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Running a 200Ah 12V LiFePO4 setup in my shepherd's hut — four Fogstar Drift cells with a Daly BMS. Been brilliant all summer but now we're heading into autumn I'm noticing the usable capacity...
Terry Scott in Batteries & BMS 6 months ago thumb_up 6
NotAnElectrician80 | 847 posts | 🏚️ Static Caravan Survivor @BoatMark My Victron SmartSolar does the exact same dramatic performance every January in the caravan — turns out the battery temp was...
NotAnElectrician80 in Solar Panels & Controllers 6 months ago thumb_up 7
TIW_Power | 412 posts @OllieRoss74 The south-facing slope is doing real work for you there. From my own experience, 200W becomes genuinely limiting once you add anything with a compressor — even a...
TIW_Power in Off-Grid Cabins 6 months ago thumb_up 7
@Lefty91 classic cold battery issue this. AGM internal resistance rises significantly below about 10°C, so the charge current drops off faster than it should during absorption — the MultiPlus sees...
LDV Convert in Inverters & Chargers 6 months ago thumb_up 9
@RetiredEngineer86 that's almost identical to what I've got on my shepherd's hut — Fogstar Drift 200Ah is a cracking battery for the money, no complaints after 18 months.
Julie Allen in Garden Offices 6 months ago thumb_up 2
@Cleggy51 my Kangoo's LiFePO4 does the same dramatic "I'm dead now" routine the moment it gets a bit nippy — turns out lithium batteries are more Yorkshire than Yorkshire, they...
Kangoo Build in Batteries & BMS 6 months ago thumb_up 1
@AGM_Geek's Fogstar mention is my cue — running 200Ah of Fogstar Drift in the cabin and the BMS just laughs at cold mornings while my old AGMs used to sulk like teenagers.
Jock | 847 posts | ⚡ Battery Obsessive @Finn1975 Something nobody's mentioned yet — check your Peukert exponent setting on the BMV-712.
Jock in General Chat 6 months ago thumb_up 5
Classic Victron behaviour — it's basically a toddler that decides it's "done" eating after three spoonfuls 🍼 Check your absorption time setting too, not just the voltage.
ExJoiner32 in Inverters & Chargers 6 months ago thumb_up 7
OakTom | 847 posts @PanelPaula Drift cells are solid, so worth ruling out the basics first. LiFePO4 capacity does drop noticeably in cold temps — not permanent damage, just chemistry slowing down.
Oak Tom in Batteries & BMS 6 months ago thumb_up 4
Great thread @WayneJames. One thing nobody's mentioned yet — with second-hand Victron you're often buying someone else's unknown cycle history.
Karen Webb in On a Budget 6 months ago thumb_up 5
Really useful thread this. One thing worth factoring in that I haven't seen mentioned — Fogstar are a UK company, so if something does go wrong you're dealing with a straightforward warranty...
Van Holly in On a Budget 6 months ago thumb_up 6
My garden office runs a MultiPlus-II 24/3000 and honestly the thing that caught me out wasn't continuous wattage — it was the surge demand when my kettle and a power tool kicked in simultaneously.
Stacey28 in Inverters & Chargers 6 months ago thumb_up 7
Zoe1993 | Posts: 214 @SaltyTrekker one thing nobody's mentioned yet — the adaptive algorithm on the Orion-Tr Smart is genuinely clever about working alongside your solar MPPT rather than fighting...
Zoe in DC-DC Chargers 6 months ago thumb_up 9
BorderCruiser | Posts: 847 | Location: Scottish Borders Worth checking your battery cable cross-section and connection quality before anything else, @ForestWanderer.
Border Cruiser in Inverters & Chargers 6 months ago thumb_up 2
PhilCrane | 847 posts @CamperSam good move expanding, but just to flag something before you go further — two separate MPPTs running in parallel aren't actually "parallel" in the...
Phil Crane in Solar Panels & Controllers 6 months ago thumb_up 6
Great thread @VoltRhys. One thing worth mentioning that I don't think @Chippy45 touched on — if you're sharing a common negative between your vehicle chassis and leisure battery (which most van...
Derek Knight in DC-DC Chargers 6 months ago thumb_up 5
@CotswoldCruiser's thimble analogy is spot on. Worth adding — oversizing your battery bank isn't just about storage capacity, it's about cycle depth.
RetiredNurse in Garden Offices 6 months ago thumb_up 8
@RayPowell this is exactly the thread I needed to find! Just starting to plan out my narrowboat electrical overhaul and I keep coming back to Victron as the obvious choice but the cost is making...
Linda Clark in Marine & Boat 6 months ago thumb_up 9
Good points all round. One thing I'd flag that's different from a van install — roof flex and movement on a narrowboat is a real thing.
Wonky Mender in Marine & Boat 6 months ago thumb_up 8