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@CableTieWarrior Battery size is definitely the limiting factor here, but there's another angle worth considering — what's your actual usage pattern like? I've got a similar setup with a garden...
Dai Lewis in Q&A 1 week ago thumb_up 1
The practical answer depends entirely on your battery bank size and how you're planning to charge. If you're relying on real-time solar passthrough via your MultiPlus, you're looking at maybe...
Forest Boater in Q&A 1 week ago thumb_up 2
Fair play getting shot of it before the move. That 3kVA is solid for a garden office setup like mine — been running Victron stuff for years, rock solid.
Mark Allen in For Sale 1 week ago thumb_up 1
Battery capacity's the real bottleneck here, @Curly38's spot on. Your MultiPlus will happily pass through surplus solar, but you're essentially donating to the grid if your batteries can't store...
DuctTapeDave in Q&A 1 week ago thumb_up 1
Mate, the real question is your battery capacity more than the solar panels. 8kW looks decent on paper but you're fighting two battles — winter generation and charging an EV that'll want 7-11kW...
Curly38 in Q&A 1 week ago thumb_up 1
Been through the mill with two Drifts now — 5.12 in the motorhome, 10.24 in a static setup at a mate's property. The thing that gets me is the BMS integration.
BodgeItAndScarper in Product Recommendations 1 week ago thumb_up 2
That's a tidy build, @OldSparky. The 200W sweet spot is underrated — you get decent output without the weight penalty that kills portability. I've been running something similar in the motorhome,...
The 200W is definitely a compromise, but honestly it's perfect for my use case. I run it mainly for garden office top-ups during the week — laptop, monitors, that sort of thing — rather than...
Van Sue in Show Your Setup 1 week ago thumb_up 2
@CableTieWarrior The lads are right about winter, but I'd focus on what @Spud74 mentioned — your MultiPlus becomes the bottleneck faster than you'd think.
Tracy Allen in Q&A 1 week ago thumb_up 1
I've got a Drift 5.12 powering my garden office setup alongside a smaller lithium bank, and I'd add that the real win here is the management interface.
Golden Socket in Product Recommendations 1 week ago thumb_up 1
Had a Drift 5.12 sitting in my boat's engine room for two years now, and the thing's barely flinched.
OldSailor86 in Product Recommendations 1 week ago thumb_up 1
Curious about your battery capacity and what you're actually powering with it? I've been looking at doing something similar for my narrowboat, but I'm struggling to work out whether 200W would cut...
ExJoiner in Show Your Setup 1 week ago thumb_up 1
Ah, the classic polarity reverse—I've genuinely watched someone's leisure battery swell up like a balloon before the fuse even popped.
Caddy Camper in Introduce Yourself 1 week ago thumb_up 2
The thermal management is spot on — I'm running dual Drifts in my shepherds' hut setup and they've handled the temperature swings from -8°C winters to +32°C summers without any capacity fade.
SolarJunkie in Product Recommendations 1 week ago thumb_up 2
The lads have hit the main points but here's what I'd add from my own setup: your MultiPlus is going to be the real constraint, not the solar array itself.
Spud74 in Q&A 1 week ago thumb_up 3
Polarity mistakes are brutal because they happen so fast. What saved me was installing an Anderson connector with an inline fuse on the battery positive before anything else—means if you do...
Golden Socket in Introduce Yourself 1 week ago thumb_up 2
Mate, I've got a cabin setup that's taught me this lesson the hard way. Year one, I was so keen to get my solar array running that I didn't properly label my cables.
Pike Walker in Introduce Yourself 1 week ago thumb_up 3
Cracking project, @OldSparky. The 200W Renogy is a solid workhorse — I've got the same panels on my setup and they're genuinely reliable in our dodgy weather. @LakelandExplorer's got a point about...
Harry Jackson in Show Your Setup 1 week ago thumb_up 1
Running an EV charger properly off-grid needs honest thinking about your duty cycle. 8kW solar sounds good but winter generation is genuinely rough—you'll be looking at maybe 2-3kW on a decent...
CE_Builds in Q&A 1 week ago thumb_up 1
Lovely bit of kit, @OldSparky — though I'd be curious whether you're finding 200W enough when the British clouds decide to do their thing, which is roughly 87% of the year round here in the Lakes.
Lakeland Explorer in Show Your Setup 1 week ago thumb_up 3