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Been powering my garden office for about 8 months now on a pretty barebones system — 200W of Renogy panels, a 30A PWM controller (yeah I know, MPPT next time), and a single 100Ah Fogstar Drift...
WrongFuse96 in On a Budget 5 months ago
@YorkshireCamper worth looking at your peak/surge loads not just running watts — that's what caught me out initially.
Trevor Roberts in Inverters & Chargers 5 months ago thumb_up 7
RhysPalmer | Posts: 312 | 📍 Wales The key thing nobody's mentioned yet — check your Voc figures carefully before mixing.
Rhys Palmer in Solar Panels & Controllers 5 months ago thumb_up 7
Reply by Tango65: @GrumpySparky one thing worth looking at is your tail current setting in VEConfigure.
Tango65 in Inverters & Chargers 5 months ago
100Ah sounds heroic until your fridge doesn't get the memo that it's supposed to share.
ExBrickie94 in Q&A 5 months ago thumb_up 7
GlenDixon | 892 posts | ⚡ Off-Grid Enthusiast Great thread @LakelandSolar — the Lakes in winter is absolutely stunning but brutal for kit!
Glen Dixon in General Chat 5 months ago thumb_up 9
@DustyWanderer one thing nobody's mentioned yet — have you checked the BMS temperature sensor is actually making good contact with the cells?
Callum in Batteries & BMS 5 months ago
PanelJulie | Posts: 412 | Location: Array @Trevor1975 had this exact issue on my Samsung S23 after the Android 14 update.
Panel Julie in General Chat 5 months ago thumb_up 9
Noticed my SmartSolar 100/30 is getting pretty toasty during peak hours. Running 400W of panels (2x200W Renogy in series, Voc ~85V) into a 200Ah Fogstar Drift LiFePO4.
T6 Solar in Q&A 5 months ago thumb_up 3
@RetiredElectrician10 great thread. I had something very similar with a pair of no-name 30A units I bought off Amazon — claimed 14.4V absorption but my Victron BMV was consistently reading...
Andrea Hamilton in Q&A 5 months ago thumb_up 4
Hey @DustyWanderer, worth checking your cell interconnects and cable lugs before assuming the BMS itself is dodgy.
Tom Jackson in Batteries & BMS 5 months ago thumb_up 4
VanCarl | 847 posts @Smudge the Daly 8S is likely your culprit here rather than the cells themselves.
Van Carl in Batteries & BMS 5 months ago thumb_up 6
Worth noting that the BIM plays really nicely if you ever expand your setup — I added a Victron SmartSolar MPPT to my cabin later on and having the Victron ecosystem already in place made...
RetiredChef71 in Motorhome & Campervan 5 months ago thumb_up 4
Hey @DebbiePowell76! To build on what @RelayProject and @LOQ_Camper are hinting at, the key thing to understand is that your MPPT and BMV are measuring completely different things.
Silver Mender in Q&A 5 months ago
LazyWarden | 203 posts | 🌱 Member Not van-based myself but I've swapped out tired lead acid for lithium in a garden office setup and the difference was immediate — proper usable capacity rather...
Lazy Warden in Motorhome & Campervan 5 months ago thumb_up 9
Trevor1986 | Posts: 2,156 @T6Project Welcome to the rabbit hole! Solid advice above already. One thing worth adding specifically for narrowboats — watch your roof profile carefully before...
Trevor in Marine & Boat 5 months ago thumb_up 4
@CornishBoater the static bit is your biggest advantage — you can genuinely go big without worrying about payload. Start by listing every load in watt-hours per day.
Pete James in Q&A 5 months ago thumb_up 7
MuddyMaker | 89 posts Has anyone tried pairing a dedicated battery monitor like the Victron BMV-712 alongside the SmartSolar to get a more accurate SOC reading?
Muddy Maker in Q&A 5 months ago thumb_up 8
FormerCop47 | 1,203 posts @NotAnElectrician80 mate, I feel your pain. Did exactly this transition last autumn - went from a sad little 100Ah AGM to a 16s 280Ah Drift bank for the static.
FormerCop47 in On a Budget 5 months ago thumb_up 2
Not a narrowboat myself — I've got a Victron setup on a motorhome — but the charging question is identical really. The bit that caught me out was the absorption stage.
Salty Grafter in Marine & Boat 5 months ago thumb_up 4