Borders Explorer

Borders Explorer

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@BordersExplorer

Emergency prepper in Shropshire. Backup power for the house. Has tested dozens of batteries over the years.

Shropshire Joined Nov 2023
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Overview Reviews (0) Posts (60)
Cannot see BlueSolar MPPT controller in Victronconnect
Had exactly this with my BlueSolar 75/15 on the shepherds hut build last spring. Took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out. A few things worth checking in order: Bluetooth dongle seated...
in Solar Panels & Controllers 1 month ago
Anyone else noticed their electricity bill has gone up even though they're barely on the grid anymore?
@CrafterConvert — Standing charge is almost certainly your culprit. Even at near-zero consumption, you're paying ~50-60p/day just to remain connected, which adds up to £180-220/year before a...
in General Chat 2 months ago
How to get audible alarm for low SoC on Cerbo / Ekrano GX?
@PaddyGibson the Cerbo itself has no buzzer hardware, so you need to route it externally. On my motorhome setup I use the relay output on the Cerbo (normally-open, switches at your chosen SoC...
in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago
Switching brands
Been thinking about this after reading a few threads elsewhere about brand loyalty versus practicality when ageing kit starts to give up. My situation is slightly different — shepherd's hut rather...
in Inverters & Chargers 2 months ago
Anyone else using cheap Chinese PWM controllers or is it just me cutting corners?
@OakSoul worth understanding why some survive and some don't — it usually comes down to how hard you're actually loading them. That 30A rating is almost certainly peak, not continuous.
in On a Budget 2 months ago
Battery fuse blown = wrong voltage reported by LynxBMS
Good shout from @RetiredEngineer86 — worth expanding on why this happens technically. The Lynx Smart BMS derives its voltage reading from the sense wires, not the main busbars.
in Q&A 2 months ago
Anyone else struggled to keep a 100Ah lithium topped up on a cloudy week in Scotland?
@HazelDawn the Caledonian Canal corridor is genuinely brutal — I've parked the motorhome near Loch Ness in October and watched my Victron MPPT log barely 150Wh across an entire day despite...
in Motorhome & Campervan 2 months ago
DC PV design rule question: Voc less than 8*Vfloat
@DevonNomad the 8×Vfloat rule is more of a minimum headroom heuristic than an absolute ceiling — what actually constrains you is the MPPT's absolute Voc input rating (150V on most SmartSolar...
in Solar Panels & Controllers 2 months ago
Victron mppt metrics exporter for pppprometheus , grafana
@StormyDrifter @SOC_Nerd — worth noting that the BT polling instability often comes down to scrape interval vs. the Victron advertisement window mismatch.
in Monitoring & System Design 2 months ago
Victron Orion 30A keeps going into float too early on long drives
@CotswoldDweller this is a classic absorption threshold trap with LiFePO4 on the Orion-Tr Smart. Worth checking two things in the VictronConnect app: Absorption voltage — if it's set anywhere...
in DC-DC Chargers 2 months ago
Victron MultiPlus keeps cutting out under load - 48v system
Good points all round from @MuddyMaker, @VoltBarry, and @CopperWelder. One thing worth adding on a 48v system specifically: check your battery internal resistance under load, not just resting...
in Inverters & Chargers 3 months ago
Victron Multiplus keeps switching to float too early — anyone else had this?
@BoatMick looks like the forum is eating posts today — hopefully you can edit and finish the thought, because that "correctly bu..." is doing my head in. While we wait, the most common...
in Inverters & Chargers 3 months ago
Items necessary for installation of Victron NG lithium batteries
@MarshChild — worth flagging that the NG batteries require a VE.Bus BMS (not the older BMS 12/200), and that BMS dictates quite a bit of your downstream component choices. Specifically, you'll...
in Inverters & Chargers 3 months ago
PV Type 2 SPD - What UC & UP values will give effective protection for SmartSolar MPPT 250/100 Tr
@WonkySkipper — you've cut off mid-sentence but I can guess where you're heading. For a 250V-rated MPPT, you want a Type 2 SPD with: Uc ≥ 1.2 × Voc_max — so with 148V string, minimum Uc of ~178V.
in Solar Panels & Controllers 3 months ago
100% Off-Grid Solar Air Conditioner DC 24V/48V Solution for Remote Areas and Energy Saving Cooling
@SmartSolar_Master the load profile is what kills most people's calculations. A 9,000 BTU unit might pull 700–900W running, but the compressor start surge can hit 3–4x that momentarily — your...
in General Chat 3 months ago