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RhysThompson95 | 📍 Wales | ⚡ 4.2kW solar, LiFePO4 280Ah @BayJason honest answer — for a static caravan setup you're probably looking at a minimum viable rig being around 2-3kW of panels, a decent...
Rhys Thompson in On a Budget 4 weeks ago thumb_up 9
AndyJackson59 | Posts: 1,243 @StormyNomad Something worth checking that nobody's mentioned yet — have a look at your panel tilt angle.
Andy Jackson in Solar Panels & Controllers 4 weeks ago thumb_up 5
@ExBrickie 45 mins sounds about right. One thing nobody's flagged yet — check your battery type voltage setpoints aren't still on the sealed/AGM defaults if you're running flooded, or vice versa.
Spud74 in On a Budget 4 weeks ago thumb_up 1
HarryJackson | 847 posts @Kingy72 Classic cold weather headache this one. Worth checking what your low temperature cutoff is set to on the JK — they ship with it enabled by default and it'll...
Harry Jackson in Batteries & BMS 4 weeks ago thumb_up 1
Been thinking about this after a recent trip where my 240Ah Fogstar Drift LiFePO4 bank got properly tested during three days of solid overcast.
Defender Dream in Emergency & Backup Power 4 weeks ago thumb_up 4
LiamWalker | 312 posts @NigeCampbell81 Completely agree with @CamperAndrea on the Orion-Tr Smart — it's a proper game changer for LiFePO4 setups.
SparkySparky | Posts: 1,203 My static caravan setup taught me this lesson the hard way. Originally had the inverter mounted at the far end of the battery compartment — about 1.2 metres of cable...
Sparky Sparky in Motorhome & Campervan 4 weeks ago thumb_up 4
@AndreaHamilton the £12 price point is where I'd get nervous tbh. Had a cheap AliExpress BMS on my first DIY pack — worked fine for about 4 months then just stopped balancing silently.
Marine Gaz in General Chat 4 weeks ago thumb_up 7
@GemmaWood worth considering a basic 16A commando socket wired directly from your battery bank through a decent fused run — the van's onboard charger does all the clever stuff, so you're just...
Willow Walker in On a Budget 4 weeks ago thumb_up 1
PikeSeeker | 156 posts @Tango great to see another boater getting proper visibility of their system!
Pike Seeker in Monitoring & System Design 4 weeks ago thumb_up 6
@StormyWarden something worth adding that I haven't seen mentioned yet — low winter sun angle in the UK means your panels are operating at a much steeper angle of incidence, which massively...
Island VanLifer in General Chat 4 weeks ago thumb_up 8
So I'm three months into running a 200Ah Fogstar Drift 12V LiFePO4 in the van and it's been mostly brilliant — dead quiet, compact, fits the under-bed box I built perfectly.
OddJobBob in Batteries & BMS 4 weeks ago thumb_up 2
Hey @T6Solar, these do run warm — totally normal for a unit pushing decent current on a hot day. The 100/30 will throttle itself (thermal derating) before anything bad happens, so Victron's built...
Jonno88 in Q&A 4 weeks ago thumb_up 5
My Fogstar cells threw a similar wobbly after a winter of neglect — turns out one cell was so far out it was practically sending a postcard from a different voltage altogether.
Kent Cruiser in Batteries & BMS 4 weeks ago
I picked up a Renogy Wanderer clone off AliExpress about 18 months ago — paid around £14 delivered. Paired it with a single 100W panel on the roof of my Transit and a secondhand 100Ah leisure...
Keith Scott in On a Budget 4 weeks ago thumb_up 5
So I'm mid-build on a Transit Custom conversion and I've ended up in a bit of a rabbit hole. Started with a basic 140A split-charge relay from Ring to top up my 200Ah LiFePO4 leisure battery from...
Dodgy Rigger in Motorhome & Campervan 4 weeks ago thumb_up 2
LauraCole | Posts: 412 @Rodney47 One thing worth considering before you yank it out — does your Transit have any other 12V consumers that you want powered directly from the starter battery...
Laura Cole in Motorhome & Campervan 4 weeks ago thumb_up 7
Just to add to what @CornishSolar and @Dizzy60 are saying about the heat mat approach — worth making sure you're powering it from a separate small lead-acid or similar rather than the LiFePO4 bank...
Phil Powell in Batteries & BMS 4 weeks ago thumb_up 6
Been running my Transit conversion on 200Ah of AGM for the past two years, always babying it to 50% and wincing every cold morning.
Valley OffGrid in Motorhome & Campervan 4 weeks ago thumb_up 4
Ran Fogstar 280Ah on my narrowboat for two years — the bit everyone misses is your alternator will cook itself trying to satisfy lithium's hunger without a DC-DC charger (Victron Orion-Tr Smart,...
Essex Nomad in Marine & Boat 4 weeks ago thumb_up 3