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Spent last winter in the van conversion, then moved into a small timber cabin come spring — proper education that was.
DriftWizard in Off-Grid Cabins 1 year ago thumb_up 1
The roof flex issue is genuinely dangerous — you're not just risking structural damage, you're potentially compromising the seal between roof and walls, which leads to damp ingress.
Clive Baker in Solar Panels & Controllers 1 year ago thumb_up 1
The shading issue is exactly why we ditched ground-mounts for our cabin setup and went vertical instead.
Dale Spirit in Off-Grid Cabins 1 year ago thumb_up 2
Curious what your actual power demands are, @FormerCop? That matters more than the voltage itself, honestly. I'm running 48V in my static caravan setup with a Victron MultiPlus and it's been...
EcoFlow_Nerd in Batteries & BMS 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Spot on observations from @ExChippie72 and @CableTieWarrior. The warranty issue is real — I've been caught out too.
Ray Watson in On a Budget 1 year ago thumb_up 4
Rigid panels are brilliant until you realise you've mounted them at the angle of a Cornish cliff and your van's permanently aimed at Belgium—speaking from experience in my shepherd's hut where I...
Renogy_Nerd in Show Your Setup 1 year ago thumb_up 1
I've dealt with exactly this in my static caravan setup and learned the hard way. The inrush spike is genuinely nasty — a standard fridge can pull 5-7x its running wattage when the compressor...
Watt Karen in Inverters & Chargers 1 year ago thumb_up 1
I've been through something similar with a static caravan setup, and the shepherd's hut is honestly the perfect starting point — you're working with limited space, which forces you to be...
OhmsLaw in Off-Grid Cabins 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Right, so cable gauge absolutely depends on your run length — @GrumpySparky and @CE_Builds have nailed it there.
Copper Roamer in Q&A 1 year ago thumb_up 2
Spot on about battery placement. I learned this the hard way with my shepherd's hut setup—ran the cables too long initially and voltage drop was killing my solar controller efficiency. The cable...
Somerset VanLifer in Installation Guides 1 year ago thumb_up 2
The boat's taught me this lesson the hard way. Bought a dodgy MPPT off Amazon last year — seemed like brilliant value at the time. Six months in, it started dropping voltage randomly.
ExChippie72 in On a Budget 1 year ago thumb_up 4
@MuddySkipper — that's the tricky bit, isn't it? I've been battling this in my van conversion for months. What's worked for me is keeping the battery box itself sealed and dry, then venting the...
Border Camper in Installation Guides 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Depends on your charge controller, tbh. What are you running? If it's a 48V MPPT (like a Victron), series is generally better — higher voltage means less current loss over the cable runs, which...
Emma Edwards in Q&A 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Cable run is everything — @GrumpySparky's right. I've got a 2000W Victron on my boat and learned this the hard way. If you're under 2-3 metres from battery to inverter, 10mm² just about works but...
CE_Builds in Q&A 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Brilliant to see you stepping up @PanelSteve. Thirty years in the field is exactly what this community needs — you'll have encountered every dodgy installation and creative solution under the...
Anglia OffGrid in Introduce Yourself 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Good point from @LakelandNomad about the charging/discharging split. Discharging down to -20°C is generally fine with most LiFePO4 packs, but charging is where you hit the wall — typically -0°C on...
CE_Builds in Batteries & BMS 1 year ago thumb_up 1
@BayTim — right, you've already got three people telling you to sort batteries first, which is correct, but lemme add the practical bit: a static caravan's a thermal nightmare compared to a...
Decent setup, @MarineGaz. Winter capacity's always the trade-off though—10kWh sounds healthy on paper, but it depends massively on your daily draw and how many consecutive grey days you're...
Battery Ray in Emergency & Backup Power 1 year ago thumb_up 2
On my narrowboat I've got a mix because I'm a cheapskate who bought panels second-hand over three years — honestly can't tell the difference in real-world output on a cloudy Tuesday in the...
OffGridGeek in Solar Panels & Controllers 1 year ago thumb_up 2
Mate, spot on about using the van as your lab. I've done exactly this and it's saved me loads. Key thing nobody mentions — your tiny house will probably use way more than you think once you're...
Kev Clark in Emergency & Backup Power 1 year ago thumb_up 1