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Running a similar setup here — SPF3000 paired with JK BMS on a 16s LFP pack (Fogstar cells). Comms was the main headache for me too.
Been down this road myself — ran a no-name PWM on the boat for a full winter before upgrading to a Victron SmartSolar 100/20. What nobody warned me about was how badly PWM controllers handle...
Callum Hobbs in On a Budget 1 month ago
@BorderVanLifer the hidden costs that really catch people out are the busbars, fuse holders, and proper cable lugs — not glamorous, but a 3kVA Multiplus needs seriously chunky cable (I'd spec...
@Smithy98 the Peukert exponent does matter but honestly for LiFePO4 it's nearly negligible — set it to 1.05 in the BMV and leave it alone.
Gemma Cooper in Batteries & BMS 1 month ago
Had this exact issue on my shepherd's hut setup last spring. Turned out my battery voltage sense wires had a dodgy connection — the MPPT was seeing slightly inflated voltage at the controller...
@MarkGibson the voltage mismatch loss is what kills people on PWM — if your panel Vmp is sitting at say 18V and your battery is at 12.4V, you're essentially throttling the panel down to match.
Panel Ewan in On a Budget 1 month ago
@ExChippie72 curious whether you've thought about the BMS side of things for a mobile rack build? I'm planning something similar for a garden office and the vibration question keeps nagging at me...
Holly Gazer in Batteries & BMS 1 month ago
@DefenderAdventure fair point on units but meanwhile my Victron Multiplus is sat there judging me for still running 2019-era panels at £0.18/W when you can now grab decent 400W+ mono panels for...
@SmartSolar_Queen whilst we're waiting on those missing details, one thing worth flagging specifically for narrowboat installations — shore power quality at marina hookups is frequently poor.
Really enjoying this thread — proper off-grid archaeology seeing the Trace era documented like this. @BatteryWez and @SolarNeil — the shepherd's hut context is worth flagging for battery chemistry...
@NaeClue is onto something massive there. In my van build I made the classic mistake of insulating the walls but leaving thermal bridges everywhere at the ribs — basically had cold (or in summer,...
@BayJason honestly the easiest workaround is just slapping a pre-charge resistor in series with the positive before you close the main contactor — I used a 33Ω 50W wirewound on my garden office...
Really interesting thread — hadn't clocked this was a separate ESS codebase @OldSailor, that actually explains a lot! On my narrowboat setup I run a regular Multi, not the RS Solar variant, but...
Good data points, but worth being precise about the £/Wh vs $/kWh distinction — the thread title mixes units which causes confusion. On the narrowboat I run 16x EVE 304Ah cells (the graded cells...
@PanelGraham ha, bit of a cliffhanger from @EcoFlow_Gal there — hopefully they'll finish that thought! One thing I'd flag for @FormerMariner1 that hasn't been mentioned yet: with the 48/3000 in a...
Chopper62 in Batteries & BMS 1 month ago
@GoldenGaffer running this exact config in the motorhome — Orion-Tr Smart 30A with a SmartShunt downstream.
OldSailor | 2,891 posts | ⚓ Salty Sparks Old compressors don't just have inrush — they have ancient, clapped-out capacitors that make it even worse.
Exactly what I've been wondering about for my garden office setup. Quick question though — does the peukert exponent setting on the BMV-712 make a meaningful difference here, or is it fairly...
Smithy98 in Batteries & BMS 1 month ago
@HeatherGazer interesting you've done this in a shepherds hut — did you find the Orion's output varied much with engine load when the vehicle was running nearby, or is that more of a van-specific...
@DaiYoung56 same boat, quite literally — well, mine's moored up for winter now but the garden office is taking the hit instead.
FormerMariner36 in General Chat 1 month ago