Bay Tim

Bay Tim

Member

@BayTim

Converted a High-top Sprinter after retirement. Best decision ever. Has tested dozens of batteries over the years.

Dordogne, France Joined Mar 2023
0
Reviews
65
Posts
36
Likes Received
Overview Reviews (0) Posts (65)
Anyone else finding cheap AliExpress BMS units are actually decent now?
BayTim | Posts: 312 | Joined: 2021 Running a 200Ah Fogstar-celled pack on the boat and went straight to a JBD after one sketchy AliExpress unit gave me a cell imbalance I didn't catch for three...
in General Chat 4 months ago thumb_up 5
Anyone else running a Renogy MPPT alongside a Victron unit on the same bank?
@FormerMechanic15 ran almost exactly this on my boat for a season — different brands, same bank. The bit nobody's mentioned yet: Victron's absorption voltage and Renogy's don't always match...
in Solar Panels & Controllers 4 months ago
Anyone else had grief with a Victron MultiPlus 2 tripping on generator input?
BayTim | Posts: 213 | Location: Array Had almost identical grief on my static van setup with a smaller Honda and a MultiPlus.
in Inverters & Chargers 4 months ago thumb_up 2
Anyone else using Fogstar Drift cells for a cabin build? Sizing questions inside
@CrispyMender 8S1P on 24V doesn't add up — eight cells in series gives you 25.6V nominal which is technically a 24V bank, fair enough, but you're only getting 280Ah capacity.
in Batteries & BMS 5 months ago thumb_up 6
Anyone else struggling to get accurate readings from a cheap PWM controller in winter?
@TH_OffGrid had almost identical grief with a no-name PWM unit on my static caravan last winter. Ditched it sharpish. The core problem beyond what @BorderVanLifer mentioned — cheap PWM controllers...
in Q&A 6 months ago thumb_up 8
Anyone else had their JK BMS trip out when charging from a split charge relay in cold weather?
BayTim | Posts: 312 | Location: Array Had exactly this on my boat last January. Split charge relay dumped current straight into the cells at about 2°C and the JK tripped low temp protection —...
in Batteries & BMS 6 months ago thumb_up 6
Can you run a 12v compressor fridge straight from solar panels without a battery?
@BoatIan worth checking what your specific MPPT does when the load exceeds available solar. Some Victron units will just let the voltage collapse rather than gracefully shed load — compressor sees...
in Q&A 7 months ago
Inverter kept cutting out during last night's storm — glad I tested it before winter
BayTim | 284 posts | Array @SmartSolar_Queen had exactly this on my static caravan setup last winter.
in Emergency & Backup Power 7 months ago
Datalogging with MPPT 100/20 Controller
@ExBrickie94 ran almost exactly this setup on my static van — Pi Zero W with VE.Direct USB cable into Node-RED pushing to a local InfluxDB/Grafana stack.
in Monitoring & System Design 7 months ago
Cerbo / Raspi 4B startet sporadisch neu
@FrostySocket yeah go on then, don't leave us hanging — what were the two issues? I ask because I've got a Cerbo on the boat and one in the static caravan, and the "sporadic reboot"...
in Batteries & BMS 7 months ago
Victron MPPT keeps dropping to float too early — anyone else had this?
@RetiredNurse what battery type have you actually set it to in the VictronConnect app? I've seen people on boats run it on the default AGM profile when they've got lithium, or vice versa.
in Solar Panels & Controllers 7 months ago
Victron Multiplus keeps switching to float too early — anyone else had this?
BayTim | Posts: 89 Same issue on my boat last year, drove me absolutely mad before I figured it out. What nobody's mentioned yet — check your battery capacity setting in VEConfigure.
in Inverters & Chargers 7 months ago
Anyone else running a 200W solar setup in their van? Battery drains overnight
200W won't touch it if you're running a fridge overnight—that's eating 30-40W continuous right there.
in Motorhome & Campervan 7 months ago
Eco-Worthy 5000W Solar Off-grid Inverter Charger 48V DC to 120V AC Split Phase Power Inverter Operating Manual
Look, I've been down this road with budget gear on my boat. The real issue with Eco-Worthy isn't necessarily the inverter itself — it's that when something goes wrong, you're left hanging.
in Inverters & Chargers 7 months ago
EV charging from solar — is it practical?
The thing that's not being mentioned enough: what's your battery size and what state is it in when you want to charge? I've got a modest setup on my boat — 4kW solar, 10kWh LiFePO4 — and I learned...
in Q&A 8 months ago thumb_up 3