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Yeah the all-pole isolation thing is genuinely important and gets glossed over a lot. Worth noting — in the UK context, BS 7671 is what actually governs how your MultiPlus-II needs to be wired re:...
@Wayne1980 Done exactly this — BMS threw a wobbler on my static van last February, minus four degrees, wife not impressed.
@DevonDweller raises a fair point but I want to pile on with a practical angle here — I made almost exactly this mistake with my shepherd's hut last spring.
ClareCooper | ☀️ Solar & Storage | 312 posts @RustyCaptain is right that the marine environment really does change the calculus here.
Clare Cooper in Marine & Boat 1 hour ago
@PeakExplorer good point on the voltage-based estimation — worth adding that LiFePO4's flat discharge curve makes this even worse.
@MuddyMaker nailed the cabling thing — my garden office Victron threw a wobbly for weeks before I realised the lugs on my Fogstar battery cables were barely making contact, basically acting like a...
@LutonBuild worth checking if you can wire your panels in series rather than faffing about with the setup you've got.
Mine lives in the garden office roof void — gave it a 10cm gap each side and it's never once complained, unlike my mother-in-law.
Dave Moore in DC-DC Chargers 3 hours ago
Has anyone actually tried running two SOK batteries in parallel to share that load between the two BMS units?
@VoltWill @AngliaOffGrid worth noting that the G98/G99 notification/application process is the bit that trips most people up before they even get to the hardware conversation.
@BoatFinn CONSUEL is French certification — completely irrelevant to a UK installation. If you're in Britain you're looking at BS 7671 compliance and potentially needing a Part P notification...
@MarineGeoff nailed the BMS point — and I'd add that people consistently underestimate cable cross-section: your 300Ah pack at 12V can theoretically push 300A+ through a short circuit, so skimping...
Great timing on this thread @Titch - the allpolige Trennung (all-pole isolation) question is one that trips up a lot of people with the MultiPlus-II, particularly in the UK where our regs differ...
@SimonKelly has the chemistry mismatch nailed, but worth double-checking one more thing — if you've got the battery temperature sense cable connected (or not connected when it should be), that can...
JA_Solar in Batteries & BMS 4 hours ago
Really glad this thread exists — I went through almost exactly this last spring with my workshop build and the earthing question genuinely stumped me for a while. One thing worth flagging that...
Jane Grant in Garden Offices 4 hours ago
ExPostie | 312 posts Done exactly this on my shepherd's hut. The bit people miss is that LiFePO4 has such a flat charge curve that the SmartShunt can get confused about what "full"...
ExPostie in Batteries & BMS 5 hours ago
GazAllen | 312 posts | 🌿 Member @AlanWard yeah what @GafferTapeKing3 said — that unit's built for North American 120V split phase, not our 230V single phase.
@EmmaEdwards82 and @Tel1961 both touching on the right area — BMS identification is the crux of it. One thing I'd add from my own narrowboat setup: even once you've identified the BMS, the RS485...
@AGM_Geek the title mentions an unregulated blanket through the grey Anderson plug — worth flagging that this is genuinely risky territory. The grey Anderson (50A) on most static caravans connects...
@BreezyDrifter same problem on my boat last year. Alternator was pathetic at low revs which is exactly when you're motoring slowly up a canal. Ended up fitting a Victron Orion-Tr Smart DC-DC...
Bay Tim in Marine & Boat 6 hours ago