the input battery?, or is there a setting for both? Thanks.
This is a great video. If you have a Victron mppt and panel going to main battery can this be used to take the 2nd output from the mppt to the Orion? The 2nd battery is charged when the vw bus is running via the ecu as it's a factory 2nd battery. This is to divert solar power from the mppt to the 2nd battery when the bus is stood up and intention off? 😁👍🏼
Very good video thank you, I currently have a PowerPart PDU and when I start the engine there is a click in the PDU and it turns off my motorhome electrics, except for the Fridge. I would like to replace the PDU with separate units, one of them being this charger. How does this work when the engine is running, does this charge unit stop charging and let the engine take care of it? Also when I plug into a hookup and the engine is off, do I charge both the leisure and vehicle batteries with this?
Trying to figure out if something like this would work for me. I'm currently running a dual battery setup with an H6 Optima Yellow Top as a house battery which is isolated from the main battery with an automatic isolator. Charging voltage is usually anywhere from 14V to 14.8V, but seems to charge closer to 14V most of the time. My Bluetooth battery monitor started showing signs that the battery wasn't holding a decent towards the end of December. I finally had to the pull the house battery and put it on an Optima 400 charger/maintainer this weekend. I'm sure that sulfation occurred because I had to charge and drain it multiple times before it would hold a good charge. It seems to be OK now, but I was wondering if a DC to DC charger would work better.
This is on a 2017 Chevy Silverado. DC to DC charger would be installed in the engine compartment (if that's ok). The H6 Yellow Top is a 72 AH AGM battery. Recommend charging current:
Alternator:
13.65 to 15.0 volts, no amperage limit.
Battery Charger:
13.8 to 15.0 volts, 10 amps maximum, for approximately six to twelve hours.
Cyclic Applications:
14.7 volts, no current limit as long as battery temperature remains below 125°F (51.7°C). When current falls below one amp, finish with two-amp constant current for one hour.
Rapid Recharge:
Maximum voltage 15.6 volts (regulated), no current limit as long as battery temperature remains below 125°F (51.7°C). Charge until current drops below one amp.
Float Charge:
13.2 to 13.8 volts, one amp maximum current, time indefinite (at lower voltage).
Strictly adhere to all limits.
Trying to decide if one of these DC to DC chargers would be better for me and if so, which one would work best for me.
Brilliant video, please could you share the equipment list please and what solar pannels would you use in this setup
Quick question, in the dc dc charging from starter battery to living battery if the engine is running and the starter battery gets disconnected does the dcdc charger still works? Could you test this? Been searching for days on info on this on the inter webs and couldn't find any info.
This great thanks! So you are charging two house batteries off the Victron DC-DC charger though the bus bar?
Hello, thanks for the info!
I have 2 questions:
-Witch fuse put in/out in the Orion tr Smart 12/12-18 ? I put the 20a in both the way, it’s correct?
- it’s possible when the engine it’s off charge the motor battery from the solar panel that charge the service batterie’s?
Thanks again for the info!
If you have 2 leisure batteries how do you wire them?
I am in the early planning stages of converting my van. It is a Transit Custom and I am intending to put the leisure battery under the passenger seat. I do not plan to earth it to the van chassis. My brain is getting a bit frazzled understanding this bit of the electrics. Would it be better to go for an Isolated or Non isolated charger. Thanks
Isolated will give you 2 negative wires so that you can send one to your starter battery and one to your liesure battery. Non isolated would give you just one negative that you could grount to the chassis if both batteries were also grounded to the chasis
thanks for this, nice and clear
What is the main difference between running isolated vs non isolated?
I just bought an isolated 12-24 DC/DC charger for a 24v 100ah solar+DC/DC system.
Great display and explanation!
Hello, nice tutorial! It's possible whit the dc dc 12-12 /30 charge the Motor Battery from the service Battery when the engine it's off and the Service battery it's full and connected at the 220v charger or solar panel solar? thank you very much
Do you have a link to the video that shows the entire equipment list dor the set up on this test board?
