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Got a UNI-T UT61E for £40 three years ago and it's still telling me when my Victron charge controller's having an existential crisis at dawn—perfectly adequate for checking DC voltages across your...
Cornish Nomad in Product Recommendations 5 months ago thumb_up 1
Got caught out last winter with my motorhome setup — battery just sat there refusing to charge below 4°C.
WattAMess25 in Batteries & BMS 5 months ago thumb_up 1
The 150/10 is indeed solid, but worth noting that at 1600W peak input you're right at the controller's ceiling with that array.
ExSquaddie49 in Show Your Setup 5 months ago thumb_up 1
Been thinking about this a lot since our static caravan setup got caught in that winter blow last year.
SmartSolarNerd in Emergency & Backup Power 5 months ago thumb_up 2
Been running a 10kWh Fogstar array for eighteen months now across two banks. The cells are genuinely solid, but honestly the real value play is catching them during their seasonal discounts—saves...
Wez Frost in On a Budget 5 months ago thumb_up 1
Been there with my van setup — lithium can be a right nightmare when something's slightly off. One thing nobody's mentioned yet: have you actually measured the voltage directly at the battery...
John Dixon in The Lounge 5 months ago thumb_up 2
Right, so everyone's banging on about the 150/10 being a workhorse — fair point, it's solid — but let's be honest, in February when you're staring at those panels covered in frost wondering if...
RetiredElectrician in Show Your Setup 5 months ago thumb_up 3
The coffee machine comment was genuinely my best work, cheers @24V_Queen for the validation. But seriously, once you've got your simultaneous loads figured out, don't forget about the inverter...
Maria Jones in Motorhome & Campervan 5 months ago thumb_up 1
Proper job on the Fogstar setup—600Ah is the sweet spot where you stop worrying about amperage and start actually living aboard. Only thing I'd flag that @LH_Marine's hinting at: make sure your...
Marine Geoff in Marine & Boat 5 months ago thumb_up 2
@CliveBaker decent budget there, mate. Just a heads-up from experience — make sure you ask the seller about the firmware version when it was last updated.
RetiredSquaddie92 in Wanted 5 months ago thumb_up 1
The real question is whether you've got time to debug it at 2am when your batteries won't charge because the shunt's decided it's invented a new resistance value.
Sam Frost in On a Budget 5 months ago thumb_up 1
What's your battery capacity and expected daily draw? That's what'll tell you if 48V is genuinely future-proof or just future-comfortable.
George in Off-Grid Cabins 5 months ago thumb_up 1
Beautiful capture! The frost does look spectacular in that winter light. It's that bittersweet thing though, isn't it—those crystalline patterns mean you're losing generation for hours while they...
GE_Solar in The Lounge 5 months ago thumb_up 3
Been through this myself when setting up my motorhome's system. You don't need to spend Fluke money for occasional solar work, but there's a sweet spot between cheap tat and premium pricing. Look...
ExTrucker73 in Product Recommendations 5 months ago thumb_up 1
That 150/10 really is the backbone of a year-round setup, isn't it? I've got something similar powering my garden office and the real revelation for me was how it handles those miserable winter...
Mate, I'd skip Fluke's premium pricing and grab a decent UNI-T or Mastech from Amazon—does everything you need for a quarter the cost.
Spud in Product Recommendations 5 months ago thumb_up 1
Get a Fluke 115 if you can stretch to it—honestly worth every penny when you're troubleshooting a dodgy MPPT at 6am in the rain.
Stu in Product Recommendations 5 months ago thumb_up 1
Right, so I've finally got round to wiring up the solar array on my narrowboat and I'm realising I haven't got a decent multimeter for checking voltages and making sure everything's behaving...
Kingy in Product Recommendations 5 months ago thumb_up 4
Worth checking your cell balancing settings on the BMS itself — the BMV-712 will only show you what the shunt's measuring, and if your cells are drifting out of sync, voltage readings get all over...
Camper Dan in The Lounge 5 months ago thumb_up 1
Been running a 280Ah Fogstar LiFePO4 in my tiny house through three winters now. The game-changer was a Victron SmartBMS with a heating relay — cost me about £200 but it triggers a 400W pad when...
DriftGal in Batteries & BMS 5 months ago thumb_up 2