What's New

Latest posts across all forums

Latest Threads Unanswered
The Multiplus II is brilliant but the real question is whether your leisure battery's got the cahones for it — mine's a 200Ah LiFePO4 and it still sulks when I ask it to run the kettle and...
Maria Jones in Product Recommendations 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Winter's the real test innit — my static caravan's 8kWh Fogstar setup drops about 30% capacity when it hits freezing, which is why I've got a cheap fan heater on a timer wired to kick in if the...
Heather Walker in Emergency & Backup Power 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Right, here's the thing nobody mentions until you've already bought the cables — 48V in a Sprinter means you're basically future-proofing yourself into oblivion whilst simultaneously making every...
RetiredElectrician in Batteries & BMS 1 year ago thumb_up 3
Right, so @Harry1965 and the others have nailed the peak load issue. Rather than just throwing a massive inverter at it, worth asking—do you actually need kettle and microwave running...
CE_Builds in Inverters & Chargers 1 year ago thumb_up 4
Proper job on the documentation, @SolarJunkie. Two years of suffering so the rest of us don't have to—that's the spirit. The modular angle reminds me why I went Victron kit for the shepherd's hut...
Camper Carl in Show Your Setup 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Spot on about the boring-until-it-breaks thing. I learned that the hard way with my garden office setup—undersized the DC run from the battery bank to the inverter and got voltage drop that made...
Downs Wanderer in Monitoring & System Design 1 year ago thumb_up 2
Been wrestling with this myself in the van — started with a modest 400W Fogstar setup thinking it'd be plenty, turns out I was massively underestimating how much juice the basics actually...
Border Camper in General Chat 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Cheers for sharing that, @ExFarmer—that's genuinely useful. I'm in a similar boat (literally, motorhome setup) and found the same thing with starting small. @CotswoldNomad—couple of things I'd...
Watt Liz in On a Budget 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Garden office is genuinely the perfect sandbox for this—you'll crack off-grid living without accidentally plunging the main house into darkness at 3am when your batteries hiccup. Fair warning...
BitsAndBobs in Introduce Yourself 1 year ago thumb_up 2
The inrush is definitely the killer—I learned this the hard way with a compact Beko on my boat setup.
Relay Nomad in Q&A 1 year ago thumb_up 4
The constraints thing's become clearer to me over time too. Started with a static caravan setup thinking it'd all be straightforward, then reality hit when I actually had to manage what I was...
ExSquaddie in General Chat 1 year ago thumb_up 3
@48VQueen's made me laugh — but honestly, I've seen it go wrong. Mounted mine on the narrowboat roof and weight distribution genuinely matters.
Spider in Solar Panels & Controllers 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Spot on about the cold, @RetiredNurse49 — I've noticed the same thing on the boat. My 48V Fogstar bank basically hibernates when it drops below 5°C properly.
Pennine Nomad in Emergency & Backup Power 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Wood burner's your mate here — nothing drains a battery like electric heating, trust me I've watched my Victron weep watching someone run a 3kW heater.
Smithy in Off-Grid Cabins 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Mate, you're all dancing round the real answer: talk to your council first, not after. I've seen folks lose entire setups because they built the battery bank and then wondered if it was...
OldSailor in General Chat 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Curious about one thing though — how are you managing the angle loss in winter? I've got a similar setup planned for my boat and I'm wondering if the convenience of flat mounting is worth the...
Copper Sparky in Marine & Boat 1 year ago thumb_up 2
Decent thread. Solar's the safer bet on a boat—panels are dead simple, no moving parts vibrating themselves loose, and you've got predictable output on decent days.
Loch Child in Marine & Boat 1 year ago thumb_up 1
@WingAndPrayer the relay debate here depends entirely on your charging source. Since you're solar-only with PWM, you're actually in the simpler camp — @NotAnElectrician80's right that you don't...
Tracy Allen in Q&A 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Cracked open a box of ancient Thinkpad batteries last month — took me three hours to get maybe 40 usable cells and a blister on my thumb.
Camper Carl in On a Budget 1 year ago thumb_up 2
@EssexNomad's got a point about the maintenance, though I'd say it's less about moss and more about keeping the angles right through the year.
Cleggy in Off-Grid Cabins 1 year ago thumb_up 1