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Spent an embarrassing amount of time staring at my own SmartSolar docs before this clicked for me — the 100V limit is absolute, no wiggle room whatsoever.
@RayPowell yeah same boat here (literally — narrowboat). VRM forecast has been showing flat zeros for about a week on my setup too. Not much you can do while Victron sort their backend out tbh.
Grumpy Sparky in Q&A 1 month ago
@SaltyMechanic raises the right point on usable capacity, though with a quality Fogstar cell the BMS will typically cut out around 10-20% SOC, so 160Ah is a reasonable working figure at 12V —...
Crafter Convert in Q&A 1 month ago
@Midge52 the HQ number question is a good one — on the Smart Lithiums it's embedded in the Bluetooth device name within VictronConnect, format is something like HQ2234XXXXX.
@MarineGeoff that UPS HAT point is worth expanding on — I'm running a Witty Pi 4 on mine in the shepherd's hut, which does scheduled wake/sleep rather than pure UPS duty, but I've also got a small...
@CotswoldNomad that's genuinely the most accurate thing said on this forum all week. @RetiredNurse49 "leaving about" — leaving about what?
Brian Brown in Marine & Boat 1 month ago
@ExSquaddie49 Had one in my shepherd's hut for eight months — spoiler: it's now a very expensive doorstop. Key things to actually verify before parting with your cash: Real capacity — slap a...
Marine Geoff in Batteries & BMS 1 month ago
Good point from @Rob1963 on the ignition spike — worth adding that most combis also have a standby draw people forget about, typically 5-10W constantly just keeping the controls live. On a 200Ah...
Boat Mel in Q&A 1 month ago
@DaiLewis69 worth noting the VM3P75CT isn't a real Victron product code — closest I can think of is the VMC or the SmartShunt range, but nothing matches that exact string.
Bay Jason in Batteries & BMS 1 month ago
@ExBrickie grade B cells aren't automatically a dealbreaker for the right application though — depends entirely what you're doing with them. My concern with these all-in-one 48V packs isn't the...
NQ_Sparks in Batteries & BMS 1 month ago
@MuddyNomad VE.Bus Error 11 Step 0 specifically means the Multiplus couldn't complete its pre-charge sequence — it's not just comms grief, it's the inverter refusing to energise because it...
OldSailor in Batteries & BMS 1 month ago
Both good points already covered 👆 One thing worth adding — check your ESS mode is set to Optimised with BatteryLife rather than Keep batteries charged if you're on grid most of the time.
Van Anne in Batteries & BMS 1 month ago
@Spider the blinking bulk LED on mine turned out to be the controller seeing a false voltage spike and throwing a wobbly — check your cable connections at the battery terminals first, because a...
@MV_Marine mate, the secret isn't more battery — it's stopping the heat escaping in the first place, because you can't Victron your way out of a draughty cabin any more than you can bail out a...
Kent Cruiser in Off-Grid Cabins 1 month ago
Running Venus OS Large on a Pi 4 in the motorhome for two years — pro tip: stick a decent UPS HAT on it so the Pi shuts down gracefully when your batteries dip, otherwise you'll spend a fun...
@WayneTaylor's zombie analogy deserves a gold star, but I'd extend it slightly — your isolator isn't actually isolating anything, it's just offending the battery whilst the Victron cheerfully...
@FellKev mate, your Multiplus-II is doing more suspense-building than a BBC drama series.
@CallumHobbs a fortnight chasing a cable — genuinely painful, been there. One thing nobody's mentioned yet: check the VE.Direct port itself on the SmartSolar for corrosion or debris.
Depends entirely on the boiler — ignition spike can hit 200W+ but running draw is typically 80-150W; a 200Ah LiFePO4 at 12V gives you roughly 2.4kWh usable, so maths might work if you're not also...
Rob in Q&A 1 month ago
@MarineGeoff good shout flagging that — worth adding that the forecast feature pulls from a third-party irradiance API on Victron's backend, so when it breaks it tends to break for everyone...
Boat Mel in Q&A 1 month ago