Hello, nice job , i have a question, I installed 12/12 30 amp victron dc to dc to my van at it gave me 25 amp before but now it gives me 12/to 13 amp for 100amp lifepo4 battery to charge , do you any idea why it doesn’t charge with at least 25 amp. Thanks
I wish the DC-DC charger would also charge in the other direction - i.e. when the engine is off and the solar panels are producing power, charge up the starter battery as well as the leisure battery. And for bonus points, prioritise the leisure battery, so only use solar power to charge the starter battery when the leisure battery is full. Ps. great episode - just the right balance of sped up sequences but not too fast to miss the important details, and no shakey handheld camera shots so I didn't get motion sick while watching - thanks!
Yeah that would be great for sure ! We will be able to charge the starter battery from the leisure battery via the multiplus. It has a trickle charge output that we will hook up to the starter. There might be some way to automate it via the cerbo gx instead of manual switch, need to look into it 🤔! Great! Thanks for the feedback Rob, been trying to keep things more steady ! 😎 👍 👌
Hi. Thanks for this, about to install the same. So did you attach small lugs onto both battery positive wires and the two went into the orion smart charger positive, same with both negatives and a fuse at both battery terminals? Did you also ground this charger unit?
Thanks for the video. I’m curious why you ran a cable from the negative between starter and leisure battery instead of just taking ground from the leisure?
Hey Dylan, I think you could do that as they are both connected to chassis on negative but I didn't like the idea of using the chassis as a negative to complete the path to the starter. When I was running the cables I decided to run a negative cable too to guarantee a dedicated low resistance path instead of having to rely on chassis. (This could potentially later become a positive for a 2nd orion if needed, and then i'd use the chassis for negative on both units so it was also future proofing in a way) Hope this helps!
Thanks guys! We will test it properly soon, our battery is almost fully charged when we were testing it hence why 20a charge I think.. Or maybe because it was just Idle..
Can I ask a dumb question?!! From leisure battery +ve to Victron, from Victron +ve to van battery +ve. From van battery -ve to Victron GND. Do I not need to connect a -ve lead to my leisure battery to complete the loop ?
I think you bought the non isolated orion, in that case the loop is competed through the van chassis ground. As long as your leisure battery is grounded to chassis and van battery has a good chassis ground connection (it should from factory) it should work fine!
Hi both, does your van have a smart alternator? I have a 2017 I’ve just started converting and my main battery has died today so I’m guessing I haven’t set the app up properly on the charger
My TR Smart charges at 30 Amps initially unlike your 20 Amps, it will reduce its output which I believe is thermal protection. I also set Engine shutdow detection to 14.00, 13.80, 120s, 13.50. Input lock-out 13.3, 13.9. This for LiFePo4 leisure batteries and regular alternator.
Nice I have a 40amp Renogy one and was wondering if it'll be enough with the 300ah battery I ordered, you chaps have 400ah of Lithium, how long would a drive would you need to charge that thing up?
Hey! well at 30a if we are at 20% battery it'll take like 10 hours of driving to charge (300ah in 10h, assuming no solar) lol. It's really there just as a back up incase of emergencies and we hope to rely mainly on solar.. If we really need more charge, we can add one later more for 60a charge. Thanks for watching!
@@tine8849 How much solar you planning? You can do an energy audit to figure out roughly if it'll work out, I guess you can upgrade later but it's a bit of a pain
@@CasLaz Already got 2x100w on my SWB van as I couldn't get much more up there but barely getting 3amps at the moment so not relying on that, probably looking to parallel my B2B charger with another one.
Yeah not going to get much out of 200w solar in the winter, especially in the UK! In that case you'll most likely need more than 40a.. adding an extra one should work but I'm no expert, depends on alternator etc.. I know some people running an extra alternator for high amp B2Bs.. It's another rabbit hole to research 🤣
Hi! It's the Victron Power In, check out our electrical system overview as-well as the battery install for more details (links in description). Thanks for watching!
Nice equipment, just get that grommet at soon as possible before it shorts out and burn all your expensive equipment or worse,your entire vehicle. Good luck 👍🏼
Hi. I'm about to install a 12v 280ah LiFePo4 battery pack in the back of my pickup truck. The Battery box will be removable (Connected to the truck via an Anderson Plug). The box will hold everything, Victron DCDC-30a charger / batteries / 1500w AC inverter etc. My question is: will the Victron DCDC-30a charger hold on to its setting when I unplug the box from the truck or will I have to input ALL the settings again when I re-install the box back in, sort of like, if the main 'cranking battery/alternator fuse blew and cut the power off. (I'm using the box as a portable 'Power-Bank' for site work where mains power is not available). I can't find any info on this so any help would be greatfully received.
