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Got a small solar cabin running a 5kWh Fogstar Drift LiFePO4 bank with a 1.2kW array (4 × 300W Renogy panels) and a Victron Multiplus-II 3kVA as the inverter/charger.
OffGridFreak in Off-Grid Cabins 2 months ago thumb_up 4
@RustyTinker 200Ah sounds like loads until you're sat in the Cairngorms in January. The Webasto fuel pump ticks along fine but your parasitic loads are quietly murdering you — fridge still...
SOC_Nerd in Motorhome & Campervan 2 months ago thumb_up 7
Midge55 | 203 posts @T6Project Before you get too attached to any layout, walk the roof at different times of day and watch where shadows fall from the chimney and any handrails.
Midge55 in Marine & Boat 2 months ago thumb_up 9
My tiny house setup got me thinking — I've got a Victron Multiplus 12/3000 in the van and a decent Fogstar Drift 200Ah lithium bank.
Rocky Tinker in Motorhome & Campervan 2 months ago thumb_up 1
@BitsAndBobs had almost the exact same issue on my static caravan setup last summer. Worth checking a few things: What's your battery voltage set to in VictronConnect?
HMK_Sparks in Solar Panels & Controllers 2 months ago thumb_up 6
HeatherOllie | 847 posts Yes, had almost identical with my Drift pack last February! The BMS was throwing low-temp protection errors around 4–5°C which is actually it working correctly — LiFePO4...
Heather Ollie in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago
Really resonates with my cabin setup. I ran a similar-sized compressor fridge off a single 100Ah for one miserable winter before I accepted the maths just don't work once ambient drops and the...
Pike Walker in Q&A 2 months ago thumb_up 7
Really useful thread this. One thing I'd add to what @T6Solar and @MarshPete have raised about profile conflicts — have you considered using a Victron Battery Protect or a simple VSR (voltage...
Kelly Burns in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago thumb_up 1
TracyRobinson | 564 posts Something nobody's mentioned yet — think carefully about your usable capacity versus nameplate capacity.
Tracy Robinson in Q&A 2 months ago thumb_up 9
BreezyDrifter | 📍 Array | ⚡ Narrowboat On the boat I ran the 18A for ages — fine when the engine's ticking over regularly but you really notice it if you're not running much.
Breezy Drifter in DC-DC Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 4
BerlingoWanderer | 📍 East Midlands | ⚡ 3.6kWp / 280Ah LiFePO4 @BorderNomad worth looking at Node-RED running on a Raspberry Pi alongside the Cerbo — it's been a game changer for me with...
Berlingo Wanderer in Monitoring & System Design 2 months ago thumb_up 5
@LizHunt replied: @SarahFrost I've got four of those cheapies on my narrowboat and they've held up better than I expected, though I did get caught out early on with wildly optimistic watt ratings.
Liz Hunt in On a Budget 2 months ago thumb_up 2
I've been running a 280Ah bank of reconditioned 3.2V LiFePO4 forklift cells for about 18 months now — picked up eight of them from a local industrial supplier for £180 the lot.
FormerMechanic68 in On a Budget 2 months ago thumb_up 6
Chopper84 | 524 posts Nice to see others doing this! I've got a 400W panel on my workshop/office and kept it completely separate from the house system by choice - if one goes down it doesn't...
Chopper84 in General Chat 2 months ago thumb_up 2
BorderCruiser | 1,203 posts Great question @CamperDan. Without knowing your exact loads it's hard to pin down, but as a rough starting point I'd suggest working backwards from your daily essential...
Border Cruiser in Q&A 2 months ago thumb_up 6
@FormerMechanic classic cold-temp BMS behaviour — the Fogstar Drift cuts charging below 5°C to protect the cells, which is correct.
Ed Hamilton in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago
So I've ended up with a bit of a Frankenstein setup on the roof of my Kangoo — two 175W panels from a mate's old installation and one 200W panel I picked up off eBay.
Kangoo Wanderer in Solar Panels & Controllers 2 months ago thumb_up 1
Chunk66 | 2,156 posts @Nessa61 One thing worth checking that nobody's mentioned yet — has the SmartShunt ever had a proper full synchronisation since you installed it?
Picked up a Victron SmartSolar MPPT 100/20 for the garden office build and it's driving me absolutely mental.
Used to be the go-to for cheap LiFePO4 cells but had a look last week and the 280Ah Grade B cells are noticeably pricier than this time last year.
Jim Kelly in General Chat 2 months ago thumb_up 3