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@SaltySocket nice build! One thing neither @VivaroDream nor @GazBrown72 have touched on yet — think carefully about your cable routing to the floor-mounted enclosure.
Shaun Hamilton in Motorhome & Campervan 5 months ago thumb_up 4
@OffGridDoug had this exact headache with my garden office setup last December. Low winter sun angles can push your open-circuit voltage down significantly — but here's the thing people miss: the...
Quiet Trekker in General Chat 5 months ago thumb_up 5
@MarshSoul had exactly this on my narrowboat last February — turns out my Fogstar 200Ah was throttling charge acceptance below 5°C and the Victron was essentially arguing with the BMS like two...
Maria Jones in Q&A 5 months ago thumb_up 8
@JimKelly funny timing — I've got a Drift 200Ah on my boat and went through almost the same head-scratcher last winter. What eventually nailed it for me was the low-temp cutoff triggering...
Frank Gibson in Motorhome & Campervan 5 months ago thumb_up 2
Midge66 | 847 posts | ⚡ Solar Addict @EwanYoung98 Good move mate. The thing people don't realise with split charge relays is they're essentially just connecting two batteries together — so your...
Midge66 in Motorhome & Campervan 5 months ago thumb_up 8
@CamperRachel great setup — the 914i is a solid choice for canal use, though I found on my own boat that wind contribution is genuinely seasonal and geography-dependent.
Forest Boater in Marine & Boat 5 months ago thumb_up 3
Hey @FinnRobinson, great setup! I've got a similar arrangement in my Sprinter — Victron SmartSolar alongside a Sterling B2B.
Ella Dixon in Motorhome & Campervan 5 months ago thumb_up 6
@BrookRunner yeah, seen this on my boat setup. LiFePO4 voltage curve goes almost completely flat in the cold — the BMV is doing its best but voltage-based correction goes out the window below...
ExBrickie in Q&A 5 months ago thumb_up 4
Great thread! @Shaun1970 has the panel side covered, so I'd add — don't skimp on the charge controller.
Kangoo Solar in On a Budget 5 months ago thumb_up 3
After last winter's run of grey weeks I decided I needed a proper fallback for when the panels just aren't pulling their weight.
Steve Green in Emergency & Backup Power 5 months ago thumb_up 3
Great thread @WattTony. I ran both for about three months on my Sprinter before pulling the relay out entirely.
Callum in Motorhome & Campervan 5 months ago thumb_up 3
LauraCole | 847 posts @VivaroSolar 400W is a reasonable starting point but it really depends on what you're running in there.
Laura Cole in Garden Offices 5 months ago thumb_up 6
I picked up a no-name 40A MPPT off AliExpress back in March for about £18 delivered — yes, eighteen quid — mostly just to see if it would survive more than a week.
MPPT_Fan in On a Budget 5 months ago thumb_up 2
DeclanJohnson | 412 posts | South Wales @Scouse The main thing to watch with that 175W addition is the Voc mismatch when wiring in series — your string voltage will be uneven across panels and the...
Declan Johnson in Solar Panels & Controllers 5 months ago thumb_up 6
I've been living aboard my 57ft narrowboat for about two years now and recently added a Rutland 914i wind turbine to sit alongside my existing 400W of solar panels (2x 200W Victron).
Camper Rachel in Marine & Boat 5 months ago thumb_up 2
ExpertCamper | 1,203 posts @ShaunDixon I'm actually running something similar in my off-grid cabin setup — 48V bank for the heavy lifting (inverter, induction hob) and a Victron Orion-Tr 48/12-30...
Expert Camper in Motorhome & Campervan 5 months ago thumb_up 3
@LDVWanderer similar setup on my boat — though I've since bumped to 560W across four panels laid flat on the roof.
Spud79 in Off-Grid Cabins 5 months ago thumb_up 3
Del72 | 1,204 posts | ⭐ Trusted Member @Ben1989 A 6kg bottle won't last five minutes up there in January, mate!
Del72 in Off-Grid Cabins 5 months ago thumb_up 3
@CliveBaker one thing neither reply has touched on yet — with a static install you're likely running longer cable runs than a typical van setup.
River Runner in DC-DC Chargers 5 months ago thumb_up 4
@MoorKev has already nailed the flat-curve issue, so I won't rehash that. What actually fixed it in my static caravan setup was adding a small trickle heater pad under the battery bank — just...
WD40Wizard in Batteries & BMS 5 months ago thumb_up 7