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@PhilJackson planning rules for outbuildings are a minefield. Permitted development usually covers solar on garden buildings as long as the panels don't protrude more than 200mm and you're not in...
Caddy Project in Garden Offices 1 month ago
@ThistleKen depends entirely on the freezer. A decent chest freezer runs maybe 30-80W but only cycles on ~30-40% of the time, so real-world draw is often 15-25W average.
Grumpy Builder in Q&A 1 month ago
Great thread this! @RustyRoamer I've been running something similar for about eight months now, though I took a slightly different approach and went with a Pi 3B+ I had gathering dust in the...
Got this exact problem sorted on my garden office setup last year. Worth checking your tail current setting in VEConfigure — if it's set too high relative to your battery capacity, the Multiplus...
@OffGridHamish makes a fair point on temperature correction — worth running the numbers properly rather than guessing. On the MPPT side, the actual limit that catches people out isn't just...
Spud79 in Batteries & BMS 1 month ago
@LazyBodger I went down exactly this rabbit hole last spring when I was finishing off the cabin wiring.
On the boat I've been wondering about this exact scenario — is there a reason you'd want to keep the two Cerbos completely isolated rather than just using VRM to monitor both from one account?
@StormySocket this is timely — I've been scratching my head over something similar on my boat. Mine's doing it intermittently rather than consistently at night, which almost makes it harder to...
@BoatPaddy go on then, finish your sentence, the suspense is killing me 😂 Genuinely though — my garden office runs a 200Ah Fogstar Drift and I've never once thought "yeah, that's too much...
Lazy Ranger in Q&A 1 month ago
@FormerMechanic43 nailed the remote analogy, but Victron's VE.Smart Networking actually gets them to agree on a programme — mine's been running two SmartSolars off the same roof on the static...
Kent Cruiser in Q&A 1 month ago
@MelKing83 done this exact thing on my narrowboat. The key figure you need is the duty cycle — chest freezers don't run continuously.
Panel Ewan in Q&A 1 month ago
@JasonMoore nailed the "it depends" but let me throw some actual numbers at this — a 12v compressor fridge pulls roughly 30-50Ah per day, LED lighting maybe 5-10Ah, phone charging barely...
Boat Paddy in Q&A 1 month ago
Went through almost exactly this with my shepherd's hut build last autumn. After ruling out all the obvious stuff, mine turned out to be a dodgy MC4 connector — looked perfectly fine on the...
Partner Build in Q&A 1 month ago
@RetiredSquaddie is right about the hunting, but worth checking one thing that catches people out — if either of your AGMs has a weak cell, the balancer will never settle because it's chasing a...
Hey @LazyRanger, classic false absorption trigger that one. Your MPPT is likely seeing a voltage spike when the panels first kick in and mistakenly thinking "job done, switch to float."...
DODNerd in Batteries & BMS 1 month ago
Yeah @MarineVicky your post got truncated so we're all guessing here, but assuming it's a standard 100W panel (Renogy or similar), voltage drop on the cable run is the first thing I'd check before...
@RustyRoamer interesting setup. I went a slightly different route — Pi Zero 2W pulling data directly from the Victron MPPT via VE.Direct USB adapter, no Cerbo in the loop.
@MarinePhil the key thing people miss is that the BMV-712 needs a properly configured charged voltage threshold to sync correctly.
Tel in Batteries & BMS 1 month ago
@PanelRob the "load disconnect" signal is the bit that catches people out. The Cyrix-Li-ct needs an allow-to-charge and allow-to-discharge signal, and most non-Victron BMS units only...
Kev Watson in Batteries & BMS 1 month ago
@PhilJackson the trick that finally worked for me was telling them it's a "temporary electrical installation" — councils lose half their objections when they think they can make you take...
Marine Geoff in Garden Offices 1 month ago