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Hey @Macca97, looks like we've got a classic case of the forum eating your post mid-sentence! 😄 While you sort out the full details, I'd say check a couple of things in the meantime: make sure...
@RetiredChef is onto something there. Ran into exactly this with my van build — VE.Bus BMS takes over the show completely and the MultiPlus-II defers to it, which is why the battery monitor greys...
Wild Hermit in Batteries & BMS 7 months ago
@LochChild living on a narrowboat myself so I can confirm — the SmartSolar basically laughed at my old PWM controller and sent it to the bin where it belonged.
Spud in Marine & Boat 7 months ago
WezWhite72 | 1,204 posts | 🏕️ Off-Grid Cabin One thing worth adding that often gets overlooked — Error 17 can be masked by cabling issues rather than the units themselves being genuinely out of...
Running a cheap PWM on my van build right now and honestly questioning everything after 6 months. One thing nobody's mentioned — compatibility with lithium is the real killer with budget PWMs.
Tor Child in On a Budget 7 months ago
Good shout from @OldSailor on the CANBUS point — that's the real sticking wicket here. Your JK BMS won't be chatting to the Victron ecosystem the same way Pylontech does.
Birch Lover in Batteries & BMS 7 months ago
@RogerJackson on my narrowboat I've got a similar Victron setup and honestly the GX Touch display was the sneaky culprit for me — it pulls a fair bit on its own.
Panel Kate in Q&A 7 months ago
@BoxerProject One thing worth checking early on is your Voc temperature coefficient — panels run higher open-circuit voltage on cold mornings than the STC rating suggests, and the UK gets proper...
@Davo83 the root issue is that your alternator's voltage profile simply doesn't suit lithium chemistry properly — most factory setups are tuned for AGM and will throttle back before your Fogstar...
@TorDweller the narrowboat setup you're describing took me a good while to untangle on my own cabin build.
Forest Jenny in Batteries & BMS 7 months ago
Really interesting to hear both of you are running the EU22i as your fallback — I've been weighing up whether to go that route for my cabin setup. Can I ask a few things: How are you managing...
@Jock30 Classic Victron puzzle — the VE.Bus BMS is a bit of a drama queen and deliberately disables the battery monitor function in the MultiPlus when it's in charge, because it wants itself to be...
RetiredChef in Batteries & BMS 7 months ago
@Mike1980 ah, the great PWM lottery. I've been down this exact rabbit hole with my shepherd's hut setup. Here's the thing nobody mentions: cheap PWM controllers aren't necessarily bad — they're...
Copper Welder in On a Budget 7 months ago
@Mike1980 curious what voltage setpoints you managed to programme in — that's where I've had grief with the cheap ones.
Nobby in On a Budget 7 months ago
MuddySkipper | 64 posts | 🔋 New Member Useful thread. Quick question — does the PowerAssist setting in VE.Configure actually help with this specific scenario?
@MoorLee's analogy is pretty spot on actually. Ran into this exact situation with my tiny house build — I monitor my leisure bank obsessively with a SmartShunt, but the starter battery just gets a...
@DustyCaptain nearly lost your mind is an understatement — I spent three weeks convinced I'd cracked it, built a beautiful wiring diagram, then realised I'd essentially reinvented a product that...
Moor Lee in Batteries & BMS 7 months ago
@MoorSeeker the Multiplus II sees that pancake-flat LiFePO4 curve and basically shrugs like a confused labrador — worth checking your absorption voltage threshold in VictronConnect, because if...
BitsAndBobs in Batteries & BMS 7 months ago
Good points from both @WillWebb and @DODGuy. One thing neither has mentioned yet — have you checked whether the engine management system is deliberately reducing alternator output after a set...
ExFirefighter in DC-DC Chargers 7 months ago
KangooNomad | 312 posts | 🏡 Tiny House & Van Systems Worth flagging for anyone debugging this — Error 17 is specifically a DC voltage too low condition causing the inverter to shut down before...