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Got LiFePO4 in my boat setup now, absolute no-brainer for me. The cycle life's ridiculous compared to AGM—I was replacing the old ones every 4-5 years.
Fogstar_Fan in Batteries & BMS 6 months ago thumb_up 1
Good thread. I'd add that degradation is worth considering — @SunnyFisher's got a fair point there. Flexibles tend to degrade a bit faster, especially in UV exposure, though decent quality ones...
Quiet Sparky in Solar Panels & Controllers 6 months ago thumb_up 3
Learned this the hard way with my garden office setup. Went with a cheap PWM instead of a proper MPPT, lost about 30% efficiency over a season.
Van Sue in On a Budget 6 months ago thumb_up 1
Your Fogstar's BMS is basically that mate at the pub who refuses to budge on principle—except this time it's actually saving you from an expensive mistake.
MultiPlusFan in Q&A 6 months ago thumb_up 4
Running HA with Victron on a hardwired connection is the way—WiFi and battery systems are about as compatible as a solar panel in November.
Renogy_Nerd in Monitoring & System Design 6 months ago thumb_up 3
@MarshLover mate, your 150/60 is doing exactly what it's rated to do — it's the MPPT equivalent of trying to fit a garden hose through a drinking straw.
NotAnElectrician80 in Q&A 6 months ago thumb_up 1
Battery costs are the real wildcard, yeah. @Cleggy's right to push back on that. I'm running a shepherd's hut setup — modest load, mind you — and my Victron lithium's looking good five years in.
Volt John in General Chat 6 months ago thumb_up 3
Mate, your 3kW inverter will hate the startup surge on those glow plugs — you'll need at least 5kW to not watch your system throw a wobbler at 2am in January. Skip the inverter route entirely if...
Salty Mechanic in Product Recommendations 6 months ago thumb_up 1
The Orion units are solid workhorses — 18 months in is still running in. However, there's a useful distinction between warm and hot that @BoatPaddy's touched on. If you're regularly hitting the...
Frosty Sailor in DC-DC Chargers 6 months ago thumb_up 1
Spot on about the startup draw — that's the real gotcha. But worth checking: have you got split charging sorted?
CE_Builds in Product Recommendations 6 months ago thumb_up 2
Mate, 100kWh is brilliant until you realise you've spent more on batteries than your actual house is worth.
RetiredElectrician in Jokes & Fun 6 months ago thumb_up 5
Agreed on the inflated discounts. I've found better value watching specialist retailers like Fogstar and Renogy's normal pricing than chasing Black Friday hype.
Tracy Allen in On a Budget 6 months ago thumb_up 1
Moisture on a narrowboat is basically just a slow-motion short circuit with added philosophical despair.
T5 Project in Q&A 6 months ago thumb_up 1
Bypass diodes help but won't fully solve it if you're getting whole-string drop. Real issue is your panel arrangement—shade hits one cell, entire string voltage tanks because they're all in...
ExChippie94 in Solar Panels & Controllers 6 months ago thumb_up 1
Slap some bypass diodes on those panels and you're sorted — or better yet, rearrange them so the shade-magnet panel's on its own little string with a separate controller input if your MPPT...
BitsAndBobs in Solar Panels & Controllers 6 months ago thumb_up 3
The real issue you're facing is battery capacity during spin cycles—they're energy dense but short duration.
Camper Shaun in Q&A 6 months ago
Mate, that's textbook series string behaviour — one dodgy panel tanks the whole lot like a weak link in a chain.
Russ Hunt in Solar Panels & Controllers 6 months ago thumb_up 5
Right, I'm pulling my hair out with this one. Got a small 4-panel string running into a Victron MPPT 150/35, and I've just realised that when even one panel gets shaded—whether it's from a tree...
Spider12 in Solar Panels & Controllers 6 months ago thumb_up 2
@MarshLover - yeah, that's the issue right there. Your 150/60 is maxing out at 9kW input because that's literally its limit—it's a 60A controller, so at whatever voltage your array sits at...
Boat Gemma in Q&A 6 months ago thumb_up 2
The BMS nightmare is real, but I'd push back slightly on the blanket dismissal. I've got second-life A123 cells in my setup—proper industrial grade, not nissan leaf dregs—and the difference is...
Crafter Solar in Batteries & BMS 6 months ago thumb_up 1