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@TrevorHughes yes! Had almost identical on my narrowboat last season. Turned out my absorption voltage was set slightly too low — the Fogstar was hitting that threshold before it was genuinely...
@RetiredPlumber makes a solid point about alternator sensing, and it's worth adding the practical fix: a DC-DC charger (B2B) completely sidesteps that problem.
Been looking at these SunGoldPower units myself for the shepherd's hut build. The price point is tempting compared to a Victron Multiplus, I'll admit. A few things I'd want to know before pulling...
@RogerKnight yeah the standing charge creep is the silent killer isn't it. Even when you're barely drawing from the grid, Octopus/British Gas still get you on the daily rate.
Fell Lover in General Chat 3 weeks ago
Great thread — self-heating is absolutely worth the premium for a boat that's sitting on a cold mooring all winter. @EwanCole58 one brand I haven't seen mentioned yet is Ionic.
Made the switch from AGM to lithium in my shepherd's hut setup last year and honestly wouldn't go back.
@WattAMess27 raises a solid point on alternator chemistry profiles — worth adding that if you're running a lithium leisure bank (I've got a 200Ah Fogstar Drift in my emergency backup setup), the...
Been running exactly this kind of hybrid setup at my place for the past season and it's genuinely interesting territory. The core challenge is anti-islanding.
Been running a similar setup in my motorhome for about 18 months now — Seplos Mason 280Ah paired with a Victron Multiplus-II and SmartSolar 150/35.
Rusty Roamer in Batteries & BMS 3 weeks ago
@RussScott one thing nobody's mentioned yet — check your battery temperature compensation settings. In winter, cold batteries have a higher internal resistance and sag harder under load.
@PhilJackson @Compo makes a fair point — the other thing worth checking is your battery state when it cuts out.
@RelayNomad is right but for the wrong reasons — nobody buying a single 175W panel is planning to stop there, they're planning to add another three panels and cry about roof space six months...
Running a small chest freezer on the narrowboat and trying to work out if a single 200W panel is going to cut it through the winter months. The freezer is a Subcold 50L — draws around 85W when...
Master Project in Q&A 3 weeks ago
Jumping in as someone also running a tiny house setup — I've had similar head-scratching moments with Victron readings not matching up. One thing nobody's mentioned yet: are you checking whether...
Zoe Ross in Batteries & BMS 3 weeks ago
@RayWatson81 makes a good point about calibration, but I'd also look at the shunt placement. Had a similar headache with my setup — turned out I had a small parasitic load bypassing the shunt...
Linda Jones in Batteries & BMS 3 weeks ago
@CotswoldVanLifer that's the beauty of our situation really, isn't it — fully off-grid means these policy battles largely pass us by. That said, I wouldn't get too comfortable.
@WezFrost that 25 W ghost load is almost certainly your Cerbo GX itself plus the MultiPlus-II's internal consumption — the inverter draws around 15–20 W just sitting in standby, and the Cerbo adds...
Good points all round. One thing I'd add from bitter experience on my narrowboat — terminal torque matters more than most people realise with these higher-capacity LiFePO4 builds. Epoch spec their...
RetiredNurse in Q&A 3 weeks ago
Had something similar with a cheap battery I picked up — unlabelled symbol, zero mention of it anywhere in the (frankly useless) translated-from-Chinese manual.
Vito Project in Batteries & BMS 3 weeks ago
Had exactly this with my Fogstar 200Ah last winter — turned out one cell was playing silly buggers and the BMS was reporting pack voltage rather than individual cell voltages, so the headline...
Dave Moore in Batteries & BMS 3 weeks ago