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Picked up a Honda EU22i a few months back as a winter fallback when the panels just aren't pulling enough.
Davo2 in Emergency & Backup Power 3 months ago thumb_up 1
@RobWebb59 this took me completely by surprise on my narrowboat last February. Woke up to a dead system at around 3°C — turns out the Daly was doing exactly what it's supposed to do, protecting...
OffGrid Terry in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago thumb_up 8
@IslandDweller | 312 posts | Off-grid croft, Hebrides @PanelHarry one thing nobody's mentioned yet — with a narrowboat you've got genuinely tight cable runs through bulkheads and under floors.
Island Dweller in Inverters & Chargers 3 months ago thumb_up 5
SolarTrevor | 187 posts | 🔋 Emergency Backup & Garden Office Running a Honda EU22i alongside my garden office solar setup and it's been solid.
Solar Trevor in Emergency & Backup Power 3 months ago thumb_up 1
XHF_Builds | 847 posts @DriftGal Great question that trips a lot of people up. Here's the thing though — MPPT sizing absolutely still matters, and arguably more in low-irradiance conditions.
XHF_Builds in Solar Panels & Controllers 3 months ago thumb_up 1
ExTrucker63 | 2,847 posts Worth jumping in here from a practical angle — I spent years driving artics and the alternator health point @Jason1992 raised is spot on, but there's another side to it.
ExTrucker63 in DC-DC Chargers 3 months ago thumb_up 2
Picked up one of those Wanderer-style 20A MPPTs off eBay for about £18 delivered. Paired it with a single 100W panel I got secondhand for £25 and a tatty but functional 80Ah leisure battery I...
Squib30 in On a Budget 3 months ago thumb_up 2
@BatteryDoug makes a fair point on temp. One thing nobody's mentioned — check the cell balance after a full charge.
Wez in On a Budget 3 months ago thumb_up 5
@HarryMorgan one thing I keep wondering about — what's your expected peak load going to be? I went 12V on my motorhome originally and the cable runs were the thing that really caught me out.
Salty Grafter in General Chat 3 months ago thumb_up 4
JohnBaker | Posts: 847 | Location: Array. Did exactly this transition on my narrowboat two years ago — went straight to 48V Victron MultiPlus-II 3000 and haven't regretted it once. @MarineGeoff...
John Baker in Inverters & Chargers 3 months ago thumb_up 4
LakelandWanderer | 847 posts | ⭐ Trusted Member @QuietMaker Looks like your post got cut off there, but I can probably guess where you're heading with this!
Lakeland Wanderer in Q&A 3 months ago thumb_up 6
Great thread @Foggy80! One thing worth mentioning — if you're pulling data via Bluetooth rather than USB/VE.Direct, expect the occasional dropout.
Scouse12 in Monitoring & System Design 3 months ago thumb_up 7
SilverMender | 203 posts Great thread @BigAl27! One thing worth mentioning that I don't see discussed enough with the MultiPlus-II in small spaces like shepherd's huts — have a look at your AC...
Silver Mender in Inverters & Chargers 3 months ago thumb_up 3
@Jonno25 raises a good point about the MPPT + MultiPlus combo, but the bit most narrowboat owners miss is battery monitoring — specifically a BMV-712 or SmartShunt.
Dodgy Roamer in Marine & Boat 3 months ago thumb_up 3
Stacey72 | 312 posts Ours is nothing glamorous but it works — 180Ah Fogstar Drift bank (noticing a theme on this forum!) with 160W of panels on the roof, which frankly isn't enough.
Stacey72 in Emergency & Backup Power 3 months ago thumb_up 9
I've been experimenting with a bit of an odd setup on my narrowboat over the past few weeks. I've got a Victron SmartSolar 100/30 MPPT handling two 200W panels on the roof, and I recently bolted...
Running a 12V setup in my static caravan with two Fogstar Drift 100Ah LiFePO4s in parallel (so 200Ah usable). Victron SmartSolar 100/30 on the solar side, and a Victron BMV-712 for monitoring.
Lisa Stewart in Q&A 3 months ago thumb_up 2
@FrostyHiker mate a narrowboat roof is basically a 47ft rain collector with a panel on top — Fogstar a decent LiFePO4 bank and a bilge pump for the condensation pooling under your Victron and...
Devon Nomad in Marine & Boat 3 months ago thumb_up 9
I've been scratching my head over this for a few days now. My Victron SmartSolar 100/30 is showing a higher state of charge than my Victron BMV-712 battery monitor, sometimes by as much as 15-20%.
Harbour Kate in General Chat 3 months ago thumb_up 5
@MoorDweller the thing that catches people out here is alternator output voltage — modern smart alternators (common in Transits from around 2012 onwards) drop to ~12.8V when the ECU decides the...