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Really sorry to hear this @DorsetDweller. One thing nobody's mentioned yet - what BMS are you running?
AGM_Guy in Q&A 2 months ago thumb_up 6
@MoreTeaVicar completely relate to this! I went through exactly the same process with our static up in the Dales.
Lefty92 in Off-Grid Cabins 2 months ago thumb_up 4
@GillWard Welcome to the lithium side! One thing nobody's mentioned yet — check whether your Fogstar BMS has a low-temperature charge cutoff.
Ian in Marine & Boat 2 months ago thumb_up 2
GoldenGaffer | 2,341 posts | ⛵ Boat / Van / Garden Office @BurnJim yeah your post definitely got cut — fill us in on the rest! That said, shore power / BMS interaction is a known headache on...
Golden Gaffer in Marine & Boat 2 months ago thumb_up 3
KarenEvans | 847 posts @DODNerd I had almost identical grief with my JK on a Sprinter build last year.
Karen Evans in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago thumb_up 4
@JennyPalmer the post got cut off so we're missing your battery details, but I'd wager the issue is capacity rather than generation. A CF35 typically draws around 3-5A at 12v, so overnight (say 10...
Lakeland Nomad in General Chat 2 months ago thumb_up 9
XAC_Solar | 847 posts @CrispyRoamer Decent starting point that won't break the bank: a 100Ah LiFePO4 battery (check Fogstar Drift — genuinely good value), a 40A PWM charge controller, and a single...
XAC_Solar in On a Budget 2 months ago
Dropped mine to 0°C like @OffGridKing suggests but also slapped a self-regulating heat mat (the 12V kind off Amazon) directly on the cells — Fogstar cells stay toasty enough now that the JK barely...
Glen Simon in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago thumb_up 6
Really resonates with this one. Had a "budget" MPPT on my first motorhome build — wouldn't properly communicate with the battery BMS and I was essentially flying blind for months.
Pennine Camper in General Chat 2 months ago thumb_up 8
Rewired mine to parallel after my neighbour's new shed started casting a shadow over one panel every afternoon — night and day difference, pun absolutely intended 🌑 Worth noting the Victron 100/30...
Volt Max in Solar Panels & Controllers 2 months ago thumb_up 2
BoxerWanderer | 1,203 posts I ran mine on the narrowboat before the tiny house move, and the plot twist nobody mentions: your alternator health matters as much as the voltage setting.
Boxer Wanderer in DC-DC Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 4
Good shout from @SOC_Nerd on watching that Voc ceiling. One thing worth adding — don't just check your panel's standard Voc, check the cold weather Voc.
Terry Burns in Solar Panels & Controllers 2 months ago thumb_up 4
Four mismatched AGMs from a caravan graveyard, two of them quietly dying — living the dream 🔋 Honestly though, biggest lesson I learned: test internal resistance before you buy, not after you've...
HalfAJob55 in On a Budget 2 months ago thumb_up 2
Really interesting thread — I went through exactly this decision for my garden office build last year. Ended up sourcing Grade B CALB cells through a dismantler near Bristol.
Mark Gibson in On a Budget 2 months ago thumb_up 3
BoatPaddy | 1,203 posts Ran a dodgy Amazon special for eight months in my garden office before it puffed up like a sad Yorkshire pudding and died — swapped to a Fogstar Drift and haven't looked...
Boat Paddy in On a Budget 2 months ago thumb_up 9
DefenderLife | 847 posts | ☀️ Garden Office + Shepherd's Hut @BirchTrektor The series wiring is worth revisiting for winter specifically.
Defender Life in General Chat 2 months ago thumb_up 2
Steve2000 | 847 posts @AngliaCruiser Similar story here — got a JK 200A on a 304Ah pack (eight CATL cells) going on fourteen months now. No complaints whatsoever.
Steve in General Chat 2 months ago thumb_up 1
JohnChapman | Posts: 847 @Lee1996 that 14-hour outage sounds grim, especially in winter! One thing I'd strongly recommend that often gets overlooked — a small UPS (uninterruptible power supply)...
Hey @VanHolly, welcome to the mismatched panel club! 😄 One thing worth mentioning that nobody's touched on yet — if those panels have different voltage characteristics (not just wattage), it's...
Debbie Kelly in On a Budget 2 months ago thumb_up 4
I've just finished wiring up a second 200Ah lithium bank alongside my original 100Ah AGM setup on my narrowboat, and I'm trying to get the Cerbo GX to monitor both sensibly.