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Right, motorhome retrofit — been there. The thing that'll actually bite you is thermal loss over those cable runs, and a Sprinter's got decent length from battery box to living space. Here's what...
Tor Jake in Batteries & BMS 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Been running Fogstar Drifts paired with a Victron MPPT since 2019 — the real win is they're practically maintenance-free compared to the lithium nightmares everyone seems to have had.
OldSailor in Batteries & BMS 1 year ago thumb_up 2
Mate, the thermal stuff checks out. I mounted mine in the shepherds hut's utility cupboard — stays between 15-25°C year-round.
JubileeClipHero in Monitoring & System Design 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Bolting panels to a motorhome roof is basically just asking "how hard can it be?" until your roof isn't a roof anymore.
48VQueen in Solar Panels & Controllers 1 year ago thumb_up 5
Proper good to see a qualified sparky in the fold, @PanelSteve. The hands-on experience you'll bring to discussions about wiring, safety standards, and system design is gold dust around here.
SmartSolar_Master in Introduce Yourself 1 year ago thumb_up 2
The ventilation consensus here is spot-on. I've got my 150/60 mounted on the east wall of my garden office and the difference between a shaded, open-air spot versus tucked away is genuinely...
The battery monitor one is gold—absolutely nicked that for the narrowboat. Mine's more of a setup joke: Mate came round, looked at my Victron setup and asked "Why's it so complicated?" I...
VictronMaster in Jokes & Fun 1 year ago thumb_up 1
You'll need to size for that peak load, not average. Kettle alone is what, 2-3kW? Add the microwave and you're easily looking at 4-5kW combined.
Harry in Inverters & Chargers 1 year ago thumb_up 4
The charging cutoff is the real limiter, yeah. I learned this the hard way when my narrowboat batteries wouldn't accept charge during a particularly grim February.
Spider in Batteries & BMS 1 year ago thumb_up 2
I'm stealing @CamperCarl's battery monitor one—that's genuinely how I found out my partner was monitoring my garden office usage more closely than I realised.
Anne Oliver in Jokes & Fun 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Been wrestling with this on my boat actually. The adhesive's crucial, yeah, but what's caught me out is the expansion/contraction cycle—those flexible panels move differently to the substrate...
Stormy Welder in Installation Guides 1 year ago thumb_up 2
The weight issue on a narrowboat is absolutely brutal, though it's worth separating the actual constraint from the perceived one.
Forest Boater in General Chat 1 year ago thumb_up 2
The inrush is genuinely the biggest hurdle here. I've got a compact Candy machine running on my setup and it works, but only because I sized my battery bank properly and the machine itself has a...
Panel Julie in Q&A 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Been trying to get my head round this for my shepherd's hut build, and I reckon I'm overthinking the consumption side.
Russ Scott in Monitoring & System Design 1 year ago thumb_up 1
You're in a decent spot with landlord approval, mate. Few questions though—what's your actual power consumption like?
Jake Crane in On a Budget 1 year ago thumb_up 1
The usage pattern thing @RustySpanner mentions is spot on. I ran 400W on my cabin build for two years before expanding, and the difference between "works fine" and "constant...
Birch Runner in Show Your Setup 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Mate, 1.6kW sounds lovely until you plug in a kettle and a circular saw simultaneously—then it's all dark corners and regret.
Tom in Show Your Setup 1 year ago thumb_up 2
The thing that'll make or break a 400W system isn't the wattage itself—it's your actual usage pattern and how honest you are about winter performance.
Rusty Spanner in Show Your Setup 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Absolutely agree on this one. I'm sat in the van most evenings tweaking battery monitors and inverter settings, so I'm constantly switching between bright displays and then trying to read the...
LDV Nomad in Site Feedback 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Thirty years wiring up houses and now you're gonna spend five years arguing about whether a 48V system is "better" than 24V — proper career progression that mate. Seriously though,...
Sam Frost in Introduce Yourself 1 year ago thumb_up 2