What do I need to buy? OrBit pre-purchase information

[CupraR]

My V90 -17 takes about 17A when ignition on and lights off. It took about 10min for the voltage to drop below 12V when ignition on. 10A didn't help very much in my case but 25A charger can keep voltage high enough. I'd recommend powerfull charger or power supply.  It is so much easier to work when you just plug your power supply and you don't have to hurry or keep watching the voltage all the time.

Thanks Terence. Very informative. I was dubious about the 10A being enough to be honest. 

[jos]

Hi hope it‘s okay to quote a mail from support but this should help a lot:
(FYI, in my case i will use a lab power supply which can deliver up to 20A)
https://imgur.com/a/zz1Cl6C


You may be overthinking it ;-) We have a lot of customers and No cars have been bricked in over 3 years, thousands of cars flashed. One guy flashed a config with the 12V battery at 3% and the car died in the process, I had him connect a charger and when the car came back up we flashed the config again and all was back to good. The 12V automotive stuff is pretty resilient. The config flash is a tiny bit of software and I've found the CEM specifically is indifferent to the voltage, if it's over 11V you can flash it.

Now that I have said that, I use a power supply (because I leave the car connected for long periods). I set it at 14.0V. I think 13.8-14V is good, anything over 12.5V is fine. The car draws between 10-40A when connected to OrBit, depends what it's doing, what mode the car is in as OrBit changes the usage mode as needed. Power supply is the preferred support for diagnostics over a charger. I think the Volvo official requirement for dealers is a 60 or 80A supply, and VIDA will not start a software flash if the low voltage battery is below 12.5V.

But really, if you simply keep the battery from running down, you are not going to have any problem!

[CupraR]

Hi hope it‘s okay to quote a mail from support but this should help a lot:
(FYI, in my case i will use a lab power supply which can deliver up to 20A)
https://imgur.com/a/zz1Cl6C


You may be overthinking it ;-) We have a lot of customers and No cars have been bricked in over 3 years, thousands of cars flashed. One guy flashed a config with the 12V battery at 3% and the car died in the process, I had him connect a charger and when the car came back up we flashed the config again and all was back to good. The 12V automotive stuff is pretty resilient. The config flash is a tiny bit of software and I've found the CEM specifically is indifferent to the voltage, if it's over 11V you can flash it.

Now that I have said that, I use a power supply (because I leave the car connected for long periods). I set it at 14.0V. I think 13.8-14V is good, anything over 12.5V is fine. The car draws between 10-40A when connected to OrBit, depends what it's doing, what mode the car is in as OrBit changes the usage mode as needed. Power supply is the preferred support for diagnostics over a charger. I think the Volvo official requirement for dealers is a 60 or 80A supply, and VIDA will not start a software flash if the low voltage battery is below 12.5V.

But really, if you simply keep the battery from running down, you are not going to have any problem!

Jos, that’s absolutely sound advice and thanks for reaching out. I made this post as I’d tried to resort to OEM before car goes to dealership. Whilst connected, I noticed voltage dip to 11.9 and at the end of the flash, noticed it had failed. I assumed due to the voltage dip. I then connected the CTek in PSU mode at 10A and tried again and this time, it did work. So I just assumed it was the dip however in my in experience of using Orbit (only just got it) it may of been something else. When the dipped voltage flash happened, I got some sporadic fault codes (but wasn’t actually voltage stated) which I could clear when the PSU was connected. 

Maybe my car battery isn’t up to much as I’ve only just purchased it and at 6 years old, not sure if or when it’s been done. The supplying dealer did mention the auxiliary battery had been changed not long ago. 

Anyhow, rightfully or wrongly, I’ve just purchased a PSU from AliExpress (possibly risky I know) that should deliver 100A if needs be. We shall see once it arrives. It wasn’t that much to purchase to be honest so hopefully, worth a try. 

Again, thank you to everyone that’s replied to my query. Very much appreciated. 

I do have one fault code that won’t clear though but no warnings via car, camera heater circuit. ?. I’m also suffering intermittent failure of being able to use the 360° camera system. It’s booked into the main dealers so hopefully, the Volvo Selekt  warranty will cover it all 

[jos]

Normal battery should be good for 5-7 years, if it's AGM 3-5 then they start the get lower more and more.

[CupraR]

Normal battery should be good for 5-7 years, if it's AGM 3-5 then they start the get lower more and more.

Might be prudent to get a test done on it perhaps.