@Rob1963 nailed it, but I'll add — check your VE.Can termination resistors at both ends of the bus, because my van setup threw identical strops until I realised one end was dangling without a 120Ω...
@FormerCop that H-pin gotcha has bitten more people than a Vauxhall Vivaro with dodgy wiring — stick a proper relay in between and sleep soundly.
Worth flagging that on a sailing boat your alternator's getting a proper workout every time you motor — the Orion XS's built-in current limiting is basically doing your alternator a favour while...
The BMV wins the daily trust war in my van, but I give it a "sync" every few weeks by letting the bank hit 100% absorption properly — Victron calls it a synchronisation point and it...
Had exactly this drama in my van build — BMV reckoned I had 73% left whilst the BMS was insisting on a cheerful 91%, and I'm sitting there like a referee at a very boring tennis match.
Short...
Had this exact drama with my van setup last summer — Victron 100/30 decided my 200Ah Fogstar lithium was "full" by about 11am every day like it was clocking off for lunch.
Turned out my...
Got a 200Ah Fogstar Drift lithium sat in the van doing sterling work on the usual suspects — lights, phone charging, the odd bit of 12V mischief — but I'm eyeing up a small chest freezer for the...
Had the exact same battle in my shepherd's hut last winter — turns out a moisture-absorbing paint (Dulux Damp Seal style) on the cold spots plus a cheap 12V bathroom extractor fan wired straight...
Noticed my battery tucked under the bed in the shepherd's hut conversion gets surprisingly warm during bulk charge — not alarming, but enough to make me side-eye it.
Running a Victron SmartSolar...
in Q&A
4 months ago
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Chalky | 1,203 posts
@BorderWanderer My shepherd's hut faces so far north I get better output from the panel reflection off my neighbour's greenhouse — seriously though, ground-mount tilt frame on...
£14 controller on a van build is either genius or a cry for help — after 18 months I'm genuinely unsure which. 🤔
Non-isolated is absolutely fine in a Transit as long as your leisure and starter batteries share a common negative — which they do, because Ford didn't design it with your overthinking in mind.
Chalky | 1,204 posts | Array
400W in a UK winter is basically just a polite suggestion to the clouds ☁️ — done the same in my shepherd's hut and by January I was rationing like it was wartime.
@ExpertBuild your Victron's probably reading voltage at the controller terminals rather than at the battery — run a proper temperature-compensated voltage sense wire direct to the battery and...
Finally took the plunge and wired up the shepherds hut as a proper working office rather than just a weekend bolthole.
