7.3 Alternator and how much power I can steal for Victron Orion

[boywonder]

Originally Posted by bisonthecruiser

Is there a preferred way to charge the starting batteries coming off of solar? Like Ray, I'm running 400watts up on the roof and would probably be best suited to keep both banks up and running....

Adam

Great question!..... Ray has been toying with the idea of running another (smaller) Orion wired the other way, so it can turn on when the sun is out and charge the starting batteries.

I've been plugging in my shore power/DC charger every few weeks when the van is in the driveway; that is directly wired to the starting battery but it also turns on the Orion to charge the lithium as discussed above. I removed the wizard pendant from the converter so it's dumb...figured that's a basic way to get Orion turned on when plugged in....possibly at the expense of my starter battery.

I have a Blue Sea battery combiner switch that will bypass the Orion, but I imagine combining the batteries will result in neither battery being very happy for any length of time due to their happy places being at quite different voltages.

You could also run a small dedicated solar panel/charger just to the starting battery but that's not too innovative.....

[clark]

I"m planning a dual alternator setup with a dedicated alt for the house bank. https://www.nationsstarteralternator.com/ - has dual alt kit for the 5.4, maybe give them a call for the 7.3. 270xp alt puts out 200 amps at idle. Pair with Wakespeed regulator. With an upgraded alt and the Victron DC-DC you are probably close to the dual alt in price.

[Scalf77]

Originally Posted by clark

I"m planning a dual alternator setup with a dedicated alt for the house bank. https://www.nationsstarteralternator.com/ - has dual alt kit for the 5.4, maybe give them a call for the 7.3. 270xp alt puts out 200 amps at idle. Pair with Wakespeed regulator. With an upgraded alt and the Victron DC-DC you are probably close to the dual alt in price.

Same here, mine will be on my Transit, that way I can stay away from the "smart" alternator.

I have a separate solar controller that I switch one of may panels over to and that charges the start battery. At some point I will probably put in some circuit, that auto enables that based house bat SOC. I don't have a dc to dc, so I don't have to worry about isolating the DC to DC when doing this. All it takes is a relay that is hooked to the van "run" circuit to do that. I also have a plug in AC charger for my start battery, that worse case I can run off of the inverter. A smaller DC to DC would work fine also and be more efficient.


Sterling has a newer unit out that is bidirectional. Don't know much more than that. When looking at sterling units they usually size by input, not output. So their 60 amp version will take around 60 amps from the alternator, but that is not what you get for charge output.

There all also a few people in the Transit world doing DC -AC-DC, they have a smaller inverter hooked to the start battery/inverter, that produces AC fot the input of their Inverter/charger that they then use as their House Charger. It is not really efficient, so you would need a bigger alternator. A lot of the newer Transits come with a large alternator 250, and you can order duals.

-greg

[ShuttlePilot]

Originally Posted by Scalf77

Sterling has a newer unit out that is bidirectional. Don't know much more than that. When looking at sterling units they usually size by input, not output. So their 60 amp version will take around 60 amps from the alternator, but that is not what you get for charge output.
-greg

This is true. I have experience with the Sterling BB1260 60 amp battery to Battery chargers. Lots to unpack about my experience. I would not chose them again for a B2B charger. Perhaps their new units solves the shortcomings of their previous designs but there are many other choices today that I would chose first. After much conversation with the US distributor I ended up with two of the BB1260's to meet my goals after purchasing one unit. The two units are set to run at their 1/2 power setting all the time to total 60A (combined) output and about 70A input. To support that load, and the 6.0 diesel, at idle I also upgraded to a Nations 270A alternator.


