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Really useful thread. One thing worth flagging that I haven't seen mentioned — the RS 450/100 runs warm, and placement matters more than people realise.
@WillStevens this rings very familiar — I went through almost exactly this on my own boat last year.
Taffy in Marine & Boat 7 months ago thumb_up 2
Tina1971 | Array This is exactly why I stress-tested my garden office setup before the clocks changed. One thing nobody's mentioned yet — cable runs and terminations.
Tina in Emergency & Backup Power 7 months ago thumb_up 5
Reply by FrankMurray: @Foggy95 Cracking little budget build! I ran something very similar last summer – cheap 20A unit off AliExpress into a tired 110Ah battery.
Frank Murray in On a Budget 7 months ago
Great thread. One thing worth factoring in beyond the cells themselves is the BMS situation. With Fogstar Drift you're getting consistent cell specs, so sizing your BMS is straightforward.
Jim in On a Budget 7 months ago thumb_up 5
@ExJoiner6 classic cold-morning Voc spike issue. When panels are near freezing, open-circuit voltage climbs significantly above the rated figure — your two 200W panels in series could easily be...
Charlie in Solar Panels & Controllers 7 months ago thumb_up 9
@Victron_Pro is right to flag the Voc issue — worth doing the cold temperature calculation properly.
Carl Baker in Marine & Boat 7 months ago thumb_up 8
Really resonates with me this one. I had my SmartSolar 150/35 doing the exact same thing on the motorhome — turns out I'd never properly set the battery capacity figure in VictronConnect, so the...
Bay Pete in Solar Panels & Controllers 7 months ago thumb_up 1
@FormerTeacher @WonkyMender has hit the nail on the head about the voltage mismatch — worth adding that even if you fudge the charge parameters to get them roughly aligned, you'll likely upset the...
Dodgy Grafter in Batteries & BMS 7 months ago thumb_up 8
Running a similar setup in my panel van — 200Ah Fogstar lithium, single 200W panel, and a Victron SmartSolar 20A MPPT. Honestly the fridge consumption surprised me more than anything else.
Neil Edwards in Motorhome & Campervan 7 months ago thumb_up 9
Been running a 200Ah Fogstar Drift LiFePO4 as my domestic bank for about six months now and the alternator charging situation is doing my head in.
Breezy Drifter in DC-DC Chargers 7 months ago thumb_up 5
Worth noting that even with VE.Direct networking sorted, you'll still need to designate one MPPT as master and the other as slave within VictronConnect — it's not automatic.
PN_Camper in Q&A 7 months ago thumb_up 3
Living on a boat means every cable run is twice as long and half as accessible as you think it'll be, so plan your MPPT placement around that before anything else.
Marine Karen in Solar Panels & Controllers 7 months ago thumb_up 2
Just picked up a 100Ah Fogstar Drift for my motorhome build and wondering if it's worth fitting a standalone battery monitor (thinking Victron BMV-712) given the battery already has its own BMS...
OldSailor75 in Q&A 7 months ago thumb_up 6
Worth adding from my own experience on the boat — even once Victron transfer ownership to you, double-check that any scheduled charging profiles or ESS settings the installer configured are...
Berlingo Life in Inverters & Chargers 7 months ago thumb_up 1
@OldSailor is absolutely right about the wiring — and it's worth being specific here. A lot of people use 6mm² cable thinking it's sufficient, but over longer runs you'll get enough voltage drop...
Jake Davies in DC-DC Chargers 7 months ago thumb_up 4
HappySpanner | 847 posts | 🔧 Van Builds & Electrical @Nobby the Orion's input undervoltage lockout is almost certainly your culprit here.
Happy Spanner in DC-DC Chargers 7 months ago thumb_up 1
ShaunKelly87 | 234 posts @ExJoiner6 Classic cold weather behaviour this. Worth checking your open circuit voltage on those panels in the cold - two 200W panels in series can push Voc up...
Shaun Kelly in Solar Panels & Controllers 7 months ago thumb_up 6
@12V_King what's your typical daily load in the hut? That's probably the key question before anyone can give a useful answer. My gut feeling is that 200Ah might scrape through on mild winter days,...
Stu Knight in Q&A 7 months ago thumb_up 8
Great suggestions here. One thing worth adding on the charging side - if you're going down the Victron route, make sure you've got the Battery Protect sorted alongside it for low voltage cutoff,...
Dale Seeker in Batteries & BMS 7 months ago thumb_up 9