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Old 03-02-2022, 08:35 PM   #1
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DC to DC charger: brand shopping

My Coachman Freelander class C charges the house battery (150 AH LiFeBlue lithium) using shore, generator or alternator. When discharged the battery will accept 150 amp inflow. However, the charging circuit from the alternator is protected by a 60 amp fuse, which blows because the battery will accept far more current than that. The 85 cent fuse requires about $80 in labor (NC prices) to replace, because of its buried location (thank you Ford).

I put a 50 amp resettable breaker in the charging circuit, but I don't notice when it trips, and it doesn't always trip before the larger fuse blows (!)

I think I need a better way to limit the current. I plan to add a DC to DC charger with <60 amp output, to protect both the alternator, and the...85 cent fuse. I see a 40 amp onboard charger from Renogy for $187, and a Victron 30 amp for $220.

Does anyone have any positive or negative experience with either of these, or similar products? Both are 3 stage smart chargers. The Victron can output a specified voltage, which I like. I don't care about bluetooth connections. I don't even know what 'isolated' means in this case. Advice appreciated.
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Old 03-02-2022, 09:55 PM   #2
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Not on that particular unit. But we have a victron 12 to 12 converter that has worked well for us in a couple different applications. Seems reliable and I like the adjustable output.

Sorry, I doubt that info is very useful to you.

Cheers.
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Old 03-02-2022, 10:30 PM   #3
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I just purchased the Renogy unit.

It can be wired with an optional toggle switch for 20A or 40A charging, which may be useful to limit charging current when idling.
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Old 03-02-2022, 10:41 PM   #4
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I installed a Victron Energy Orion-TR Smart 12/12-30 Isolated version in order to improve the charging capability from the tow vehicle. The difference between the Isolated and Non-Isolated is the Isolated has input and output negative separated (i.e. isolated ) from each other while the Non-Isolated shares a common ground. The Isolated is used when the source and target batteries don't have a common ground.

As I already have other Victron Energy components I wanted to stick with them when I added the DC-DC charger. The Orion-TR Smart chargers have a number of preset charging profiles including one for LiFePo4. You can also create a custom charging profile if none of the pre-set profiles works. I used that feature to create a profile specifically for the Trojan T-125 6v's I currently have that matches exactly the charging specs from Trojan for that model. I have the same charge profile configured on my VE 100/20 MPPT Solar charger.

I do like the bluetooth connections as it eliminates the need to have easy physical access to monitor or configure allowing for more flexibility when choosing where to mount the unit. It also provides an easy mechanism for applying periodic firmware updates. The one thing I don't like about the Orion-TR Smart is it currently lacks the ability to obtain battery temperature via bluetooth from another Victron device such as the BMV-712 meter. Otherwise I've been very pleased with the performance of the Orion-TR Smart device.
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Old 03-02-2022, 11:27 PM   #5
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Been successfully using a 40A Renogy in my travel trailer.

Use a 60A circuit breaker under the hood..
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Old 03-03-2022, 05:21 AM   #6
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Renogy, Victron and Redarc make good DC to DC chargers.

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Old 03-03-2022, 08:50 AM   #7
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I have the Renogy 50A version and it has worked very well in my motorhome charging 200 AH Lithium battery bank. It can be set to limit charge current to less than 50A (in 10 A intervals, I think) if desired.
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Old 03-04-2022, 10:27 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ttavasc View Post
I installed a Victron Energy Orion-TR Smart 12/12-30 Isolated version in order to improve the charging capability from the tow vehicle. The difference between the Isolated and Non-Isolated is the Isolated has input and output negative separated (i.e. isolated ) from each other while the Non-Isolated shares a common ground. The Isolated is used when the source and target batteries don't have a common ground.

As I already have other Victron Energy components I wanted to stick with them when I added the DC-DC charger. The Orion-TR Smart chargers have a number of preset charging profiles including one for LiFePo4. You can also create a custom charging profile if none of the pre-set profiles works. I used that feature to create a profile specifically for the Trojan T-125 6v's I currently have that matches exactly the charging specs from Trojan for that model. I have the same charge profile configured on my VE 100/20 MPPT Solar charger.

