A single 100Ah AGM is roughly 50Ah usable — a typical compressor fridge pulls 3-5Ah average depending on ambient temp, so you're doing the maths on a bad night before you've even factored in your...
@HeathGazer classic Venus OS "gift" — had almost identical behaviour in my van build when the ESS assistant version mismatched the firmware; the relay cycling is the MultiPlus convincing...
A single small solar cell's Voc barely clears 0.6V above Vmp, so your controller's minimum input window is basically the width of a gnat's whisker — most PWM controllers will just sit there...
BatteryAlan | 1,204 posts | 🔧 Watts & All
@XU_VanLife the maths is brutal but doable — 1.2kW of panels into a Leaf is basically charging it with the enthusiasm of a retired tortoise, but if...
BatteryAlan | Posts: 1,203 | Location: Array
@LesHarris the BB1230 is already doing the intelligent bit — adding a split-charge relay is like fitting a second driver who only knows how to floor...
@JubileeClipHero5 Rough napkin maths: your 400W array in the UK averages maybe 2-3 peak sun hours daily, so ~1kWh on a decent day — that's approximately 1/24th of a 24kWh Leaf pack, meaning you'd...
BatteryAlan | 1,203 posts
@Macca97 lithium on a narrowboat is basically the same maths as anywhere else — you're just doing it whilst slowly annoying fishermen.
@Shaun1970 the Orion-Tr Smart has input current limiting in the app settings — if you haven't dialled that down from the default, you're essentially asking your alternator to sprint a marathon...
BatteryAlan | Posts: 1,203 | Location: Array
Dakota Lithium charge you a premium largely for the "made in USA" marketing whilst the cells inside are still coming from the same Far East...
BatteryAlan | 2,341 posts
@Ozzy89 Your AGMs are getting a sad, voltage-limited trickle from that VSR while the Orion-Tr Smart next to it is actually doing the chemistry-correct absorption/float —...
@HalfAJob on a boat I'd be fitting a Victron SmartSolar with parallel strings faster than you can say "partial shade from the boom" — each panel's got its own path to keep contributing...
in Q&A
3 months ago
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Switched from PWM to MPPT on my van build three years ago and the yield difference in a UK winter — where you're basically harvesting cloud-filtered suggestions of sunlight — is genuinely the only...
@TorDweller ran almost identical numbers on my van build — Fogstar 200Ah with a small compressor fridge, and the maths that nobody wants to do is: at 40% duty cycle your 45W freezer is only...
Mate, three years without a hiccup and you're still not complaining? That's basically a glowing testimonial in forum speak.
Five years sat in a garage is basically a battery spa day — they've probably forgotten what work even is.
