The 375W has a Peak of 700W (not sure how long for)
Alternator output
- Thread starter Rioja John
- Start date
Please can anyone advise me @Salty Spuds @Drive Wayne @Dellmassive I’m having real problems with this Victron Orion 50amp charger, the supplier asked for the charge voltages which I sent now they’re asking for input charging which I don’t know how to obtain them.
Now this afternoon I went to start my van to try and get the input charge and nothing no lights on dash total zilch.
When I left the van yesterday afternoon the starter battery was 12.65 volts and the lithium leisure batteries were 13.1 now today my starter battery is 5.7 volts and my 200 ah lithium are 13.4 fully charged so what the hell is happening with this box of shite Victron Orion 50 dc to dc charger.
I’m going to tell 12 volt planet to take it back as it’s not fit for purpose and reimburse me my money and go back to my Sterling 30 ah charger.
Now this afternoon I went to start my van to try and get the input charge and nothing no lights on dash total zilch.
When I left the van yesterday afternoon the starter battery was 12.65 volts and the lithium leisure batteries were 13.1 now today my starter battery is 5.7 volts and my 200 ah lithium are 13.4 fully charged so what the hell is happening with this box of shite Victron Orion 50 dc to dc charger.
I’m going to tell 12 volt planet to take it back as it’s not fit for purpose and reimburse me my money and go back to my Sterling 30 ah charger.
Did you disable the engine shutdown detection?
Yes I disabled it.
That’s why the starter battery is flat then. The Orion has been on constantly & charged the leisure battery at the cost of the starter.
You can only disable the engine shutdown with the engine running. At least we’ve now proved that the Orion works & the issue is the engine detection settings. Is there no way to get an ignition live to the Orion?
Can you get one from under the dash fuse box ?
What setting would you set the engine shutdown as I had it set at 12 .8 but was shutting down during driving the seller told me to set it to that and if still problamatic go down to 12 .7 but no lower.
Can’t give a definitive answer to that one as I use an ignition live to control mine, so have the engine shutdown permanently disabled. So I haven’t had a play with the settings. The other thing I’d note is that if your lithium battery is now showing 13.4V & fully charged, then as already mentioned, I don’t think that 13.1V represents a SOC as low as 20%. I think that the SOC chart that you posted earlier is erroneous & could be the root cause of your problem. I suspect that there hasn’t been the problem all along that the chart would suggest exists.
I think your engine shutdown is not set. Here is the setting for mine and have been this way for 2 years firstly on my 30amp and now on my 50amp version.
In menu for Engine shutdown detection enabled (blue dot across to right)
Alternator settings:
Start voltage 13.00
Delayed start voltage 13.60
Delayed start voltage delay 120s (this allows alternator to feed vehical battery first)
Shutdown voltage 12.80 ( I would not go lower than this)
Hope this helps.
In menu for Engine shutdown detection enabled (blue dot across to right)
Alternator settings:
Start voltage 13.00
Delayed start voltage 13.60
Delayed start voltage delay 120s (this allows alternator to feed vehical battery first)
Shutdown voltage 12.80 ( I would not go lower than this)
Hope this helps.
Don´t give up it´s in your settings smoewhere. When you get it right you will be pleased.
My alternator is a smart alternator and I tried your settings but the smart alternator setting won’t let you put those figures in here’s mine, is this ok.
May I ask which Meaco dehumidifiers you have? The DD8L? I’ve had a tab open for a while waiting for a deal on one so that I can run it in the van occasionally whilst on electrics at home and can use it in the house too. I was going the desiccant way for the cooler operating temperature range. Would you recommend your units? Thanks.
I currently have the DD8L junior dessicant, an ABC 12l compressor and an EcoAir DD112 Simple dessicant.
I wouldn't buy the DD8L again, though it's certainly lasted, as it's not controllable enough. I bought it as a dessicant one to keep the garage dry but the fixed humidity levels are all too dry (more suitable for a house)
For garage drying the EcoAir is great as it's cheap and has a simple analogue dial. I've had 3 so far over 15 years - eventually the heater tends to go. To give them a long life run then on half power.
