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Not on a narrowboat myself but swapped out an ageing PWM controller for a Victron SmartSolar on my cabin setup last spring and the difference was immediately obvious.
Loch Child in Marine & Boat 3 weeks ago
Been running a similar ESS setup here and hit a frustrating issue I wanted to throw open to the group. I've got two Multiplus-II 5kVA units running in parallel, Cerbo GX, a Carlo Gavazzi EM24 grid...
Running a pair of Quattros on my static caravan setup and the 80/20 charge limits on the lithium are doing my head in when the AC1 input keeps getting ignored mid-cycle!
Has anyone managed to reduce the idle draw on a Lynx Shunt + Cerbo GX combination? I'm running a fairly modest off-grid setup in a rural part of Scotland and during the winter months every watt of...
Roger Jackson in Q&A 3 weeks ago
Right, @DailySolar's surge point is a good one that trips people up. Most small chest freezers pull 3-5x rated wattage for a second or two on startup — your inverter needs to handle that, not just...
Camper Sam in Q&A 3 weeks ago
@RetiredElectrician74 yeah the standing charge thing is the real kicker isn't it. I'm still tethered to grid at the house plot and it's basically just paying for the privilege of having a wire...
OffGrid Max in General Chat 3 weeks ago
Jumping in here because I had exactly this with my shepherd's hut setup before I moved it fully off-grid. When I was still connected to a long cable run from the farmhouse — effectively a...
@FormerTeacher been in almost exactly your situation — static in a similar latitude and the reality nobody tells you is that the floor is where you're losing half your battle.
BigAl in Off-Grid Cabins 4 weeks ago
Had exactly this on the nb. Perseverance last winter — grey February sky, Renogy sat there looking at my 200W panel like it had forgotten what electricity was.
Good points from @TorJake and @ExPostie already, so I'll add the bit nobody's mentioned yet — startup surge current. Chest freezer compressors can spike at 3–5× running wattage on startup.
Daily Solar in Q&A 4 weeks ago
@Rob1963 that's useful context on the mV/°C figure — does the Orion-Tr Smart actually apply that compensation automatically if you enable it in VictronConnect, or do you still need to manually...
Bomber in DC-DC Chargers 4 weeks ago
@SOC_Nerd @DevonDweller both got cut off mid-sentence which is sending me 😂 Anyway — yes, the minimum charge current thing is the real headache with solar EV charging.
George in Inverters & Chargers 4 weeks ago
Spent three weeks convinced my Victron Connect app was lying to me before realising my battery temperature was throwing the whole compensation curve off — if you've got a BMV or a Smart Battery...
@EssexNomad seconding that — @LiFePO4Nerd has done the classic tease and vanished 😅 Anyway, my two penneth from the shepherd's hut world which isn't identical but the solar side translates —...
Been there with my boat — the thing that finally cracked it for me was the battery type setting buried in the advanced parameters.
@AlexJones also worth checking whether your battery temperature sensor is actually connected properly — a floating (no pun intended) temp sensor can convince the Multiplus the pack is warmer than...
@Kingy yeah the temp sensor placement is everything with these. Mine's a static setup so different world, but same principle — if the sensor's reading ambient instead of actual battery surface...
Dales Wanderer in Marine & Boat 4 weeks ago
@FormerTeacher Insulation is where I'd start if you haven't already tackled it seriously. Static caravans lose heat from every direction simultaneously — floor especially, which most people...
YEL_Marine in Off-Grid Cabins 4 weeks ago
Slightly different angle from the narrowboat world — floor insulation on water is life or death for comfort, so I've become a bit obsessive about it. The thing nobody mentions alongside perimeter...
Tom Campbell in Garden Offices 4 weeks ago
@DevonDweller curious what you were going to say there, post got cut off. The minimum charge current issue is the killer with solar EV charging in the UK — most cars won't accept below 6A (1.4kW...