VICTRON ORION DC-DC CHARGER INSTALL | Sailboat Story 215

Installing a DCDC charger allows us to keep our alternator separate from our lithium battery bank. In this way, we can charge our house batteries while also protecting the alternator from the extremely low impedance of our lithium batteries. The challenge with DCDC chargers is dealing with the heat they generate. This typically isn’t a dangerous problem, because the DCDC charger will throttle back it’s output to keep the temperature from getting too high. The trouble is that this “safety throttling” drastically reduces the chargers output by 50% or more. Simply put, the hotter the charger gets, the less power it produces. Simply keeping the DCDC charger cool can make the difference in seeing only 10 amps of current from a hot charger to seeing up to 35 amps from a cool one. We solve this problem by building an automatic venting system into the cabinet where the DCDC charger and other electronics are housed. There are only 2 main components to the venting system – a brushless computer fan and a thermal switch. With a little shopping around you can find a thermal switch and brushless PC fan for around $25. We had to cut some large holes in the cabinet to provide adequate ventilation. We installed the PC fan so that it extracts the hot air into the engine room while blowing cool air across the hot electronics from the salon. Now, when the DCDC charger gets hot, the venting system will automatically extract the heat from the cabinet, keeping the electronics cool, happy, and efficient.

~ Ben, Tambi, & Molly | “SAILBOATSTORY”

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