What's New

Latest posts across all forums

Latest Threads Unanswered
@Tango ran into exactly this last winter with my setup — 200W on a static tiny house roof. The maths just doesn't work: 200W × maybe 2 usable peak hours in December = 400Wh, and that's being...
SOC_Nerd in Motorhome & Campervan 2 months ago thumb_up 5
Picked up a Pi 4 running Venus OS a few months back for the garden office setup — total cost about £40 versus £160+ for a proper Cerbo, and honestly it does 98% of the same job whilst I sit there...
Quiet Hiker in Monitoring & System Design 2 months ago thumb_up 2
@ForestDweller oh mate, the cold temperature derating on LiFePO4 is absolutely real and catches everyone out the first winter! The chemistry genuinely loses usable capacity as temps drop — you're...
Titch in General Chat 2 months ago thumb_up 1
Had this exact drama on my setup too, @Deano. One thing nobody's touched on yet — have you checked your DC cable sizing and connections?
Vito Dream in Inverters & Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 9
HappyBuilder | Posts: 847 | Location: Array Been through this on my boat — parasitic draws are sneaky.
Happy Builder in Marine & Boat 2 months ago thumb_up 8
I've had a Victron SmartSolar MPPT 100/30 on my narrowboat for about three months now, paired with two 200W panels on the roof and a 200Ah AGM bank.
Daily Convert in Marine & Boat 2 months ago thumb_up 2
Good points all round. I'd add that cable routing deserves as much attention as the venting question itself.
Russ Oliver in Inverters & Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 8
So I've got a 200Ah LiFePO4 (Fogstar Drift) fitted in my Transit conversion, currently being charged off the alternator via a basic split charge relay — not a B2B, just an old-school...
Tommo55 in Q&A 2 months ago thumb_up 1
@RetiredElectrician ha! I'm stealing that one for whenever my husband moans about our panels in November 😄 For the OP - worth flagging that NZ runs on 230V 50Hz same as us, so inverters aren't the...
Debbie Powell in Inverters & Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 9
After two years of running the house on a Victron Multiplus-II 5000 with a 15kWh Fogstar Drift battery bank, I've started wondering whether I can ditch the occasional top-up run to the local Lidl...
Sussex Dweller in Q&A 2 months ago thumb_up 2
Picked up a Renogy Wanderer knock-off (branded "SolarEpic" or something, can't even find them online anymore) for £18 off eBay about six months ago.
Vito Dream in On a Budget 2 months ago thumb_up 4
LisaHunt88 | 203 posts | 🌱 Member Running almost identical on my static caravan — 200W Renogy panel with a Victron 75/15 and a split-charge from the site car park hook-up when I bother driving...
Lisa Hunt in On a Budget 2 months ago thumb_up 9
BoatEwan | 412 posts @CrafterDream good point on thermal mass — I added a few house bricks as a back plate behind my log burner on the boat and it made a noticeable difference to how long the heat...
Boat Ewan in Off-Grid Cabins 2 months ago thumb_up 3
Reply by 48VNerd: @Foggy95 Nice little setup for under forty quid! One thing worth checking on those cheap MPPT units - a lot of them are actually PWM in disguise, proper bodged firmware slapped...
48VNerd in On a Budget 2 months ago thumb_up 5
@Ollie1981 yes please post those figures — real-world winter data from a clamp meter is worth far more than anything on the spec sheet. I ran a similar cheap hybrid in my cabin build for about six...
Hey @VoltWill! Yes, had almost identical drop-outs on my Daly Smart last winter. Worth checking a couple of things first — the Bluetooth module on the Daly can be really temperamental with...
Ella Palmer in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago thumb_up 8
@VanHolly this is exactly why I ended up over-speccing my garden office battery bank more than I originally planned.
Norfolk Explorer in General Chat 2 months ago thumb_up 5
BitsAndBobs9 | Posts: 847 @LochSeeker yes, seen this exact thing! Worth checking whether your Fogstar has its own BMS temperature cutback happening — the Drift series can throttle accepted current...
BitsAndBobs9 in DC-DC Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 9
Right, ignoring the forum gremlins eating everyone's posts! 😄 @StormyWelder the key thing to understand is that your MPPT controller, BMS, and inverter all need to agree on what "full"...
Norfolk OffGrid in Solar Panels & Controllers 2 months ago thumb_up 8
Doing something similar in my shepherd's hut build — two Victron SmartSolar 75/15s running independently into the same 100Ah Fogstar lithium. Couple of things I learnt the hard way: VE.Smart...
Muddy Ranger in Solar Panels & Controllers 2 months ago thumb_up 2