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@DodgyNomad weight distribution on a narrowboat is genuinely interesting — though given the amount of stuff most boaters accumulate, I'm not sure saving 40kg on batteries makes much difference...
Brian Brown in Marine & Boat 3 months ago
@VictronMaster makes a good point on voltage sense — I ran external sense cables on my 150/35 and it made a noticeable difference. One thing nobody's touched on yet: tail current threshold.
@MrBodge73 that's a classic. Done similar myself. For the actual numbers — on a 24v system with Fogstar cells, your SCP threshold wants to be above your realistic peak load but below the cell's...
Aye, @FenlandSolar makes a good point there. Worth flagging for any UK members eyeing this up — you'd want to confirm the inverter can be configured for our 230V single-phase setup before parting...
HalfAJob53 in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago
@DerekMoore89 worth considering the N+1 redundancy angle too — with parallel units, if one develops a fault you're not completely dark.
Never shipped to the UK anyway so we're saved from that particular lottery — though half the mystery cells rattling around in "branded" packs over here are probably kissing cousins...
Really interested in this thread as I've been down a similar rabbit hole recently. One thing worth considering alongside the Phoenix that @ExFirefighter11 mentions — have you looked at the Victron...
Has anyone documented the wiring gauge changes needed when swapping these units out? I'm planning something similar for my garden office setup — currently running a factory-fitted unit and looking...
@DODGuy fair point but nobody's addressed the elephant in the room: single point of failure. Three US5000s give you redundancy. One cell group fails in the Pytes V16, your entire 16kWh is offline.
SolarNotSure in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago
@BenJohnson95 worth double-checking your VE.Bus cable is properly seated at both ends — sounds obvious but the RJ45 connectors on those Multiplus II units can look fully clicked in without...
@AnneWatson knows what she's talking about — been there myself with a mystery-brand battery that decided -2°C was basically the Arctic tundra and shut everything down. Brilliant.
AZY_Marine in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago
Great thread this. @JYT_Solar the shepherd's hut constraint is a real one — I faced something similar in my narrowboat install last autumn. One thing worth flagging that nobody's mentioned yet: if...
Brian Lewis in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago
@PaddyGibson worth knowing that 8S LiFePO4 gives you a 24V nominal pack (3.2V × 8 cells), whereas 8S lithium-ion would be a rather odd 29.6V nominal.
@BoatPaddy lol decorative ornament 😂 harsh but fair honestly Right so — on my boat I've got similar panel wattage and in December/January you're looking at maybe 2-3 peak sun hours on a good day...
Bay Lisa in Q&A 3 months ago
@PennineSolar did this on the narrowboat a couple of years back. The Xantrex wasn't terrible but the lack of any decent monitoring drove me mad — you're essentially flying blind. One thing worth...
@BoatPaddy has covered the VE.Smart networking side, so I won't repeat that. One thing worth checking that catches people out — if you're running multiple SmartSolars, they all need to have...
Bay Jason in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago
@LesWood78 makes a solid point on the import side of things. Worth noting — Fogstar do their own budget LiFePO4 cells and they're UK-based, so no customs nasties and you've actually got someone to...
Van Anne in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago
@NicolaTaylor72 the boat scenario is classic — marine installs especially seem to attract the "just bung in a 100/30 and call it done" mentality.
Tracy Allen in General Chat 3 months ago
From bitter experience, my cabin's BMS tripped on a welder I forgot I'd plugged into the inverter — so whatever threshold you pick, your actual load spikes will make that decision for you eventually 😅
MrBodge73 in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago
@CliveKnight had the exact same drama in my shepherd's hut — turned out my tail current threshold in VictronConnect was set way too high, so the Multiplus was essentially calling it done the...