Victron just arrived

[Sprinter 1 cup]

More power for new year.
Orion 30amp tr b2b and 500 amp smart shunt . Arrived this week. To go with solar controller
Thinking of putting b2b in passengers seat lower box, with connection to ignition ?. I Need wire and lugs for m6 or m8 & 30amp wire not sure if I should get twin or single core wire !. Befor party
Also would like / Need switches for sprinter dash but they are just shy of £50 each. Ebay . Looking for four in total.
1 fridge
2 back lights
3 heater
Spare

I'm driving a scania but pic shows design.

 

[SquirrellCook]

I have an Orion in Murky, permanently connected between the habitation batteries and the starter battery. I'm controlling it with voltage levels.
So when the sun goes to bed and the MPPT isn't charging the habitation battery voltage drops. Turning of the Orion. In the morning with the sun shinning down on us again the habitation battery is topped up and the voltage rises, turning on the Orion again charging the starter battery.

 

[xsilvergs]

More power for new year.
Orion 30amp tr b2b and 500 amp smart shunt . Arrived this week. To go with solar controller
Thinking of putting b2b in passengers seat lower box, with connection to ignition ?. I Need wire and lugs for m6 or m8 & 30amp wire not sure if I should get twin or single core wire !. Befor party
Also would like / Need switches for sprinter dash but they are just shy of £50 each. Ebay . Looking for four in total.
1 fridge
2 back lights
3 heater
Spare

I'm driving a scania but pic shows design.

I put my Orion on the outside of the the passenger seat box, it gets HOT and needs lots of cooling, it can current limit to protect itself. Perhaps a cooling fan, heaven forbid!

 

[xsilvergs]

I have an Orion in Murky, permanently connected between the habitation batteries and the starter battery. I'm controlling it with voltage levels.
So when the sun goes to bed and the MPPT isn't charging the habitation battery voltage drops. Turning of the Orion. In the morning with the sun shinning down on us again the habitation battery is topped up and the voltage rises, turning on the Orion again charging the starter battery.

I use an AMT12-2 which worked fine when the LB was AGM but with Lithium LB's the voltage change is so small between off-charge and on-charge it can't detect it to my satisfaction. The AMT has about 100mV hysteresis and the Lithium's only change by more than this when they reach the hump which is moments before full-charge. My AMT is set to be always on now.

 

[SquirrellCook]

I use an AMT12-2 which worked fine when the LB was AGM but with Lithium LB's the voltage change is so small between off-charge and on-charge it can't detect it to my satisfaction. The AMT has about 100mV hysteresis and the Lithium's only change by more than this when they reach the hump which is moments before full-charge. My AMT is set to be always on now.

Thanks for pointing that out, I was thinking of doing something similar with the Betty build. Though the multiplus has an auxiliary output for holding another battery up. That should be enough to handle the parasitic drain.
I guess as I think Sprinter is doing, using the engine to charge his Lithium battery it should work just fine the other way round.
Do you really need a switch to turn the Orion on and off?

 

[SquirrellCook]

Also would like / Need switches for sprinter dash but they are just shy of £50 each. Ebay . Looking for four in total.

Have you tried Mercedes for prices, I often find they are cheaper than ebay.

 

[xsilvergs]

Thanks for pointing that out, I was thinking of doing something similar with the Betty build. Though the multiplus has an auxiliary output for holding another battery up. That should be enough to handle the parasitic drain.
I guess as I think Sprinter is doing, using the engine to charge his Lithium battery it should work just fine the other way round.
Do you really need a switch to turn the Orion on and off?

My Orion TR-Smart charges the Lithium LB's from the FLA starter battery. I have a switch across the green Remote connector but have never had to use it to stop the Orion from charging. I raised the Engine shutdown detection and Input voltage lock-out values as I found the Orion stayed on for a couple of minutes after the ignition was turned off.

So far it has worked well but they do get HOT and can sometimes reduce output current. I wonder if a second Orion would help as theoretically they would be on for half the time and perhaps then not need to thermally manage themselves.

Even though they don't have VE.Direct they do have VictronConnect which make changes so easy.

 

[wildebus]

It can be useful to have an external disable on the B2B to ensure it doesn't go on when you don't want it to. For example, if you have a B2B that is voltage activated (like most are nowadays), you can have it come on when you connect a mains charger to the starter battery and that can actully cause the starter battery to drain! (I had this with a 40A Redarc B2B that was voltage activated when I connected a 20A mains charger to the starter battery).
The 60A B2B I have installed in my Motorhome is configured to come on when the sensing cable hits a certain voltage. that sense cable goes to a switch that goes to either a permenant vehicle side +12V line, the Ignition line, or off.
that way I can have it totally voltage-sensing, voltage-sensing but only when ignition is on (good for the Mains Charger scenario) or Off (I like to have a manual override option!).

Switches ... try a scrappy? Also have a look on Ali Express. Those switches look the same shape as the VW LT switches. The LT is the same as a Sprinter but with a different dash, but maybe they used the same switches even though the dash design is different.
These are the LT ones - different style, but mounting shape looks the same?

LT-Alpine by David, on Flickr
I didn't want to spend silly money on switches so just used rockers. You could do similar in the blanks (you can get switches that will fit into a hole drilled into a blank)



Cables ... Depending on cable length run, but I would not go below 10mm2 (70A) cable for the B2B. Possibly upto to 16mm2 if a long run. It is not just about the ampacity of the cable but minimizing voltage drop.

 

[st3v3]

I had an Orion arrive this week for the same as @SquirrellCook

I am controlling with a D+ relay, to turn it off when the engine is running to stop a loop.

 

[Nabsim]

I had an Orion arrive this week for the same as @SquirrellCook

I am controlling with a D+ relay, to turn it off when the engine is running to stop a loop.

I got a bit lost I’m all the previous posts as to what folks were trying to do. I do exactly what you do Steve although I use a Votronic B2B..

 

[st3v3]

I got a bit lost I’m all the previous posts as to what folks were trying to do. I do exactly what you do Steve although I use a Votronic B2B..

This is to charge the engine 24V battery from the hab 12V

 

[SquirrellCook]

This is to charge the engine 24V battery from the hab 12V

Now I know why your charger is for sale. I’m keeping mine as they are good chargers.

 

[Sprinter 1 cup]

Thanks guys will put it on a switch, as I drive the van to work more than I camp. Dont think ill get time to fit this week end . Looking at it