Victron DCDC charger doing strange things..

[pandos]

I bought a new victron Orion dc dc charger last year, the boat went into the yard and it was not used to any great extent until this week. When I fitted it I am sure that it worked ok when I tested, although I cannot remember the exact details I am sure that it was pumping around 30 amps into the system.

On a two hour motor down a river last weekend I noticed that there was a smell of new hot plastic from the charger, at this stage the batteries were full having been charged on shore power.

The next day after a days sailing with the fridge and autopilot running the batteries were down a bit and on the motor into port I smelled more powerful and less pleasant odor of burning plastic...On each occasion I pulled out the little green tab to switch it off

I had a chance to run it whilst at anchor and I found that it puts out about 15 amps, (per the victron battery monitor) the input voltage from the alternator/ house battery was higher than the output voltage to the lithiums.


Even though the set output voltage was 14.2...

I have a notion that there was a software update and I cannot now see the ampage being produced by the charger, I think I could see this in the past but I may be mistaken..

Are these things naturally hot and smelly when new or is the reducing voltage a sign of something more sinister.

Boat is now on a swing mooring and I have no solar at the moment...

as it is a year old in August if it is bad I'd like to look for a refund/repair under warranty but I am afraid to charge my batteries with it so I need to sort it quickly...

I get the feeling that this is a software problem

Any suggestions!

 

[Alex_Blackwood]

I bought a new victron Orion dc dc charger last year, the boat went into the yard and it was not used to any great extent until this week. When I fitted it I am sure that it worked ok when I tested, although I cannot remember the exact details I am sure that it was pumping around 30 amps into the system.

On a two hour motor down a river last weekend I noticed that there was a smell of new hot plastic from the charger, at this stage the batteries were full having been charged on shore power.

The next day after a days sailing with the fridge and autopilot running the batteries were down a bit and on the motor into port I smelled more powerful and less pleasant odor of burning plastic...On each occasion I pulled out the little green tab to switch it off

I had a chance to run it whilst at anchor and I found that it puts out about 15 amps, (per the victron battery monitor) the input voltage from the alternator/ house battery was higher than the output voltage to the lithiums.


Even though the set output voltage was 14.2...

I have a notion that there was a software update and I cannot now see the ampage being produced by the charger, I think I could see this in the past but I may be mistaken..

Are these things naturally hot and smelly when new or is the reducing voltage a sign of something more sinister.

Boat is now on a swing mooring and I have no solar at the moment...

as it is a year old in August if it is bad I'd like to look for a refund/repair under warranty but I am afraid to charge my batteries with it so I need to sort it quickly...

I get the feeling that this is a software problem

Any suggestions!

Only thing I could say for certain is, that you have a problem. Whether that is with the charger , or the installation, it is impossible to say. I would suggest that you read up on the installation and double check everything! If that is 100%, without a doubt, OK, then I would return the unit under warranty. Also double check that the unit is suitable for your particular installation

 

[pandos]

Obviously I could have made a boo boo in connecting it up but if I had, I doubt it could still put out 15 amps in the right place... And I can't see how it could be reducing the output voltage to less than the input instead of raising it as it is meant to do.

Having thought some more about it I think it's a software glitch and/or it's got an internal issue such as a component that was only good for a few hours of use before frying itself..

I have attached two screen grabs that may provide some clue(s)

First seems to be what it is doing according to its own Bluetooth and the second are the defaults for lithiums, again according to itself. I don't have a grab of the readout from the battery monitor...

 

[Alex_Blackwood]

Obviously I could have made a boo boo in connecting it up but if I had, I doubt it could still put out 15 amps in the right place... And I can't see how it could be reducing the output voltage to less than the input instead of raising it as it is meant to do.

Having thought some more about it I think it's a software glitch and/or it's got an internal issue such as a component that was only good for a few hours of use before frying itself..

I have attached two screen grabs that may provide some clue(s)

First seems to be what it is doing according to its own Bluetooth and the second are the defaults for lithiums, again according to itself. I don't have a grab of the readout from the battery monitor...

Sorry I can't really add anything to my previous. However I seem to recall that in another post Paul R. of this parish, advised against using Victron settings for Lith. batteries. No doubt the man himself will be along with a more professional and detailed explanation.
P.S. Although one can never be 100% certain, I would have thought a component failure would have stopped the charger from working at all.

 

[Sandy]

Contact the people you purchased it through. They will contact Victron and sort out the problem.

Many do not like the way Victron force end users to contact the supplier, but when I had an issue with a shunt they replaced it within 48 hours.

 

[PaulRainbow]

I bought a new victron Orion dc dc charger last year, the boat went into the yard and it was not used to any great extent until this week. When I fitted it I am sure that it worked ok when I tested, although I cannot remember the exact details I am sure that it was pumping around 30 amps into the system.

On a two hour motor down a river last weekend I noticed that there was a smell of new hot plastic from the charger, at this stage the batteries were full having been charged on shore power.

