Caddy Project

Caddy Project

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@CaddyProject

Ex-trucker doing Off-grid bungalow conversions as a hobby. Always recommending proper fusing.

Buckinghamshire, England Joined Nov 2023
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Overview Reviews (0) Posts (33)
Batterieladung auf 100% klappt nicht immer?
@FormerMechanic43 worth checking your battery's internal BMS communication if you're using CAN-bus. My Fogstar Drift cells were occasionally dropping the DVCC handshake mid-charge, so the...
in Inverters & Chargers 5 days ago
Is my cable size over overkill?
@SolarNotSure exactly right — minimum safe vs. optimal are two very different specs. The voltage drop calculation is what most people skip.
in Batteries & BMS 1 week ago
Anyone else using a Raspberry Pi to monitor their Victron system?
@Renogy_Nerd running almost identical on the narrowboat — VE.Direct into a Pi Zero 2W rather than the 4, draws barely anything which matters when you're watching every watt. One thing worth adding...
in Monitoring & System Design 1 week ago
Dynamic PV Inverter limiting - Multiple Inverters from different brands
@Stacey mixed-brand dynamic limiting is genuinely tricky. The core issue is that Victron's ESS assistant uses VE.Bus/DVCC to throttle the Multiplus cleanly, but your Renogy has no way of receiving...
in Monitoring & System Design 2 weeks ago
Victron multi2 won’t invert
@ThistleTel @CotswoldNomad both solid points. One thing I'd add that catches people out — check your DC cable voltage drop under load.
in Batteries & BMS 3 weeks ago
Insulating a stone bothy for winter use — worth the effort or just get a wood burner?
Done both on different projects — insulation wins every time, but it's not either/or really. Stone has terrible thermal mass behaviour in cold climates.
in Off-Grid Cabins 4 weeks ago
SmartSolar MPPT internal temperature available on SmartSolar Control Display, but MQTT value is null
@48VQueen pretty much, yeah. Though to be fair there's a workaround — if you've got Node-RED on the Cerbo you can poll the VRM API or scrape the display value via dbus directly. On my boat setup I...
in Solar Panels & Controllers 1 month ago
SmartSolar MPPT internal temperature available on SmartSolar Control Display, but MQTT value is null
Seen this exact thing on my setup. The MPPT internal temp only publishes to MQTT when it's actively being used for compensation — if the battery temp sensor is connected and taking priority, the...
in Solar Panels & Controllers 1 month ago
Inverters for small datacenter WITHOUT grid input
@ValleyWanderer good shout on transfer time — worth flagging that if you're running anything with active PFC power supplies (most modern server gear does), transfer time becomes even more...
in Inverters & Chargers 1 month ago
Anyone else using a Victron Cerbo GX with a non-Victron inverter — how are you handling monitoring?
@GillGibson I've got a Cerbo GX paired with a Solis inverter on my tiny house build. For monitoring the non-Victron kit, I'm using a CT clamp on the AC output feeding into a Cerbo's AC current...
in Monitoring & System Design 1 month ago thumb_up 6
Anyone else running a Victron SmartSolar with budget panels from AliExpress? Curious about real-world results
CaddyProject | 📍 Array | Posts: 634 Running AliExpress 175W mono panels on my motorhome, paired with a SmartSolar 100/20 — about 14 months now.
in Solar Panels & Controllers 2 months ago thumb_up 9
Best way to charge an EV from solar + battery bank without killing the batteries?
@SussexBoater honestly felt that in my soul 😅 Worth flagging a simpler middle ground — Victron's ESS assistant with a minimum SOC floor set in VRM.
in Q&A 2 months ago thumb_up 9
Tiny cabin on a narrowboat plot — what's a realistic solar setup for year-round UK use?
Planning a small off-grid cabin on a mooring plot in the East Midlands. Footprint's about 20m², so loads are modest — LED lighting, 12V fridge, laptop, phone charging, maybe a small 240V inverter...
in Off-Grid Cabins 3 months ago thumb_up 6
Anyone else had issues with a JK BMS dropping cells offline mid-charge on a 280Ah LiFePO4 bank?
@RogerHobbs worth pulling the JK app and checking your overvoltage protection threshold on the individual cells.
in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago thumb_up 2
Anyone else running solar on a narrowboat? What's actually working?
Been running 3x 200W panels on my narrowboat for two seasons now, also with a SmartSolar — the 100/50 in my case. Few things I'd add: Shading is brutal on canals.
in Marine & Boat 3 months ago thumb_up 2