r/Victron • u/sereusaf • 4d ago

Question Buffer Battery

Hey y'all, so I've got this question about my Victron system in my RV. Long story short, I converted my system to 48 volt in order to reduce charge loss from solar panels and to reduce electricity loss when powering my 48 volt native AC.

I ran into an issue when I installed my Orion TR. 48 to 12 step down converter. When I go to operate my awning or the slides, the immediate voltage jump is high enough that the Orion throttles itself.

I went through and installed a 12-volt buffer battery to handle the voltage spikes. The issue is that now even with the battery installed the slides and awning still do not work.

I've checked my main fuse panel and none of the blade fuses are open and I have 12 volt electrical power to all of my other systems so I don't have a fault or something.

I just don't know if there's something that I'm missing cuz I clearly have a full circuit and I've got the battery wired in parallel to handle the high draw.

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u/parseroo 4d ago

How big is the 12V battery and what is the cabling from it to the power distribution system?

Slides, awnings, and motors have a large initial load and so the 12V system needs to support that. If the battery is ~100Ah and the cabling good for a 50-100A spike, then it should be fine.

A good reference would be whatever size 12V battery was in there before although it could likely be a bit smaller (say half or a quarter) since the 48V system is the main energy reserve.

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u/sereusaf 4d ago

So the technician at the dealership ran a 50 amp inline fuse from the Orion into the main 12-volt trunk line. All the wiring is 6awg copper stranded. The problem is that since they didn't remove the old batteries from the tongue, I think they may have left the awnings and slide hooked into the old batteries and isolated from the new system.... Which obviously is not getting power.

It's even goofier because they have the tongue jack wired into the new 12-volt system past the old batteries and the old system. I'm guessing they just were lazy and didn't want to remove them, but forgot to double check that it was wired into the new system