For house use the ABC has been great. Not quite as silent as they make out though and one of the sensors has gone in it after 4 years so it no longer defrosts itself but that's fine as it doesn't need to and it's been in daily use.
I'd go with the cheap and simple EcoAir at half power. Noise wise not much difference, in both you hear the blower fans, in dessicant you hear the clatter and rattle of the dessicant wheel turning, in compressor you hear the fridge like compressor noise.
The advantage of the dessicant in your situation is the 300w heater helps keep the area warm as well, which aids the dehumidifier
Edited to add:
Looking at the current prices the EcoAir has gone up a lot. I'd still recommend it for long term garage use but for your hybrid use the DD8L junior is a good bit cheaper and in a van the levels will work better and you can probably live with it - I use mine in the garden railway shed, or the Meaco ABC is a good idea if you end using it a bit more in the house.
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Try changing it to Regular Alternator, as just went down and checked mine at it is set to Regular Alternator
Thanks. I will use it routinely in the house and occasionally in the van to try to keep everything dry and fresh. I was concerned that the non desiccant models may not work well on a cold day in the van. The ABC models are cheaper than the DD8L.
The Inverter has a few switches - On Off ECO also has a Green Plug with a Link
I assume the link can be removed and a switch wired between them so that you can turn on and off the Inverter from the dash (switch) - HOWEVER
What does the ECO do? I realise it uses less power in standby - but if I select ECO it wont actually power the Dehumidifer - it tries and fails.
Is there adjustments somewhere if I bought the BlueTooth Dongle that would allow me to use ECO to save power when no load on and then would power the Dehumidifier correctly when it turns on?
Was planning to use a time clock on the Inverter output so that it runs for say 3 hours at the appropriate time...
Any suggestions?
THANKS
Well I’m getting there with the 50amp Victron I’ve spent most of the afternoon with it tearing what bit of hair I have out, fired the van up and 2 displays why the charger was off, low voltage cut off and engine shutdown, I tried every thing changing settings but nothing, so I reset to factory settings and still no joy.
I disabled low voltage cut off but still showed engine shutdown so I temporarily disabled the engine shutdown and there was a different tone from the engine and the read out showed 38.8amps hurrah, switched engine shutdown on again and Zilch, then I found some settings a helpfull member gave me so I reset to these and tried again 18 amps showing but if I disable the shutdown 38.8%amps so I’m close to sorting it out.
This is the settings some one sent me and thank you whoever it was as well as others who tried to help..
Right my next one is I’ve fitted the Victron shunt as well today and need to know what settings to use with my 200 ah lithium batteries.
I disabled low voltage cut off but still showed engine shutdown so I temporarily disabled the engine shutdown and there was a different tone from the engine and the read out showed 38.8amps hurrah, switched engine shutdown on again and Zilch, then I found some settings a helpfull member gave me so I reset to these and tried again 18 amps showing but if I disable the shutdown 38.8%amps so I’m close to sorting it out.
This is the settings some one sent me and thank you whoever it was as well as others who tried to help..
Right my next one is I’ve fitted the Victron shunt as well today and need to know what settings to use with my 200 ah lithium batteries.
Hi @roadtripper - based on your advise I upgraded the Inverter to 12/1200 model - never fitted the 12/375 - so was able to return it and the wiring kit.
I also bought the bluetooth dongle - which came last night from Amazon.
On plugging in the dongle - i powered up the dehumidifer and the display showed 1150VA (watts) for maybe 10 seconds or so before dropping to the 225VA - then it ran at that for a while and dropped to around the 100VA for a while then oscilated between 100 and 225 Watts.
So you were 100% spot on and the start load is like 7 or 8 times the average running load... great advise that saved me some money ending up with 2 Inverters.
THANKS
People get caught out quite often with startup currents, especially with microwave ovens. They think that they’ll put an 800W oven in the van and a 1000W inverter will be sufficient. When in reality they need something like a 2500W unit to overcome the starting current.
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