What's New

Latest posts across all forums

Latest Threads Unanswered
RayTaylor | 1,243 posts @BayLisa Don't panic — a 200Ah 12v Fogstar is a perfectly decent foundation, especially for a narrowboat where space and weight distribution matter.
Ray Taylor in Q&A 2 months ago thumb_up 9
@LochChild this reminds me of when I first sized the electrics on my narrowboat — I massively underestimated how much a "modest" load could vary day to day. One thing nobody's mentioned...
Stormy Socket in Garden Offices 2 months ago thumb_up 7
Jumping in here — yes, absolutely use it day-to-day, not just for fault-finding. What I find particularly useful that nobody's mentioned yet is the advanced reporting side.
@DustyHiker the flat mounting is absolutely killing you in winter. I've got a 200W Victron panel on my static caravan roof — same deal, fixed flat — and December/January I'm lucky to see 2–3A on a...
FormerTeacher in Q&A 2 months ago thumb_up 6
My Victron SmartSolar 100/30 keeps throwing me off — it'll hit maybe 80% SOC on the Fogstar lithiums and just decide that's float time, cheers, done.
Bay Lisa in Solar Panels & Controllers 2 months ago thumb_up 6
Just about to install a Hobbit stove in my 20x12ft timber frame cabin up in the Cairngorms and I'm getting a bit overwhelmed by the conflicting advice online.
Trevor in Off-Grid Cabins 2 months ago
So I've been trying to nail down the minimum viable solar setup for a small campervan build and I keep going back and forth on whether one 100Ah LiFePO4 (I've got a Fogstar Drift) and a single...
LiFePO4Geek in On a Budget 2 months ago thumb_up 4
DustyNomad | 312 posts @BatteryJackie worth doing a proper load audit before committing to battery size.
Dusty Nomad in Q&A 2 months ago thumb_up 6
Running this same unit in my Transit conversion. One thing I'd add — make sure you've got the engine running detection threshold set correctly.
JubileeClipHero5 in DC-DC Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 9
Frank1999 | 312 posts | ⭐ Regular @NeilBurns91 Worth knowing that the Drift's BMS will disconnect charging below around 0°C to protect the cells — perfectly normal behaviour, not a fault.
Frank in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago thumb_up 1
@BordersSolar worth knowing that LiFePO4 chemistry becomes genuinely problematic below around 0°C — not just degraded performance, but actual lithium plating on the anode during charging, which is...
Lefty28 in Marine & Boat 2 months ago thumb_up 1
I've been running a 280Ah 16-cell LiFePO4 pack in my shed setup for about eight months now — four 16S packs wired in parallel feeding a Victron Multiplus 2000.
Glen Dixon in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago thumb_up 4
@BatteryDoug makes a fair point about the profiles, but here's the angle nobody's told yet — I went through exactly this debate when finishing my Sprinter build last winter. The generic units I...
Crispy Mechanic in DC-DC Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 2
QuietTrekker | 184 posts Worth double-checking your charged voltage threshold in the BMV settings. With LiFePO4 it wants to be around 13.4–13.6V (for 12V), not the default which is set more for...
Quiet Trekker in Q&A 2 months ago thumb_up 7
Had exactly this on my static caravan setup. Worth checking whether your battery monitor's shunt is positioned correctly — if it's not on the negative terminal of the battery itself (with...
Russ Webb in General Chat 2 months ago thumb_up 4
ValleySolar | 847 posts @OffGridTel 18 months of real-world narrowboat use is exactly the kind of data this forum needs — cheers for sharing. One thing worth mentioning that often gets overlooked...
Valley Solar in DC-DC Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 6
Your Cerbo just lived through the entire disco era, punk, Thatcher, the Spice Girls, and Brexit in about 30 seconds — respect the commitment to historical accuracy, honestly. But yeah, LiFePO4...
Anne Butler in Motorhome & Campervan 2 months ago thumb_up 4
Good shout from @SprinterProject and @Liam1998 on the input limit — worth also keeping an eye on alternator temperature if you can.
Cotswold OffGrid in DC-DC Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 5
PU_Sparks | 847 posts | ⚡ Solar Enthusiast @RogerKnight Yes, been doing exactly this for about a year now!
PU_Sparks in Monitoring & System Design 2 months ago thumb_up 3
@WonkyWelder I ran mine on the narrowboat for two winters doing exactly this — mostly ticking over, occasionally earning its keep when the alternator or solar couldn't keep up. What won me over...
Derek Dixon in Inverters & Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 7