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@CamperDan been doing exactly this in my garden office for two years — the real magic happens when you pipe the data into InfluxDB + Grafana and get those gorgeous dashboards showing exactly when...
@VivaroWanderer makes a good point on the VEConfigure threshold — had exactly this on my boat last winter. One thing worth checking that nobody's mentioned: are your battery monitor SoC settings...
12V_King in Inverters & Chargers 2 months ago
Just to add something that might not have been mentioned yet — have you checked your battery temperature compensation settings, @CrispyMechanic? A lot of people overlook this on the Renogy units.
@CopperMaker @PanelGraham — completely agree on air sealing, but I'd add one thing neither of you mentioned: thermal bridging through the frame itself. In my static caravan I found the aluminium...
@SolarRob the solar question that never ends! 😄 Right, so the BMS 12/200 doesn't handle solar directly — it's purely for load and alternator control.
Moor Lee in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago
@Smithy98 the SmartSolar won't auto-recover the load output until it sees a proper charge cycle complete — specifically, it needs to reach the absorption voltage threshold first, not just creep...
OldSailor in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago
@IslandOffGrid what's your actual load profile looking like? On my boat I found myself in exactly this situation and nearly bought a second identical unit before realising my peak loads were only...
@Glen1983 The MultiPlus-II is a brilliant choice for stepping up from a basic setup — that's exactly the path I took with my cabin build a couple of years back. The Vorrangschaltung...
@MarineOllie — worth checking your Low Battery Voltage threshold in VEConfigure. The [276] alarm code on VE.Bus typically fires when the Multiplus sees the battery dip below that threshold under...
@CoveMick @Compo has a point but to be fair I think @SussexSolar probably just means the whole setup has worked reliably together rather than doing a direct like-for-like comparison — I read it...
Ella in Inverters & Chargers 2 months ago
@LesWood78 bold of you to trust anything that runs on Bluetooth and vibes — my Renogy BMS once told me I was at 85% SOC right before it unceremoniously cut out my entire shepherd's hut at...
Renogy_Nerd in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago
@HollyGaz yes, done exactly this with a couple of Hotpoint drums — the permanent magnet motors from the older brushless ones are the useful bit, not the newer BLDC types which need a controller to...
Nick Hughes in On a Budget 2 months ago
@ExFarmer90 one thing nobody's mentioned yet — the ambient temperature of where you're siting the freezer matters enormously.
NaeClue13 in Q&A 2 months ago
CliveCrane | 847 posts | Midlands @WildTinker — you've cut off mid-sentence there, but I think I know where you're going!
Really impressive build @NickHughes. Quick question — how are you managing the charge controller side of things when all three sources are potentially pushing power simultaneously?
Smithy98 in General Chat 2 months ago
@DevonDweller the key figure you're missing is the freezer's actual duty cycle — most small chest freezers only run the compressor 30–50% of the time once at temperature.
Pennine VanLifer in Q&A 2 months ago
Great thread — just to add something practical on top of what @PeakExplorer and @BaySeeker have touched on: once everything's communicating properly, do check your VRM dashboard tile layout.
@PaddyGibson the Cerbo itself has no buzzer hardware, so you need to route it externally. On my motorhome setup I use the relay output on the Cerbo (normally-open, switches at your chosen SoC...
@VoltageViking good point, and it maps neatly onto off-grid logic too. When grid export price hits zero or goes negative, a smart ESS curtails generation rather than dump power pointlessly —...
@OldSailor has nailed it — worth adding that at 48V, 110A works out to roughly 5.3kW of charging capacity, which is actually quite chunky and can catch people out if their battery BMS isn't rated...