Victron dc-dc charger

rturnerpg

I will be installing a Victron Orion dc-dc charger in my 2023 T@B 400 BD with the lithium upgrade and the 3k wat Victron inverter/charger. I asked NuCamp customer service for a wiring diagram to plan out the installation but they said they couldn’t provide one. My plan is to route the positive and negative outputs from the dc-dc charger straight to the respective terminals. Just checking to see if there's any problem with that plan.

SLJ

I don't see a problem going straight to the battery terminals. Inverters need to. You will also need fuses. Victron has install manuals on-line for download: https://www.victronenergy.com/support-and-downloads/manuals

KK1L

I installed my Orion under the dinette bench. The red wire coming up out of the floor is from the 7-pin connector and runs to the distribution/fuse/charger panel under the stove area (to the same place as the battery is connected there). I spliced into the +12V and neutral. Works great and is an easy install.

Maple_Geek

@KK1L great diagram! I'm trying to do something similar in by 2022 TAB320S. 
How are the brakes getting power if the trailer gets disconnected from the TV in your case (i.e. emergency brake pin gets pulled out) ?

klenger

Maple_Geek said:

@KK1L great diagram! I'm trying to do something similar in by 2022 TAB320S. 
How are the brakes getting power if the trailer gets disconnected from the TV in your case (i.e. emergency brake pin gets pulled out) ?

I agree.  With the DC-DC converter connected as shown the brakes would have no power if the 7-way connector is not connected to the tow vehicle.  Moving the DC-DC converter to the other side of the terminal box would solve the problem because then the brakes would be connected to the battery side of the DC-DC converter.  This also shows why the battery switch should be ON when towing. 

KK1L

True! Thanks for pointing out that oversight.

KK1L

True. I should run the brake power to the c@mper battery side of the DC to DC. I have done that. It was a little involved to route the battery side of the DC-DC back out to the terminal block, but it is neatly doable. I chose to run the splice through the floor where the 7-way terminal block wires come up and then back out to terminal block. You have to pull down the black plastic corrugated camper bottom (a few screws) to fish the wire to the split loom to the terminal block to fish the wire in. You have to open the split loom and pull it from the terminal block housing. Patience will prevail. I removed the breakaway wire from the terminal block, snipped off the terminal ring, and spliced it to the wire from the battery side of the DC-DC. I will have to go back and take some pics. I have one of the terminal block layout BEFORE the wiring change and the updated Muttonchops schematic.

KK1L

I found that the voltage drop from the DC-DC is too great when mounted under the dinette. The system works much better with the DC-DC moved close to the WFCO under the drawer to the right of the WFCO. There is a relatively large voltage drop from the TV to the input of the DC-DC, but that is really not an issue as the DC-DC boosts the voltage just fine. It is more important to have s low drop to the battery.
The move was pretty easy as I just put the DC-DC at the other end of the wire to the WFCO output (battery). If installing from scratch it will be a matter of finding the red and white wires which run from the 7-Pin back to the WFCO battery terminals (the white goes to the terminal block). That is what you put on the INPUT to the DC-DC and then run the DC-DC OUTPUT where the input wires originally went. You still need to get battery voltage to the break-away switch. I used +12V from the DC outlet (15A fused) for this.

The settings for the DC-DC are a bit tricky and not neccesarily intuitive! With a large voltage drop to the input you have to carefully consider the settings which determine when the tow vehicle is running or not (so as not to charge when the TV is connected, but not running and deplete its battery). 

MarkAl

I have the DC-DC converter down by the tongue and have been living with the drop. I wish Victron would have a separate voltage measurement line that doesn't carry current to control the outputs on both these and the Solar Chargers. Seems an obvious issue when the slight voltage drops cause such a large change in charging current. You need larger gauge wire than really needed in most cases to limit this. You can only mount so many devices at the same spot!

I'm waiting to get a bit more life out of my Lead Acid AND retirement to move to Lithium tech and bring the batteries and charger into the trailer.

dan75

@KK1L, if our paths cross in the camping trails, I owe you a beverage..

This was helpful along with my lithium upgrade. After the upgrade with victron 3000w multiplus, I pulled out the guts of the wfco in the lower part of the fuse compartment and put the dc dc Orion and a trak4 GPS tracker in the now empty space and followed your wiring for keeping the breakaway battery powered and separating the tv power to the Orion and than (output) to the battery system (40amp connection) . Thank you!