Victron EnergyOrion-Tr DC to DC Converter - 12/24-Volt 5 amp 120-Watt - IP43 Protected - for Dual Battery Systems - Isolated

Solid performance we all expect from Victron. I used this to power my Starlink antenna and have had no problems. I blew out several lower priced DC to DC converters before this. I think on a rolling boat the Starlink takes more power than it is spec'd for.

This item works great to control the voltage coming from the engine starting battery and charging my new lithium batteries. The charging voltage for the lithium batteries is 14.5 volts roughly and my typical charging voltage for the starting battery on my engine is only 13.9 volts coming out of the alternator. So I set this for 14.5 and it boosts the voltage. I have solar on these batteries for the house portion and it charges them at 14.6 volts and I don't want that voltage going back to my lead acid starting battery on the RV so this is called an isolator which keeps the voltage from going backwards. You cannot use a non-isolated DC to DC converter with different kinds of batteries like lead acid starting battery and lithium Coach side battery or house battery. Victron makes a great unit here and it is reliable. I install these on all of my new installations for solar and lithium conversion for RVs. It also limits the amperage because if you just connect an almost empty lithium battery of like say 300 amps it can try to suck 200 amps right out of your starting battery and out of your alternator which your wiring nor those batteries or alternator is designed for. So this brings it down to a less stressful amperage that can be handled with the standard alternator and lead acid starting battery and 4 a w g power wire that comes from the front of the RV back to the house batteries. You want to keep this limited to 40 amps and I usually just like to have a 20 or 30 amp DC to DC charger so that I don't stress out the vehicle's alternator on long trips or at night time when it needs it's power that is being produced by the alternator to run lights and such. If you go too many apps with this you can end up sucking more energy out of the battery and alternator especially at idle or low speeds and cause your battery to die and cause the engine to die since it is needing that voltage to keep the fuel pump and computer engine fan headlights heater or air conditioner going

Bought for a Starlink Mini installation. Super easy to wire and get working. Grab your multi-meter and adjust the output voltage by rotating the adjuster Clockwise to increase the voltage output. I set it to +/- 30V and the Starlink is happy happy happy. This combined with the 12v socket on an ANKER solar generator is a super simple way to have DC to DC power for the Starlink Mini. I tried using a Cigarette style 12v to 30v adapter and it got hot and I was worried the cheapo-circuits might overheat, fail or cause a fire. I've got lots of Victron components in an RV and a Boat and trust they know what they are doing. This product has a much larger heat sink and doesn't even get above skin temperature during hours and hours of use.

This is a sturdy voltage converter/regulator and it works well for what I was designing.I've ran a 10 amp water pump on it for a while and it stayed cool.The terminals are rugged enough, it looks fairly water tight and works fine for my custom design which is to supply a full 13V DC level to a 12V sump pump on a 100A-Hr battery back up where I need it to lift water 10 feet over a basement wall if needed on big thunderstorms and the power went out.A photo is attached of what the assembly looks like with the same brand of battery charger added.I use a control block (circuit) with a water pump float switch as an input to activate the pump.The switch I use has a timer + a long-throw float switch so it runs long enough to drain the sump and will alarm if there was an issue of not pumping.The control signal goes to an optional input switch on the converter which only needs a few mA to set the output ON-OFF. or just jumper that if you want it to remain on.This is more robust and adjustable than any battery backup system I could have bought and I've had several which all failed after a while.Using the DC Converter plus a regulated DC charge controller gives full, adjustable control of the charge rate, final voltage levels and maintains the battery with intelligent battery levels over time.Commercial sump pump battery backup systems tend to overcharge the battery eventually which wrecks the battery and runs too slow when pumping. This setup is superior when coupled with an intelligent charge controller and the DC converter.This design allows a 12V DC pump to run at FULL speed at 12.8 - 13.5V if I want and turn off quickly rather than pumping slooooowly at 12V or 12.4 and run the battery down because it takes too long.This method runs the DC pump at FULL speed and shuts off quickly which is less draw on the battery overall.I added DC breakers for protection of the battery, the pump and for the DC converter.This setup also works if you need backup batteries from a 12V vehicle battery 50-100 feet away and the voltage drops over the long distance and ends up too slow to run a pump.You can give the converter 10V or whatever and it will still output a full 12.8V or whatever you set it to.Of course, energy is still energy so if you feed 10V in and want 12.8V out then the input current will be higher accordingly.My only complaint is the DC adjustment screw is TINY, recessed, hard to see and made of plastic which is hard to adjust.That is the weakest part so get a small screwdriver that fits well so it doesn't strip out the plastic screw. The rest is well made.

Used this for a camping trip to run my ARB fridge from the back of my truck while using the vehicle to keep it charged when engine is on.It worked well, kept the lithium battery charged up while I was running trails and driving on the highway to get to the campsites. It does get very, VERY hot though, so make sure to mount it where there's good air movement and never ever touch that heatsink!!! Don't ask me how I know this!!!!!