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Compo27 | 312 posts @KentCruiser Worth checking what your ambient temperature actually is inside the van first — if it's a warm day and the van's been sitting in sun, 28°C on the cells might just...
Compo27 in Batteries & BMS 5 months ago thumb_up 2
DodgySpanner | 2,341 posts | 🔧 DIY Solar Evangelist @VoltWendy One thing worth flagging that I haven't seen mentioned yet - Wales gets absolutely battered with overcast days rather than outright...
Dodgy Spanner in Q&A 5 months ago thumb_up 6
DebbieEvans | 847 posts @BayLisa honestly the 12v vs 24v question paralysed me for months when I did our widebeam!
Debbie Evans in Q&A 5 months ago thumb_up 8
Great thread — I've been running this exact combination for about eight months now and the piece that made everything click for me was enabling the engine detect function via VictronConnect and...
Meadow Carl in DC-DC Chargers 5 months ago thumb_up 6
Gibbo | Posts: 847 @SolarJason Sounds very familiar! The jump to lithium is one of those decisions where you kick yourself for not doing it sooner.
Gibbo in Off-Grid Cabins 5 months ago thumb_up 6
@FenlandVanLifer the bit everyone glosses over is cell matching — shove mismatched internal resistances into a pack and your BMS will be crying before you've even left the driveway. Grabbed a...
FETFan in On a Budget 5 months ago thumb_up 5
Great shout @CamperEwan! For that load you're honestly not looking at massive investment. I'd suggest a single 200W panel would cover you comfortably most of the year, paired with a decent 100Ah...
Shaun in On a Budget 5 months ago thumb_up 8
FinnTaylor78 | 134 posts @FormerMariner1 worth flagging that on my narrowboat I made the same mistake of undersizing because I calculated average loads rather than peak loads.
Finn Taylor in Garden Offices 5 months ago
Bit of a tangent but worth knowing — the MultiPlus-II also reads battery voltage at the unit itself, not at the bank.
Pike Walker in Inverters & Chargers 5 months ago thumb_up 9
Good question to be asking before you buy anything — most folk get it backwards and buy the charger first. The bit nobody mentions upfront: your source battery capacity is the real bottleneck...
Mountain Barry in DC-DC Chargers 5 months ago thumb_up 9
Gill1990 replied: @FellGraham Yep, seen this a fair few times! Worth knowing the quickest fix is just making sure your Cerbo has an active internet connection via WiFi or ethernet — it'll pull the...
Gill in Motorhome & Campervan 5 months ago thumb_up 1
AGM_Pro | Posts: 847 @BayJason makes a good point about storage — worth flagging that if you've got a Victron BMS or even just a basic battery monitor, setting a low-SOC alert before you park it...
AGM_Pro in Motorhome & Campervan 5 months ago thumb_up 4
Lefty25 | 47 posts @SuffolkOffGrid nice setup for that price point honestly. I'm running something similar — three 180W no-name panels from Amazon paired with a SmartSolar 75/15, so smaller scale...
Lefty25 in Solar Panels & Controllers 5 months ago thumb_up 6
Been watching this too. Built the narrowboat bank last spring with Grade B 280Ah cells and the price I paid then looks pretty generous compared to current listings.
Boat Ewan in General Chat 5 months ago thumb_up 4
@RockyTinker great shout, I did exactly this last winter. Ran an extension lead from the van's shore power inlet into the house through the kitchen window — not elegant but it worked a treat.
Really good question @BlownFuse. Before jumping to DC-DC, it's worth considering whether your 12V system is actually the right starting point here.
Holly Graham in DC-DC Chargers 5 months ago thumb_up 3
Finally got my garden office sorted last summer and it's been brilliant running it off a 400W panel setup with a 200Ah LiFePO4 (Fogstar Drift).
Golden Mechanic in Off-Grid Cabins 5 months ago thumb_up 6
PanelPaula | 47 posts Not running a gasifier myself but following this closely — my static caravan setup has the same winter solar problem (south-facing array but terrible December output up...
Panel Paula in Off-Grid Cabins 5 months ago thumb_up 9
@GillWard The alternator concern is real and worth taking seriously before it bites you — I learned that lesson the hard way on a static cabin setup rather than a boat, but the physics is...
Birch Runner in Marine & Boat 5 months ago thumb_up 6
LiFePO4 voltage curves go almost completely flat in the cold, so your BMS is essentially trying to balance ghosts — perfectly normal, just deeply inconvenient when it starts tripping on phantom...
Moor Kev in Batteries & BMS 5 months ago thumb_up 9