I do like the bluetooth connections as it eliminates the need to have easy physical access to monitor or configure allowing for more flexibility when choosing where to mount the unit. It also provides an easy mechanism for applying periodic firmware updates. The one thing I don't like about the Orion-TR Smart is it currently lacks the ability to obtain battery temperature via bluetooth from another Victron device such as the BMV-712 meter. Otherwise I've been very pleased with the performance of the Orion-TR Smart device.
Thanks for walking me through isolated v. No isolated. Appreciate the explanation.

The LiFePO4 battery I have has a Bluetooth app reporting SOC, voltage, current in/out and temperature. I imagine the Orion lets you check and change the profile in use. Anything else?

Thanks again for your thoughts.
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Old 04-19-2022, 02:58 PM   #9
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I have the victron orian 12/12 -18 amp version. It puts out 18 ~19 amps as spec say it will. Its programable to about any 12 volt battery chargeing needs , you program it with a APP from your smart phone and you can check on it at any time by useing the APP. Its pass word protected so you dont ahve to worry about the guy next door changing anything. 3 years old , no issues.
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Old 04-28-2022, 10:22 AM   #10
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My son has had the Renogy 30/60 amp unit for about a year and it's working well. His usual use is to help power a mini split A/C in heat mode when traveling so it gets a pretty good workout in the 60 amp mode. He confirmed that his factory alternator has 60 plus amps available when running with headlights on.

Note that the 30/60 amp unit can require 90 amps input in the 60 amp mode according to the specs. However, as near as I and my son can tell, that only occurs when the output voltage is pulled down to it's lower limit which is 8 volts (according to the spec). Since he has lithium batteries, his input and output voltages are both up in the 13 volt plus range so input current isn't much higher than output current.
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Old 04-29-2022, 02:43 PM   #11
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We use two of the Victron Orion 12/12-30s to put out a total of 60 amps. They work great charging our 600ah battery bank. Note that they get pretty warm when running at full honk so you need to consider where they will be located. I mounted them on a raised sheetmetal platform to enhance the effect of the heat fins and even with that mod they would occasionally get too hot and pop the breaker I installed ahead of the charger. I installed a small 12v fan to blow over them and all is good. I like that they can be monitored via bluetooth. Good luck!
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Old 04-29-2022, 04:04 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LA-Hodag2 View Post
We use two of the Victron Orion 12/12-30s to put out a total of 60 amps. They work great charging our 600ah battery bank. Note that they get pretty warm when running at full honk so you need to consider where they will be located. I mounted them on a raised sheetmetal platform to enhance the effect of the heat fins and even with that mod they would occasionally get too hot and pop the breaker I installed ahead of the charger. I installed a small 12v fan to blow over them and all is good. I like that they can be monitored via bluetooth. Good luck!
I also use 2 of the Victron units in our system for a total of 60A but can put out as much as 90A but we have a 260A alternator so there's more than enough capacity and we also have dual 1100CCA Starting batteries so well within limits of both gating points.

Our units are connected to our Cerbo so we get a view of the power being created as well as the total amps in/out.

These along with our 1600W of solar allow us to run one of our rooftop AC units while driving and on most days generate enough excess power to also charge the House batteries while running a rooftop AC unit, Residential Refer, and built-in wine cooler.

The Victron system is certainly the most integrated and provides the best visibility to the overall system and also has more ability to customize the charging parameters..... but they aren't cheap
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Old 05-01-2022, 11:18 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hclarkx View Post
My son has had the Renogy 30/60 amp unit for about a year and it's working well. His usual use is to help power a mini split A/C in heat mode when traveling so it gets a pretty good workout in the 60 amp mode. He confirmed that his factory alternator has 60 plus amps available when running with headlights on.

Note that the 30/60 amp unit can require 90 amps input in the 60 amp mode according to the specs. However, as near as I and my son can tell, that only occurs when the input voltage is pulled down to it's lower limit which is 8 volts (according to the spec). Since he has lithium batteries, his input and output voltages are both up in the 13 volt plus range so input current isn't much higher than output current.
There was a typo in the above ........ I changed "output" to "input". As input voltage goes down, input current must go up.
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Old 05-12-2022, 03:16 PM   #14
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You can't go wrong with either Victron or Renogy.

I installed the Renogy, and I'm happy with it. The process is involved and intimidating enough that I decided to document it all on video:
Plan / diagrams: https://youtu.be/uONgZkrzkhY
Installation: https://youtu.be/OdZdg4KZ_5M
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