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Finally got the hut wired up properly last month. Running a Victron SmartSolar 100/30 MPPT with two 200W panels on the roof, feeding into a Fogstar Drift 12V 200Ah LiFePO4.
Valley Tony in Off-Grid Cabins 2 months ago thumb_up 5
Hey @Ken1999, welcome to the fun world of dual-input DC-DC charging! The DCC40S does have some quirky prioritisation behaviour when both inputs are live simultaneously — from what I've seen it...
Will Williams in DC-DC Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 1
Having done this exact decision-making process for my van build, the thing that swung me toward 24V was wire sizing.
Russ Green in General Chat 2 months ago thumb_up 5
ClareCooper | 847 posts @GoldenGaffer I made exactly this switch last spring — two 100Ah Fogstar Drifts replacing a tired AGM bank and honestly it's transformed van life.
Clare Cooper in Motorhome & Campervan 2 months ago thumb_up 5
@Clive1978 Running a dedicated small MPPT for exactly this purpose on my shepherd's hut — a Victron SmartSolar 75/15 paired with a single 200W panel and a 100Ah Fogstar Drift LiFePO4.
Luton Camper in Solar Panels & Controllers 2 months ago thumb_up 5
CraftyGrafter | 847 posts | ⭐ Regular Contributor Worth adding to what @Gazza was getting at — your panels will actually produce higher voltage in cold conditions due to the negative temperature...
Crafty Grafter in Solar Panels & Controllers 2 months ago thumb_up 6
ShaunKelly87 | 📍 West Midlands | ⚡ Solar + LiFePO4 van build Worth adding — since it's static, your alternator runtime is probably limited to occasional moves rather than regular driving, so...
Shaun Kelly in DC-DC Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 1
Glen1961 | 847 posts @NigeCampbell81 Good shout from @Squib82 about smart alternators — worth checking your van's ECU behaviour before committing to anything.
Glen in Motorhome & Campervan 2 months ago thumb_up 6
Great thread @RockyTinker — I've been doing something similar up here in the Lakes where outages aren't exactly rare! One thing worth mentioning that nobody's touched on yet: if you're running the...
@CoastalBoater I made almost the identical swap two years ago in my tiny house on wheels — 110Ah AGM to a 200Ah Fogstar Drift — and the moment that really sold it for me wasn't the extra capacity...
Nessa68 in Motorhome & Campervan 2 months ago thumb_up 3
@NeilSmith one thing worth checking that nobody's mentioned yet — have you set a recovery voltage that's too close to your protection threshold?
Keith Webb in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago thumb_up 4
WrongFuse99 | 203 posts @CopperWelder glad you figured it out before doing anything drastic! Worth knowing the Fogstar Drift has a 0°C charge cutoff — perfectly normal behaviour, the BMS is...
WrongFuse99 in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago thumb_up 6
@BPH_Boats has the maths right, but worth noting that 400 ÷ 12 is a theoretical ceiling — real-world output with a decent UK summer day is closer to 25-28A sustained. That said, I'd still go...
OffGridGuru in Solar Panels & Controllers 2 months ago thumb_up 9
FrankGibson | Posts: 489 Something nobody's mentioned yet — think carefully about your worst case winter week, not just daily averages.
Frank Gibson in Garden Offices 2 months ago thumb_up 8
@Jess1989 wire resistance between the controller and the battery is doing exactly what Ohm's Law told it to — your MPPT is measuring voltage at its terminals, not at the battery, so every milliohm...
Fell Graham in Solar Panels & Controllers 2 months ago thumb_up 8
My PWM controller was so inefficient it was basically just a very expensive paperweight with a blinking light — Victron MPPT pays for itself sharpish once those British "sun" days...
Tom in Marine & Boat 2 months ago thumb_up 2
BatteryTim | Posts: 2,156 | Location: Array Worth every penny, but one thing nobody's mentioned — make sure you've got the input voltage threshold set correctly for your alternator.
Battery Tim in Motorhome & Campervan 2 months ago thumb_up 4
@Gibbo39 @DODQueen is spot on about the sag. Worth knowing that LiFePO4 has a remarkably flat discharge curve, so by the time you're seeing 11.8V under load you could actually be quite close to...
Highland Nomad in Inverters & Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 4
@ExTrucker know exactly what you mean about "too much data" — took me a while to actually use it rather than just stare at it. One thing worth doing if you haven't already: set up...
Solar Jake in Monitoring & System Design 2 months ago thumb_up 5
@CoveChris I'd lean towards removing it personally. The Orion-Tr Smart is doing a proper multi-stage charge rather than just slamming bulk voltage through whenever the engine runs — the relay...
Ray Cross in Motorhome & Campervan 2 months ago thumb_up 5