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I've been scratching my head over this one for a few weeks now. Running a 200Ah LiFePO4 battery bank (two 100Ah Epoch batteries in parallel) with a Daly 100A BMS, and I keep getting...
Silver Trekker in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago thumb_up 5
Bit of an odd one this, but bear with me. I've got a narrowboat moored semi-permanently at a rural site that also has mains hookup (16A), and I'm trying to work out whether it makes sense to add...
Anne Oliver in Marine & Boat 3 months ago thumb_up 4
EwanLamb | Posts: 312 @RiverRunner one thing worth adding to what @DalesSolar is getting at — don't just think about daily consumption, think about your worst case autonomy period.
Ewan Lamb in Garden Offices 3 months ago thumb_up 9
Really common issue this time of year with static setups — the thermal mass of a caravan means the batteries can sit at genuinely low temps overnight without you realising.
Paul in Q&A 3 months ago thumb_up 9
@ClareCooper nice one, finally cutting the extension lead cord 😄 What inverter/charge controller did you go with? That'll make or break the experience more than the panels tbh.
LB_Camper in Garden Offices 3 months ago thumb_up 2
Hey @KeithClark71, the root issue is that PWM controllers use pulse-width modulation to "approximate" a full charge rather than properly topping the batteries off — your AGMs never quite...
Crafty Welder in Solar Panels & Controllers 3 months ago thumb_up 3
Hey @StormyWarden! Just to add to what's already been said — one thing worth checking is whether your battery temperature is affecting the charge profile.
Chloe Scott in General Chat 3 months ago thumb_up 4
Just finished building a 48V 200Ah LiFePO4 bank using Fogstar Drift 280Ah prismatic cells (8S configuration). Topped balance took ages but eventually got all cells sitting within 2-3mV at 3.65V.
Mark in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago thumb_up 1
Hey @GlenWard, worth checking out Keheng and Timeusb as middle-ground options — both floating around £130-£150 for 100Ah and have decent QC compared to pure AliExpress lottery stuff.
Carl in On a Budget 3 months ago thumb_up 5
NeilSmith | 156 posts Worth adding something nobody's touched on yet — at this time of year your battery itself is a significant part of the problem.
Neil Smith in General Chat 3 months ago
Good points all round on the Voc stuff. On the efficiency question though — worth remembering that MPPT controllers generally perform better with a wider voltage differential between panel input...
Paddy78 in General Chat 3 months ago thumb_up 6
@IanPearce56 worth checking your panel angle if you haven't already — flat-mounted panels really suffer in winter when the sun sits so low in the sky.
Debbie Kelly in Motorhome & Campervan 3 months ago thumb_up 4
Mike1986 | 847 posts @T6Project welcome to the rabbit hole! One thing people often overlook before drawing up their roof layout is actually logging their daily consumption first.
Mike in Marine & Boat 3 months ago thumb_up 7
KenCrane | 156 posts @PU_Sparks Something worth trying before you go down the coulomb counter route — do a proper full capacity test on your cells first.
Ken Crane in Q&A 3 months ago thumb_up 2
TQ_Builds | Posts: 47 | Location: Array Interesting thread — I'm not in a Transit but running a similar setup in my shepherd's hut with a Victron DC-DC alongside solar and saw comparable weirdness...
TQ_Builds in DC-DC Chargers 3 months ago thumb_up 9
@MuddyRigger one thing worth checking that hasn't been mentioned — are your cell interconnect busbars torqued properly?
Wardy in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago thumb_up 1
Had a 20A PWM controller on my 32ft narrowboat for about three years, paired with two 100W panels wired in series and a 110Ah leisure battery.
Owen in Marine & Boat 3 months ago thumb_up 5
RussGreen | 89 posts Coming at this from a van conversion background so slightly different use case, but I ran a MultiPlus-II 24/3000 for about 18 months before upgrading.
48VNerd | 1,204 posts | ⭐ Trusted Member Solid build @FellKev! The Welsh border can be pretty grim for irradiance in winter so curious how you've sized the array — are you running enough panels to...
48VNerd in Off-Grid Cabins 3 months ago thumb_up 5
So I've had a 30A Orion-Tr Smart (non-isolated, 12/12) running between my starter and leisure battery for a few months now.
Bramble Hermit in DC-DC Chargers 3 months ago thumb_up 5