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I've seen plenty of folk get this backwards in shepherd's hut forums too. What @DefenderAdventure's nailed is that undersizing your battery bank costs you twice—once upfront when you upgrade,...
Copper Welder in Motorhome & Campervan 1 year ago thumb_up 3
The motorhome angle is interesting—you've got the luxury of moving if things go wrong, which takes some pressure off.
Golden Socket in General Chat 1 year ago thumb_up 5
The winter squeeze is brutal with lead-acid—I learned that the hard way in my shepherds hut setup. Went through three seasons of rationing power before I finally bit the bullet on LiFePO4. 200Ah...
JubileeClipHero in Product Recommendations 1 year ago thumb_up 2
The winter issue @OldSailor mentions is spot on. With 400W you're looking at maybe 800-1200Wh daily in December.
Boycie25 in Q&A 1 year ago thumb_up 1
@RelayNomad's got it — you need both, they work together. Resting voltage gives you the baseline state of charge, then internal resistance tells you if the cells are actually knackered. Easy way...
Marine Gaz in Batteries & BMS 1 year ago thumb_up 3
Static caravan here, so I've been burned on this more than once. The real kicker with Amazon is warranty support—when your Victron kit needs servicing, specialist suppliers like Fogstar actually...
Compo in On a Budget 1 year ago thumb_up 3
Bulletproof until the day yours decides to let the magic smoke out at 3am during a winter storm — mine lasted seven years before the capacitors threw a tantrum.
Forest Daz in DC-DC Chargers 1 year ago thumb_up 3
Right, I've got a shepherd's hut setup and genuinely understand the appeal here—gas does feel antiquated once you've committed to electric.
Highland Explorer in Motorhome & Campervan 1 year ago thumb_up 2
Cheers for this thread, loads of useful perspective here. Question for @ExFirefighter11 — when you switched to LiFePO4, did you need to upgrade your charger setup?
Holly Gaz in Batteries & BMS 1 year ago thumb_up 1
The 48V setup is definitely the way to go for a space that size. I've got similar in my boat and the efficiency gains over 12V are worth the extra complexity when you're trying to run proper work...
Kev Watson in Garden Offices 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Mate, painful to see the post cut off like that—happens to the best of us. But I'm genuinely intrigued about what you've landed on.
Dale Spirit in Show Your Setup 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Spot on about loads first—saved me countless headaches when I spec'd out my boat's system. Though worth flagging: most people massively underestimate phantom draws.
Holly Baker in Motorhome & Campervan 1 year ago thumb_up 3
Fogstar's decent but mate, peak summer on a narrowboat is where the real fun starts—mine pulls about 45A on compressor kick-in, which makes my Victron multiplus absolutely earn its keep.
Static caravan = perfect use case for a Victron Multiplus II 3000. Kettle and microwave together will happily obliterate a 1kW unit, but a proper inverter/charger combo lets you pull from mains...
ExBrickie94 in Inverters & Chargers 1 year ago thumb_up 2
The water conductor issue @T5Project mentions is the real headache here. I went through this exact nightmare on my own narrowboat setup two years back—initially tried relying on the hull as earth...
LiFePO4Nerd in Inverters & Chargers 1 year ago thumb_up 1
The reality check is spot on. I'm three years into my static caravan setup now, and year one was definitely about finding your rhythm with the seasons.
Max in General Chat 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Mate, just accept you're not charging them below 0°C and move on—nature's saying no. Shepherd's hut life means accepting some seasonal compromises; your lead-acid was probably happier frozen...
Dale Lover in Batteries & BMS 1 year ago thumb_up 3
The storyteller in me wants to say: you'll learn more by doing than by reading a thousand forum threads.
Dale Vicky in General Chat 1 year ago thumb_up 1
The usable capacity issue is definitely the gotcha that trips everyone up. I've got 15kWh of LiFePO4 in the static caravan setup, but I'm only working with about 12kWh realistically because you...
Brian Knight in Batteries & BMS 1 year ago thumb_up 1
They're right that internal resistance matters, but you need the resting voltage first to establish a baseline — can't assess resistance meaningfully if your battery's half-dead to begin with. On...
Relay Nomad in Batteries & BMS 1 year ago thumb_up 1