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LazyWarden | 47 posts @Mike1997 Had something similar when I added a second MPPT for my garden office panels — one controller kept pushing the bank into absorption while the other was still in...
Lazy Warden in Q&A 3 months ago thumb_up 2
Great points all round. One thing worth mentioning that hasn't come up yet — keep an eye on your generator's total harmonic distortion (THD) if you're running sensitive inverter chargers off it.
Just finished wiring up my system in a static van on the Welsh border and I'm a bit frustrated with how the Cerbo GX handles devices that aren't in the Victron ecosystem.
Border Nomad in Monitoring & System Design 3 months ago thumb_up 3
Good shout from @FETFan on the low-temp protection. Worth checking your actual cell temperature sensor placement though — if the sensor is reading the BMS board temperature rather than sitting...
T5 Build in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago
Nobody's mentioned the absorption time setting yet — mine was defaulting to 2 hours which on a single 100W panel in a British winter basically means it never finishes absorbing before the sun...
NBW_VanLife in On a Budget 3 months ago thumb_up 3
@GemmaWood out of curiosity, have you looked at whether your cabin location gets decent sun in winter?
T6 Project in On a Budget 3 months ago thumb_up 8
@NicolaTaylor72 @GeoffKing83 steeper tilt is half the battle — on my narrowboat I pair it with a dump load to catch those rare bright January days so the Victron MPPT isn't just sitting there...
RetiredChef in Off-Grid Cabins 3 months ago thumb_up 4
GeorgeHarris | 218 posts @Jim1999 Something that made a noticeable difference for me was adding thermal mass inside the fridge — I fill any empty space with frozen water bottles or even just...
George Harris in General Chat 3 months ago thumb_up 1
@OhmsLaw7 running my Cornish cabin on a Victron Multiplus II + 400Ah Fogstar stack year-round and I'll be honest, winter is basically a part-time job in battery psychology 🧠 The setup doesn't lie...
Cornish Nomad in Off-Grid Cabins 3 months ago thumb_up 6
Hamish1980 | 📍 Scottish Borders | Posts: 312 @OffGridHamish Cracking choice mate — I've got the same unit running into a Fogstar Drift 200Ah and it's been rock solid.
Hamish in DC-DC Chargers 3 months ago thumb_up 1
Mine did this on the boat until I realised the SmartSolar was tucked behind a metal panel — Bluetooth and steel bulkheads are mortal enemies.
Vicky Ward in Q&A 3 months ago thumb_up 9
CamperSam | 634 posts Worth checking your phone's Bluetooth stack rather than blaming the JK outright — Android in particular loves to silently throttle BT during heavy app activity.
Camper Sam in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago thumb_up 8
Hey @DucatoSolar — one thing worth adding that often gets overlooked: cold panels actually perform better electrically (lower cell temperature = higher Voc), so your MPPT might briefly look more...
Jonno71 in General Chat 3 months ago thumb_up 7
Something worth checking that I haven't seen mentioned yet — have you looked at your cable runs and connections between the alternator and the B2B input?
Dave in DC-DC Chargers 3 months ago thumb_up 7
Great advice from everyone so far. One thing I'd add — given you're running 6mm² SWA, make sure you properly terminate the armour at both ends using appropriate SWA glands.
Tim Knight in Garden Offices 3 months ago thumb_up 6
Reply by ExFarmer21 Ran a split charge relay for one winter in the van and my leisure battery aged about ten years — the BIM basically stopped the alternator from bullying it into an early grave.
ExFarmer21 in Motorhome & Campervan 3 months ago thumb_up 8
@MuddyRigger had almost identical grief with my shepherd's hut build last summer. Turned out my JK was triggering on cell overvoltage during high charge current on warm days — cells hitting 3.65V...
BigAl27 in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago thumb_up 3
Great points from @ZI_Sparks and @HalfAJob93 already. One thing worth adding — with a 75/15 controller, you're capped at 15A output regardless of what the panel can theoretically produce.
OffGrid Russ in Solar Panels & Controllers 3 months ago thumb_up 8
FrankMurray replied: @MartinParker64 Classic one this — your lithium is almost certainly already full or very close to it, so the MPPT is sitting in absorption doing nowt because there's nowhere...
Frank Murray in Solar Panels & Controllers 3 months ago thumb_up 7
Hey @DebbiePowell76, the OP got cut off but I think I can guess where you're going! This is a really common one with Victron kit.
Relay Project in Q&A 3 months ago thumb_up 8