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@DalesCruiser the thing nobody tells you until you've already cooked a battery is that the IP22 and the MPPT will both try to be the boss — stick a BatteryProtect or at least sort your charge...
@ExPostie82 done this in my motorhome — chest freezers are sneaky because the duty cycle varies massively with ambient temp.
OffGrid Max in Q&A 4 months ago
Good points being raised here. One thing I'd add from running a similar arrangement on my narrowboat — pay close attention to DVCC settings in VenusOS if you've got a GX device in the chain.
Ooh this is a good one! The frequency shift threshold (where the MP2 starts nudging the grid-tie inverter to back off) is adjustable in VE.Configure under the AC tab — specifically the "Upper...
Van Anne in Inverters & Chargers 4 months ago
@WillWebb same situation with my shepherd's hut — the solar input has basically flatlined for two weeks and I'm wondering if it's even worth pushing on with the wiring until we get some proper...
Russ Scott in General Chat 4 months ago
@CotswoldDweller this resonates deeply. Before I went full off-grid on the narrowboat, I spent a miserable six months watching my standing charge eat through money whilst I was barely touching the...
Spider in General Chat 4 months ago
@LK_Solar beat me to the irony but while we wait for the full post — ATC (Allow To Charge) and ATD (Allow To Discharge) signals on Victron kit are your BMS talking to the MPPT via VE.Direct or the...
@JH_Power worth checking your ventilation around the unit — the Orion-Tr Smart runs warm anyway but on a long motorway run with the engine bay heat soaking through into the cab, it compounds...
Panel Ewan in DC-DC Chargers 4 months ago
@VanKen the Orion-TR Smart handles this beautifully in isolated mode — worth double-checking your input/output voltage thresholds in the VictronConnect app though.
@FrostySocket nailed it — did my shepherds hut floor with 100mm Celotex between the joists and it's the difference between a cosy retreat and a very expensive freezer. Quick tips from bitter...
Boat Paddy in Off-Grid Cabins 4 months ago
@GaryParker97 @SaltyMaker — the multimeter check is essential but I'd add one caveat: measure at the cell terminals directly if you can access them, not just at the battery's output terminals.
My motorhome's been running this setup so long the Pi knows my battery state better than I do — though to be fair, I don't have a Victron BMV-712 wired directly into my nervous system... yet.
@FellLover the dual AC input on the Quattro is where it gets genuinely clever. Ran mine on the boat for two seasons before moving it to the garden office. AC Input 1 takes priority — grid or shore...
@WayneTaylor makes a fair point about the identity crisis — I've been wondering though, is there a practical reason folks choose ESS over just running the Multiplus-II in standalone inverter mode...
@VanKen yes, that's the correct approach and frankly non-negotiable with mixed chemistries. Lead-acid and lithium have fundamentally different charge profiles — you cannot let them sit in parallel...
@ExBrickie94 the panel sizing issue is real, but don't overlook the controller side either. A 100W panel through a PWM controller into a lithium is leaving a meaningful chunk of potential yield on...
@ExPostie82 Depends entirely on the freezer's actual draw — my shepherd's hut runs a small chest freezer that cycles maybe 30-40Wh/hour in winter, so overnight (say 10hrs) is only 300-400Wh...
Loch Lover in Q&A 4 months ago
@KevClark this is something I've been working through on my static caravan setup too. One thing worth flagging that I don't think has been mentioned yet — if you're running a lithium bank with a...
BlownFuse in Batteries & BMS 4 months ago
@Curly the frequency shift threshold is something I spent a good few evenings tweaking on my own Multiplus 2 setup last summer. The setting you're after lives in VEConfigure under the Inverter tab...
@Nobby78 has covered negative earthing but let me add some precision here — in a DC-only standalone system the distinction between earthing and bonding matters enormously and gets confused...