My New Solar System Overview.

Grit dog wrote:
Your TV and laptops use $100/mo in electricity?

I was thinking the same thing. LOL
Even with high rates of PSE (Puget Sound Energy) I can't envision a big screen TV and laptops even using a quarter of that much power in a given month, even if left on 24/7.

I put Battleborns in my truck camper. A few months later (early 2021) I decided to jump on the DC to DC charger bandwagon. I looked at the Redarc unit. I wasn't too fond of it because it had pigtail wires attached to it. I then discovered that Renogy had a DC to DC charger. It used terminals for the DC connections. I ordered it. After getting it, I realized I really had no space for something that size in my AF 992 so I returned it a few days later. I think before I returned it, I somehow discovered the Victron Orion unit, so that's what I ordered next.

I went with the isolated version. I already had the wiring in place from the truck to the camper, so all I had to do was reroute that wiring to the Orion and then install new pigtails from the Orion to the batteries.
With this setup, most of the time I can run the fridge on inverter power while driving. On long drive days in hot weather I will have to revert to propane on the fridge if the batteries start to deplete. With the Victron gear being bluetooth, I can keep tabs on the batteries during the drive, and shutdown the inverter remotely (via the Bluetooth app) if needed, to force the fridge to propane operation

Yes your correct the truck/camper circuit is isolated from the rest of the electrical wiring/connections in the camper. They are only energized by plugging into the 7-pin plug.
Like you my solar panels do most of the heavy lifting as far as replenishing the battery's and the dc-dc was just to have a more favorable charging profile for the lithium battery's as well as a way to keep them isolated so no discharging could occur.
It also limits how much charge your truck alternator will supply (18a for me ) as supposedly the lithium batterys will sometimes want to take a larger amperage draw if they are depleted and in need of a large ah charge. Possible more than the wire size feeding back from the vehicle to the camper.

greenno wrote:
I disabled my 7 pin power wire. Remember, the Victron dc dc charger is an isolated system and it is forcing your truck to supply30 amps in my case. I decided it would not be good to connect the non isolated 7 pin wire as it could be detrimental to the dc dc charger. It may be acting as a return path siphoning off power from the dc dc charger that should be going to yourTC lithium batteries. I'd disconnect yours, you don't need it with the new charger.
The more I use this system, the more impressed I am with it. I'm at the Grand Canyon now and its in the low teens at night. I run my furnace all night, 70 degrees, use my laptop a d lights, the lowest I've gotten is 80% charge and my 700 watts solar hasme fully charged by noon. If cloudy or rainy, I drive somewhere and the dc dc charger pumps in 360 watts and charges the batteries in a couple hours or less. It's a winner all day and night. Love my setup. Best of all, with lithium, it's constant voltage, not a gradual dimming or slowing of motors like furnace and water pump you get with lead batteries. Take care.

Couple of things to clarify:

Camper is not new it's a 2019 but that's beside the point.

Pretty sure you want an isolated DC-DC charger as the truck and camper are separate power sources.
The unit I have is an Orion TR Smart Charger "Isolated" 12/12/18 so I only have a max of 18a or so flowing through the #10 hot wire in my 7-pin connector which can safely carry that amperage all day long.

Also when the truck is not running and not providing a charge from the alternator the Victron unit "Isolates" itself from the truck so no possibility of drawing and power from the truck battery's.

Isn't your furnace Propane? Or do you use a 120v heater. Either one shouldn't draw on your battery's.

Love going out to the GC in Feb it's not crowded and might get some snow. We usually stay in the campground next to the RV site as there is usually never anybody there and were pretty self-sufficient.

I definitely have to much time as I'm in the process of installing an inverter in the generator compartment so the wife can use the micro and I can charge my e-bike battery's without running the genny. Will finish hook-up this weekend and test out charging and such next week. Generator even fits in the compartment with the inverter installed so I got a back-up.
So if the inverter/solar/batterys do what I think they will I won't even need the generator anymore, we'll see.

I understand you did not run new wires from the alternator then as I assumed and we all know why one should never assume. So you're taking advantage of the positive and negative already in the seven pin plug. I guess you are keeping those two wires separated from any other connections in the TC other than your dc dc charger. That's good, that accomplishes what I was trying to say. It's still a long length of wire from the alternaror to the battery to the truck fuse panel to the bumper 7 pin, through the pigtail to the camper connection, and finally to the dc dc charger.
I opted for the 30 amp Orion with 4 gauge wires and a trigger/key on wire. My system produced 1.34KW at a peak of 431 watts 30 a.2 amps charging today. Fully charged by 12 noon. Gotta love the new system.

