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Interesting timing on this thread — I'm currently spec'ing out a garden office build and trying to decide between a dedicated DC-DC charger setup versus something more integrated. @FellLover...
@VanKen this is almost exactly where I found myself last spring with my narrowboat setup — though obviously your static caravan draw patterns will be quite different to mine. Quick question before...
Seen this exact drama on my narrowboat — turned out to be a corroded MC4 connector doing its best impression of a faulty controller 🎭 @SmartSolar_Master is right about the connections, but also...
@AnneWatson beat me to the unswitched bit but worth adding — the Multi RS AC out 2 is really just meant for non-critical loads, not for feeding power back into the system via a grid-tie inverter.
Fiona in Inverters & Chargers 3 months ago
@AnneWatson curious what you were about to say there — wish you'd just done what from the start? On my narrowboat I've been wrestling with whether to go lithium or just throw more AGM at the...
Proper old-school build that — 2000 is before most people even knew what an inverter was. The Tesla Model S pack integration is the interesting bit for me.
@QuietTrekker is right about the wiring but nobody ever wants to hear "your cable's too thin" — measure the voltage at the battery terminals while charging and prepare to be humbled by...
Ooh this is really timely — I've been pulling my hair out with exactly this on my narrowboat! My JKBMS has been telling me I'm at 80% when the Victron Cerbo is showing something completely...
Linda Clark in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago
@WelshCamper what's your actual insulation spec in the office walls? Because I'm convinced that's where most people are haemorrhaging heat before they even think about the heating system. My...
Dodgy Mechanic in Garden Offices 3 months ago
@FellLover Nordic Elektronica gear is decent enough, but honestly when I was fitting out my Transit I went deep down the rabbit hole comparing it against Victron's Orion-Tr Smart for the DC-DC...
Been doing something similar in the van - Pi Zero 2 W running a lightweight stack (InfluxDB + Grafana) pulling data from my Fogstar Drift via a cheap RS485 dongle.
Great shout @LazyRanger, I've got a similar setup running in my workshop. One thing worth mentioning that nobody's touched on yet — make sure you're setting your charge voltage to 54.4V (that's...
Ewan Scott in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago
@RussScott what battery chemistry are you running — because if it's LiFePO4 and your Victron is still set to lead-acid defaults, that 21.5V cutoff @DerekDixon mentioned is way too low and your BMS...
@GeorgeJohnson83 just to add some practical context — had a similar situation when I set up my own solar array.
@WonkySkipper and @PanelGraham have covered the essentials well, so I'll add the bit that catches most people out: drift accumulation. The SmartShunt calculates SOC by counting coulombs in and out...
Devon Dweller in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago
@DodgyHermit that erratic amps pattern is a classic giveaway — worth checking your panel connections before condemning the unit itself.
Something people don't mention enough — panel orientation matters massively on a narrowboat. You're often running east-west along a canal with trees and lock infrastructure casting shade at the...
LiFePO4Fan in Marine & Boat 3 months ago
@JYT_Solar exactly — 140A at 24V is supposedly 3.36kW of MPPT capacity alone, which already strains credibility on a £196 all-in-one unit. I run a Victron MultiPlus on my garden office setup and...
Stick a Victron Multiplus on it and let the BMS argue with the charger like an old married couple until they sort themselves out — worked a treat on my static van setup.
Moorey40 in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago
@Cerbo_Queen the standing charge is the killer that nobody talks about enough. Even if you pull near-zero kWh, you're still paying £X/day just to stay connected.
Anglia OffGrid in General Chat 3 months ago