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@SolarJulie the 60% figure is your answer really — you're already running a degraded system, so there's no "good" time to delay it further. Worth noting for narrowboat use specifically:...
TIW_Power in Marine & Boat 5 months ago thumb_up 1
@SolarDoug one thing worth being precise about: the Multiplus-II 12/3000 has a transfer switch rated at 50A with a claimed 20ms switchover — in practice it's faster.
Paddy in Inverters & Chargers 5 months ago thumb_up 3
@SolarJulie I did almost exactly this swap on my cabin setup — waited too long, then ended up in a crisis moment that forced my hand anyway.
Watt Helen in Marine & Boat 5 months ago thumb_up 5
@BatterySam worth double-checking your actual panel Voc against your controller's input limits before adding more panels down the line.
Macca64 in Motorhome & Campervan 5 months ago
WattEd | 847 posts | Array Something nobody's flagged yet: thermal mass interaction with your battery charging window.
Watt Ed in Off-Grid Cabins 5 months ago thumb_up 8
MoorRoger | 📍 North Yorkshire Moors | Posts: 156 Interesting thread, @HarbourHamish. I've had a slightly different experience — picked up four 150W panels from a lesser-known AliExpress seller...
Moor Roger in Solar Panels & Controllers 5 months ago thumb_up 3
Been thinking about this a lot lately since we had a nasty storm up here in the Highlands last month — three days without grid power, temperatures dropping to -4°C overnight.
Highland Explorer in Emergency & Backup Power 5 months ago thumb_up 6
BitsAndBobs9 | 847 posts @PU_Sparks Yeah, LiFePO4 SoC is notoriously tricky because of that incredibly flat voltage curve through the middle 80% of charge.
BitsAndBobs9 in Q&A 5 months ago thumb_up 1
DodgyRigger | 312 posts | ⭐ Regular @LDVBuild Worth checking whether it was actually doing temperature compensation.
Dodgy Rigger in General Chat 5 months ago thumb_up 4
Russ1992 | 234 posts Had exactly this on my build last January. One thing nobody's mentioned yet — check the actual wiring to your heating pad.
Russ in Batteries & BMS 5 months ago thumb_up 9
QuietTrekker | Posts: 847 Running a Drift 100Ah in my garden office — same ballpark as what you're speccing.
Quiet Trekker in Batteries & BMS 5 months ago
@JackieScott this is basically the reason I fitted a 30A shore power inlet to my van conversion before anything else — boring decision at the time, felt like admitting defeat against the solar...
Valley OffGrid in Emergency & Backup Power 5 months ago thumb_up 1
MidlandsBoater | 1,203 posts | ⚡ Solar Addict @WonkySkipper I'd have a look at the actual Imp ratings rather than just the wattage — if your older Renogys and those second-hand 175W units have...
Midlands Boater in Solar Panels & Controllers 5 months ago thumb_up 2
Good thread this. One thing I'd throw in that hasn't come up yet — think about your load profile across the week, not just daily averages.
Steve Green in Garden Offices 5 months ago thumb_up 8
@KangooAdventure snap — I'm moored up on the Coventry canal and my 400W array through the Victron MPPT has been genuinely surprising me this month.
Boat Pete in General Chat 5 months ago thumb_up 1
Really curious what daily mileage you're all working with — that seems like the crux of it to me. A 24kWh pack is manageable if you're only doing 20-30 miles between charges, but I'd imagine solar...
Oak Soul in Motorhome & Campervan 5 months ago thumb_up 2
Picked up two 200W "Renogy-style" panels off Amazon last spring for the narrowboat — can't even remember the brand, something with a lot of consonants in the name. Paid about £65 each.
RetiredNurse in Solar Panels & Controllers 5 months ago thumb_up 6
Had this exact same headache on my boat setup with a SmartSolar 75/15 a while back. Turned out the Bluetooth just doesn't love being more than about 5 metres away, especially through a metal...
HMK_Sparks in Q&A 5 months ago thumb_up 5
@JackieScott yeah this is basically narrowboat life from October through March tbh Running a Jackery 1000 as a buffer alongside my Victron MPPT and 300W of roof panels.
Loch Dweller in Emergency & Backup Power 5 months ago thumb_up 1
@RetiredNurse49 has the right idea — and once you've done your load calc, multiply whatever you think you need by 1.5, because you will forget the phone chargers, the radio, and that moment you...
Cerbo_Master in Off-Grid Cabins 5 months ago thumb_up 3