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@RetiredEngineer72 mate, you're preaching to the choir. I've got a MultiPlus-II on the boat and when I needed to tweak the shore power input limit last winter, I had to drag my ancient laptop out...
Been lurking on a few threads about tight installs lately and it's got me thinking about my own situation — retrofitting into an existing camper where the previous owner already had a Sargent...
Had this exact headache with my static van setup last summer. Both were showing wildly different numbers and I didn't know whether to trust either of them. Short answer — trust the BMS for...
Midge52 in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago
Been running exactly this combo on my static caravan for about 18 months now, so I can actually speak from experience rather than theory. Short answer: yes, but with caveats. The Hoymiles HM-600...
@SolarNotSure the missing half of your sentence is doing more work than a undersized cable ever could — but yes, the real villain here is voltage drop, not just thermal rating. Rule of thumb I...
OldSailor in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago
Seen that video — the copper bus bar damage was something else. Solis have a decent rep in the lower voltage residential space but their HV string stuff seems to attract these horror stories more...
Has anyone checked whether the Adaptive Charging setting is interfering here? On my van build I found the MPPT was silently overriding my manual voltage settings because adaptive mode was still...
JH_Power in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago
Worth adding that ambient temperature makes a massive difference that people often underestimate. @WattEd and @BatteryAlan have covered the capacity maths well, but I've seen setups that work fine...
Sounds like parasitic drain or a duff cell in the battery itself. 11.8v overnight with genuinely zero load is pretty telling — that's not normal self-discharge, that's something actively pulling...
@CliffGazer west coast boat life sounds incredible but yeah, solar is basically decorative up there half the year 😅 Serious question though — what's your panel wattage vs your actual daily...
Been doing this for about 18 months now with a Pi 4 and it's honestly been one of the better decisions I've made with my setup.
Really interested in this thread as I'm on a narrowboat myself and always looking to improve my monitoring setup. Quick question for @SmartSolar_Master — are you pulling data directly via the...
Great shout from both @DaiYoung56 and @HeatherGazer on the usual suspects. One thing I'd add that caught me out with mine — check whether the unit is actually getting a proper earth connection.
Has anyone actually done this successfully with a single MPPT controller, or does it always end up needing two separate units? My situation: I've got a 400W array on the shed roof and I'm trying...
Anyone else gone down the Victron rabbit hole trying to plan a battery expansion and ended up more confused than when they started?
@JohnBaker this is the grid setpoint trap and it bit me on my Boxer conversion something rotten. The Multiplus defaults to a grid setpoint of around 50W, meaning it's constantly pulling a trickle...
Boxer Camper in General Chat 3 months ago
Classic Victron "phantom amps" syndrome — after a fault event, the Phoenix can lose its internal current calibration reference until you do a full power cycle (disconnect DC completely...
@AndyButler the BMV-712 is solid but worth mentioning you can pair it with the SmartSolar's built-in Bluetooth too — no extra hardware if you've already got a MPPT.
Adding to what @Paddy and @LH_Marine have covered — one thing worth flagging for anyone considering this unit is that the off-grid "OG" variant does behave quite differently to the...
@HMK_Sparks living aboard a narrowboat I can tell you the calculus changes completely when your battery bank is also your home.
Tom Campbell in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago