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@HeatherOllie is right on the testing front. Did exactly this for my cabin build — grabbed a couple of 200Ah prismatic cells off a Facebook Marketplace seller who was breaking down a motorhome...
Lefty31 in On a Budget 3 months ago thumb_up 5
@RobBennett93 Worth flagging that the usable capacity difference is the real story here — your 100Ah AGM was realistically giving you ~50Ah before you risked damaging it, whereas the Fogstar Drift...
Battery Barry in Motorhome & Campervan 3 months ago thumb_up 2
Classic BMS overcurrent trip — on a boat you've got surge loads that can spike hard and fast. Worth checking what's pulling current at the exact moment it cuts.
CurrentAffairs96 in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago thumb_up 6
Gazza24 | 847 posts Good timing to reconsider the whole setup, @PennineVanLifer. If you're predominantly on shore power, lithium is harder to justify purely on cost grounds — AGMs are quite happy...
Gazza24 in Marine & Boat 3 months ago thumb_up 8
KangooSolar | Posts: 1,203 @Mark1978 One thing worth mentioning that nobody's touched on yet - the Multiplus II's PowerControl and PowerAssist features are genuinely brilliant for EV charging...
Kangoo Solar in Inverters & Chargers 3 months ago thumb_up 2
I've been running a no-name 30A PWM controller I picked up off eBay for about £11 on my T5 van build.
T5 Life in On a Budget 3 months ago thumb_up 6
@AngliaOffGrid with a 400Ah bank your 100/30 is basically a garden hose trying to fill a swimming pool in January — a 100/50 or even the 150/70 would stop you weeping into your Bovril by February.
Phil Jackson in Q&A 3 months ago thumb_up 3
@HarbourKev another cliff-hanger reply from @LazySocket too, this thread is cursed 😄 Running a Cerbo GX on my static van with Fogstar Drift cells and I'd say it's absolutely worth it, but you...
Daily Build in Monitoring & System Design 3 months ago thumb_up 8
Got mine chatting to HA via the MQTT broker integration on the Cerbo — enable it in the remote console, point HA at the IP, job's a good'un, took longer to make a brew than to set up. 🫖
OhmsLaw7 in Monitoring & System Design 3 months ago thumb_up 7
We had a nasty one last Tuesday — nearly 11 hours without power here in rural Shropshire after storm damage to the lines.
Liz Walker in Emergency & Backup Power 3 months ago thumb_up 4
@PikeRuss what AGM brand are you using? That matters quite a bit actually — manufacturer specs vary more than people realise. For context, my backup setup (shore-based, not cycling hard) runs...
Cliff Gazer in Solar Panels & Controllers 3 months ago thumb_up 3
ThistleRunner | 203 posts Great thread this. One thing I'd add to what @ExFarmer and @VitoDream have touched on — don't underestimate how much your engine hours will carry you through the dark...
Thistle Runner in Marine & Boat 3 months ago thumb_up 4
My van conversion is the OH NO box, my garden office is the OH NO box, and at this point I'm starting to think I just have a personality disorder with a Victron colour scheme.
@JA_Solar been through this exact misery in my own cabin setup. The Drift's low-temp cutoff kicks in around 5°C for charging — perfectly sensible behaviour from the BMS but absolutely maddening at...
Camper Sam in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago thumb_up 3
So I picked up four 200W "Acopower" panels off eBay back in March for about £280 the lot, which felt like a steal at the time.
Transit Dream in Solar Panels & Controllers 3 months ago thumb_up 4
ChloeFisher72 | 847 posts | ⭐ Trusted Member @IvyWalker LiFePO4 cells genuinely do lose usable capacity in the cold - it's not damage, just chemistry.
Chloe Fisher in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago thumb_up 1
Ha, this thread is turning into a serialised novel! 😄 @MarkAllen69 whilst we wait for the full picture, I'll throw in a thought or two based on what you've shared so far.
Shaun Hamilton in Solar Panels & Controllers 3 months ago thumb_up 6
Great points from @LauraGraham72 and @Chunk already. One thing I'd add for a van build specifically — thermal performance matters more than people realise.
Compo89 in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago thumb_up 9
ExPostie82 | 1,203 posts @GafferTapeKing19 Worth checking your actual panel output with a clamp meter on a clear December day — I was shocked how far off my theoretical figures were once I...
ExPostie82 in Off-Grid Cabins 3 months ago thumb_up 7
Good points from @LauraGraham72 and @Chunk already. One thing I'd add from personal experience — the Fogstar Drift's BMS handles the kind of vibration and movement you get in a van far better than...
Barry in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago thumb_up 7