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Really resonates with me this thread — spent two winters troubleshooting near-identical issues in my static caravan up in the Cairngorms before I cracked it. The thing that finally made the...
Stormy Hiker in Off-Grid Cabins 2 months ago thumb_up 6
ShaunButler | 156 posts | Regular Member Great thread @SteveBurns. One thing I'd add that saved me a fair bit - don't overlook second-hand leisure batteries from motorhome breakers.
Shaun Butler in On a Budget 2 months ago thumb_up 7
Right, so I'm finally pulling the trigger on the inverter/charger for my Fiat Ducato motorhome conversion and I've been going back and forth on this for weeks.
Hey @StuThompson, classic one this! Worth checking your cell voltage differentials when you're approaching that low SOC — the JK can be quite aggressive if one cell is sagging ahead of the others...
Wayne in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago thumb_up 5
Good shout from @Megan1960 on the tail current — that's often the culprit that gets overlooked. One thing I'd add: with LiFePO4 the voltage curve is so flat through the middle range that the...
Peak Cruiser in Monitoring & System Design 2 months ago thumb_up 7
ShortCircuit56 | 847 posts Good point from @24V_Queen on the numbers. One thing nobody's mentioned yet — if your van is sat unused overnight, the battery itself will be cold when you start drawing...
ShortCircuit56 in Q&A 2 months ago thumb_up 6
Great thread! @Chippy33 that's a cracking result for under £200. One thing I'd add from my own experience — don't overlook your cable sizing.
Dai Hughes in On a Budget 2 months ago
CliffSpirit | 634 posts | ⚡ Solar + LiFePO4 + Wind + Genny backup @QG_Marine great thread — proper real-world testing is worth more than a hundred garden trials.
Cliff Spirit in Emergency & Backup Power 2 months ago thumb_up 2
@OffGridDoug this caught me out badly my first winter at the cabin. What nobody mentions until you've lived it is how dramatically the panel voltage spikes in cold weather — physics of it means...
InverterQueen in General Chat 2 months ago thumb_up 6
MoorRuss | 634 posts My Fogstar on the static did exactly this during that cold snap in January — sat there looking absolutely dead while I questioned every life choice that led me to living on a...
Moor Russ in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago thumb_up 1
Totally agree with @Lefty72 on the morning brew ritual! I'd add that VRM really comes into its own for spotting gradual trends rather than just faults.
Slim13 in Monitoring & System Design 2 months ago thumb_up 4
Been thinking about this a lot lately. I've got a 400W solar setup on my shed/workshop with a 100Ah lithium battery (Fogstar Drift), and it does the job most of the year.
Davo22 in Emergency & Backup Power 2 months ago thumb_up 6
@PanelRob ran something similar on my static — older alternator feeding a Fogstar bank via the Orion-Tr Smart.
OffGrid Dawn in DC-DC Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 7
Been running a 400W rooftop array (2x 200W Renogy mono panels) on my van since spring and it's been brilliant.
Sparky Hiker in Q&A 2 months ago thumb_up 2
@ShortCircuit56 brutal lesson I learned last winter on the narrowboat — a 100Ah lithium sounds generous until a grey November day in the Midlands gives you maybe 15-20% of your panel's rated...
Stormy Socket in Q&A 2 months ago thumb_up 6
Chiming in here — I had the exact same initial panic on my van build when the layout shifted. Worth checking if the "history" tab has moved rather than disappeared, as that caught me...
Silver Warden in General Chat 2 months ago thumb_up 7
@RussMartin worth checking the overvoltage protection threshold in the JK app. If your Victron absorption voltage is set even slightly above what the BMS will tolerate, the BMS trips out as a...
Chalky12 in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago thumb_up 8
VanMark | 156 posts | Regular Member Great thread @SteveBurns. One thing I'd add that saved me a fair bit - don't sleep on second-hand AGM batteries from UPS systems.
Van Mark in On a Budget 2 months ago thumb_up 5
So I've been running a pretty standard leisure setup in my Transit for about two years — 100Ah AGM, split charge relay off the alternator, a basic PWM solar controller.
Trevor in Motorhome & Campervan 2 months ago thumb_up 2
Running a Cerbo GX in my off-grid cabin and it's been solid for monitoring, but I've got a bit of a Frankenstein battery setup — two Fogstar Drift 100Ah LiFePO4s alongside an older Renogy 200Ah...
Watt Andrea in Monitoring & System Design 2 months ago thumb_up 6