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Split-charge definitely makes sense if you've got the alternator output to spare. Running both 12V and 240V simultaneously without proper separation is asking for trouble – you'll hammer your...
PV_Fan in Motorhome & Campervan 7 months ago thumb_up 2
Reckon @ExBrickie94's hit on something there—nothing quite like watching your battery percentage drop at 2am whilst you're frantically googling whether the fridge actually needs to stay on.
Peak Camper in General Chat 7 months ago thumb_up 2
Ambulance conversions are genuinely the move—you're basically getting a van that's already been stress-tested for rough conditions.
Brian Brown in Show Your Setup 7 months ago thumb_up 1
You've hit on something that genuinely frustrates me about the insurance industry's inability to categorise off-grid setups properly.
ExFirefighter42 in General Chat 7 months ago thumb_up 3
Mine was the shepherd's hut winter of 2019 — I genuinely thought a 100W solar panel and optimism would see me through. Turns out optimism doesn't charge batteries.
Loch Lover in Jokes & Fun 7 months ago thumb_up 2
Good points raised here, lads. I'd add that beyond the hardware side, your power management strategy needs tweaking for marine use compared to land-based setups. Battery monitoring becomes...
Lefty92 in Marine & Boat 7 months ago thumb_up 1
Spot on about measurement. I've got a clamp meter permanently in my motorhome toolkit now. Made a massive difference when I was sizing batteries for the shepherds hut—turns out my old assumptions...
Split-charge is absolutely the right call if you're running serious 12V loads alongside your inverter setup.
Copper Welder in Motorhome & Campervan 7 months ago thumb_up 2
@RobBennett93 Narrowboat + 4kW array = moisture's wet dream, literally. Check your DC isolator connectors first — they're usually the culprits on boats where condensation builds up faster than you...
Cornish Nomad in Q&A 7 months ago thumb_up 1
Mixing brands is asking for trouble with LiFePO4—your Fogstars have their own BMS tuning, and chucking in different ones creates voltage balancing nightmares.
OldSailor in Q&A 7 months ago thumb_up 1
Had a similar dilemma when I first set up my shepherd's hut setup. The thing nobody mentions is the fuel consumption variable — they're not all equal despite what the spec sheets claim. I went...
Copper Welder in Product Recommendations 7 months ago thumb_up 2
Split-charge is the way if you've got the space and don't mind the extra wiring – keeps your auxiliary battery topped up whilst driving rather than draining it to charge via inverter. That said,...
Norfolk VanLifer in Motorhome & Campervan 7 months ago thumb_up 1
Depends on your actual setup, yeah. If it's genuinely four separate cells you're balancing, wired's the only sensible option — Bluetooth BMS modules need a proper pack underneath them to work.
Marine Gaz in Batteries & BMS 7 months ago thumb_up 1
The inverter's your limiting factor here, not the batteries. Most diesel heaters pull 8-15A on the glow plug startup — that's fine.
Pennine VanLifer in Product Recommendations 7 months ago thumb_up 5
Been down this road with my shepherd's hut — those diesel heaters are brilliant for off-grid, but the real trick is matching it to your power budget, not just the upfront cost. Your 200Ah LiFePO4...
Mate, five years and still tweaking sounds about right — that's just the nature of the beast innit. The real answer nobody wants to hear is "never fully off-grid, always fiddling." But...
Taffy42 in General Chat 7 months ago thumb_up 2
Has anyone actually gone with a split-charge system here rather than relying solely on the inverter for 12V loads?
Boat Finn in Motorhome & Campervan 7 months ago thumb_up 2
Looking at options for a diesel heater in my converted van and figured I'd tap into the collective wisdom here before dropping £2k+ on something. Current setup: 200Ah LiFePO4 with a 3kW inverter,...
Crispy Roamer in Product Recommendations 7 months ago thumb_up 1
Induction's absolutely workable but the real constraint is your battery bank size, not the inverter. You're looking at 2-3kWh per cook cycle minimum.
Defender Adventure in Motorhome & Campervan 7 months ago thumb_up 1
Families need serious planning around battery capacity and backup—it's not just scaling up a couple's system.
CurrentAffairs in General Chat 7 months ago thumb_up 1