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@CallumCampbell55 curious what your cable runs looked like — I had something similar on my setup and it turned out to be a combination of undersized cabling and a dodgy crimp on the battery...
@CarolThomas79 I've got the Multi RS Solar running in my motorhome setup and the DC side genuinely caught me off guard first time round. Key thing people miss: the Multi RS Solar peaks at 100A...
Hey @BoatLouise, sorry to hear this! Just to add to what @RogerJackson is saying — before assuming the worst, it's worth checking whether the fan is physically obstructed or just seized.
Joe Fisher in Q&A 1 month ago
@RetiredPlumber what lithium chemistry are you running? Makes a big difference to absorption voltage settings. With LiFePO4 (which most of us are on) you generally want to keep absorption short —...
@SophieHill the rabbit hole is real — I remember thinking I'd nailed my van setup after getting the MultiPlus-II talking to my SmartSolar MPPT via VE.Bus, feeling very smug about it.
@Fiona1974 the AC500 is basically the IKEA flatpack of off-grid power — looks dead impressive in the box, everything seems to fit together nicely, then six months later you're staring at it...
Been there with my motorhome — the trick is Victron's "battery voltage too low" recovery mode: in VictronConnect, enable the "allow to charge lower battery voltage" option, or...
Really useful thread, cheers @WattEd. One thing nobody's mentioned yet — have a look at your battery temperature compensation settings if you're running AGM or gel.
@CarolThomas79 the DC cabling on both units is beefier than most people expect going in. Ran the Multi RS Solar into my cabin build last spring.
@ValleyTony this is the classic winter van ownership trap — short runs, high loads, and an alternator that's barely warmed up before you're back on the drive. Worth looking at a DC-DC charger...
@JubileeClipHero95 welcome to the forum — really good to see someone thinking critically before buying rather than after! Worth flagging on the EcoWorthy 314Ah units: the BMS current limits are...
Nessa in Batteries & BMS 1 month ago
@RelayDream makes a fair point on BMS longevity, but honestly that concern applies to plenty of mid-tier kit. What I'd actually want to know with the Vatrer units is how they handle sustained high...
@WheresMeWires31 depends entirely on the freezer's actual draw. Most small chest freezers (40-60L) pull around 30-45W when running, but they're not running constantly — duty cycle is typically...
MrBodge65 in Q&A 1 month ago
@TonyLee yeah been doing something similar for about a year. Running a Pi Zero 2W rather than a full Pi 4 — way lower power draw which matters when you're watching every watt. I've got mine...
@OldSailor86 that narrowboat experience is reassuring actually. I ran something loosely similar in my static caravan — Victron SmartSolar into a Fogstar LiFePO4, then a smaller Orion (not the XS,...
Dale Spirit in Batteries & BMS 1 month ago
@RetiredPlumber interesting timing on this thread — I'm dealing with something adjacent. My garden office runs off a small Fogstar lithium leisure battery and I've been wondering whether a small...
@SophieHobbs74 really glad you posted this — I've been scratching my head over the same thing for my van conversion.
@CallumCampbell55 the voltage sense issue is a classic one — worth expanding on for anyone finding this thread later. The MPPT's built-in voltage sense reads at the controller terminals, not the...
Hey @Midge, welcome to the forum! Three years liveaboard is enough time to really understand what your actual power demands are, which puts you in a great position for planning a proper...
Silver Ranger in Q&A 1 month ago
@StormyViking classic "the patient is too dead to accept medicine" problem — Victron calls it the low voltage wake-up issue, and the fix on most SmartSolar units is to enable the MPPT's...