@@CasLaz Thanks buddy. I've got everything I need for the project except for the batteries, which are on their way from China. I certainly hope the Victron retains its memory after disconnect or I'll have to position the charger outside of the box. Thanks for your help, I'm a complete newbie to this. Lost count of the number of TH-cam videos I've watched.
You don't really *need* it for Victron terminals as far as I know, their connectors are pretty good. I like to use them as I don't like the idea of just sticking multistranded flex cable in there, it's prone to user error. Google "Wiring Unlimited Victron" its a nice PDF, mentions use of ferrules if you are after a tidy wiring job. Regarding the 16mm crimp, I do have a big hydraulic crimper but couldn't be bothered to get it out (in hindsight probably should have). At the time, the high quality ratchet crimper done a good job in my opinion (you can see me checking tightness etc)
Your alternator will raise the output of amps as the engine revs increase. As you say the starter battery will also be using some amps from the alternator at the same time. Iv just purchased a 70A B to B that is made in Germany. They are made for motorhomes. Don't ask me to spell the name of the German company because I will get it wrong. LOL. Unless I go and check the spelling first.
Thanks Andrew! 70A b2b sounds like a beast, we were thinking if we need more than 30a we might just get another orion to get 60a. Hopefully we get enough charge from solar and only need this to top up in emergencies etc.
@@CasLaz It's a Schaudt Battery to Battery Charger B2B Model WA121545 12v 45A to 70A adjustable. It will only charge Lithium (Lifepo4) at 70A. Which sounds great but to get the maximum 70 amps the house battery needs to be at a very low state of charge and the alternator needs to be pushing 14.6v. So it's more likely that the B to B will be charging at 45-55 amps a lot of the time. It does mean my Lifepo4 battery bank will get a big bulk charge from the alternator if its very low. I have gone for a 3000w low frequency Inverter/charger that will charge the battery bank at 75A from shore power. That will comes close to the capacity of many European shore power connections that only have 5 amps at 220v. (5amps x 220v =1.1KW) or charging the battery bank (75amps x 14v = 1.05KW) LOL. Plus powering anything else in the van that uses 220-240v at the same time. I have 2x 400w solar panels but I would love to squeeze more on the roof of the van some how??? Honestly i have gone way over the top on my vans electrics. Move than I will need in my van. It's only myself and my 9 year old son that are going travelling next year. I have spent much more than I needed to. I am literally starting the van build this week as a winter project. The postman and the Hermes driver are getting sick of seeing me every day for the past month.
@@drewhodge3820 Never heard of that B2B I should look into it! Thanks for the info 😀 Didn't even realize some European hook ups cap at 5 amps, thought most places were 16A like in the UK, good to know! I think 800w solar should be plenty, better off looking into tilting them instead of adding more if you really need more solar. Sounds like its going to be an awesome build (can't ever have enough power!) and you are going to be busy next couple months! Hope it goes well, it's such a massive project, good luck! 🤞😎👍
@@CasLaz Cheers I think I will need some luck. I'v bought a 2012 Ducato Ambulance 3 litre L4H3 so I need to strip it all out before I can start building. Watching a few videos I think there will be about 500 meters of wire and cable to strip out. LOL
Awesome build so far, binged watched all your videos over the last week, hopefully your have more up soon 😊🤞
Thanks Gazza! Awesome, glad to hear you are enjoying the series :) New videos coming soon! 😎
Hello, nice job , i have a question, I installed 12/12 30 amp victron dc to dc to my van at it gave me 25 amp before but now it gives me 12/to 13 amp for 100amp lifepo4 battery to charge , do you any idea why it doesn’t charge with at least 25 amp. Thanks
Another lovely tidy job 👍
Thanks Denise! 😎💙You need a badge!🌟
Fantastic job as always. Well done.
Thanks ! 😎👍⚡
Good job again guys 🙂
Thanks Richard! 😎👍
Tidy job Laz !!! Pro level even the duck 🦆 agrees 👍
Thanks Jay! ⚡🤣 If the Duck approves I'm happy! 😂 🦆💙
I wish the DC-DC charger would also charge in the other direction - i.e. when the engine is off and the solar panels are producing power, charge up the starter battery as well as the leisure battery. And for bonus points, prioritise the leisure battery, so only use solar power to charge the starter battery when the leisure battery is full.
Ps. great episode - just the right balance of sped up sequences but not too fast to miss the important details, and no shakey handheld camera shots so I didn't get motion sick while watching - thanks!
Yeah that would be great for sure !
We will be able to charge the starter battery from the leisure battery via the multiplus. It has a trickle charge output that we will hook up to the starter. There might be some way to automate it via the cerbo gx instead of manual switch, need to look into it 🤔!
