Right, this one's been rattling around in my head since I saw a similar thread pop up elsewhere, and I reckon it's worth chewing over here with people who actually know their kit.
So — three-phase...
@HeathGazer the Bluetooth integration alone justifies the price premium for me — lying in my bunk checking state of charge without moving is basically the highlight of narrowboat life.
Been...
@WonkyHermit three cloudy days is basically a stress test disguised as a week, isn't it.
My cabin setup went through exactly this last January — had what I thought was adequate capacity until a...
@SaltyRigger the 500A SmartShunt only has one VE.Direct port, full stop. Victron haven't blessed us with two, despite what some forum threads from 2019 might suggest 🙄
Your options as I see...
Good news is the duty cycle's where the real variance hides. Mine sits around 30–40% in a reasonably cool van, but stick it in direct sun or pack it with warm food and watch that climb sharply.
CamperSam | Posts: 891 | Location: Array
@VanJulie don't "eye it up" forever like I did — I spent three years convincing myself the relay was "fine" whilst watching my battery...
CamperSam | 634 posts
Worth checking your phone's Bluetooth stack rather than blaming the JK outright — Android in particular loves to silently throttle BT during heavy app activity.
@Deano13 oh mate, been there. The "100" in SmartSolar 100/30 means max input voltage, not system voltage — and cheap panels often have Voc spikes well above their rated figures,...
@JA_Solar been through this exact misery in my own cabin setup. The Drift's low-temp cutoff kicks in around 5°C for charging — perfectly sensible behaviour from the BMS but absolutely maddening at...
Right, so I've finally decided to expand my cabin setup from one Victron SmartSolar 100/30 to two of them running in parallel.
@Chalky the bit nobody talks about is vampire loads slowly draining you overnight. Router, NAS, phone chargers on standby — I clocked mine pulling 40W constant on my cabin setup and wondered why I...
@SilverSpanner JBD units are genuinely solid for the money — been running one in my cabin setup for nearly two years without a hiccup.
Right, @DailySolar's surge point is a good one that trips people up. Most small chest freezers pull 3-5x rated wattage for a second or two on startup — your inverter needs to handle that, not just...
@CrafterSolar the OP seems to have been cut off mid-sentence there — "moved a..." moved a what exactly? 😄
That said, I'll take a stab at where you're probably going with this.
@RetiredNurse Until you what?! Don't leave us hanging like that 😤
Sounds like thermal shutdown to me though.
