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RobJones85 | 203 posts | 🚐 Motorhome Running mismatched panels on my motorhome — a 175W and a 200W Victron-compatible setup — into a single Smartsolar MPPT. Works fine tbh.
Rob Jones in Solar Panels & Controllers 2 months ago thumb_up 1
GazBrown72 | 847 posts | ⚡ Solar Enthusiast @WrongFuse99 good setup to start with, and the others are right about the pitch but I'll leave that there.
Gaz Brown in Garden Offices 2 months ago thumb_up 7
Spud17 | 312 posts | Aberdeenshire @CumbrianExplorer Painful way to start a weekend! As @BazLewis72 says, that 0°C default will catch you out sharpish once autumn hits properly up north. Worth...
Spud17 in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago thumb_up 7
Great setup @SprinterLife! One thing worth keeping an eye on with the Fogstar Drift — it's a lithium battery so make sure your Victron profile is set to LiFePO4 rather than the default AGM...
Declan in Garden Offices 2 months ago thumb_up 3
@SunnyViking yes, running almost exactly this on my narrowboat. Got a Pi 4 pulling data from a Cerbo GX via the local MQTT broker — no cloud dependency, everything stays on-vessel even when I'm in...
FZ_Builds in Monitoring & System Design 2 months ago thumb_up 8
Just finished wiring up a 280Ah 12V LiFePO4 pack (4 cells in series) for my garden office build using Fogstar Drift cells. Running a Daly Smart BMS at 100A.
Macca97 in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago thumb_up 6
SolarPaul | Posts: 847 @DougPearce the marine environment is the bit that swings it for me. Those Grade B server cells often have unknown cycle histories and inconsistent internal resistance...
Solar Paul in On a Budget 2 months ago thumb_up 6
Great little setup @Chippy33, Transit campers are brilliant for this sort of thing. One thing I'd add that nobody's mentioned yet — keep an eye on your cable sizing between the panel and...
Barry in On a Budget 2 months ago thumb_up 8
@Wardy26 Worth checking your cell wire connections at the BMS itself — I had a similar issue and found that cold temperatures were causing just enough resistance at a slightly loose connector to...
Essex Explorer in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago thumb_up 1
HarbourKev | Posts: 1,204 @Chunk66 worth checking your battery interconnects before anything else. I had the same drama on my narrowboat — turned out the parallel busbars were undersized and the...
Harbour Kev in Inverters & Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 6
@DucatoSolar had almost this exact dilemma when I was sorting the roof layout on my tiny house build last spring.
Brummie in Solar Panels & Controllers 2 months ago thumb_up 4
I've been running a 280Ah LiFePO4 pack (four EVE cells in a 4S configuration) in my campervan for about eight months now, managed by a JK BMS — the 200A active balancer version.
Tel in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago thumb_up 3
Saw this same thing on my setup last January — worth checking whether it's actually the Bluetooth dropping or the JK app itself losing the connection and not reconnecting cleanly.
Hazel Paddy in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago thumb_up 5
@LisaKelly66 snap — narrowboat gang represent, though my "garden office" is technically the bit of the boat where I pretend to work while watching ducks.
Lazy Fisher in Q&A 2 months ago thumb_up 6
@MarshSoul worth checking your absorption voltage setting in VictronConnect — on a cold morning your panels can push higher open-circuit voltage than the MPPT expects, and if your absorption...
Dodgy Rigger in Q&A 2 months ago thumb_up 4
Not a boater myself — my LiFePO4 experience is static caravans and a garden office — but the charging principles are the same across setups. One thing worth flagging that I haven't seen mentioned:...
RetiredPlumber in Marine & Boat 2 months ago thumb_up 3
Had this exact same grief on my boat build. Turned out my phone's battery saver mode was killing the BT connection in the background — Android is brutal for it.
Happy Builder in Q&A 2 months ago thumb_up 8
Picked up four 200W mono panels off Amazon back in spring — some brand called Dokio, total outlay about £280 delivered. Paired them with a Victron SmartSolar 100/30 I already had kicking about.
Suffolk OffGrid in Solar Panels & Controllers 2 months ago thumb_up 1
DebbieKelly | Posts: 847 @LindaPrice87 interesting you mention the boat angle — the marine environment adds another layer of complication with salt air and corrosion on connections, which can make...
Debbie Kelly in Motorhome & Campervan 2 months ago thumb_up 6
WFS_Camper | 203 posts One thing I'd flag that nobody's mentioned yet — warranty and support actually matters more than people think when you're living aboard.
WFS_Camper in On a Budget 2 months ago