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  1. Justin Cook

    Victron Orion TR Smart 12/12/30 and other electrical ramblings

    Well that's bloody odd... I'll have to get in touch with Victron about their ignition switch diagram then, because from your experience, their ignition switch wouldn't work to shut off the charger with the ignition off :-/ Glad you got it working, though, and I'm keeping that little diagram for...
  2. Justin Cook

    Victron Orion TR Smart 12/12/30 and other electrical ramblings

    Ah, well, sorry, that's probably about right given that >7v needs to be applied in order to override the engine running detection circuit - it would make sense that there would be a low voltage present on the pins or I guess any voltage applied would override the engine running detection. Still...
  3. Justin Cook

    Victron Orion TR Smart 12/12/30 and other electrical ramblings

    Hmmm well the Orion pins aren't providing any voltage out, you know... If you want your switch to light up, you'll need to supply it with 12v from a separate source, like in the "ignition switch only" diagram in the manual - except that in your case it's a physical switch rather than an ignition...
  4. Justin Cook

    Victron Orion TR Smart 12/12/30 and other electrical ramblings

    Boy that sure looks like our 250A 4-post busbar, though I can't tell whether it's in 3/8" or 5/16"...
  5. Justin Cook

    Victron Orion TR Smart 12/12/30 and other electrical ramblings

    LOL yeah, probably :-P We're all pretty non-social who work there to begin with, so between that and our enhanced isolation protocols and things like our package sanitization procedures and other measures that we've taken, we're really trying to stay in business and keep our customers happy...
  6. Justin Cook

    Victron Orion TR Smart 12/12/30 and other electrical ramblings

    Thanks for the reference, @DRP, we appreciate it! Just as a general note for everyone, though, during these times there's no walking in anymore (technically we've always been "by appointment only" for walk-in inquiries, but now we're "nope, not at all"). We're still fully operational, with all...
  7. Justin Cook

    What accessories requiring a 12v socket do you actually use?

    I have a 4-way switched 12v outlet distribution box that runs my radar detector, my GPS, my front/rear cameras and display, and a little "air ionizer" that's dumb as hell and I'm pretty sure it doesn't do anything buuut it has a cool LED light in it that pleases me, so I leave it in place. I'd...
  8. Justin Cook

    Critique my solar charger/battery monitor setup?

    Yeah, I second @Verkstad: don't use that. The proper way to do this is either with something like this Blue Sea AC Source Selector panel or a rotary transfer switch like this Sterling 32A transfer switch or the Sterling 63A rotary transfer switch. Both of the Sterlings are overkill and have a...
  9. Justin Cook

    Is it stupid or will it work? Charging aux battery through 400W inverter?

    My take: bottom line, sure it'll work. All the things you said, the inefficiency, the jury-rigging, etc etc, 100% agree... but it'll work. Now, that being said, I will point out that a Victron IP65 Smart 12/7 charger only costs about $8 more, has bluetooth functionality that allows monitoring...
  10. Justin Cook

    Ski Bum Truck V2.0, F450 Rough Road RV

    Errr... 'ang on, there's no -710... there's a -700, a -700H, a -702, and a -712. The -712 is the only one capable of being a source unit for a VE.Smart Network, which is what will get you into trouble if you enable DVCC... but since you still have to very specifically go into the -712's settings...
  11. Justin Cook

    Ski Bum Truck V2.0, F450 Rough Road RV

    Yeah as long as you're not using the BMV (712 only) to create a VE.Smart Network that your MPPT is receiving data from, then you should be good to go :)
  12. Justin Cook

    Ski Bum Truck V2.0, F450 Rough Road RV

    Dang... I've got to comb back to see what Victron kit you have to see if DVCC will accomplish anything for you. As a general rule, we don't advise enabling it when using Pb batteries, but there are exceptions depending on your exact equipment kit. If you have anything running a VE.Smart...
  13. Justin Cook

    Looking for input - removable LiFePO4 solution with alternator/solar charging

    Thanks @shade, we always appreciate support! I try to stay out on these forums (I think I'm on ~16 different ones now) mostly to try to head off components being improperly used and/or systems from being improperly/unsafely designed rather than trying to specifically sell stuff, but when me...
  14. Justin Cook

    Looking for input - removable LiFePO4 solution with alternator/solar charging

    FYI -all interested- our Orion-Tr Smarts are physically in stock now. Been waiting to list them until we literally had them in hand, our first order of the 12/12-30s just showed up about 10 minutes ago. We have 40 in this order, with another 50 in a couple of weeks... so far we only have about...
  15. Justin Cook

    Critique my solar charger/battery monitor setup?

    *blink* Max drop of 6%? Only for lighting and nonessential loads, and even then I wouldn't do that... inverters and other heavy loads need to stay below 3% so your wires don't heat up from the v drop and they don't shut down from low voltage even when your battery is in decent shape. 2/0 will...
  16. Justin Cook

    Pro-Rig V2.0 - Home Built Compact Composite Pop-up

    Yeah man, definitely do! Our location is (deliberately) the single one you can't see in Street View because it's hidden behind a row of concrete columns :LOL: We do have a very small display system that has a MultiPlus 3kVA and a CCGX and a SmartSolar MPPT 100/30 and a few switches and various...
  17. Justin Cook

    POPUP POWER FOR A DUMMY

    Hmmm that MPPT is no good for that panel... the SmartSolar 75/10 is only good to ~145w: https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Manual-SmartSolar-charge-controller-MPPT-75-10-75-15-100-15-100-20-EN-NL-FR-DE-ES-SE.pdf Plus, considering that a 315w panel could be putting (under ideal...
  18. Justin Cook

    Pro-Rig V2.0 - Home Built Compact Composite Pop-up

    Haha fair enough... agree to disagree on this one (though, one note: two of the manuals I quoted say store at 100%, two say at 50% - just for the record). I see that marine how-to article quoted a fair bit without regard to exactly how dated those articles are... but I'll leave the argument off...
  19. Justin Cook

    Pro-Rig V2.0 - Home Built Compact Composite Pop-up

    With all due respect, this is a myth. Although this is an oft-repeated myth and indeed seems to experience a resurgence every couple of years, I'm afraid it's based on an outdated understanding of LFP chemistry. Again, every reputable LFP battery manufacturer currently on the market recommends...
  20. Justin Cook

    Pro-Rig V2.0 - Home Built Compact Composite Pop-up

    Yeah, in San Diego now - actually just moved here about 8 months ago from CO, where I had been working as a Victron systems consultant and Bay Marine Supply hired me here as their tech support guy. We're near-ish the arena, at Fairmount Ave and Mission Gorge... but be advised we're not a retail...
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