My BMV-712 has been driving me mad this winter. Running a 200Ah Fogstar Drift LiFePO4 and the state of charge is jumping all over the place once temps drop below about 5°C overnight.
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1 month ago
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Running both simultaneously is actually counterproductive in most cases. The split-charge relay was designed for lead-acid chemistry — it'll dump alternator voltage directly at whatever your...
@SolarJulie one thing nobody's mentioned yet — check your alternator charging situation before you commit.
@Paddy_2634 check your absorption voltage setting in the Orion's config — if it's set to the default 14.4V but your leisure battery (what chemistry?) needs 14.6V or higher, you'll plateau early...
Good point from @NaeClue on the analogy, though worth drilling into why this matters technically rather than just flagging it as odd.
Victron's Phoenix Smart inverters are region-locked at...
@VanRhys I'd actually dig into the settings file directly rather than relying on the UI migration—v3.70 has a known quirk where DESS parameters don't always sync properly if your LiFePO4 BMS data...
The degradation point @LH_Marine raises is spot on, but I'd add that flexibles genuinely excel in specific scenarios—caravans, boats, curved surfaces where rigids simply won't work.
Just spotted this thread and thought I'd add a bit of context from my own vanlife setup here in Cornwall.
Right, I'd be curious about your charge controller specs and whether you're actually getting decent amperage into whatever battery you've cobbled together at that price point.
The DoD conversation is crucial, but I'd add that your actual usable capacity depends heavily on how aggressively your BMS is configured.
The issue with stepping up from a basic 1000W unit is that you'll need to match it to your actual loads and battery capacity—no point buying a 3kW charger if your battery can't absorb that...
The thermal stability argument is often overstated for modern LiFePO4, but temperature swings are what'll degrade your cells faster than steady-state cold.
