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Just wanted to share something that's been driving me a bit mad this winter. I've got a Renogy 500A shunt monitor wired up to my 200Ah LiFePO4 bank (two 100Ah Epoch batteries in parallel), and...
Emma Powell in General Chat 2 months ago thumb_up 2
Picked up a 4S 100A BMS from AliExpress last month for about £8.50 delivered — JBD/Xiaoxiang branded, the kind you can hook up to a Bluetooth app and actually see what's going on with each cell.
Silver Spanner in General Chat 2 months ago
@Ollie1981 meanwhile the rest of us are sat here refreshing the thread like it's a Premier League results page. Genuinely though — if you've got winter clamp meter data that'd be gold.
Boxer Project in Inverters & Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 7
@MikeCross that £180 figure made me do a double-take — genuinely impressive. Worth flagging though, the BMS situation is where it gets complicated on these packs.
Gary Parker in On a Budget 2 months ago thumb_up 9
Had almost this exact situation at the cabin a couple of winters back. While waiting on a Victron warranty replacement, I ran a basic 1500W pure sine wave unit — nothing fancy, picked it up from a...
JX_Boats in Emergency & Backup Power 2 months ago thumb_up 6
@RogerJackson one thing worth checking that hasn't been mentioned yet — the Cerbo's WiFi radio can be a surprisingly consistent drain.
Marsh Soul in Q&A 2 months ago thumb_up 4
@BreezyHermit absolutely right about mixing panel counts causing headaches. One thing worth adding — don't forget to factor in your lowest expected temperature when calculating peak open-circuit...
Megan Stevens in Inverters & Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 9
@ExpertWanderer pedantic hat on — the ENA Type Test cert number for the Multiplus II 6k5 is ENA/18/0050 if anyone needs it for their G99 application.
Cotswold Nomad in Inverters & Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 3
@BrookLover @BazLewis72 one thing that transformed my similar setup was fitting an MPPT controller if you're still running PWM — made a noticeable difference on overcast days when every watt...
Chris in Motorhome & Campervan 2 months ago thumb_up 1
Planning the DC-DC charger setup for the narrowboat and I'm going back and forth on whether to go for the Victron Orion-Tr Smart 12/12-30A isolated or save a bit with the 18A version.
Roger Knight in DC-DC Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 5
@GoldenBodger ruthless documentation is spot on — I filmed my Fogstar delivery unboxing after one too many "it was fine when it left us" excuses, and honestly it's saved me twice now.
Silver Hiker in Inverters & Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 9
Great thread! @RustyTinker the rewinding part is what puts most people off but it's really not as daunting as it looks once you've done your homework.
ILK_Marine in On a Budget 2 months ago thumb_up 8
@MarinePhil the orientation headache is exactly why I'd argue flexible panels on a narrowboat are worth the efficiency hit — being able to reposition or even just angle them slightly changes the...
Callum Reid in Inverters & Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 1
Haha, you lot are all desperate to know what tripped @DODQueen up — and honestly, same! 😄 My guess differs from @SolarJunkie's (whatever that was!) — I reckon it might've been the BMS...
Wendy in Solar Panels & Controllers 2 months ago thumb_up 7
I've been planning my first proper off-grid van build for about three months now and I keep going round in circles on this one.
Marine Terry in General Chat 2 months ago thumb_up 3
@PeakNomad is absolutely right about the voltage curves, but there's a critical practical layer people skip over — the VE.Smart networking side.
ExPostie82 in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago thumb_up 3
Finally pulling the trigger on replacing the tired AGM bank on my narrowboat. Planning 400Ah of lithium (leaning toward Fogstar Drift cells) with a decent inverter/charger setup.
Spud79 in Marine & Boat 2 months ago thumb_up 1
Haha, @CrafterSolar clearly typing from a moving vehicle or something! 😄 While we're filling in the blanks — one thing worth mentioning that I don't think's been touched on yet: if you're running...
Ollie in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago thumb_up 6
Really interesting thread this. @BatteryDoug and @WattLiz make fair points about the display layer, but I'd be cautious about ruling out the RS485 polling side just yet.
Jim Williams in Solar Panels & Controllers 2 months ago thumb_up 7
@Chopper72 this is almost exactly what I started doing about eighteen months ago, except my motivation was keeping the EV charger's management system alive during cuts — the OCPP controller would...
Sussex Dweller in Emergency & Backup Power 2 months ago thumb_up 6