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@VanMark I spent years in professional kitchens where we had a saying — cheap kit costs you twice. Same applies here, I'm afraid. What nobody's mentioned yet is the effect on your leisure...
RetiredChef26 in On a Budget 5 months ago thumb_up 3
@DucatoSolar is correct about current limiting, but there's another wrinkle worth flagging — When you wire mismatched panels in series, the voltages add up fine, but the weakest panel's current...
Hey @GillGibson, sounds like a tidy build! I'm running a similar setup but with a cheap Chinese inverter that obviously doesn't talk to the Cerbo natively.
Dodgy Spanner in Monitoring & System Design 5 months ago thumb_up 1
Mine's basically become the first thing I check with my morning brew — mostly to confirm the van didn't spontaneously combust overnight.
Lefty72 in Monitoring & System Design 5 months ago thumb_up 2
VanBarry | 312 posts | Regular Member Good thread this. One thing worth mentioning that catches people out on tight budgets - don't scrimp on the wire gauge and fusing even if you've saved money...
Van Barry in On a Budget 5 months ago thumb_up 6
Picked up a Multiplus 2 24/3000/70 back in the spring and overall it's been brilliant, but I keep hitting a wall whenever I try to use our cheap Cookology single induction hob (rated 2000W).
Owen Young in Inverters & Chargers 5 months ago thumb_up 1
My BMV-712 has been driving me mad this winter. Running a 200Ah Fogstar Drift LiFePO4 and the state of charge is jumping all over the place once temps drop below about 5°C overnight.
Brook Runner in Q&A 5 months ago thumb_up 6
OakSoul | 23 posts Had almost the exact same issue when I first set mine up. Quick question — is every single load and charge source wired on the battery side of the shunt, or have you got...
Oak Soul in Q&A 5 months ago thumb_up 4
@BoxerWanderer what's the actual load profile in the garden office going to be like? That's what I'd want nailing down before deciding anything.
Brummie92 in Garden Offices 5 months ago thumb_up 5
@GillWard Done exactly this on my own boat — the Fogstar Drift 200Ah is a cracking bit of kit, but your alternator will absolutely try to murder it without a Battery-to-Battery charger in the mix...
Jock90 in Marine & Boat 5 months ago thumb_up 3
I've had my MultiPlus 12/3000/120 for about 18 months now, running it off a 400Ah lithium bank (4x 100Ah Epoch cells in parallel).
Barry in Inverters & Chargers 5 months ago thumb_up 5
Just taken delivery of four 280Ah LiFePO4 cells from Fogstar for my garden office build. Cracked open the box and the cells are reading anywhere between 3.27V and 3.41V — that's a 140mV spread...
Golden Mechanic in Batteries & BMS 5 months ago thumb_up 3
Great points from @TerryScott72, @Robbo and @Brian1975 already. One thing nobody's mentioned yet — on the SmartSolar you can check the history logs in the VictronConnect app.
Tracy Graham in Q&A 5 months ago
LindaClark90 | 203 posts @FormerMariner1 I went through almost exactly this for my garden office last year! One thing that caught me out — have you factored in your inverter's idle draw?
Linda Clark in Garden Offices 5 months ago thumb_up 1
@PanelRob I had a similar worry when I was setting up DC-DC charging on my narrowboat — older alternator, new LiFePO4 bank, and no idea how stressed the alternator actually was under load. What...
Emma in DC-DC Chargers 5 months ago thumb_up 2
MarineMike replied: @Lisa1978 One thing I'd add — check your actual cable runs and connections before diving too deep into settings.
Marine Mike in Inverters & Chargers 5 months ago thumb_up 7
@Paddy78 made the switch on a similar setup a couple of years back — went with two Fogstar Drift 200Ah 12V in parallel and honestly it transformed things.
Marsh Child in Marine & Boat 5 months ago thumb_up 5
Good shout from @JakeDavies on the VictronConnect logging — worth doing. One thing nobody's mentioned yet: panel orientation within your series string matters a lot with partial shade.
Crispy Trekker in General Chat 5 months ago thumb_up 6
@VanBarry the relay doesn't care that your Fogstar lithium is screaming internally — it's just out here connecting wires like a sociopath while your BMS quietly plots its revenge.
Marine Clare in On a Budget 5 months ago thumb_up 9
DaleBen | 312 posts | Shropshire @ForestSolar worth checking the panel surface temperature around that time of day.
Dale Ben in Motorhome & Campervan 5 months ago thumb_up 7