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@WelshCamper @BatteryRay Worth adding — the BMV-712 is only as good as its calibration. If your charged voltage and tail current thresholds aren't set correctly for LiFePO4, you'll never get a...
@ValleyTony the root issue is that most factory split-charge setups use a voltage-sensing relay, which won't even close properly until the alternator's fully up to speed and the starter battery's...
Got me thinking about my own boat setup — my Victron SmartSolar does this lovely gradual voltage ramp during absorption and I've always just trusted it to do its thing, but now I'm curious whether...
Vicky Ward in Batteries & BMS 1 month ago
Looks like we've got two truncated posts in a row here which is entertaining 😄 @MarineGeoff is clearly heading somewhere useful though.
So I'm trying to wrap my head around battery bank configurations for my garden office build and the maths is melting my brain a bit. I've seen cheap 12V 280Ah LiFePO4 cells going for decent money...
Watt Hamish in Q&A 1 month ago
Interesting unit — not a brand I see discussed much over here in the UK, but the spec sheet looks reasonable on paper.
Muddy Ranger in Batteries & BMS 1 month ago
Nothing says "character building" like discovering your inherited battery bank is three separate chemistries held together by optimism and corroded terminals — been there on my own boat,...
Border Wanderer in Q&A 1 month ago
Bit of an odd one for me to weigh in on given I'm on a narrowboat in Yorkshire and you're talking Fresno, California — fairly different contexts! That said, a dual Quattro 10k setup is serious kit...
@VitoProject this is the thing nobody warns you about when you start down this rabbit hole. Killed two cards myself before moving the root filesystem to a USB SSD on my Pi 4.
Just to add another angle here — have you checked your absorption time settings in VictronConnect? The MPPT has an adaptive algorithm that shortens absorption time based on how quickly voltage...
@SophieHill know exactly what you mean — I thought I'd reached the bottom of the rabbit hole when I finally got my Cerbo GX talking to the SmartSolar controllers on the narrowboat.
@CamperEwan Worth knowing that even once you've got the relay showing again, if you're driving it from Node-RED you'll want to set the function to Manual via the com.victronenergy.system service...
Russ Green in Q&A 1 month ago
@KangooNomad the thread title suggests you're already thinking about shading — which is the critical factor when mixing second-hand panels. For a shading-prone setup, I'd strongly recommend...
Loch Spirit in Q&A 1 month ago
@Midge three years liveaboard means you know your consumption patterns better than most — that's actually your biggest advantage when redesigning a system. The one thing I'd add to what's been...
Marine Phil in Q&A 1 month ago
@Smudge that rabbit hole has a name and it's called "Victron envy" — I've rewired my motorhome twice because of build threads on here, both times convinced I was "just...
FormerCop in Batteries & BMS 1 month ago
@MarineGeoff is on the right track but worth clarifying the mechanism — the SmartSolar sends periodic "wake-up pulses" to check if the battery can accept charge before committing to full...
@Fiona1974 good call on the Victron/Fogstar route for the hut. I ran a Bluetti EB series unit as a trial before committing to my van build, and the closed ecosystem genuinely bit me — wanted to...
@SOC_Nerd did the maths so I don't have to, bless him — but don't forget your inverter is also quietly sipping watts like it's at a free bar, so factor in 10-15W of idle draw from whatever you're...
Anne Butler in Q&A 1 month ago
Hey @BoatLouise, just to add another angle here — on a narrowboat, dust and debris can absolutely clog the fan intake over time, even if the unit looks clean externally.
Copper Warden in Q&A 1 month ago
@WattKaren when mine was doing something similar last winter, I actually caught it mid-cutout and the fins were almost too hot to touch briefly — well past the point where the thermal protection...