Possible Voltage Spikes from Victron Orion DC-DC Frying My Truck Electronics?

[tsawind]

I just ordered an Orion XS. Gonna hook replace my Victron 12/12 18A that is installed in the trailer and connected to the 7 pin factory line from the truck. That line is 10ga with a 30A fuse.

I'm gonna set the input current on the Orion XS to 30A and see what happens. The 12/12 18A draws 22A from the truck to make 14.2V @ 18A on the output. I'm guessing the best I will see from the Orion XS is 14.2V @ 22-24A. Then I will do what you recommend and see if I can actually get 50A from the Orion XS. My alternator is only 160A and it's dumb. That should be enough to handle the Orion XS with proper wiring.

Geesh, just ran the voltage drop calculator and it recommends 2 ga wire for the 20 ft run.

2AWG sounds about right, I have bought quite a bit of wire from "WindyNation" on amazon, it seems pretty good, I'm sure there is better stuff out there. 37.5ft black+red for $185 with lugs, grab a good hydraulic crimper or borrow one. Fuse it properly. Anderson quick connect, nice solid run from ur truck to ur trailer. That's what I would do, I don't think you would regret it, plus you could remove it and put it on a new truck.

 

[corn18]

2AWG sounds about right, I have bought quite a bit of wire from "WindyNation" on amazon, it seems pretty good, I'm sure there is better stuff out there. 37.5ft black+red for $185 with lugs, grab a good hydraulic crimper or borrow one. Fuse it properly. Anderson quick connect, nice solid run from ur truck to ur trailer. That's what I would do, I don't think you would regret it, plus you could remove it and put it on a new truck.

IMHO, Windy Nation sells the best cable out there. That's all I buy.

 

[tsawind]

2AWG sounds about right, I have bought quite a bit of wire from "WindyNation" on amazon, it seems pretty good, I'm sure there is better stuff out there. 37.5ft black+red for $185 with lugs, grab a good hydraulic crimper or borrow one. Fuse it properly. Anderson quick connect, nice solid run from ur truck to ur trailer. That's what I would do, I don't think you would regret it, plus you could remove it and put it on a new truck.

Scratch that, I was just thinking about it and that sounds a little big actually, I just looked through the manual on the Orion XS and I think the thickest wire you can fit is 4 AWG, WindyNation's 4awg is rated at 150 AMPS!

Sorry for any misinformation, I was just going off your calculations, but now that I think about it, 2awg doesnt sound right. I personally always go with the thickest cable I can reasonably use, and the best connectors and fuses possible. STAY AWAY from that copper clad crap and aluminum wire, there is a reason its cheap!

 

[tsawind]

3. Installation

www.victronenergy.com

 

[corn18]

I was just using the Southwire voltage drop calculator and it spit out 2 ga for 3% voltage drop. 4 ga is 4.61% voltage drop which should be fine.

10ga @ 30A is 11.14% voltage drop. Ouch.

 

[featherlite]

I ran my 2AWG from the front of my truck back to an Anderson plug on my rear bumper, then more 2AWg back into the trailer to land on bus bars positioned about six inches from the Orion. Then I ran 6 AWG for six inches from the bus bars into the Orion.

using the Southwire voltage drop calculator

Agreed. I never size wire without taking into account the length of the run using an online calculator.
I hate voltage drop in a 12v system!