Where can I buy that green jumper? Bought a van with everything installed but the green jumper was not there! I'm from Spain, and cannot contact with any Victron Energy supplier! Thanks
Hi, will I need an isolator in the car with a grey Anderson plug? We have this dc2dc charger in the caravan
Hi where are you getting the metal mounting board from?
what is this used for? ti produce and collect energy while driving or?
I just can't understand the 30a output part. I phoned a victron dealer and they confirmed the 30a would be fine for my 95ah agm battery. I'm sure I have seen in the app settings you can select 95ah agm for the 30a victron model, yet this video says it is not suitable ?
Thanks for the video. Just to be clear, do I use a negative 16mm wire from the Ground on Orion to an individual grounding point on chassis or must it be same grounding point as leisure battery?
You said your negative lead is ground to the batteries, does that mean that your batteries are also ground to the chassis?
What fuse is in the SYSTEM MAIN FUSE and INVERTER FUSE BOX???
It looks like you have used ferrules on the ends of the cables? Any idea which ones they are? I have some 16mm ferrules for mine but they don’t fit in the terminals for the dc-dc charger. Thanks Nick
I think he used heat shrink around the tops potentially, Ferrules dont work to well as its a rising terminal and its set up to squash the connection and get the most contact, I was having a hard time with ferrules and was not having a good time. I did some searching and they said bare copper is the best to use.
For Vauxhall/Opel Zafira which one?
Does this not require a 12v switched live?
Great vid,which would u suggest for a 2014 Sprinter with 2x130ah wet acid leisure batteries?
I would recommend the 30A charger for this battery bank. Many thanks
Thanks still unsure wether isolated or non isolated would be best ??
Victron manual states 60A MIDI fuse and 16mm2 cable (
It's unlikely that a 40A fuse would blow with this unit but a 60A fuse is recommended by Victron
Excellent video
Hi. Does the 10 meter cable apply to the non-insulated model? Are we going to use 10 + 10 meters in the isolated model?
The Orion Tr Smart gets to hot without a fan as it has only 88% efficiency. So it reduces charge current just after 15 min driving. Probably it has the lowest efficiency out there. I would recommend to go for a fan cooled dc-dc charger instead, if maximum charge current is important.
Just skips over for 4.59...how many fuses in that positive run. One 40a close to the van battery then another 2 on the run from the charger to the L.Battery....plus what looks like an isolator switch. Just very confusing.
The maximum length of cable that Victron suggest at 10 m. for 16mm sq is much too long. For a 5% power loss from the alternator, 4 m. is the maximum cable run. And the feed to the house battery should be shorter to accurately charge the LiFePO4 battery. Might have been okay for Lead Acid but LiFePO4 have a flat charging characteristic.
20mm sq. will fit Victron's terminals. I used square ferrules to prevent problems from "whiskers". My cable run was 5 m. then 1 m. to the batteries.
Thank you very much for your post! As the matter of fact, I am about to mount my Orion and I am obliged to mount it at a 4 mt distance from the engine battery. Considering the loss of tension and fairly high current, especially in hot weather, I was really NOT fond of Victron holes accepting a 16 squared mm terminal and was trying to understand how to fit a larger cable (I was actually thinking about a 25). So, do you confirm that you were able to fit in a 20mm cable?
@@ludovicobonsignore4284 Hi, I can confirm that 20mm sq. will fit Victron's terminals of an Orion Smart TR 12 | 24 15A Isolated. I used square ferrules to prevent problems from "whiskers". The physical cross sectional area of 20mm2 cable depends upon the diameter of individual strands and how well they pack together. Then you have to consider the thickness of the ferrules. You must use ferrules. There was no spare room.
I have since changed to 10mm2 wiring to get positive and negative through the firewall grommet because I changed from using the chassis as the negative return to accurately connect to the starter battery shunt (Euro 6).
