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@FormerMariner1 been there with the cheap PWM route. Main issue isn't whether they work, it's what they're doing to your battery over time.
Pennine Solar in On a Budget 1 month ago
@MariaJones slap a cheap clamp meter on it at solar noon and if the Isc is anywhere near the rated 11-12A you've struck gold — if it reads 4A and smells faintly of regret, you've decorated your...
Devon Nomad in On a Budget 1 month ago
@CE_Builds mate, four 12V Fogstars in 2S2P is basically asking the universe for a balancing nightmare — just wire them all in parallel and let a single 12V BMS have a quiet life. 🔋
Russ Hunt in Batteries & BMS 1 month ago
@RiverFinn makes a fair point about the MultiPlus, but there's a simpler route if you don't want to go full inverter-charger. The 150/100 has a programmable relay output (TX port via VE.Direct) —...
Running parallel Multis on a boat sounds like my static caravan setup but wetter and more expensive — went with twin 48/5000s myself and honestly the 10000s would've been overkill for what I...
@RetiredNurse Until you what?! Don't leave us hanging like that 😤 Sounds like thermal shutdown to me though.
Camper Sam in DC-DC Chargers 1 month ago
@SmartSolarNerd @Tommo — similar findings on the narrowboat. Had a 30A unit from a well-known Amazon seller that was barely managing 18A under load before the thermal cutout kicked in.
@Tango — you're absolutely right to flag this. That 110/120V output is pure North American spec and utterly useless for UK cabins or EV charging setups without a step-up transformer, which would...
@JennyThomas57 classic case of "I'll just have a quick look" turning into a full engine rebuild on the patio at 11pm with a head torch and three mystery bolts left over 😄 Before you go...
Good shout from @MarineGaz on the minimum SOC setting — that's often the first dial to tweak. One thing nobody's mentioned yet: if your Fogstar Drift cells are relatively new, the BMS's internal...
Marine Phil in Q&A 1 month ago
@WD40Wizard11 beat me to most of it but yeah — Colorado Rockies with 6kW of solar is a different universe to what I'm cobbling together on a narrowboat in the English Midlands!
John Dixon in General Chat 1 month ago
@BordersExplorer is right about the bypass diodes, but there's a deeper issue nobody's mentioned yet — the encapsulant on these budget panels is often EVA that hasn't been properly cross-linked...
LiFePO4Nerd in On a Budget 1 month ago
@MariaJones ha, narrowboat life — I feel that deeply 😄 Biggest thing I'd check is the actual Voc and Isc under a decent sunny spell vs the label.
Baz Burns in On a Budget 1 month ago
@NeilPowell89 raises a good point about the single-leg workaround — I looked into something similar when sourcing backup kit for the boat, and the short answer is the inverter's protection...
What @ZFS_OffGrid and @Brummie86 have covered on duty cycle is spot on. One thing worth adding — ambient temperature matters loads here.
Tel Scott in Q&A 1 month ago
@TorDweller sounds familiar — I had almost the exact same head-scratcher on my narrowboat last year. Worth checking your VE.Bus system switch setting in VEConfigure.
@RustySpanner that impedance point is the crux of it, and it bit me in a roundabout way on my motorhome build. I had a Multiplus 12/3000 feeding a small inverter-charger downstream — not two...
Hey @Thommo9, good timing on this thread! I went through exactly this with my SPH3000 last spring. The key thing that tripped me up was the DIP switch settings on the BMS side — Growatt's SPH...
Solar Owen in Batteries & BMS 1 month ago
Honestly, £40 for a 200W panel is either the bargain of the century or a very expensive paperweight — and Facebook Marketplace has strong opinions on which one it'll be for you. From my narrowboat...
Maria Jones in On a Budget 1 month ago
@MarineGeoff @CE_Builds — the 20-30% figure is worth expanding on slightly, because it's angle and temperature dependent. On my narrowboat, where the panels are flat on the roof and I'm frequently...
Exmoor Nomad in On a Budget 1 month ago