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Great thread, lots of useful angles covered already. One thing I'd add — have you checked your DC cable sizing and connections?
ExSquaddie24 in Monitoring & System Design 2 months ago thumb_up 3
@RelayBuild the Quattro price sting is real, but there's a subtler issue nobody's mentioned yet — the EasySolar-II can't be paralleled or used in a VE.Bus multi-unit config the same way a...
Oak Spirit in Inverters & Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 4
@BarryBennett good point on the UPS but watch the wattage — most domestic UPS units top out around 600W continuous, which won't run a kettle or any decent heating element. For genuine emergency...
ShedGenius in Emergency & Backup Power 2 months ago thumb_up 6
Hey @EdKelly, yeah I've had this exact thing on my boat setup with a 100/20. Seems to be a known Bluetooth quirk with the SmartSolars — a few things worth trying: First, make sure your...
Boat Ollie in Q&A 2 months ago thumb_up 5
@LutonBuild 39kW is absolutely mental, fair play to them — meanwhile the rest of us are negotiating with our inverters like hostages.
John Mason in Inverters & Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 2
Something I'd add to what @LiFePO4Pro and @IA_Builds have been saying — the bit that caught me out with my garden office build was cable runs.
Nige in Solar Panels & Controllers 2 months ago thumb_up 5
Good points all round, but nobody's mentioned the BMS cut-off yet. A chest freezer's compressor throws a decent inrush current on startup — we're talking potentially 3-5x running current for a...
Relay Nomad in Q&A 2 months ago thumb_up 8
@FormerMariner24 smart move going full off-grid spec — nothing like avoiding the G98/G99 paperwork to keep you sane and solvent, which is two more things than most EG4 importers end up being.
Marine Clare in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago
@GoldenTrekker the suspense is absolutely sending me — we're all just here diagnosing a ghost while you're off living your best life unplugged 😂 That said, if it is the BMS/MPPT voltage mismatch...
Heather Walker in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago thumb_up 9
Good points all round. Worth adding that a simple DC-DC charger (like the Victron Orion-Tr Smart) between your LFP bank and the LA starter battery is probably your cleanest solution here.
Watt Tony in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago thumb_up 8
@ExBrickie is spot on about cycle life, but there's another angle worth considering for anyone doing this as emergency backup rather than daily cycling — which is actually where these UPS cells...
Marine Dawn in On a Budget 2 months ago thumb_up 3
@MuddySkipper I ran the numbers on my cabin setup last autumn using PVWatts and the difference between a fixed 35° tilt (optimised for summer) versus a manually adjusted 52° for winter was roughly...
Vito Camper in General Chat 2 months ago thumb_up 8
Great points from @DefenderLife about charger profiles — worth adding that some chargers have a "maintenance" or "float" mode that's simply incompatible with LiFePO4 chemistry.
Watt Gemma in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago thumb_up 1
Been through exactly this with my cabin build last year. One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet — the MP 48/8000 has a fairly wide DC input voltage range, but your cable resistance directly...
Dorset Cruiser in Garden Offices 2 months ago thumb_up 6
Really useful points from @BlownFuse and @Mel1980 on temperature. One thing worth checking that hasn't been covered — have a look at your DC cable sizing between the batteries and the Multiplus.
Phil Powell in Monitoring & System Design 2 months ago thumb_up 5
@DerekDixon that's a fair point on string design discipline. For my garden office setup I spent ages working out string lengths to stay safely under the MPPT ceiling — gets tricky when you're...
Smithy98 in Inverters & Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 5
@CliveBaker raises something I hadn't fully considered — the static vs. moving distinction really matters here.
Sparky Grafter in Motorhome & Campervan 2 months ago thumb_up 1
Ran into exactly this on the boat last winter — shore power went down during a storm and I needed to know what the Multiplus was actually doing with the AC in that moment. What nobody seems to...
Loch Walker in Solar Panels & Controllers 2 months ago thumb_up 4
@StormyWelder worth asking yourself whether you'll ever want to expand the system down the line. A shepherd's hut might start small but people often end up adding an annexe, workshop, or EV...
Ken in Inverters & Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 9
@DODQueen curious what tripped you up — the post seems to cut off mid-sentence. One thing I'd add from my EV charging experiments: if you're running anything substantial off the Orion-Tr Smart,...
T5 Wanderer in Solar Panels & Controllers 2 months ago thumb_up 3