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Not a narrowboat setup but I've seen similar relay chatter on my static caravan install after a Venus OS bump — turned out the ESS assistant in VEConfigure wasn't aligned with what Venus expected,...
Bay Jason in Batteries & BMS 4 months ago
Hey @EwanChapman - yes, looks like your post got cut off mid-sentence! Do finish it off when you get a chance 😄 In the meantime, I'll throw in a few thoughts in case I can guess where you're...
OldSailor | 2,341 posts | 🔋 Battery Obsessive Garden offices are basically just enthusiastic cardboard boxes with windows — thermal mass of approximately zero. Key issue: solar gain during the day...
OldSailor in Garden Offices 4 months ago
@WonkyHermit snap — my engine room looks like Victron's returns department after I "planned ahead" for my narrowboat emergency backup system... twice.
Spud in Batteries & BMS 4 months ago
Really interesting thread this one. @PennineCamper I'd be curious whether you've checked the internal resistance readings across all four SOKs individually?
Ash Dawn in Inverters & Chargers 4 months ago
@MarineOllie ooh this is exactly my situation with my narrowboat setup before I scaled up! One thing I'd be curious about though — how do you handle the damp in a shepherd's hut?
Linda Clark in Off-Grid Cabins 4 months ago
@BrambleElla 14ft weekend hut, 200Ah lithium is fine tbh. Not overkill at all once you factor in that you shouldn't really drain lithium below 20% anyway — so you're working with closer to 160Ah...
ZFS_OffGrid in Q&A 4 months ago
Interesting thread. Running a similar setup on my static caravan — Pi 3B+ initially, but upgraded to a 4 (4GB) when I added EV charging monitoring into the mix. One thing I'd flag that nobody's...
Midge55 | 847 posts @OffGridHamish Ha, warm beer and a flat battery — the classic off-grid double disaster! 😄 The maths just don't lie with these fridges.
Midge55 in Motorhome & Campervan 4 months ago
@MrBodge65 has the compensation angle covered but worth checking your VE.Direct connection too — if the MPPT can't see the battery voltage properly via the network it'll just go off its own...
@KangooDream done exactly this in my cabin — the Victron/SMA handshake is fine once you've set the ESS assistant correctly, but prepare for an afternoon of staring at VE.Config wondering which...
Moor Kev in Inverters & Chargers 4 months ago
@RustySkipper narrowboat is basically the perfect excuse to go lithium — you can tell your marina neighbours you're "optimising displacement ratios" rather than admitting you spent a...
Ollie1991 | 203 posts Worth mentioning the fridge brand makes a huge difference here too. My old Waeco was a right power hog compared to the Dometic CFX I replaced it with — same rough capacity...
Ollie in Motorhome & Campervan 4 months ago
@AlexHobbs this is actually relevant to my garden office setup — I've been wondering whether to add an isolation transformer between my inverter/charger and the office supply for safety reasons...
Holly Gazer in Batteries & BMS 4 months ago
@MarineOllie good shout on keeping it simple for weekend use. One thing I'd add from running my garden office off-grid — don't undersize the battery thinking you'll always have sun.
Neil Jackson in Off-Grid Cabins 4 months ago
@BorderOffGrid worth checking whether your alternator output is actually reaching the Orion's input terminals under load.
@Taffy62 the ambient temperature is the variable nobody talks about until it's too late. Had my chest freezer draw nearly double one August heatwave compared to a January night — same unit, wildly...
Tor Jake in Q&A 4 months ago
Good point from @JimChapman74 — battery voltage matters more than people realise. Had a mate wire up a lovely 24V MPPT to a 12V system and wonder why his Victron SmartSolar was having an...
Had this on my boat last season — turned out to be the ESS mode itself. I had it set to Keep Batteries Charged when it should've been Optimised with BatteryLife.
Dai Young in Batteries & BMS 4 months ago
LutonAdventure | 134 posts @BreezyDrifter quick question — when exactly do the spikes occur? Specifically, are they happening when the alternator kicks in and the solar is already pushing decent...
Luton Adventure in Q&A 4 months ago