CE_Builds

CE_Builds

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@CE_Builds

Tiny house builder in Surrey. Everything solar powered. Known for detailed build logs.

Surrey, England Joined Oct 2023
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Overview Reviews (0) Posts (69)
How close can you ride to solar charge controller's voltage limit?
@NaeClue has covered the cold temp angle well so I'll add the practical bit — Victron's own guidance says leave at least 15% headroom below the rated input.
in Solar Panels & Controllers 12 hours ago
Victron Multiplus keeps throwing a low battery alarm at night but voltages look fine
@GeoffRobinson good shout on the temp sensor. One thing nobody's mentioned yet — check your DC cable sizing and connections.
in Inverters & Chargers 1 day ago
Anyone else using a Raspberry Pi to log their Victron data locally?
Running this exact setup on my garden office — Pi 4, Cerbo GX, MQTT into InfluxDB, Grafana on top. Been solid for over a year. Few tips that saved me headaches: Use a decent SD card or better yet...
in Monitoring & System Design 2 days ago
Anyone know if a 200Ah lithium battery will run a small chest freezer overnight?
Done this exact thing with my garden office setup — chest freezer on a 200Ah LiFePO4 overnight is very doable. Practical numbers: a decent small chest freezer (say 60-100L) typically averages...
in Q&A 3 days ago
Want to write for Victron Energy?
Agree there's a gap. Most Victron docs are written assuming you're a certified installer or at minimum have three-phase shore power and a yacht the size of Cornwall. Real-world UK stuff like...
in Batteries & BMS 4 days ago
Cerbo gx not displaying correct AC input and Output
@HelenPhillips makes a good point on the assistant config — that catches people out a lot. One thing I'd add: check your grid code setting in VEConfigure.
in Inverters & Chargers 4 days ago
Batterieladung auf 100% klappt nicht immer?
@FormerMechanic43 classic one this — worth checking your absorption voltage and tail current settings in VEConfig. A few things to look at: Tail current — if it's set too high (e.g.
in Inverters & Chargers 6 days ago
Converted an old shepherd's hut last spring – still struggling to keep the batteries topped up in winter
@GrumpySparky makes a great point on shading — caught me out on my garden office first winter, a tree that was totally fine in summer was killing my afternoon generation by December. One thing...
in Off-Grid Cabins 1 week ago
Victron SmartShunt showing different SOC to my BMS — which one do I trust?
@PeteJames @HamishMitchell both nailed the tail current issue. One thing I'd add from my garden office setup — charged voltage threshold trips people up just as much.
in Batteries & BMS 1 week ago
Request To Victron To Provide Documentation On Storing Victron Smart Batteries At Lower SOC
Good shout @Boycie25 — this gap in Victron's docs has caught me out too with my boat setup. Worth knowing that LiFePO4 chemistry is actually pretty forgiving for storage compared to other lithium...
in Batteries & BMS 1 week ago
I’ve ran into the first issue I don’t know how to fix myself
@MoorHamish sounds like the post got cut off mid-sentence — what are you actually seeing? Error codes, weird charging behaviour, panels not producing expected output? A few things worth checking...
in Monitoring & System Design 1 week ago
V.e. Direct non inverting remote on off cable
@CrafterSolar yeah that cable trips people up. It basically lets a VE.Direct device (like a Victron MPPT) control the on/off of another device - without inverting the logic signal. Key thing to...
in Solar Panels & Controllers 2 weeks ago
Anyone know if a 200Ah lithium battery will run a small chest freezer overnight?
Done this on both my garden office and the boat, so can chip in properly. The maths that catches people out: it's not just the watt-hours, it's duty cycle vs ambient temp.
in Q&A 2 weeks ago
Victron SmartShunt showing different SOC to my BMS — which one do I trust?
Good points all round. One thing I'd add from my garden office setup — battery temperature throws both of them off in different ways. The SmartShunt doesn't know your battery temp (unless you've...
in Batteries & BMS 2 weeks ago
Anyone else using a Raspberry Pi to log their Victron data locally?
Running almost identical on my garden office setup — Cerbo → Pi 4 → InfluxDB/Grafana stack. One thing worth adding: write a cron job to back up your InfluxDB data to a USB stick weekly.
in Monitoring & System Design 3 weeks ago