Victron Orion DC-DC mounting position

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by bborzell

I could not disagree more.

Who, what are you disagreeing with?

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by bborzell

I could not disagree more. One of the reasons why sloppy work on a new $50,000 camper is common is that so many people are willing to roll with that standard of performance.

Originally Posted by gbaglo

Who, what are you disagreeing with?

Glenn, appears you were quoting/posting out of context.

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

Glenn, appears you were quoting/posting out of context.

And where is the post quoted that is being disagreed with?

I went back a few and didn't see it. Can you point to it please?

[bborzell]

Post #16. The quote didn’t take.

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by bborzell

Post #16. The quote didn’t take.

Thank you.

[Gasguy]

While you got your vacuum out take a peek behind the grill on the furnace, I probably removed 1/4 cup of sawdust & debri from ours when new. Found more in the back corners of the cabinets on the floor.

[bborzell]

Originally Posted by Gasguy

While you got your vacuum out take a peek behind the grill on the furnace, I probably removed 1/4 cup of sawdust & debri from ours when new. Found more in the back corners of the cabinets on the floor.

Thanks for the heads up. The furnace is now next on my list.

[CE Vogel]

anyways, the Orion 12/12-18 seems perfectly happy taking 9.5 V at 25 amps or so and turning it into 14 volts at 16-18 amps for my lithium batts. I had to disable the engine detect and low voltage shutoff, but my F250 tow power is switched via a relay with my engine running, stop engine and ti cuts off the power to the trailer hitch.[/QUOTE]

John, rather than trying to clean up a poor design trailer plug, consider replacing the plug and socket with these round pin connectors. These are used on commercial semi-trailer trucks and are more corrosion resistant as well as having higher current capacity. A disadvantage is they are not compatible with a flat blade RV connector.
https://www.waytekwire.com/item/3767...ector-Socket-/
https://www.waytekwire.com/item/3767...nnector-Plug-/

[bborzell]

An Escape owner over on one of the Facebook forums just posted a note saying that Escape has changed to a vertical mount for the Orion DC-DC charger.

[oldwave]

Originally Posted by MVA

We toured the Oliver Plant while traveling through TN last summer. We were not impressed with the employee safety environment or fabrication quality.

2 cents

I have to agree, no employees were wearing protection from fiberglas particulates. Unlike the Bigfoot factory that evidence a high degree of PPE. Ill comment on the build quality next fall.

[kathytony1985]

Originally Posted by bborzell

I removed the charger in order to draw a template for an vertical aluminum bracket. The charger had been affixed to the floor over a bed of saw dust and trimming debris.

Would you be so kind as to take a picture of what you made and how you mounted your charger and post it to this thread. We need to make this change as well, as our charger is mounted to the vinyl floor. Thank you!

[bborzell]

Originally Posted by kathytony1985

Would you be so kind as to take a picture of what you made and how you mounted your charger and post it to this thread. We need to make this change as well, as our charger is mounted to the vinyl floor. Thank you!

My original plan was to dig through my shop and find aluminum or steel stock that I could shape into two brackets. After finding nothing suitable, I decided to use a couple of scraps of baltic birch plywood and shape them with a scroll saw. My available options were too thin and a bit too thick so I chose the thicker pieces.

One limiting factor in remounting the charger is available length of wiring coming from the rear and going to the front of the trailer. The other is that the area where the bracket can be affixed to the floor is full of other “stuff” including the heads of two bolts that affix the trailer to the frame. Not a big deal, but it did require me to make a template for the base that fit in among the hardware on the floor.

I cut two U brackets and joined them at right angles. I measured the threaded length of the wood screws that had previously held the charger flush to the floor and chose screws that were long enough to go through the base bracket and into the floor no deeper than the original screws. While the base was on the drill press, I drilled a bunch of pilot holes to make it easy to choose how many and where to place the screws to the floor.

Folks who use these chargers in van conversions make a fairly big deal about how hot they get when operating. There are even small shrouds available that mount 2-3 fans to the bottom of the charger. Given the clearance on all fronts when mounted vertically under the bed in the 21C, I don’t see a need for active coolng.

[kathytony1985]

Thank you for sharing!

[hugh]

Originally Posted by bborzell

Folks who use these chargers in van conversions make a fairly big deal about how hot they get when operating. There are even small shrouds available that mount 2-3 fans to the bottom of the charger. Given the clearance on all fronts when mounted vertically under the bed in the 21C, I don’t see a need for active coolng.

I was curious why these things got so hot. Now I see - the spec sheet shows they only have an 87% conversion efficiency. That means that they dissipate ~40 watts in heat at full load. I guess it helps keep the storage compartment warm in the winter.

[John in Santa Cruz]

If you screw something to the floor of an escape, use the largest pitch largest diameter wood screw you can that does not stick out more than exactly 1/2 in from the bottom of whatever it is you're securing. Drill a proper pilot hole for that large screw. Use #8 or larger. My table pedestal is secured with #12 or #14. The floor is half inch thick plywood with a layer of linoleum on top, so a half inch screw won't poke out the bottom. Actually the screw you use maybe longer than a half inch since you don't count the part that goes through the material you're securing. Finding large size wood screws that are in the 1/2 to 5/8 lengths is tricky. I also insist on using stainless steel hardware for this but your mileage may vary

[Ooshkaboo]

On a 5.0 moving this against the inner wall really opens up storage space, I’d leave the red wire mounting post accessible. When I first picked up my trailer the battery was dead, the driver went right to the mount and ran jumper cables from my truck allowing him to power the legs.

[GaryandEllen]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

on the 21C, with the battery in back, if/when you relocate the Orion to be near your battery, you will need to add a 10 AWG wire from the back to the front to supply the power to the emergency breakaway switch as the existing 8 AWG wire will only have tow vehicle power on it.

I'm seeing a rather large voltage drop, my F250 diesel longbed truck has a system voltage in the 13.6-14.0 range, but the Orion in the very back of my 21C is only seeing like 9.5 volt input. I need to better clean my RV plug, I'm sure that will add back in another volt.

anyways, the Orion 12/12-18 seems perfectly happy taking 9.5 V at 25 amps or so and turning it into 14 volts at 16-18 amps for my lithium batts. I had to disable the engine detect and low voltage shutoff, but my F250 tow power is switched via a relay with my engine running, stop engine and ti cuts off the power to the trailer hitch.

My 2019 F150 does not use a relay but the the truck does require Trailer Detection and the brakes to be pressed before enabling the trailer charge voltage. I tried disabling the engine detect and low voltage shutoff on the Orion but the truck disabled the voltage anyway. Has anyone had success using the Orion with a 2019 (or newer) Ford truck?

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by GaryandEllen

My 2019 F150 does not use a relay but the the truck does require Trailer Detection and the brakes to be pressed before enabling the trailer charge voltage. I tried disabling the engine detect and low voltage shutoff on the Orion but the truck disabled the voltage anyway. Has anyone had success using the Orion with a 2019 (or newer) Ford truck?

have you watched the voltage input to the Orion to see what it does during this startup cycle ?

[GaryandEllen]

No I didn't. By the time I got back into the trailer the voltage was slowing dropping 7..6..5... I should have had someone else start the truck. Since Victron does not offer direct support I returned my Orion to Amazon. My thought is to purchase it again from a supplier that can offer some technical support. Where did you purchase your Orion from?

[John in Santa Cruz]

I got it from Amazon, I think.