I disabled my 7 pin power wire. Remember, the Victron dc dc charger is an isolated system and it is forcing your truck to supply30 amps in my case. I decided it would not be good to connect the non isolated 7 pin wire as it could be detrimental to the dc dc charger. It may be acting as a return path siphoning off power from the dc dc charger that should be going to yourTC lithium batteries. I'd disconnect yours, you don't need it with the new charger.
The more I use this system, the more impressed I am with it. I'm at the Grand Canyon now and its in the low teens at night. I run my furnace all night, 70 degrees, use my laptop a d lights, the lowest I've gotten is 80% charge and my 700 watts solar hasme fully charged by noon. If cloudy or rainy, I drive somewhere and the dc dc charger pumps in 360 watts and charges the batteries in a couple hours or less. It's a winner all day and night. Love my setup. Best of all, with lithium, it's constant voltage, not a gradual dimming or slowing of motors like furnace and water pump you get with lead batteries. Take care.

Couple of things to clarify:

Camper is not new it's a 2019 but that's beside the point.

Pretty sure you want an isolated DC-DC charger as the truck and camper are separate power sources.
The unit I have is an Orion TR Smart Charger "Isolated" 12/12/18 so I only have a max of 18a or so flowing through the #10 hot wire in my 7-pin connector which can safely carry that amperage all day long.

Also when the truck is not running and not providing a charge from the alternator the Victron unit "Isolates" itself from the truck so no possibility of drawing and power from the truck battery's.

Isn't your furnace Propane? Or do you use a 120v heater. Either one shouldn't draw on your battery's.

Love going out to the GC in Feb it's not crowded and might get some snow. We usually stay in the campground next to the RV site as there is usually never anybody there and were pretty self-sufficient.

I definitely have to much time as I'm in the process of installing an inverter in the generator compartment so the wife can use the micro and I can charge my e-bike battery's without running the genny. Will finish hook-up this weekend and test out charging and such next week. Generator even fits in the compartment with the inverter installed so I got a back-up.
So if the inverter/solar/batterys do what I think they will I won't even need the generator anymore, we'll see.

greenno wrote:
Pretty good job sounds like you thought it through.
I kinda did something simular when I replaced my lead/acid battery's and went with (8) Lipo 3.2 cells rated at 280ahr each for a total of 560ahrs. Had to get a BMS and replace my existing on board 120v charger with the correct one for lithium battery profile. Also added the Victron 12/12/18 DC-DC charger and used my existing truck wiring harness and plug to just supplement charging when on the road.
Allready had 510w of solar on the roof and my solar controller is adaptable for lithium as well.
My total cost was a bit cheaper ( yours was more extensive ) at around $2300 for the battery's, BMS, Victron dc-dc charger, wiring and terminal blocks. I think when I did my solar back in 2018 that ran me around 1k or so. So Im $3,300 in total. I don't have an Inverter ( yet ) so I use a small 2200w generator when I need 120v for the anything.

Good video and narration.

I disabled my 7 pin power wire. Remember, the Victron dc dc charger is an isolated system and it is forcing your truck to supply30 amps in my case. I decided it would not be good to connect the non isolated 7 pin wire as it could be detrimental to the dc dc charger. It may be acting as a return path siphoning off power from the dc dc charger that should be going to yourTC lithium batteries. I'd disconnect yours, you don't need it with the new charger.
The more I use this system, the more impressed I am with it. I'm at the Grand Canyon now and its in the low teens at night. I run my furnace all night, 70 degrees, use my laptop a d lights, the lowest I've gotten is 80% charge and my 700 watts solar hasme fully charged by noon. If cloudy or rainy, I drive somewhere and the dc dc charger pumps in 360 watts and charges the batteries in a couple hours or less. It's a winner all day and night. Love my setup. Best of all, with lithium, it's constant voltage, not a gradual dimming or slowing of motors like furnace and water pump you get with lead batteries. Take care.

Pretty good job sounds like you thought it through.
I kinda did something simular when I replaced my lead/acid battery's and went with (8) Lipo 3.2 cells rated at 280ahr each for a total of 560ahrs. Had to get a BMS and replace my existing on board 120v charger with the correct one for lithium battery profile. Also added the Victron 12/12/18 DC-DC charger and used my existing truck wiring harness and plug to just supplement charging when on the road.
Allready had 510w of solar on the roof and my solar controller is adaptable for lithium as well.
My total cost was a bit cheaper ( yours was more extensive ) at around $2300 for the battery's, BMS, Victron dc-dc charger, wiring and terminal blocks. I think when I did my solar back in 2018 that ran me around 1k or so. So Im $3,300 in total. I don't have an Inverter ( yet ) so I use a small 2200w generator when I need 120v for the anything.

Good video and narration.

The Victron Orion is a pretty nice unit. I like the compact size compared to the Renogy or RedArc units.

Nicely done...Thanks...

Awesome video Jeff and thanks for posting! I have no other comment as I know nothing about solar! LOL Good luck, Joe

Your TV and laptops use $100/mo in electricity?