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@Chalky mine lives in the battery bay of my tiny house and I've basically accepted that a Fogstar doing bulk charge is just a little electric radiator with delusions of grandeur — worth checking...
Quiet Hiker in Q&A 5 months ago
FrostySailor | 234 posts @GlenDoug makes a fair point on terminology. That said, I've seen the SmartSolar exhibit odd behaviour post-update where it misreads the battery voltage and enters float...
Frosty Sailor in Q&A 5 months ago thumb_up 2
GoldenMechanic | Posts: 156 | Location: Array | Interests: emergency_backup, van_conversion, garden_office Had this exact headache with my garden office setup.
Golden Mechanic in Inverters & Chargers 5 months ago thumb_up 8
IslandCruiser | 203 posts Had something similar last winter in my static — woke up to find the Fogstar had cut charging overnight when temps dropped sharply.
Island Cruiser in Batteries & BMS 5 months ago thumb_up 9
LakelandSolar | ⚡ 847 posts | Cumbria @NotAnElectrician48 welcome to the forum! Yes, unfortunately this catches a lot of people out.
Lakeland Solar in Q&A 5 months ago thumb_up 5
Something I noticed running between my motorhome and the narrowboat is that ambient temperature plays a huge role in how differently the two BMS units behave — especially on cold mornings. The...
Forest Jenny in Motorhome & Campervan 5 months ago thumb_up 6
Been down this exact rabbit hole on my narrowboat before moving to a van conversion — ran a Victron Orion-Tr Smart alongside an old VSR for about four months while I built confidence in the DC-DC...
Stormy Socket in Motorhome & Campervan 5 months ago thumb_up 6
CliffWill | 134 posts @Compo89 Curious — are you using any external cell monitoring on top of the BMS?
Cliff Will in Q&A 5 months ago thumb_up 7
SarahClark75 | 📍 Shropshire | ⚡ Solar since 2021 @UWW_Power I've got a similar pairing here — three 190W panels from a brand I'd never heard of before purchase, running into a Victron SmartSolar...
Sarah Clark in Solar Panels & Controllers 5 months ago thumb_up 9
@NotAnElectrician48 great setup to start with, but yes — this is the AGM reality that catches everyone out.
Lakeland Nomad in Q&A 5 months ago thumb_up 6
Swapped out a knock-off MPPT for a Victron 100/30 in my van last year and honestly it paid for itself in recovered charge cycles before I'd even finished the second brew. 🍵
Lefty72 in General Chat 5 months ago thumb_up 4
Good shout from @Dizzy there. One thing worth flagging specifically for your setup @BlownFuse — with a static caravan you're not going to have an alternator in the picture, so your DC-DC charger...
Ben in DC-DC Chargers 5 months ago thumb_up 6
@DougPearce I went through almost this exact rabbit hole when I was speccing my static van build. Ended up with Fogstar and never looked back — but land installs are forgiving compared to what a...
Sprinter Convert in On a Budget 5 months ago thumb_up 6
VanCarl | Member @PaulJackson Nice one, Fogstar Drift cells are cracking value. The shore power compatibility issue is a really common headache with LiFePO4 conversions on boats. The usual...
Van Carl in Marine & Boat 5 months ago thumb_up 8
CoastalCamper | 203 posts Running something similar in my van, so take this with a pinch of salt for a cabin setup — but the lesson transfers nicely. The woodburner is your winter backup.
Coastal Camper in Off-Grid Cabins 5 months ago thumb_up 3
HighlandExplorer | 1,203 posts Worth adding something nobody's touched on yet — ambient temperature variance across seasons dramatically affects duty cycle.
Highland Explorer in Motorhome & Campervan 5 months ago thumb_up 9
@DustyHiker I've been doing exactly this for three winters now with my motorhome parked up in Yorkshire. Flat-mounted 200W Renogy, same as yours.
RetiredNurse58 in Q&A 5 months ago thumb_up 9
Woke up on the cut last week to -3°C and my 200Ah 12V bank decided it fancied a lie-in — BMS locked out, wouldn't accept charge from the Victron until the cabin warmed up past about 8°C. Running a...
Lazy Fisher in Batteries & BMS 5 months ago
Wendy1968 | Posts: 2,156 @Davo83 Lovely setup! One thing worth mentioning that I haven't seen others cover yet - with the 12/3000 you'll really want to keep an eye on your battery cable sizing.
Wendy in Inverters & Chargers 5 months ago thumb_up 4
BenWebb | 203 posts @BenKing80 Worth doing a proper load calculation before committing to anything. Grab a plug-in energy monitor (about £12 on Amazon) and run your typical setup for a full day...
Ben Webb in Garden Offices 5 months ago thumb_up 9