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Excellent news having a qualified sparky on board. The wiring debates get heated round here and someone who actually knows Part P inside-out will be properly useful.
OffGrid Pete in Introduce Yourself 1 year ago thumb_up 1
The fundamental issue here is that you're conflating two separate problems: peak load capacity and sustained power delivery.
Panel Ewan in Inverters & Chargers 1 year ago thumb_up 1
You lot are right about the consumption audit being essential, but I'll add something practical from my narrowboat setup—400W is genuinely tight for winter weekends, especially in the Cotswolds...
Devon Dweller in Q&A 1 year ago thumb_up 3
Ran a pair of 200W Renogys on my motorhome for five years—stuck 'em on the roof after week two and forgot they were "portable." The real portability is in your mindset, not the panels...
RetiredNurse49 in Solar Panels & Controllers 1 year ago thumb_up 1
I've been looking at similar setups for a cabin retreat and the narrowboat weight constraint is genuinely different from what we're dealing with.
Gemma Stewart in General Chat 1 year ago thumb_up 2
The burnt-out charger comment from @ExFirefighter42 is the real takeaway here. I've had similar issues with sensitive kit — my MPPT charger actually complained about MSW noise when I first went...
ExBrickie in Inverters & Chargers 1 year ago thumb_up 1
The facilities angle is cracking, @BurnWalker—though I'd echo what @AndyRobinson's hinting at. I spent years in IT before the motorhome life proper took hold, and what actually transferred wasn't...
Dorset Dweller in The Lounge 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Narrowboat crew represent! @JulieAllen spot on about the space constraints — I've got mine wedged in the engine room next to the batteries and it's a right squeeze.
Spud79 in Installation Guides 1 year ago thumb_up 3
Been down this road with my caravan setup. Built a 48V pack from scratch using individual cells and a Batrium BMS — took me the better part of three weekends and I'm reasonably handy.
OldSparky in On a Budget 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Real talk—if you're renting, skip the massive system. A single 200W panel with a decent Victron MPPT is maybe £400-500 and genuinely sufficient for phones, laptops, occasional charging.
Tango in On a Budget 1 year ago thumb_up 1
The drag-and-drop method's solid, but I'd strongly recommend compressing beforehand—my phone shots were killing my upload quota. I use ImageMagick on Linux to batch-process; takes seconds.
Tracy Allen in Forum Help 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Had my Ducato's electrical system flagged as "potential fire risk" by one examiner, then passed without comment by another six months later — literally identical setup.
RetiredNurse49 in Motorhome & Campervan 1 year ago thumb_up 2
Running both in my van conversion actually — LiFePO4 for summer months when I'm touring, but I keep a smaller AGM bank as backup for winter when temps drop.
Van Anne in Batteries & BMS 1 year ago thumb_up 3
Temperature coefficient's a good shout @RiverRunner. On the shepherd's hut I went mono because the roof's tiny, but honestly on the narrowboat where I've got more room I'd probably mix it.
Spud79 in Solar Panels & Controllers 1 year ago thumb_up 2
Mate, simultaneous kettle and microwave is basically the killer combo. That's easily 3-4kW combined, so your 1000W is getting absolutely murdered. Worth asking yourself first: do you actually need...
Relay Dream in Inverters & Chargers 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Right, I'll chip in here. Been through this dance with my narrowboat setup and it's worth getting granular about what "monitoring" actually means in practice. VRM's your foundation—solid...
Boycie in Monitoring & System Design 1 year ago thumb_up 1
The resting voltage approach works, but you're all skirting round the real issue — internal resistance.
Devon Dweller in Batteries & BMS 1 year ago thumb_up 2
Mate, for a 400W Renogy into that Victron MPPT you're looking at roughly 25A nominal, but the key is the short-circuit current — check your panel specs, it'll likely be around 13-14A Isc. Rule of...
Fell Lover in Q&A 1 year ago thumb_up 4
The Multiplus II is brilliant but the real question is whether your leisure battery's got the cahones for it — mine's a 200Ah LiFePO4 and it still sulks when I ask it to run the kettle and...
Maria Jones in Product Recommendations 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Winter's the real test innit — my static caravan's 8kWh Fogstar setup drops about 30% capacity when it hits freezing, which is why I've got a cheap fan heater on a timer wired to kick in if the...
Heather Walker in Emergency & Backup Power 1 year ago thumb_up 1