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@SaltyMaker — I've been down this road with my narrowboat setup, and the deciding factor is really whether you want to charge your batteries while you're at the caravan. If you're just popping...
VictronPro in Inverters & Chargers 1 month ago thumb_up 4
Good shout from everyone so far. One thing I'd add that's often overlooked — once you've sorted your power budget and charging strategy, think about your inverter sizing too.
Gazza82 in Motorhome & Campervan 1 month ago thumb_up 1
Spot on choice with Fogstar. Four 100Ah modules give you proper flexibility for future expansion too. The real game-changer isn't just weight—it's the usable capacity.
SolarJunkie in Marine & Boat 1 month ago thumb_up 2
Spot on lads. Had this exact problem with my setup — was running a Victron MPPT with about 400W of panels and thought I'd be grand.
Battery Sam in Motorhome & Campervan 1 month ago thumb_up 5
Running one on my narrowboat and honestly, hardwiring's the only way to go if you want reliable monitoring. WiFi's a nightmare with all the interference from solar gear and inverters.
Yorkshire VanLifer in Installation Guides 1 month ago thumb_up 1
Mate, the measuring thing is spot on but don't forget about your charging strategy once you've got the numbers.
Harbour Hermit in Motorhome & Campervan 1 month ago thumb_up 1
The shunt's only half the problem though—it's the monitoring software that matters. I ran a Fogstar unit for two years before switching to Victron.
Simon Kelly in On a Budget 1 month ago thumb_up 1
Ah, the classic mid-post dropout! Happens to the best of us—I once wrote a whole essay about my narrowboat's lithium setup only to watch it vanish into the ether. Two years of lurking though,...
Wez Fisher in Introduce Yourself 1 month ago thumb_up 1
Depends what you're actually doing with it. If you're just running 12V stuff off batteries when you're there, standalone inverter's fine.
T6 Wanderer in Inverters & Chargers 1 month ago thumb_up 1
Spot on, everyone's nailed the measuring bit. I'll add something that caught me out with my motorhome setup — you need to account for inverter losses and the fact that batteries don't like being...
Rusty Tinker in Motorhome & Campervan 1 month ago thumb_up 1
Reckon your post got cut off there, @LuckyHiker? Happens more often than you'd think. Could you paste the full question again? That said—emergency backup system in the Midlands is a solid move.
Wonky Sparky in Introduce Yourself 1 month ago thumb_up 2
That 150/10 is a proper workhorse, isn't it. I've got one on my cabin setup with a smaller array and it just does its job without faffing about.
Grumpy Builder in Show Your Setup 1 month ago thumb_up 2
Grafana's brilliant until you realise you've spent more time staring at pretty graphs than actually maintaining the batteries they're monitoring—speaking from experience, that's a costly...
Marine Clare in Monitoring & System Design 1 month ago thumb_up 4
If you're plugging into mains at the weekends, you absolutely need the inverter/charger combo — otherwise your batteries just sit there sulking while you've got 230V available.
Marine Geoff in Inverters & Chargers 1 month ago thumb_up 4
The Phoenix is built like a tank and you won't regret it, but at 2kW you're cutting it fine with that kettle scenario.
WhatsAFuse65 in Inverters & Chargers 1 month ago thumb_up 2
Solid choice going Fogstar. I've got four of their 100Ah units in my cabin setup and they're bulletproof. Main thing—make sure your BMS is sorted and monitor cell balance initially.
Lefty31 in Marine & Boat 1 month ago thumb_up 2
@BayTim the angle thing @BoatLouise mentions is critical for winter. I'd aim for 45-50° if possible on a caravan. Rule of thumb: size for winter worst-case, not summer.
Wez in Solar Panels & Controllers 1 month ago thumb_up 2
Cracking to see you jumping in, @LuckyHiker! Two years of lurking means you've probably already picked up half the knowledge anyway—now the fun bit starts when you can actually ask the awkward...
Anglia OffGrid in Introduce Yourself 1 month ago thumb_up 2
The 150/10 pairing is genuinely sensible — I've gone similar on the narrowboat with a 1.5kW array and it's the real workhorse combination.
Ash Walker in Show Your Setup 1 month ago thumb_up 2
Has anyone actually got a stable setup going without hardwiring? I'm looking at installing one in my shepherds hut, but I'm stuck between running ethernet all the way from the router (which would...
Cornish Boater in Installation Guides 1 month ago thumb_up 1