This does violate my target volt drop but I'm coming to accept that in campervan build you will have compromises. The B2B does not contribute much to charging my batteries because England is small and driving distances are short. So I gave up worrying. Regards.
Can anyone tell me why you would need an isolated/non isolated? Can I just ground the battery to the chassis and call it a day?
Seems like you could use two of the isolated chargers to charge a battery with twice the voltage of the supply. 🤔
I remain confused in regards to Isolated & Non Isolated to charge our 400ah LifePo4 batteries ********We have a trailer that is electrically connected:
1) via the 7 pin plug so that signals, brake and running lights work with voltage input from the vehicle, a bonded GROUND needs to be maintained for use.
2) I assume the negative entering the trailer from the 7 pin connector is grounded to the trailer frame.
3) also the ground is connected by way of metal to metal physical connection at the hitch.
4) the 7 pin connector also has a small conductor (12vdc) used for house battery charging.
******* We know we will be disconnecting the 12vdc charge wire to the trailer and running #6 awg. from engine compartment to the B2B Victron 12/12-30 installed in the battery compartment in the trailer.
****************************The Question************************
Which Version of 2B do we need Isolated or Non Isolated?
Just replaced my lead acid batteries and split charger to a lithium and Victron dc charger, with the old system the solar would also charge the vehicle battery when voltage was high enough, can’t see how this can happen with new system, anyone got any ideas ?
Hi, your solar charging will be handled by a solar controller and not the Victron DC-DC charger. Do you know what solar charger you have?
@@12VoltPlanetTV Hi, not sure I explained my question correctly, I have the Epever MT 50 solar controller, it charges leisure battery no problem. With the old split charger system it worked both ways, charged leisure battery from engine and solar then with engine off and when sun shining it charged leisure and vehicle battery
@@copperknob1971 12v planet may come back with a better answer, but it sounds to me like your old system may have been making use of a VSR. Sorry if you already know what one of those is, but I'll explain anyway just in case. The VSR would sense the healthy voltage coming in from somewhere (the solar) and would activate, thereby connecting the leisure battery and starter battery together. When the voltage drops (i.e. at night when the solar stops providing power), the VSR would detect that and deactivate, thereby disconnecting your starter battery from your leisure battery. The risk with this setup though is that during the day when your solar has activated the VSR and your batteries are connected, starting the vehicle will draw from BOTH the starter battery and the leisure battery. This really isn't at all healthy for the leisure battery, which isn't designed to take big cranking loads. I hope that at least partially helps! 🙂
@@clearprop hi, yes it was a VSR. It all worked well but we recently started to do much more of grid camping hence the upgrade to lithium. Big improvement but it seems the only downside is the option to keep vehicle battery topped up with solar.
@@copperknob1971 I feel your pain! I'm wondering whether perhaps a 'normally closed' relay could be used, and you pick up an ignition feed for that. When you turn the key the leisure battery is then automatically disconnected from the starter battery, which would prevent the heavy draw on your lithium when cranking the engine. You then just run some suitably sized cables between the batteries, via that relay.
I have just brought this charger but the manual says to use a 60a fuse. I’m confused now?
It's unlikely that a 40A fuse would blow with this unit but a 60A fuse is recommended by Victron
You’re going way too fast. If someone can follow what you’re saying at this speed, then they don’t need the video.
Sounds fine to me. He was fine, understood everything that was said. Perhaps you need to upgrade your hearing! You can always PAUSE and REWIND, how about that?
You can slow the video speed down
Perfect pace for me and im half asleep 😂
Just replay it again. It's not like it's on terrestrial tv.
Patriot or traitors? The distinction is not clear these days. Don’t get it twisted.
0691 Bergstrom Station
ok people juste RTFM !!!!
The "manual" that came with my Orion B2B charger was a quarter of a page in English. Not even a link to an online manual. Seems like the dark ages.