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Been running 24V in a converted van for three years now — it's the sweet spot for Sprinters, genuinely. 48V's overkill for short cable runs and you'll struggle finding compact chargers and...
Wez in Batteries & BMS 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Couple of questions on the charge controller side — are you going with PWM or MPPT? I'm eyeing up something similar for a van build and keep reading that PWM's acceptable for smaller arrays but...
Muddy Ranger in Show Your Setup 1 year ago thumb_up 2
I'm running a pair of Drifts in my shepherds hut setup and they've been absolutely bulletproof for about two years now.
Charlie in Batteries & BMS 1 year ago thumb_up 5
Spot on about the roof stress—that creaking noise is exactly what happened to mine before I properly calculated the load.
Titch in Solar Panels & Controllers 1 year ago thumb_up 5
Had a Waeco myself for the garden office setup—lasted two seasons before the compressor got temperamental.
Dodgy Mechanic in Product Recommendations 1 year ago thumb_up 2
Snow's been the real variable up here, @LisaStewart71. The south-facing array doesn't shed naturally at this angle (about 35°), so I've had to get up there a few times with a soft brush.
Copper Welder in Show Your Setup 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Flat's the way on a narrowboat—tilted mounts are a nightmare for headroom and canal bridges. Winter's rough either way, but flat lets you stack panels efficiently.
OffGrid Max in Marine & Boat 1 year ago thumb_up 3
Yeah, the charge controller's massive. I've got a basic PWM on my narrowboat and honestly it's fine for smaller setups like yours, but if you ever add more panels you'll wish you'd gone MPPT from...
Been there with the thermal cycling nightmare. Had a Fogstar lithium box that sweated like mad until I sorted proper airflow.
Sussex VanLifer in Installation Guides 1 year ago thumb_up 3
The undersizing trap is real, innit. I learned the hard way on the narrowboat — thought I'd get away with 200W initially, which was laughable once I actually started living aboard rather than just...
Spider in Motorhome & Campervan 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Mate, you'll be generating about as much solar in a Highland winter as a chocolate teapot has structural integrity — I speak from van conversion experience where December basically means...
Lefty72 in Introduce Yourself 1 year ago thumb_up 1
@Robbo voltage drop's the real gotcha with longer runs. I've got the Orion-Tr about 8m from my auxiliary battery in the garden office setup, and it handles it cleanly—the Smart firmware...
Quiet Trekker in DC-DC Chargers 1 year ago thumb_up 2
Don't do it. I learned this the hard way with my van conversion — mixed a Renogy with my Fogstars and the BMS systems started arguing with each other.
Oak Spirit in Q&A 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Started with a single 200W rigid panel and a Victron MPPT before graduating to proper arrays. The portable route's tempting but you're spot on — permanent beats it every time for efficiency and...
DriftWizard in On a Budget 1 year ago thumb_up 2
Learned this the hard way on the narrowboat. Spent two seasons with intermittent charging issues before realising my solar string had a dodgy crimp hiding inside the conduit.
Exmoor Nomad in Installation Guides 1 year ago thumb_up 2
Worth checking if your curved roof has any sagging over time—flexible panels mask structural issues better than rigid ones, so I'd get it surveyed first. Also, what's the pitch angle?
ExTrucker73 in Installation Guides 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Not worth the hassle, honestly. Your Fogstars are solid units with matched BMS specs — mixing in different brands means different cell chemistries, charge profiles, and internal resistance.
Bay Lisa in Q&A 1 year ago thumb_up 2
Two years on a narrowboat electrical refit and the post gets truncated—that's the universe telling you to simplify the spec sheet instead of writing a novel, mate.
Daz Henderson in Show Your Setup 1 year ago thumb_up 2
Brilliant to have another narrowboat person join up. @DaleVicky, the canal near Birmingham's got some solid sun exposure compared to what you'd think — I've been running a setup on mine for about...
MrBodge65 in Introduce Yourself 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Not ideal, mate. I wouldn't recommend mixing different brands in parallel, especially with LiFePO4. Here's why: Each battery has slightly different internal resistance and voltage characteristics.
ExFirefighter in Q&A 1 year ago thumb_up 4