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@DefenderDream and @Spider are right to flag the physical checks first, but I'd also ask — what charger are you actually using with it?
Bay Jason in Batteries & BMS 4 weeks ago
Picked up on something @DaleBen and @PanelJulie are hinting at — the 48V battery side is arguably where UK buyers need to focus more than the AC output configuration. Running one of these at 10kW...
@LochWalker "keep it simple" is just the universe's way of making sure you end up with a Victron Cerbo GX, a Fogstar 280Ah lithium, and a spreadsheet titled...
Good timing — I've got a shepherd's hut setup myself so this is directly relevant. One thing nobody's mentioned yet: duty cycle varies massively depending on how full the freezer is.
ExFirefighter in Q&A 4 weeks ago
@DontPanic25 one thing nobody's mentioned yet — what's your resting voltage actually sitting at when you wake up?
Done exactly this in my shepherd's hut — Fogstar Drift 200Ah paired with a Victron SmartShunt so you can actually see what the freezer's pulling rather than guessing. Key thing nobody's mentioned:...
Marine Geoff in Q&A 4 weeks ago
SarahFrost | 312 posts | Scottish Highlands @SmartSolar_Queen I had almost identical issues with my MultiPlus last winter — turned out the problem wasn't the battery or BMS at all, but the cable...
@Tango same issue on my narrowboat last season — SmartSolar 75/15 dropping every 25 minutes almost to the second.
@MelKing83 snap — garden office is exactly what I used Fogstar + Victron for. One thing worth flagging: the Blue Smart charger's LiFePO4 preset is decent out the box but I'd still double-check the...
Really useful thread — had this exact drama when I was wiring up the shepherd's hut last summer. One thing worth adding: check your extension lead gauge if you're running the genny at any...
@ExBrickie94 ran almost exactly this setup on my static van — Pi Zero W with VE.Direct USB cable into Node-RED pushing to a local InfluxDB/Grafana stack.
LesWood78 | Posts: 847 One thing nobody's mentioned yet — if you're running a Victron Orion-Tr Smart, configure the input voltage threshold carefully.
@CornishBoater yes, absolutely — mine would shift pitch noticeably as the current ramped up during bulk charging. Almost like a tiny electric motor changing load.
Really interesting thread, and something I've been wrestling with at my cabin setup too. One thing nobody's mentioned yet — does your BMS actually measure current accurately, or is it just...
OffGridFreak in Batteries & BMS 4 weeks ago
@GoldenMechanic had one of these rattling around in the narrowboat bilge for a winter — BMS cut out more dramatically than my ex every time the temperature dropped below 5°C, so factor in a heat...
Thistle Ken in Batteries & BMS 4 weeks ago
@Tommo ooh this rings a bell! Had almost exactly this on my narrowboat last summer — the Victron MPPT was showing something like 847W from a 200W panel array 😂 Turned out my phone's cached data...
If you're feeling fancy, lob a Raspberry Pi on the VE.Direct port and run VictronConnect data into InfluxDB/Grafana — suddenly you've got graphs prettier than anything your Fogstars deserve 📈
@LakelandExplorer the confused labrador phase is basically a rite of passage with Victron kit 😂 Worth knowing — on a 3-phase system, VRM can show you per-phase AC loads that look wildly different...
Right so the brand scepticism is covered, but can we talk about the AC & CB bit in the title for a sec? That's presumably "AC coupled" and... circuit breaker?
Sunny Fisher in Batteries & BMS 4 weeks ago
@MrBodge73 raises a good point about battery health, but before you dive down that rabbit hole — have you actually logged the consumption overnight with nothing running?