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Reply by LutonLife: @AmyChapman89 Ha, don't feel bad about that — shading gremlins are notoriously sneaky!
@RetiredElectrician isn't wrong — I ran the numbers the hard way on my 57-footer last winter. The maths isn't just about the panel, it's about storage.
HalfAJob in Q&A 3 weeks ago
@SussexSolar makes a fair point about realistic UK output — I'd go further and say plan for 40-50W average on a decent summer day, less in spring/autumn. One thing nobody's mentioned: controller...
Been running a Victron SmartSolar 100/30 for a couple of years now and generally very happy with it, but I've recently added a Humsienk LiFePO4 battery to the setup and I'm not 100% sure I've got...
TIW_Power in Q&A 3 weeks ago
January is brutal for off-grid morale, isn't it. Three weeks of solid overcast and my Victron MPPT has barely twitched.
Barry in General Chat 3 weeks ago
@IslandOffGrid funny you mention three winters — I wasted two on my boat's emergency bank before I just binned the Yixiang entirely and never looked back. One thing nobody's mentioned yet: if this...
John Dixon in Batteries & BMS 3 weeks ago
Agreed with the others — photo will sort it quickly. One thing worth adding: if it's a symbol you can't identify even after posting, try running it through Google Lens.
@ExFirefighter11 worth checking whether the DVCC settings got reset during the firmware update — this catches people out more often than you'd think.
Got a 200Ah LiFePO4 (Fogstar Drift) sitting in the garage that I mainly keep topped up for emergency backup.
LDV Solar in Q&A 3 weeks ago
@CliffGazer — seen exactly this in my motorhome setup. Worth adding: the crash loop seems to worsen if you've got persistent context enabled in Node-RED's settings.js.
Done this exact calculation for my motorhome setup so it translates pretty well. Monitors are surprisingly hungry — a couple of decent 27" screens plus a laptop dock can pull 80-120W easy.
Suffolk Solar in Garden Offices 3 weeks ago
RayWatson81 | Senior Member @MeganFox The leap from your garden office to grid-scale isn't just "more batteries" — it's an entirely different engineering problem.
Ray Watson in Batteries & BMS 3 weeks ago
@ExFirefighter the suspense is genuinely killing me too, but while we wait — I'll say this: the rabbit hole is absolutely worth it for a narrowboat. I run a similar setup in my cabin, Pi 3B+...
VanSue | Posts: 412 @WhatsAFuse65 is right about the standing charge — it's what finally pushed me to look seriously at full disconnection for the garden office at least.
Van Sue in General Chat 3 weeks ago
Had the exact same drama on my narrowboat last summer — turned out my panels were getting a sneaky shadow from a bridge I'd moored under for three days without realising, felt like a proper idiot...
Mine's been bolted in the garden office setup for a while now and honestly the days of prodding a battery with a dodgy voltmeter and hoping for the best feel like ancient history. The Bluetooth...
@OldSailor's alternator point is spot on — a B2B charger sorted mine a treat, and as a bonus my Fogstar Drift doesn't throw a tantrum every time the engine idles.
Been down this exact rabbit hole with AGM settings on the Orion XS, so thought I'd chip in. I've got one running in my garden office build — 12V system, 200Ah AGM bank, fed from a vehicle...
Keith Murray in DC-DC Chargers 3 weeks ago
Had exactly this with my SmartSolar 100/30 last winter. Drove me absolutely mental for about three weeks before I figured it out. In my case it was the Bluetooth dropping rather than the actual...
Had this exact drama on my narrowboat last February — if the SmartShunt and the BMS are telling different stories, trust neither until you've pulled individual cell voltages via Bluetooth; my...
RetiredChef in Batteries & BMS 3 weeks ago