Great! Thanks for the feedback Rob, been trying to keep things more steady ! 😎 👍 👌
Renogy DCC50S charger with MPPT will charge your vehicle battery with solar when your leisure battery is full!
Looking great! That shrink tubing is more satisfying than picking spots isn’t it?!
Thanks George! Ah yes, for sure most satisfying part when doing electrics! 😄😎
Hi. Thanks for this, about to install the same. So did you attach small lugs onto both battery positive wires and the two went into the orion smart charger positive, same with both negatives and a fuse at both battery terminals? Did you also ground this charger unit?
Thanks for the video. I’m curious why you ran a cable from the negative between starter and leisure battery instead of just taking ground from the leisure?
Hey Dylan, I think you could do that as they are both connected to chassis on negative but I didn't like the idea of using the chassis as a negative to complete the path to the starter.
When I was running the cables I decided to run a negative cable too to guarantee a dedicated low resistance path instead of having to rely on chassis. (This could potentially later become a positive for a 2nd orion if needed, and then i'd use the chassis for negative on both units so it was also future proofing in a way)
Hope this helps!
What size fuse and cable did you connect to the battery, looks meaty
16mm2 for orion to battery. Fuse is 60a
Nice video, you should see about 40-45A while driving when it’s cool. When it’s all heated up you should see max 30A. Nice install 😊
Thanks guys! We will test it properly soon, our battery is almost fully charged when we were testing it hence why 20a charge I think.. Or maybe because it was just Idle..
@@CasLaz it’s also due to it idling, I’ll try and drain the battery down to 80% and then go on a 30mins drive 😊
@@theoteam4641 Thanks! will try that, need to get the inverter up and running so we can drain this beast 😂😂
Can I ask a dumb question?!! From leisure battery +ve to Victron, from Victron +ve to van battery +ve. From van battery -ve to Victron GND. Do I not need to connect a -ve lead to my leisure battery to complete the loop ?
I think you bought the non isolated orion, in that case the loop is competed through the van chassis ground.
As long as your leisure battery is grounded to chassis and van battery has a good chassis ground connection (it should from factory) it should work fine!
@@CasLaz ahh... Thank you!
Hi both, does your van have a smart alternator? I have a 2017 I’ve just started converting and my main battery has died today so I’m guessing I haven’t set the app up properly on the charger
My TR Smart charges at 30 Amps initially unlike your 20 Amps, it will reduce its output which I believe is thermal protection. I also set Engine shutdow detection to 14.00, 13.80, 120s, 13.50. Input lock-out 13.3, 13.9. This for LiFePo4 leisure batteries and regular alternator.
Hey Tony! Thanks for the info, will double check all settings, haven't had a chance to test it too much yet!
Nice I have a 40amp Renogy one and was wondering if it'll be enough with the 300ah battery I ordered, you chaps have 400ah of Lithium, how long would a drive would you need to charge that thing up?
Hey! well at 30a if we are at 20% battery it'll take like 10 hours of driving to charge (300ah in 10h, assuming no solar) lol. It's really there just as a back up incase of emergencies and we hope to rely mainly on solar.. If we really need more charge, we can add one later more for 60a charge. Thanks for watching!
@@CasLaz Ah yeah you guys have a decent solar setup, me not so much😥
@@tine8849 How much solar you planning? You can do an energy audit to figure out roughly if it'll work out, I guess you can upgrade later but it's a bit of a pain
@@CasLaz Already got 2x100w on my SWB van as I couldn't get much more up there but barely getting 3amps at the moment so not relying on that, probably looking to parallel my B2B charger with another one.
Yeah not going to get much out of 200w solar in the winter, especially in the UK!
In that case you'll most likely need more than 40a.. adding an extra one should work but I'm no expert, depends on alternator etc.. I know some people running an extra alternator for high amp B2Bs.. It's another rabbit hole to research 🤣
one more bit ticked off, well done.
Big inverter next and we are almost there! 😎⚡
@@CasLaz Did our second test of our induction hob tonight, very impressed
@@Alivefrom45 Awesome! Where is the video!?!? 😁
@@CasLaz i need to edit them both tests
Hello. For what is the thin red wire that is beside the thick red wire on the battery compartiment?
Hi Andrei, that goes to the shunt to monitor starter battery voltage
@@CasLaz thanks. And the other one? I see you have 3 different wire sizes.
@@and7rei 4mm2 is the trickle charger cable from the multiplus to starter, I think i explain it in one of our later videos.
I'm in the process of turning my electrical system blue, can you tell me what Victron name is that big busbar you took the blue cover off please?
Lynx Power In Victron Energy by the cheapest version, get some screws and you can ad 4 fuses.
