Baggywrinkle
Well-Known Member
I have a 48V bank (10,2 kWh) and a 12V (6,6 kWh) bank of batteries on my boat. The 12V bank is critical as it runs all the instruments, winches, furling, bow thruster, anchor windlass, autopilot, radar, AIS etc. etc. etc .... There is unfortunately no Orion XS 48-12 and the Orion-Tr Smart has a reputation for running very hot and being somewhat inefficient. I didn't want to fit a Mastervolt or Sterling B2B as they are not blue and would ruin the colour scheme in my Victron cupboard ... only joking ... I want something that integrates with what I have. My solution after toying with the idea of abusing a couple of MPPTs was to leave the original 50A 12V 230V Battery charger in place and charge the 12V system via the Multiplus II. Not efficient, but cheap while I wait for Victron get round to giving us an Orion XS 48-12. I had already bought the smaller MPPTs with the intention of abusing them as B2Bs between the 48V and 12V systems, but decided to do something a bit different. Instead of a simple On/Off isolator for the solar panels I decided to add 2 transfer switches, (1-0-2) to switch the two series strings between the 48V and 12V systems. I can have all off, or 1,2 kW to 48V or 12V .. or split them 630W to 48V and 630W to 12V. Great for leaving the boat over winter, or topping up the batteries that need it most without running the inverter. 
Work in progress.....
Work in progress.....
