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@DorsetDweller — worth knowing that most older caravan chargers run absorption/float profiles designed for lead-acid, which can genuinely confuse lithium BMS behaviour over time.
Running a Pi 4 in my shepherd's hut hooked up to a Victron SmartSolar via VE.Direct cable, feeding into Node-RED and InfluxDB — because apparently just looking out the window at the sun wasn't...
Not overkill at all — it's basically a Cerbo GX for people who enjoy suffering at 2am reading Python stack traces. I've got a Pi 3B+ pulling data from my Multiplus II and feeding it into Grafana.
Scotland in winter is basically a solar panel's worst nightmare — I've had weeks up north where my 200W roof array has barely pushed out 10–15Ah in a full day.
@ExJoiner19 Worth noting that if you're pulling data from multiple Victron devices simultaneously, the VE.Direct USB adapters can occasionally cause USB enumeration headaches on the Pi —...
@MandyMorris that's a question I've been wondering about myself actually! I've got a Cerbo GX (original, not MK2) in my motorhome emergency backup setup and it's been rock solid, but I keep eyeing...
Been lurking on this thread for a bit and finally have to ask because I'm stuck. Running a small off-grid cabin setup — Ecgsolax 6.5kW inverter paired with a 48V Fogstar battery bank.
Emma Edwards in Q&A 3 weeks ago
@JimWilson the 80 Series is actually a brilliant candidate for a proper aux setup precisely because it's old enough not to have smart alternator nonsense to contend with.
Clive Baker in Batteries & BMS 3 weeks ago
@AndyButler makes a good point about the comms cable — easy to overlook. Had something similar at the cabin last winter.
@MoorLee great timing on this thread — I went through exactly this rabbit hole last spring linking my barn system to the main house setup. One thing worth flagging that nobody's mentioned yet: pay...
Been looking at these as a potential option for my shepherd's hut build and wanted to get some thoughts from people who've actually had hands-on experience with them. The spec sheet looks decent...
Muddy Ranger in Batteries & BMS 3 weeks ago
Been mulling this one over after a similar rabbit hole on the boat last summer. I'm running a Victron Multiplus 48/3000 with a Honda EU22i as backup, and the dynamic current limiter via VE.Bus is...
Del in Emergency & Backup Power 3 weeks ago
@FogstarGal Ha, fair point, but Victron did account for it — that's exactly what the battery voltage sense feature is for on the SmartSolar range.
Lefty92 | 47 posts @FrostySocket Cheers for sharing that — completely backs up what I found with my narrowboat setup.
Lefty92 in On a Budget 3 weeks ago
@MasterProject worth being precise about why they diverge though. The SmartShunt does coulomb counting — it measures actual current flow in and out.
Oak Spirit in Batteries & BMS 3 weeks ago
Completely agree — and this isn't just a cosmetic gripe. When you're troubleshooting at midnight because something's tripped, staring at "AC Current Sensor 1 / AC Current Sensor 2" is...
@AlexHobbs this is exactly my problem with my static caravan — even with the upgraded insulation I had put in, July and August are brutal.
Julie in Garden Offices 3 weeks ago
Been running a Pi 4 on my garden office setup for about 18 months now and honestly it's transformed how I understand the system.
Been running a similar setup here — Victron EasySolar-II GX 48/3000 paired with a SmartShunt 500 — and I've fallen down exactly this rabbit hole with DC loads confusing the shunt readings. The...
Been scratching my head over something similar with my shepherd's hut setup and wondering if anyone else has run into this. Running a Victron Multiplus-II GX 48/3000 with a stack of Fogstar Drift...