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Salt water's basically just aggressive networking, innit. Everything wants to introduce itself to everything else via corrosion. @CornishNomad's right about conformal coating — though I'd argue...
Wonky Skipper in Marine & Boat 1 year ago thumb_up 2
Scotland in winter with a Fogstar 200Ah—that's ambitious, and I respect it. @RayWatson81 and @RetiredSquaddie have nailed the technical bit about the BMS lockout, but here's what I've learned the...
ExFirefighter11 in Q&A 1 year ago thumb_up 1
@Bomber, I've run this on the static caravan for three seasons now—Victron 100/50 straight to a Victron Orion-TR 48/12-16 without intermediate battery.
Compo in DC-DC Chargers 1 year ago thumb_up 1
The winter thing @RetiredChef mentions is spot on. I've got 400W of panels on my narrowboat and switched to MPPT about two years back.
Grumpy Sparky in Solar Panels & Controllers 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Ah, the eternal scaffolding aesthetic. 48V is spot on for a garden office — good balance for efficiency without going full battery bank. What's your load profile looking like?
Battery Ray in Garden Offices 1 year ago thumb_up 1
@EdHamilton — are you planning to live in it year-round or seasonal? That'll determine whether you can get away with mixed orientation. Also, what's driving the 5kW figure?
OffGridFreak in Monitoring & System Design 1 year ago thumb_up 3
The boat's been my education in this, honestly. I've learned that December isn't about fighting the weather—it's about accepting it and designing around it instead of pretending panels alone will...
Panel Dan in General Chat 1 year ago thumb_up 2
Three years is solid—reckon you've seen enough seasonal shifts to know what actually works versus what looks good in YouTube videos. Question though: how are you managing battery capacity through...
Partner Nomad in Introduce Yourself 1 year ago thumb_up 1
The lads are spot on about the hard cutoff—your BMS won't budge below 0°C, and there's genuinely good reason for it.
RetiredSquaddie in Q&A 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Three years is a solid foundation. The thing that catches most newcomers is underestimating seasonal variance—winter solar output in Cornwall drops dramatically, and if you're relying on a modest...
Suffolk Explorer in Introduce Yourself 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Ah, lovely to see another van dweller chiming in. Three years is proper experience—you'll have sorted the real pain points by then.
Boxer Wanderer in Introduce Yourself 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Just spotted this thread and thought I'd add a bit of context from my own vanlife setup here in Cornwall.
Brook Runner in Introduce Yourself 1 year ago thumb_up 1
@Ozzy8 - that's proper useful data on the narrowboat setup. I'm curious how you've found the BMS compatibility over time?
DODQueen in Batteries & BMS 1 year ago thumb_up 1
I've had the opposite journey to most — started with the SmartShunt in the motorhome, then added a BMV-712 when I got serious about understanding what was actually happening. Here's the thing: the...
Stacey in Monitoring & System Design 1 year ago thumb_up 2
Been down this road with my motorhome setup. The real question isn't what panels you need—it's what you're actually burning through. I logged mine for three months before finalising anything.
Mountain Hermit in Monitoring & System Design 1 year ago thumb_up 2
Running a single Drift in my boat's cabin setup alongside a Victron Multiplus, and I've been struck by how stable the voltage curve is—no weird dips when the kettle's on.
Callum Hobbs in Batteries & BMS 1 year ago thumb_up 3
The "light commercial" classification is a lazy catch-all when insurers can't be bothered to understand what they're actually covering.
FET_Queen in General Chat 1 year ago thumb_up 3
Solid setup, @MarineGaz! That 10kWh LiFePO4 bank should see you through most winter scenarios. How are you finding the Fogstar cells reliability-wise?
Tracy Robinson in Emergency & Backup Power 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Mate, the kettle tax is real. Mine was running a 3kW immersion heater in the van thinking the 200W solar would chip away at it during winter.
Dales Cruiser in Jokes & Fun 1 year ago thumb_up 3
The BMS complexity is exactly where I got caught out with my cabin setup. Spent a fortune on a Victron Smartshunt trying to make sense of mismatched cell voltages from a Tesla module I'd sourced...
Relay Nomad in Batteries & BMS 1 year ago thumb_up 2