In a nutshell when the BB1260 is set to run at full capacity it will input 60A and output a max of about 42A depending on voltages (measured). This makes sense with a normal 85% efficiency factor. The main issue is that this unit is woefully under cooled. The MOSFETS will rapidly rise to the 180' set point where it will de-rate the output to 1/2 power. This will repeat with a 50% duty cycle. This would be in a cool environment below 70'f, in a hot environment above 70'f this will get much worse. All of this will be accompanied with the 40mm fans running loudly at full RPM and the van smelling like a Harbor Freight store in Phoenix with no air conditioning. This all means that the continuous output is around 36AH average per hour. Not impressed. My compromise in the end was to run two units restricted to 1/2 the output, which is a common setting in the UI. This all works fine but I would probably just go with something from Victron here in 2023. Maybe Sterling's new units are different but I wouldn't want to be the first to review one if I had to pay for it.

Sorry for the rambling but the word Sterling is triggering.
- Eric


EDIT: Some may notice what appears to be a discrepancy in my math. When the unit is set to run a full capacity it will draw a regulated 60A and output less depending on input voltage but when it is set to 1/2 power it regulates to a 30A output and draw more depending on output voltage. This is how two units set to 1/2 power will deliver a regulated 60A output to the lithium batteries.

[ss4010]

Originally Posted by clark

I"m planning a dual alternator setup with a dedicated alt for the house bank. https://www.nationsstarteralternator.com/ - has dual alt kit for the 5.4, maybe give them a call for the 7.3. 270xp alt puts out 200 amps at idle. Pair with Wakespeed regulator. With an upgraded alt and the Victron DC-DC you are probably close to the dual alt in price.

I'll throw in a good word for Adam Nations and his team. I Had a very positive experience with them when upgrading to a single high amp alternator for my 7.3. https://www.nationsstarteralternator...8307ln-275.htm

The only issue was their optional 2 gauge cable kit was about 12" too short for my van with the SMB changes.

[wilma]

I just saw that you're in the North Bay. I live in Santa Rosa and a friend used Enriched Electronics to help with his build. He spoke highly of them. He worked with Ben there.

[REF]

Here’s one more option to throw in the mix. These guys were helpful and knowledgeable too, I ended up with the 230A Leece Neville along with some new battery and alt cables. After some discussion, this unit worked best as a match to my AGM house and starting batteries.

https://www.ficmrepair.com/index.cfm...=cat/cat83.htm

[MadScience]

Originally Posted by bisonthecruiser

I'm still running ACR's in my Land Cruiser. Won't give those up! Is there a preferred way to charge the starting batteries coming off of solar? Like Ray, I'm running 400watts up on the roof and would probably be best suited to keep both banks up and running....

Adam

I don't know if it's preferred, but I've got a simple charge controller on the house side and then a Blue Sea Si Acr that will join and unjoin the house and starting side when there is sufficient charge current present on either side. This has worked well enough for me that I've not bothered to revisit this. I do have lead acid AGM on both sides.

[bisonthecruiser]

Thank you! I'm also in Santa Rosa! Haven't heard of enriched, but will check them out!

[bisonthecruiser]

Figured I'd update everyone with where I'm at!


1. Just ordered the new 2023 120A DC to DC from Sterling Power. Talked with them and sounds like that's the best bet for me. If customer service stays as good as it started, I don't think I can go wrong.

2. Just ordered the 370A alternator from FICM Repair. Nice folks (as suggested in this thread) and Ed was really good to me. Didn't save any money , but nice outfit willing to talk and troubleshoot.



Next up is removing all the old power wiring from starter, etc. and cleaning the grounds, sizing up wiring, getting rid of the old "baby battery" and going to two of the group 65's instead. My short-term plan is one 65 in the engine bay and one in the fiberglass "house" battery trays in the back. Eventually I may push both to the back and enjoy the wrenching space or try to go with a big donaldson filter finally. Someday my intercooler as well........and eventually get the engine running.....



Going to run 4/0 to get the amperage I need.



Thinking this is pretty much the ultimate build I could put together right now. P.S. also went with Sterling because Renogy charges way worse prices right now for their DC to DC Rego vs what they charge in Canada and they won't price match.