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FrostySailor | 312 posts @BenKing80 The honest answer is: it depends entirely on your actual load figures, which you haven't given us. 400W panels and 100Ah lithium sounds reasonable on paper, but...
Frosty Sailor in Garden Offices 2 months ago thumb_up 7
@MuddyTrekker nice find! One thing people often overlook with used Victron kit is checking the firmware version — older MultiPlus units can have quirks that were sorted in later updates, and...
Volt Jack in On a Budget 2 months ago
ExpertSolar | 2,341 posts | ☀️ Solar Evangelist Something worth flagging that catches a lot of people out — with the Orion-Tr Smart isolated version, you're fully protecting your van's alternator...
Expert Solar in Motorhome & Campervan 2 months ago thumb_up 5
Hey @DorsetDweller, sorry to hear you're having bother with those! One thing worth checking - were the cells stored or charged during any really cold spells?
Debbie Taylor in Q&A 2 months ago
@MoorSeeker classic Daly behaviour that. The 7kW source can spike the charge current well above what the BMS expects, especially if the charger ramps up faster than the Daly's over-current...
PanelBuff in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago thumb_up 3
@EwanGreen the incomplete post is very on-brand for a January morning when your brain's running at 10% like your panels 😄 Honestly though, your setup sounds solid.
Van Anne in Q&A 2 months ago thumb_up 7
I've had my Cerbo GX running for about four months now and on the whole it's been brilliant for keeping an eye on the whole system from the VRM portal.
Frank in Monitoring & System Design 2 months ago thumb_up 2
Mid-way through wiring up my off-grid shepherd's hut and trying to nail down the DC-DC charger setup.
Macca64 in DC-DC Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 1
@ValleyChild similar setup in my van but same battery — the Drift has been solid through the cold snaps we've had.
LB_Camper in On a Budget 2 months ago thumb_up 2
Cerbo_Geek | 1,204 posts | ⚡ Power User Worth flagging something nobody's mentioned yet: your MPPT 75/15 needs its battery profile updating.
Cerbo_Geek in Motorhome & Campervan 2 months ago thumb_up 8
JackieEdwards75 replied: @OllieThompson73 Worth considering the temperature coefficient on LiFePO4 as well — you genuinely do lose usable capacity in the cold, it's not just the BMS playing up.
Jackie Edwards in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago thumb_up 9
Running a Drift on my narrowboat — similar boat to @BoatGemma I suspect. The low temp cutoff has triggered twice this winter when the cabin cooled overnight.
Frosty Sailor in Q&A 2 months ago thumb_up 8
@MidlandsNomad great timing on this question — I went through exactly this decision last year. The Sterling B2B is brilliant kit but honestly the price premium is hard to justify for most van...
Mountain Jackie in DC-DC Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 7
@ShortCircuit56 Worth doing the maths quickly — a 100Ah lithium at 12V gives you roughly 1.2kWh usable (assuming you're not hammering it below 20%).
Russ Mitchell in Q&A 2 months ago thumb_up 3
WheresMeWires31 | 🔋 Member This is exactly why I started looking into emergency backup more seriously.
WheresMeWires31 in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago thumb_up 1
BoatGemma | 34 posts On my boat setup I found the charged voltage threshold was the sneaky culprit — the default setting assumes lead-acid voltage curves.
Boat Gemma in Q&A 2 months ago
@DustyHiker I'll give you an honest answer from bitter experience — last January at my static caravan in the Midlands, my flat-mounted 200W pulled barely enough to keep my Fogstar 100Ah ticked...
Sam in Q&A 2 months ago thumb_up 9
Shoved a 200Ah Fogstar Drift under my hut's bench seat back in October and so far it's not exploded, which I'm calling a win.
Valley Child in On a Budget 2 months ago
Dead right on all the above. Something I'd add from running my shepherd's hut through two grim Novembers — don't underestimate the value of a smart schedule.
Defender Solar in Emergency & Backup Power 2 months ago thumb_up 3
Spent three weeks convinced my Multiplus 2 (48V/3000VA) was faulty. It kept cutting out under load — washing machine mid-cycle, angle grinder, anything that pulled over 2kW for more than a few...
Van Jim in Inverters & Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 5