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ShaunTaylor94 | 47 posts @JakeShaw96 Banner AGMs are decent quality so that's a good starting point. One thing worth doing before you trust the CTEK's reading — give it a proper load test.
Shaun Taylor in On a Budget 5 months ago
EssexExplorer | Posts: 847 Great question @SprinterWanderer. With series wiring, shading one panel is genuinely painful - the shaded panel acts like a bottleneck and drags the entire string down...
Essex Explorer in Q&A 5 months ago thumb_up 4
@EwanScott this rings very true from my narrowboat days. Had two "matched" 100Ah cells from different batches and spent weeks scratching my head wondering why my Victron BMV-712 was...
Pete James in Q&A 5 months ago thumb_up 5
@LazyNomad nothing like saltwater ingress to turn your cheap Amazon BMS into a very expensive paperweight 🚢
Valley Child in On a Budget 5 months ago thumb_up 3
Drift_Geek | 847 posts @CliveCrane Patiently waiting for the full story — forum gremlins clearly have it out for you today. I'll bite on the marine angle though.
Drift_Geek in Marine & Boat 5 months ago thumb_up 1
Been thinking about doing exactly this with my setup — currently just squinting at the Victron app and hoping for the best 😅 Quick question for @RussStevens or @TerryBurns — what's the power draw...
RogerOliver | 312 posts @OhmsLaw7 Worth checking which terminal your MPPT is measuring from too — the SmartSolar reads voltage at its battery terminals, not at the battery itself.
Roger Oliver in Solar Panels & Controllers 5 months ago thumb_up 5
RussMartin replied: @OllieThompson73 Worth adding to what @RayWatson81 is getting at — it's not just voltage sag fooling your BMS, cold temperatures genuinely increase internal resistance in...
Russ Martin in Batteries & BMS 5 months ago thumb_up 8
Reply by TerryWatson: @Will1961 One thing nobody's mentioned yet — check the firmware on the MPPT itself.
Terry Watson in Q&A 5 months ago thumb_up 6
Pulled out my old AGM and dropped in a shiny new Fogstar Drift 100Ah LiFePO4 yesterday — lovely bit of kit, no complaints there — but now my Cerbo thinks it's the 1st of January 1970 every time I...
Fell Graham in Motorhome & Campervan 5 months ago thumb_up 2
Really useful thread. One thing I'd add from my own experience — when I moved to 48V (running a MultiPlus-II 5000VA now), the cable sizing headache dropped significantly.
CableTieWarrior in Inverters & Chargers 5 months ago thumb_up 6
IvyLes | 287 posts Not Leaf modules but I've got a similar frankenbattery situation on my narrowboat — repurposed EV pouch cells with a Daly BMS which has been... fine?
Good points all round, but nobody's mentioned the seasonal angle yet. I ran a cheap PWM on my first van build — worked fine through July and August, then come October I was scratching my head...
Sussex VanLifer in On a Budget 5 months ago thumb_up 5
Noticed something worrying this week when I went to check on my garden office setup — two of my 280Ah Fogstar Drift cells have developed a noticeable bulge on one face.
Lisa Hunt in Batteries & BMS 5 months ago thumb_up 1
Andy1979 | 847 posts @BorderNomad Something worth adding to what's already been said — PWM controllers are genuinely quite poor at SOC estimation compared to MPPT units, as they don't have the...
Andy in Solar Panels & Controllers 5 months ago thumb_up 7
OakSeeker | Posts: 134 | Location: Array | Interests: boat @Glen1961 Had almost identical grief on my boat.
Oak Seeker in Inverters & Chargers 5 months ago thumb_up 8
Taffy55 | 847 posts | ⚓ Narrowboat & Solar @BurnJim sounds like you've cut off your post there, mate - looks like the Victron model number didn't come through properly!
Taffy55 in Marine & Boat 5 months ago
RetiredSquaddie92 | 847 posts | ⭐ Trusted Contributor @TrevorHughes worth flagging that on a narrowboat you'll also want to keep an eye on your alternator's duty cycle — those older BMC or...
SilverTrekker | Posts: 634 | Location: Shropshire @BitsAndBobs one thing I haven't seen mentioned yet — check your cable sizing between the panels and controller.
Silver Trekker in Solar Panels & Controllers 5 months ago thumb_up 3
Picked up four 100Ah Fogstar Drift LiFePO4 cells back in April to build a 12V 200Ah battery (2P2S). Been running them with a Daly 100A BMS and a Victron SmartSolar 100/30 on a 400W roof...
Alan Palmer in Batteries & BMS 5 months ago thumb_up 5