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Great setup for the price, @Turbo19! A few things worth checking on those generic units — the default bulk/absorption voltage is often set for sealed lead-acid, so if you're running a flooded...
Expert Build in On a Budget 6 months ago thumb_up 6
Reply by SarahLamb56 @Martin1962 Great thread, really glad you posted this! I've got almost exactly the same setup on my static caravan in Wales — SmartSolar 100/20 and a BMV-712 feeding into a Pi...
Sarah Lamb in Monitoring & System Design 6 months ago thumb_up 8
Picked up a Multiplus 12/3000/120 for the motorhome build I'm doing alongside my garden office setup, and I'm running into something a bit annoying.
Neil Jackson in Motorhome & Campervan 6 months ago thumb_up 1
@FinnThomas Congrats on the plot — Loch Ness area is stunning! One thing worth doing early on is keeping a rough daily load diary before you finalise anything.
Keith Scott in Off-Grid Cabins 6 months ago thumb_up 8
KevWatson57 | 412 posts @RetiredChef2 One thing I'd flag from my own boat setup — lithium is genuinely transformative but your alternator situation needs sorting first.
Kev Watson in Motorhome & Campervan 6 months ago thumb_up 4
Finn1975 | 847 posts @SarahLewis great setup choice — Victron's absorption/float tuning makes a real difference in low light.
Finn in Solar Panels & Controllers 6 months ago thumb_up 4
@MasterWanderer honestly same boat here — had a SmartSolar 100/50 running a static setup for about 18 months and yes, it's absolutely overspecced for what I actually need most of the time. That...
Linda Jones in Motorhome & Campervan 6 months ago thumb_up 3
Been running a Victron Orion-Tr Smart 12/12-30 in my Transit conversion for about eight months now and generally it's been brilliant. Charges my 200Ah lithium leisure battery nicely on the move.
Spider6 in DC-DC Chargers 6 months ago thumb_up 6
Worth adding — if the van's doing double duty as a tow vehicle and your primary charge source, pay attention to what alternator you're actually dealing with.
WhatsAFuse in DC-DC Chargers 6 months ago thumb_up 8
Finally pulled the trigger on a proper garden office setup after spending years sorting 12V systems on the narrowboat.
Kangoo Adventure in Garden Offices 6 months ago thumb_up 2
Dizzy75 | 847 posts | ⭐ Regular Great thread @PVKing. For me the minimum viable setup came down to three non-negotiables: keeping the fridge cold, charging phones/comms devices, and running a few...
Dizzy75 in General Chat 6 months ago thumb_up 2
@EllaDixon71 the EcoFlow pairing is clever in theory but I'd think carefully before committing. On the boat I ran a similar auto-start setup and the constant short-cycling of the generator was the...
Boat Ian in Emergency & Backup Power 6 months ago thumb_up 5
Running almost identical to you on my own boat setup. The Victron comms are the real winner here — letting the SmartSolar and a Multiplus talk to each other via VE.Bus means they play nicely...
CurrentAffairs96 in Marine & Boat 6 months ago thumb_up 4
Nessa61 | 156 posts | 🔋 Off-Grid Enthusiast @Neil1978 I had this exact problem last winter with my JK 150A unit.
Nessa61 in Batteries & BMS 6 months ago thumb_up 1
@CraftyWelder if you're running AGM that relay is probably fine for basic top-ups, but the issue is voltage-based charging — the relay just slams 14.4V straight across whenever the alternator's...
NQ_Sparks in On a Budget 6 months ago thumb_up 1
DaiCole | 412 posts @KangooSolar 4°C is right on the edge for LiFePO4 charging — most Daly units ship with the low-temp cutoff set somewhere between 0-5°C, but the threshold itself isn't the whole...
Dai Cole in Batteries & BMS 6 months ago thumb_up 4
Not a narrowboat person myself — running Victron in a shepherd's hut — but the kit translates well across setups.
BigAl27 in Marine & Boat 6 months ago
@Smudge78 one thing worth flagging that nobody's touched on yet — the Cerbo's two-way grid metering via a Carlo Gavazzi ET112 (or the Eastron SDM630 if you want per-phase detail) transforms the...
Cerbo_Geek in Monitoring & System Design 6 months ago thumb_up 4
@NickBennett ha, "overkill is just another word for confidence" — should be stitched on a cushion in every van builder's cab. The thing nobody tells you with the 30A is that it throttles...
Andy Butler in DC-DC Chargers 6 months ago thumb_up 8
ExTrucker32 | Posts: 847 | Location: North Yorkshire @MandyRoss nice setup! One thing worth getting your head around early is the PowerControl/PowerAssist settings in VEConfig.
ExTrucker32 in Inverters & Chargers 6 months ago thumb_up 2