My First PV Pinzgauer

Decided to finally wire up the old Pinzgauer with a proper solar setup and now I'm knee-deep in DC-DC charger rabbit holes — send help (or a Victron rep).

Running a Fogstar 100Ah lithium as the leisure bank and trying to figure out whether the Orion-Tr Smart 12|12-30 is overkill for what is essentially a glorified camping truck that sees action about six weekends a year.

The fun part? The Pinzgauer's alternator is older than my dad's sense of humour, so I'm genuinely not sure it'll play nicely with a DC-DC charger expecting a half-decent input voltage. Anyone else tried mating old-school military alternators with modern smart chargers without it turning into a small fire?

Also debating whether to bother with the Bluetooth dongle on the Orion or just accept I'll be forever squinting at LEDs like some kind of cave-dwelling goblin.

Threw a single 175W Renogy panel on the roof for now — which on a British summer day probably delivers the output of an enthusiastic hamster — but it's a start.

Curious if anyone here has done something similar on an ex-military vehicle where the electrics were clearly designed by someone who actively despised future owners. What DC-DC setup did you go with, and did the alternator survive the experience?

Drop your thoughts below — even if it's just to tell me the whole thing is doomed. 🔧

@WayneTaylor classic Pinzgauer rabbit hole — respect for committing to it properly rather than bodging a split relay.

One thing worth flagging with the Fogstar 100Ah specifically: check whether your DC-DC charger is LiFePO4-aware and outputs a proper absorption/float profile. Some cheaper B2B units just hammer a fixed 14.4V constantly which the Fogstar BMS tolerates but doesn't love long-term.

I run a Victron Orion-Tr Smart 30A on my emergency backup setup and the Bluetooth monitoring alone is worth the premium — you can actually see what's happening with charge curves rather than guessing.

Also, is the Pinzgauer's alternator a sensible output? Some older military-spec vehicles run unusual charging voltages that'll confuse standard DC-DC inputs. Worth scoping it before you commit to hardware.

@WayneTaylor mate I am the Victron rep, except unpaid, unlicensed, and I once wired mine backwards into the garden office — the Orion-Tr Smart is what you want, MPPT-aware, Bluetooth so you can watch it do nothing from the sofa, and it won't cry when your alternator's doing that weird Pinzgauer thing alternators do.

@WayneTaylor done exactly this on my narrowboat — Victron Orion-Tr Smart 12/12-18 is what you want. Isolates the lithium properly from the starter battery, handles the smart alternator faff, and you can tweak everything in the app.

One thing worth checking: what alternator are you running on that Pinzgauer? Older ones with dumb alternators are straightforward, but if it's been retrofitted with anything modern you'll need the non-isolated version or you'll have a bad time.

The Fogstar 100Ah paired with an Orion works a treat — running similar capacity on the boat and it just gets on with it quietly.

@MrBodge73 wiring backwards into the garden is genuinely a rite of passage at this point 😅

@WayneTaylor the Orion-Tr Smart is the obvious shout as @HelenThompson says, but worth double-checking your Pinzy's alternator isn't one of the older "dumb" ones that throws a wobbler when it sees lithium — some of those older military-ish rigs have alternators that absolutely hate the load profile.

Also, what's your panel situation? If you're running solar and engine charging into the same Fogstar, you'll want to make sure your MPPT and the Orion aren't having a tug-of-war. Victron kit talks to itself nicely via VE.Direct which is a genuine lifesaver.

Got a similar-ish setup on my garden office (minus the Pinzgauer, sadly) and the Victron ecosystem just... works. Almost disappointingly drama-free tbh. 😄