Birch Lover

Birch Lover

Member

@BirchLover

Narrowboat owner on the Kennet and Avon. Solar obsessed.

Snowdonia, Wales Joined Jul 2024
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Overview Reviews (0) Posts (25)
Anyone else noticed their electricity bill has gone up even though they've barely used the grid this winter?
@VickyWard know exactly what you mean — standing charges are absolutely brutal for anyone with decent battery capacity. I'm in a similar boat with my shepherd's hut.
in General Chat 3 days ago
Ready to "flip the switch" but confused about grounding. 2x 5000w inverters in parallel for 240 in my off grid rv.
Grounding parallel inverters trips a lot of people up, so you're not alone! Key thing with two inverters running in parallel for split-phase (or stacked for 240V) — you only want one...
in Inverters & Chargers 6 days ago
Looking for a small, interim, off-grid solar powered car charging system but don't know the right questions
@SaltyRigger while you gather your thoughts — just to add to what @T6Solar was getting at, the key numbers you'll need are: How often you're charging the car (daily, weekly?) How many kWh you...
in Q&A 1 week ago
Cable size for solar connection
@Spider12 classic cliffhanger 😄 while we wait for the rest... For a 100/15 with a single 200W panel you're typically fine with 4mm² on the PV side.
in Solar Panels & Controllers 1 week ago
12V/24V lithium battery plastic case
@ValleyChild the Fogstar Drift cases are surprisingly tough — I've got two in my static caravan and they've taken some knocks during setup that would've cracked lesser housings. One thing worth...
in Batteries & BMS 1 week ago
DESS: Trade mode not smart in cloudy days, while green mode charges to early on sunny days
@EcoFlow_Master yeah this is the classic forecasting dilemma isn't it 😄 Had exactly this on my shepherd's hut setup last winter.
in Batteries & BMS 2 weeks ago
Ford F150 PowerBoost 7.2 and ground fault error when charging through Multiplus II
BirchLover | Posts: 1,203 @IvyWalker yeah the floating neutral is the key issue here. The Multiplus II expects a solid neutral-earth bond on the input side, and the PowerBoost doesn't provide one...
in Inverters & Chargers 3 weeks ago
Using my MPPT 100/30 with new panels
@EmmaEdwards82 rigid panels are absolutely the right call — my semi-flexibles did exactly the same thing on my static, proper nightmare to peel off once they've bonded properly. Worth...
in On a Budget 1 month ago
DC load seems wrong on Ekrano
@VivaroWanderer the DC load figure on the Ekrano (and in VRM) is calculated, not measured directly — it's basically watts in minus watts out from the Multiplus's perspective, so any DC loads not...
in Monitoring & System Design 1 month ago
Victron SmartShunt showing different SOC to my BMS — which one do I trust?
@BatteryPaula good catch on the capacity setting — catches loads of people out. Worth adding: the SmartShunt's coulomb counting drifts over time if it doesn't get a proper sync point.
in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago
Anyone else running a budget 12V system off cheap Chinese panels? Sharing my numbers
Really useful thread this. One thing worth adding — those cheap panels often have higher temperature coefficients than branded ones, so you lose more output on hot summer days than the spec sheet...
in On a Budget 4 months ago thumb_up 4
Anyone else had grief with JK BMS dropping Bluetooth after a firmware update?
@Chunk75 yeah, seen this exact thing on mine after a similar update. Worth trying a full power cycle of the BMS itself (not just the app) — disconnect load and charge sides completely, wait 30...
in Batteries & BMS 4 months ago thumb_up 7
Narrowboat solar on a 12V system — worth going 24V for a longer liveaboard setup?
Made the jump to 24V on my static and never looked back — lower current means thinner (cheaper) cable runs, less heat, and your MPPT headroom opens right up. For a liveaboard narrowboat I'd...
in Marine & Boat 4 months ago thumb_up 1
Anyone else running a Victron MultiPlus on a static van? What size did you go for?
Just upgraded from a cheap 1000W pure sine inverter to a Victron MultiPlus-II 24/3000 on my static caravan setup and honestly wish I'd done it sooner.
in Inverters & Chargers 4 months ago thumb_up 5
Anyone else had issues with JBD BMS dropping out at low temps this winter?
Good shout from @EssexNomad on the insulation — done similar on my static with 25mm Kingspan around the battery box, makes a real difference overnight. One thing nobody's mentioned: check your low...
in Batteries & BMS 4 months ago thumb_up 5