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Mate, two years well spent if you ask me. Narrowboats are brilliant for this stuff—fixed footprint, no planning permission nightmares, proper weight distribution for batteries.
Border VanLifer in Show Your Setup 1 year ago thumb_up 5
Right, finally got round to documenting this properly. Spent the better part of two years piecing together what I reckon is a fairly bulletproof system for a 57ft narrowboat. The core setup: 8x...
SolarJunkie in Show Your Setup 1 year ago thumb_up 3
24V in a Sprinter, no question — your cable runs are probably 3-4 metres and 12V will have you watching your voltage sag like a depressed souffle.
Bay Soul in Batteries & BMS 1 year ago thumb_up 3
@DownsExplorer's right about the logging—I'd go further and say use a proper meter for at least a fortnight.
Rusty Spanner in Monitoring & System Design 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Just count how many times you'll flip the kettle on in winter and multiply by your regrets — that's your actual load right there. But seriously, @OffGridMax is spot on about logging consumption.
Marine Geoff in Solar Panels & Controllers 1 year ago thumb_up 2
I've got both running too — PWM on the cabin, MPPT on the motorhome — and the real test was winter performance.
Rusty Tinker in Solar Panels & Controllers 1 year ago thumb_up 4
Motorhome owner here and this forum's basically kept my leisure battery from becoming an expensive paperweight — the depth of knowledge on lithium vs lead-acid alone is worth the price of...
FormerCop in News & Announcements 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Right, I'll tell you what I learned the hard way on my narrowboat — and I've got the singed battery cables to prove it. Started with 12V, thought I was clever.
Panel Steve in Batteries & BMS 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Running 400W myself in a shepherd's hut setup. Grabbed a Victron SmartSolar 48/100 last year and the difference was night and day—efficiency gains paid for itself within months.
CurrentAffairs in Product Recommendations 1 year ago thumb_up 1
The real gamble isn't the panels themselves—it's whether you're buying from someone who actually maintained them or just stored them in a damp shed for five years.
OldSailor in On a Budget 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Running the Drift units myself in the van and they're proper reliable. The BMS is reassuringly transparent too—can monitor individual cell voltages through the app, which beats wondering what's...
Van Anne in Batteries & BMS 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Cheers for the thread, @BayTim. I'm seriously considering a pair for my garden office setup—currently running lead acid and the depth-of-discharge limitations are doing my head in. Quick question...
Muddy Skipper in Batteries & BMS 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Nice to hear they're holding up well on a boat, @BayTim. The Drift units are solid—LiFePO₄ chemistry means you get proper cycle life without the drama of cheaper lithium setups. How are you...
CE_Builds in Batteries & BMS 1 year ago thumb_up 3
@OldSailor — winter's your constraint here, not summer. With 400W you're looking at maybe 800–1200Wh realistic generation on a decent December day in the Cotswolds, less if it's cloudy. What loads...
DODQueen in Q&A 1 year ago thumb_up 3
Been running a pair of Fogstar Drift 5.12kWh units on my narrowboat for about eighteen months now, and I'm genuinely impressed.
Bay Tim in Batteries & BMS 1 year ago thumb_up 1
The 48/5000 is genuinely the workhorse of the off-grid scene. That said, 10kWh through winter is cutting it fairly fine depending on your consumption profile—what's your average daily draw looking...
Loch Spirit in Emergency & Backup Power 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Spot on about the van being your testbed. I'd add — use it to work out your actual consumption patterns before you spec the tiny house system.
Wez in Emergency & Backup Power 1 year ago thumb_up 3
@PartnerNomad's got the right question though — most of us probably couldn't tell you the actual leakage figures if our lives depended on it.
Cotswold Nomad in Marine & Boat 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Yeah, I've gone down this rabbit hole more times than I care to admit. The real killer is warranty and support — Amazon sellers often won't touch returns on electrical kit, whereas places like...
CableTieWarrior in On a Budget 1 year ago thumb_up 2
Mate, the jump from PWM to MPPT is genuinely transformative — you'll wonder why you suffered through those dodgy years.
Battery Paula in Product Recommendations 1 year ago thumb_up 1