FilterGuy
Solar Engineering Consultant - EG4 and Consumers
One of the selling features of the Victron Orion TR Smart is that it watches the voltages on the starter battery side and will turn on when it sees a voltage indicating the alternator is running. The selling point is that you don't have to have a separate control telling the Orion to turn on/off. This sounds great but in practice, it may not work so well.
Example 1: If you have a Victron Multi-plus with the 2nd-battery (starter battery) trickle charge feature, it might trigger the Orion to turn on even if the engine is not running..... and that can drain your starter battery.
Example 2: If your vehicle is going to sit for a while (common for an RV), you might decide to put a trickle charger on the starter battery.... and this can cause the Orion to turn on.
(These are both events that I have seen happen)
On a recent build, I tried to find a turn-on voltage and turn-off voltage for the ORION that would not trigger this type of issue.... but gave up and ended up having the ACC (key on) signal wired to the H-pin of the ORION jumper. This means that if the key is off, the Orion is off. Furthermore, the Orion will not turn on unless the key is on. However, I left the engine-detection-by-voltage on as well. This way, if you just turn the key on and not start the engine, the Orion does not turn on. Instead, the Orion waits till it sees Vcc and a voltage indicating the alternator is on.
Have others observed this issue? What was your solution?
Example 1: If you have a Victron Multi-plus with the 2nd-battery (starter battery) trickle charge feature, it might trigger the Orion to turn on even if the engine is not running..... and that can drain your starter battery.
Example 2: If your vehicle is going to sit for a while (common for an RV), you might decide to put a trickle charger on the starter battery.... and this can cause the Orion to turn on.
(These are both events that I have seen happen)
On a recent build, I tried to find a turn-on voltage and turn-off voltage for the ORION that would not trigger this type of issue.... but gave up and ended up having the ACC (key on) signal wired to the H-pin of the ORION jumper. This means that if the key is off, the Orion is off. Furthermore, the Orion will not turn on unless the key is on. However, I left the engine-detection-by-voltage on as well. This way, if you just turn the key on and not start the engine, the Orion does not turn on. Instead, the Orion waits till it sees Vcc and a voltage indicating the alternator is on.
Have others observed this issue? What was your solution?
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