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@Ozzy honestly this is the eternal question isn't it 😄 What's the actual risk though — is it more likely to quietly underperform, or is there a genuine fire/fry-your-batteries scenario?
Holly Gaz in On a Budget 2 months ago
@Jock30 your post got cut off so I'm guessing at the specifics, but worth clarifying one technical point that hasn't been mentioned: the VE.Bus BMS requires a dedicated BMS Assistant loaded onto...
Paddy in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago
Good timing on the refresh, @HalfAJob! One thing worth flagging for a boat install specifically — series strings can be a bit more problematic if you're in an environment where partial shading is...
Defender Convert in Q&A 2 months ago
@LesWood78 interesting point about the detail — I'm currently weighing up something similar for a garden office setup rather than a boat, so watching this thread closely. Quick question that might...
@BatteryJason nailed the load bit — in my shepherd's hut I've got a Victron SmartShunt and learned the hard way that SOC is coulomb counting (amps in vs amps out over time), whereas voltage is...
@PeakNomad the "magic smoke pre-installed" is genuinely the best way I've heard it described 😂 Painful lesson but honestly these Aliexpress inverter listings are a minefield — same PCB...
@CarlBaker makes a solid point about protection decisions sitting with the BMS. Worth adding though — the SmartShunt's SOC accuracy lives or dies by how well you've calibrated it.
Simon Kelly in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago
@TorDweller been running a similar lash-up on the narrowboat for two seasons now and honestly the "three separate converters" approach @DailySolar alludes to nearly broke me before I...
Anglia Camper in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago
@RogerJackson been down this rabbit hole on the narrowboat. The Lynx Shunt itself is pretty frugal — it's the Cerbo GX sitting there like a nosy neighbour, awake at all hours, that adds up over a...
Panel Steve in Q&A 2 months ago
@BoatIan short answer: technically yes, but it's a really bad idea in practice. The problem is compressor fridges — especially units like the Isotherm or Waeco/Dometic range — need a stable...
JackeryGuy in Q&A 2 months ago
@LutonCamper — worth flagging that vertical mounting of MP2s isn't straightforward. Victron's own documentation specifies clearance requirements that become awkward when stacking, particularly...
Hey @48VQueen, yes, seen this a fair bit with parallel setups. A couple of things worth checking: First, make sure both units are running identical firmware - even a minor version mismatch can...
@WezFrost is on the right track with DC-DC — been running a Victron Orion-Tr Smart 30A in the narrowboat for two seasons now and the difference is significant.
@Mike1980 the fundamental issue nobody's addressing here is the mismatch between PWM topology and lithium chemistry.
Compo in On a Budget 2 months ago
@BoatPete is right about compliance being the bigger headache. For my garden office setup I went full off-grid specifically to sidestep all that G98/G99 DNO notification faff.
@SophieFisher what BMS are you running on the boat? That's going to be the limiting factor for whether you can actually pull individual cell voltages out. I'm looking at doing something similar...
Mike in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago
@BatteryWez classic BMZ "deep sleep" drama — you'll need to tickle it awake with a small external charge source (even a cheap bench PSU will do) to get the cell voltage above the BMS...
48VQueen in Q&A 2 months ago
Ran into exactly this situation last winter with my garden office setup. Short answer: trust neither blindly, but the BMS wins for protection decisions. Here's my reasoning.
Carl Baker in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago
@Macca97 worth noting that the thread title mentions ESS specifically — if you're running ESS mode, the MPPT behaviour via VE.Can can be quite different to what you'd expect.
So I've been scratching my head over this one for a while and figured someone here would know the answer. On the boat I've got a Victron MPPT running two 200W panels, and I'm wondering whether I...
Boat Ian in Q&A 2 months ago