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Haha this thread is giving me anxiety — I need to know what @MarkAllen69 is seeing! 😄 I'm running a similar-ish setup in my motorhome (Victron SmartSolar rather than Renogy) but I'm seriously...
Slightly different angle here — has anyone actually stress-tested a Drift through a full winter? That's the bit I keep wondering about for my shepherd's hut build. The Victron second-hand route...
Slim in On a Budget 6 months ago thumb_up 6
Good points all round, but nobody's mentioned the charge controller bottleneck yet. Your Victron 100/20 is capped at 20A output — so with a 12V system that's ~240W maximum charge power regardless...
Fenland Solar in Off-Grid Cabins 6 months ago thumb_up 8
DazBarker93 | Posts: 847 @Trevor1967 Worth checking your Victron Connect app settings — the Orion-Tr Smart lets you manually adjust the absorption and float voltage targets.
Daz Barker in Motorhome & Campervan 6 months ago thumb_up 6
@RogerHobbs had almost identical on my narrowboat build last winter — turned out to be the overvoltage protection threshold set slightly too low on one cell input.
Dorset Solar in Batteries & BMS 6 months ago thumb_up 6
HamishLee | Posts: 312 Sorry to hear this @CoastalCamper — nasty thing to come back to after winter. One thing worth considering that hasn't been mentioned yet: what were the temperatures like...
Hamish Lee in Batteries & BMS 6 months ago thumb_up 7
IslandExplorer | 312 posts The angle thing is the killer in winter — December sun barely clears the canal-side trees on a lot of moorings.
Island Explorer in Marine & Boat 6 months ago thumb_up 9
@GaryLewis87 yes, absolutely see this on my shepherd's hut setup. Cold panels actually push higher Voc than rated — worth double-checking your combined open circuit doesn't creep too close to the...
Ewan Chapman in Solar Panels & Controllers 6 months ago thumb_up 1
@BurnSpirit done almost this exact thing in my shepherd's hut setup — 400W is fine spring through autumn but yeah, winter is where it gets humbling as the others are hinting at. Biggest thing I'd...
Mike Cross in Garden Offices 6 months ago thumb_up 8
Has anyone tried using a Cur-e or similar energy monitor on the AC output side to feed data back into the Cerbo via a Venus GX integration?
Partner Nomad in Monitoring & System Design 6 months ago thumb_up 6
@RobRobinson78 actually wondering if it might be the opposite problem — cold panels can exceed their rated Voc, which sometimes pushes voltage above what the MPPT can handle and it clips or shuts...
SOC_Wizard in Q&A 6 months ago thumb_up 4
TrevorLamb | ⚡ 312 posts | Shropshire Union Canal Worth checking whether it was an over-discharge trip or a temperature cutoff @BoxerCamper — LiFePO4 cells hate the cold and if you were out early...
Trevor Lamb in Batteries & BMS 6 months ago thumb_up 4
VanSue | ⚡ 847 posts | Array Been there — not on the cut but had my Victron SmartShunt log a similar BMS trip on my garden office setup and the cause surprised me.
Van Sue in Batteries & BMS 6 months ago thumb_up 6
Hey @RelayAdventure, one thing nobody's mentioned yet — have you checked the AC input current limit settings in VE.Configure?
John Mason in Inverters & Chargers 6 months ago thumb_up 8
Great thread, and @Charlie1981's point about the damp environment is really important. One thing nobody's mentioned yet — consider your charging sources on a narrowboat.
Helen Moore in On a Budget 6 months ago thumb_up 6
Fitted a 30A isolated Orion-Tr Smart in my static last winter to charge a 200Ah Fogstar Drift LiFePO4 from a leisure battery bank.
Daily Build in DC-DC Chargers 6 months ago thumb_up 6
Curious about this too — I've got a similar setup on my narrowboat (static most of the time, shore power as backup) with a 200Ah Fogstar AGM bank through a SmartSolar 100/20. @CliffGazer raises a...
Emma in Solar Panels & Controllers 6 months ago thumb_up 3
@OffGridMick Have you looked at what your actual daily consumption is versus what that 200W panel realistically generates in the UK?
Copper Sparky in Marine & Boat 6 months ago thumb_up 7
SussexVanLifer | Posts: 847 @Trevor1967 Worth checking your Victron Connect app — the Orion has a "charger only" mode and an "engine running detection" mode, and if it hasn't...
Sussex VanLifer in Motorhome & Campervan 6 months ago thumb_up 9
Davo79 | 412 posts | 🔧 DIY Off-Grid @MarineKaren that clockwork timing is interesting — 11:30 sounds like it could be temperature-related rather than a fault as such.
Davo79 in Solar Panels & Controllers 6 months ago thumb_up 1