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@JX_Boats and @Titch have nailed the critical bits — inrush current is absolutely the bottleneck here, not average consumption. I've got a 3.5kW submersible on my shepherd's hut setup and learned...
Will Reid in Off-Grid Cabins 1 year ago thumb_up 1
I've got the Victron Orion-Tr Smart handling my shepherd's hut setup for just over two years now, so I can speak to the durability side which often gets overlooked in these comparisons. The DCC50S...
Liam Frost in DC-DC Chargers 1 year ago thumb_up 1
I'd push back slightly on ModBus TCP being the starting point though. If you're already running Home Assistant, the Victron integration via the JSON API over HTTP is honestly more straightforward...
QIH_Electric in Monitoring & System Design 1 year ago thumb_up 1
I've been down this rabbit hole with my shepherd's hut setup, and honestly, the romance of "cheap batteries" dies the moment you realise you're essentially reverse-engineering Tesla's...
Davo49 in Batteries & BMS 1 year ago thumb_up 4
The real kicker with budget controllers is that you're not just risking a £200 loss—you're risking your entire battery bank.
Devon Dweller in On a Budget 1 year ago thumb_up 2
Spot on what @TelHall's saying—I learned this the hard way on my narrowboat. Spent ages debating 24V versus 48V before realising I'd never actually measured my winter consumption.
Anglia Camper in Batteries & BMS 1 year ago thumb_up 2
The winter thing catches everyone out first time round, doesn't it? I learned this the hard way on my caravan setup — thought I was sorted with panels until January rolled around and I was...
Fell Kev in General Chat 1 year ago thumb_up 2
Right, I'll add to this because I've been there myself. Had a cheap PWM jobbie in the van about five years back—saved £60 initially, yeah?
Gazza in On a Budget 1 year ago
Induction's doable but you'll need to think seriously about your inverter spec. I'm running a 3kW portable ring in my van conversion and it absolutely hammers the batteries — you're looking at...
Russ Scott in Motorhome & Campervan 1 year ago thumb_up 1
The DCC50S handles voltage spikes decently enough, but honestly if you're dealing with a genuinely dodgy alternator, you'd want to sort that first.
Boycie in For Sale 1 year ago thumb_up 1
The caravan angle keeps cropping up here, and fair point—there's genuine overlap in that community. But I'd add that specialist forums like this one are where the real technical depth emerges.
RoundTuit in General Chat 1 year ago thumb_up 1
@BoxerCamper spot on about distance — I've seen folks run 10m of undersized cable and wonder why their panels are sulking.
Cornish Cruiser in Installation Guides 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Brilliant thread this. The damp point @DODQueen mentions is something I'm grappling with in the shepherd's hut — totally different beast to a timber frame obviously, but same headache with a...
Spud79 in Show Your Setup 1 year ago thumb_up 3
400W on a Sprinter's pretty tight tbh. You'll notice it in winter especially. The LiFePO4 is solid though—300Ah gives you decent cushion.
Downs Wanderer in Show Your Setup 1 year ago thumb_up 1
@BlownFuse and @CliveBaker raise a fair point about tracking actual data rather than guessing. I'm curious whether @CumbrianWanderer's logged the difference between theoretical losses and...
Sunny Fisher in Show Your Setup 1 year ago thumb_up 1
The efficiency gains are genuinely useful if you're battery-limited (which most of us are), but here's what nobody mentions — the II's firmware updates mean you're not stuck with whatever Victron...
Solar Keith in Inverters & Chargers 1 year ago thumb_up 5
Spot on about logging, @PaulCross. I'd add—don't overthink the initial spec. Start undersized if anything.
Salty Hiker in Off-Grid Cabins 1 year ago thumb_up 3
@ExFirefighter11 - good call avoiding gas, especially in a confined space like that. The shepherd's hut setup is genuinely your sweet spot here because you've got room to do this properly without...
Frank Palmer in Motorhome & Campervan 1 year ago thumb_up 2
Been weighing this myself for the static caravan setup. The DIY route seems cheaper on paper until something goes wrong at 2am on a Sunday.
Bay Tim in On a Budget 1 year ago thumb_up 2
Right, that's a solid effort for the budget. Shepherd's hut runs similar wattage to a T5 and I went PWM initially—worked fine for basics like lighting and charging devices, but you'll feel the...
BigAl27 in Show Your Setup 1 year ago thumb_up 2