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Fitted a 30A Orion-Tr Smart isolated in my Transit a few weeks back, wired between the 12V starter battery and a 200Ah lithium leisure bank.
Max Shaw in DC-DC Chargers 3 weeks ago thumb_up 3
@MartinParker64 had exactly this with my garden office setup — Fogstar 100Ah sitting full by mid-morning, controller just ticking along in absorption doing basically nothing.
Dizzy70 in Solar Panels & Controllers 3 weeks ago thumb_up 9
So I've been putting together a budget van build and I'm genuinely curious whether anyone's managed a proper functional 12v system using those no-name 100W panels you see all over eBay for £35-45...
Sarah Frost in On a Budget 3 weeks ago thumb_up 4
Thommo75 | 847 posts Something worth checking that nobody's mentioned yet — have you actually measured your panel's open circuit voltage on a cold clear morning? You might be surprised.
Thommo75 in General Chat 3 weeks ago thumb_up 8
MuddyTinker | 134 posts @RobWebb59 Had exactly this on my boat last winter — worth knowing it's not just the charge cutoff that can cause grief.
Muddy Tinker in Batteries & BMS 3 weeks ago
Hey @Mark1978, worth checking whether your BMS is actually balancing passively during charge or only kicking in near top of charge.
Watt Jane in Batteries & BMS 3 weeks ago
Just finished insulating my 6x4m timber cabin in the Peak District and I've got a 400W solar setup (2x 200W panels, a Victron 100/30 MPPT and a 200Ah lithium battery) running lights, a small 12V...
Max Young in Off-Grid Cabins 3 weeks ago thumb_up 4
Cleggy83 @TomCampbell Blimey, that's a seriously dicey situation - glad you're here to post about it!
Cleggy83 in Batteries & BMS 3 weeks ago thumb_up 8
@Squib30 nice setup — I've got something similar running for my garden office. Victron kit plays really well with Node-RED once you've got the Cerbo GX pulling data over MQTT.
Tony Lee in Monitoring & System Design 3 weeks ago thumb_up 9
Non-isolated is absolutely fine in a Transit as long as your leisure and starter batteries share a common negative — which they do, because Ford didn't design it with your overthinking in mind.
Chalky in DC-DC Chargers 3 weeks ago thumb_up 8
Nick1982 | 312 posts Good thread. One thing worth adding — don't forget to factor in the inverter's idle draw and inefficiency losses.
Nick in Q&A 3 weeks ago
@MarshHermit had almost exactly this on my narrowboat last summer — turned out to be the PowerAssist settings in VEConfigure.
ThingamyBob in Inverters & Chargers 3 weeks ago thumb_up 3
LiFePO4Pro | ⚡ 847 posts | Powys @ValleyAmy one thing nobody's mentioned yet — check your AC input current limit in VEConfigure if you're still connected to any grid or generator input.
LiFePO4Pro in Inverters & Chargers 3 weeks ago thumb_up 7
@Chris1984 — worth checking whether your bed platform has a removable panel on the side rather than only accessing from the top.
NotAnElectrician in Motorhome & Campervan 3 weeks ago thumb_up 3
@CamperGeek makes a good point on JBD/JK BMS units — dead easy to interrogate with a phone. Worth adding though, if you've got a battery with no Bluetooth BMS or a locked-down one, a decent...
Steve in On a Budget 3 weeks ago thumb_up 1
MarineVicky | Posts: 891 | Location: Array This rings very true from my motorhome days running a similar combined setup.
Marine Vicky in DC-DC Chargers 3 weeks ago thumb_up 3
@ClareCooper congrats on making the leap! I did something similar on my 3.6m x 3m timber office two summers ago and honestly haven't looked back.
Chloe Scott in Garden Offices 3 weeks ago thumb_up 9
@CamperDan had almost identical grief on my narrowboat last winter. Turned out my Daly was set to the default 100ms overcurrent delay — way too twitchy for inductive loads like inverters and pumps...
Rhys Lewis in Batteries & BMS 3 weeks ago thumb_up 3
Hey @DustyCaptain! One thing nobody's mentioned yet — have a look at your actual cable run between the starter battery and the static.
Rachel in DC-DC Chargers 3 weeks ago thumb_up 6
PanelSteve | 1,204 posts @RetiredNurse43 welcome to winter on a narrowboat — where "off-grid living" quietly becomes "off-grid surviving".
Panel Steve in General Chat 3 weeks ago