Hi! It's the Victron Power In, check out our electrical system overview as-well as the battery install for more details (links in description). Thanks for watching!
Nice equipment, just get that grommet at soon as possible before it shorts out and burn all your expensive equipment or worse,your entire vehicle. Good luck 👍🏼
Hi. I'm about to install a 12v 280ah LiFePo4 battery pack in the back of my pickup truck. The Battery box will be removable (Connected to the truck via an Anderson Plug). The box will hold everything, Victron DCDC-30a charger / batteries / 1500w AC inverter etc. My question is: will the Victron DCDC-30a charger hold on to its setting when I unplug the box from the truck or will I have to input ALL the settings again when I re-install the box back in, sort of like, if the main 'cranking battery/alternator fuse blew and cut the power off. (I'm using the box as a portable 'Power-Bank' for site work where mains power is not available). I can't find any info on this so any help would be greatfully received.
Hey Rocky! It remembers your previous settings so should work !
@@CasLaz Thanks buddy. I've got everything I need for the project except for the batteries, which are on their way from China. I certainly hope the Victron retains its memory after disconnect or I'll have to position the charger outside of the box. Thanks for your help, I'm a complete newbie to this. Lost count of the number of TH-cam videos I've watched.
It's a good thing you didn't show it producing 30 amps
Hi , are you sure that you need ferrules, and you are the first one that I see that’s crimping a 16 mm q with such a small pliers hm 🤔
You don't really *need* it for Victron terminals as far as I know, their connectors are pretty good. I like to use them as I don't like the idea of just sticking multistranded flex cable in there, it's prone to user error. Google "Wiring Unlimited Victron" its a nice PDF, mentions use of ferrules if you are after a tidy wiring job.
Regarding the 16mm crimp, I do have a big hydraulic crimper but couldn't be bothered to get it out (in hindsight probably should have). At the time, the high quality ratchet crimper done a good job in my opinion (you can see me checking tightness etc)
@@CasLaz ok thanks, will look it up .
@@CasLaz Nice link about wirering!
@@ebptube Hope it helps ! ⚡
Hi guys, hope you are both well as haven’t heard from you in a while ? 😘
Hi Paul! Yes are all good thanks🙂We had a hectic couple weeks so haven't had a chance to work on the van. Hopefully we can get back to it soon!
Your alternator will raise the output of amps as the engine revs increase. As you say the starter battery will also be using some amps from the alternator at the same time. Iv just purchased a 70A B to B that is made in Germany. They are made for motorhomes. Don't ask me to spell the name of the German company because I will get it wrong. LOL. Unless I go and check the spelling first.
Thanks Andrew! 70A b2b sounds like a beast, we were thinking if we need more than 30a we might just get another orion to get 60a. Hopefully we get enough charge from solar and only need this to top up in emergencies etc.
@@CasLaz It's a Schaudt Battery to Battery Charger B2B Model WA121545 12v 45A to 70A adjustable. It will only charge Lithium (Lifepo4) at 70A. Which sounds great but to get the maximum 70 amps the house battery needs to be at a very low state of charge and the alternator needs to be pushing 14.6v. So it's more likely that the B to B will be charging at 45-55 amps a lot of the time. It does mean my Lifepo4 battery bank will get a big bulk charge from the alternator if its very low. I have gone for a 3000w low frequency Inverter/charger that will charge the battery bank at 75A from shore power. That will comes close to the capacity of many European shore power connections that only have 5 amps at 220v. (5amps x 220v =1.1KW) or charging the battery bank (75amps x 14v = 1.05KW) LOL. Plus powering anything else in the van that uses 220-240v at the same time. I have 2x 400w solar panels but I would love to squeeze more on the roof of the van some how??? Honestly i have gone way over the top on my vans electrics. Move than I will need in my van. It's only myself and my 9 year old son that are going travelling next year. I have spent much more than I needed to. I am literally starting the van build this week as a winter project. The postman and the Hermes driver are getting sick of seeing me every day for the past month.
@@drewhodge3820 Never heard of that B2B I should look into it! Thanks for the info 😀
Didn't even realize some European hook ups cap at 5 amps, thought most places were 16A like in the UK, good to know!
I think 800w solar should be plenty, better off looking into tilting them instead of adding more if you really need more solar.
Sounds like its going to be an awesome build (can't ever have enough power!) and you are going to be busy next couple months! Hope it goes well, it's such a massive project, good luck! 🤞😎👍
@@CasLaz Cheers I think I will need some luck. I'v bought a 2012 Ducato Ambulance 3 litre L4H3 so I need to strip it all out before I can start building. Watching a few videos I think there will be about 500 meters of wire and cable to strip out. LOL