The next day after a days sailing with the fridge and autopilot running the batteries were down a bit and on the motor into port I smelled more powerful and less pleasant odor of burning plastic...On each occasion I pulled out the little green tab to switch it off

I had a chance to run it whilst at anchor and I found that it puts out about 15 amps, (per the victron battery monitor) the input voltage from the alternator/ house battery was higher than the output voltage to the lithiums.


Even though the set output voltage was 14.2...

I have a notion that there was a software update and I cannot now see the ampage being produced by the charger, I think I could see this in the past but I may be mistaken..

Are these things naturally hot and smelly when new or is the reducing voltage a sign of something more sinister.

Boat is now on a swing mooring and I have no solar at the moment...

as it is a year old in August if it is bad I'd like to look for a refund/repair under warranty but I am afraid to charge my batteries with it so I need to sort it quickly...

I get the feeling that this is a software problem

Any suggestions!

Sounds like it's faulty.

 

[pandos]

Sounds like it's faulty.

Thanks for that. I have emailed the supplier and hopefully they will be helpful. It was bought on Amazon and delivered to Ireland so there are tax, customs and delivery costs to be dealt with which complicate even returning it for inspection..

I was hoping it may be a software issue...that would be familiar to someone on here...

 

[PaulRainbow]

Thanks for that. I have emailed the supplier and hopefully they will be helpful. It was bought on Amazon and delivered to Ireland so there are tax, customs and delivery costs to be dealt with which complicate even returning it for inspection..

I was hoping it may be a software issue...that would be familiar to someone on here...

Doubt it's software, but you can update to the latest version using Victron Connect.

 

[pandos]

Doubt it's software, but you can update to the latest version using Victron Connect.

The only change, except in terms of duration of use, between testing and use was that it updated the software..

Is it possible to to go back to an older version?

 

[PaulRainbow]

The only change, except in terms of duration of use, between testing and use was that it updated the software..

Is it possible to to go back to an older version?

You can roll back the firmware on most Victron devices, never tried with a DC DC charger though.

 

[Ian_Edwards]

As far as I'm aware, the output voltage of a dc to dc convert can, and on occasions should be, lower than the input.
If the batteries are fully charged and need to be held at a maintenance voltage of around 3.4v per cell (13.6v) or whatever the battery manufactuers spec' says, and you are motoring with the alternator outputting 14.6v, then the dc to dc should down convert.
If something is getting hot when it's only outputting 50% of its rated output, then my guess is that something is wrong. It's either trying to supply a low impedance external load, and struggling to supply enough current, or there is an internal fault.
You need to find a way to measure the output current, either using the software or a meter. But beware more cheap multimeter max out at 10amps.
A dc clamp meter would probably work.

 

[pandos]

As far as I'm aware, the output voltage of a dc to dc convert can, and on occasions should be, lower than the input.
If the batteries are fully charged and need to be held at a maintenance voltage of around 3.4v per cell (13.6v) or whatever the battery manufactuers spec' says, and you are motoring with the alternator outputting 14.6v, then the dc to dc should down convert.
If something is getting hot when it's only outputting 50% of its rated output, then my guess is that something is wrong. It's either trying to supply a low impedance external load, and struggling to supply enough current, or there is an internal fault.
You need to find a way to measure the output current, either using the software or a meter. But beware more cheap multimeter max out at 10amps.
A dc clamp meter would probably work.

I measured the output, as per my first post. (Via the battery monitor) The batteries were low at that stage so should have accepted the 14. that is suggested by victron in their default settings for lithium. Alternator was putting out 13.7 according to the DC DC which may be lowish .. afaik it's a 60 amp standard alternator.

Tomorrow I will try to reconfigure the charger to see if I can get it to behave and if it won't I'll just have to take it out of the equation so I can send back to Amazon and see what the alternator will put out without the DC DC..( but with the standard battery in the circuit)...

Ultimately I need a solar panel and a good MPPT controller...

Thanks all..

 

[MB58]

I am new to the forum, a couple of comments. If house batteries were low I would have thought Orion would be maxed out to power alternator was prodcucing. 13.7v alternator out seems low, my Volvo normally runs at 14.2. If it is a Hitachi fitted to a Yanmar, they are pretty pathetic, they have temperature sensors and cut output if you load them. This doesn't answer your question though. Your screen shots look the same as for IP43 mains charger. If you click history and then click the bar there is more info but only time and Ah in each stage. Sadly history is not date/time stamped. I would also look at expert settings Victron have some strange things, there is auto end to absorption rather than time based, tail current cut off which is good. Can you access history from your monitor? If not fit a Victron Smartshunt they are so cheap now and can blue tooth with other chargers. Attached is a trace from Smartshunt showing my IP43 going from abs voltage to float because of smart abs selection (and my totally knackered Leoch batteries).

Having said all this it does sound like a fault. It is worth looking a Victron forum and posting there, you often get a response from a Victron employee.