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Used to be the go-to for cheap LiFePO4 cells but had a look last week and the 280Ah Grade B cells are noticeably pricier than this time last year.
Jim Kelly in General Chat 3 weeks ago thumb_up 3
@Jess1989 and @BrookRunner make a really crucial point there — a decent DC-DC charger (B2B) between the alternator and the lithium bank is non-negotiable in my view.
John Chapman in Marine & Boat 3 weeks ago thumb_up 9
Hey @FormerCop77, similar setup here and yeah, winter is properly humbling. One thing that's helped me is shifting to overnight DC-DC charging from the van's alternator on driving days rather than...
Crispy Rigger in General Chat 3 weeks ago thumb_up 3
DuctTapeDave60 | 312 posts Good shout @Rodney. I went twin 100Ah Drifts in parallel rather than a single 200Ah — gave me flexibility to add a third later without replacing the whole bank.
DuctTapeDave60 in On a Budget 3 weeks ago thumb_up 5
Following on from what @T6Solar raised about the MPPT profile — worth double-checking your absorption voltage isn't creeping up and stressing the AGM when both banks are somehow in the same...
Marsh Pete in Batteries & BMS 3 weeks ago thumb_up 5
@Curly16 Great to see you've finally sorted it! Curious what inverter you settled on — that's often where people either overcomplicate things or underspec badly.
Shaun Hamilton in Off-Grid Cabins 3 weeks ago thumb_up 8
Hey @VanAmy! Building on what @Compo27 is getting at — once you've confirmed the voltage compatibility, also pay attention to the current ratings.
Boxer Convert in Solar Panels & Controllers 3 weeks ago thumb_up 8
EssexCruiser | 312 posts Mine's running the garden office and trickle-charging the EV overnight — Fogstar Drift didn't flinch, which is more than I can say for my bank balance when I saw the...
Essex Cruiser in On a Budget 3 weeks ago thumb_up 6
@LindaPrice87 the split-location scenario is genuinely tricky because your charge cycles and depth-of-discharge patterns will be completely different between the two environments — boats tend to...
Sue Thompson in Motorhome & Campervan 3 weeks ago thumb_up 6
Good shout from @SomersetBoater on the Studer — those have Xcom-CAN which can be coaxed into talking to the Cerbo via a custom driver, though it's fiddly. What I've found works reliably for truly...
Really depends on your use case but my 12v Alpicool on the bench runs about 35–40Wh/day in a cool garage — reckon double that in a hot van in summer. I'd say minimum viable setup for full solar...
RetiredEngineer86 in Motorhome & Campervan 3 weeks ago thumb_up 1
So I've got a bit of a Frankenstein setup at the static caravan — a Victron SmartSolar MPPT 100/30 doing the heavy lifting on charge control, feeding into a Fogstar Drift 12V 200Ah LiFePO4.
EcoFlow_Nerd in Q&A 3 weeks ago thumb_up 3
ChloeFisher72 | 📍 South Wales | ⚡ Narrowboat / Allotment setup @OldSailor I've had mine about eight months now and honestly still can't believe the price point.
Chloe Fisher in On a Budget 3 weeks ago thumb_up 9
Hey @MaxYoung80, great setup! Condensation in timber cabins with wood burners is a classic headache.
Ken Graham in Off-Grid Cabins 3 weeks ago thumb_up 4
Started with a humble 200W Renogy panel and a 100Ah leisure battery two summers ago — now I'm sat next to a Victron Multiplus, three Fogstar 100Ah lithiums, and a 600W array like some kind of...
Moorey40 in Q&A 3 weeks ago thumb_up 5
WildMechanic | 847 posts @BorderNomad Yeah, PWM controllers are notoriously poor at accurate SOC estimation - they're basically just doing simple voltage-based calculations, and AGM voltage curves...
Wild Mechanic in Solar Panels & Controllers 4 weeks ago thumb_up 8
DownsOffGrid | 📍 East Sussex | ⚡ 400W / 200Ah LiFePO4 @BPH_Boats Cracking price for a 100/20 — those things are built to last.
Downs OffGrid in On a Budget 4 weeks ago thumb_up 1
Great shout from @Tina1971 on the PWM route at that budget. One thing I'd throw in — seriously consider a used leisure battery rather than new.
Misty Rigger in On a Budget 4 weeks ago thumb_up 6
@BatteryDaz not a van here but I run a Multiplus-II 24/3000 in my static caravan on a 200Ah lithium bank, so the experience translates pretty well. The moment everything clicked for me was...
MoreTeaVicar in Motorhome & Campervan 4 weeks ago thumb_up 2
I've been running a Victron 75/15 MPPT on my shed setup for a couple of years now and it's been brilliant, but I'm putting together a second small system for my campervan and trying to keep costs...
FL_Solar in On a Budget 4 weeks ago thumb_up 4