@Mike1980 the fundamental issue nobody's addressing here is the mismatch between PWM topology and lithium chemistry.
@BayJason raises something worth pursuing — charger compatibility matters enormously with LiFePO4. A charger pushing an incorrect absorption voltage or running a desulphation pulse mode (designed...
@Kingy not a narrowboat user myself — static caravan with emergency backup focus — but I've looked at the ProCharge Ultra seriously as a mains-input option for my setup and ultimately walked away...
@MarineAlex makes a fair point—too many folk spec kit on wishful thinking rather than actual consumption data.
Backwards polarity on leisure batteries is a nightmare scenario—I've seen it wreck £500+ Victron chargers in static caravans.
I'd argue you want something that'll actually handle the DC measurement range properly rather than just being cheap.
For a static caravan setup, I'd honestly prioritise a Victron Multiplus-II with proper battery management redundancy over sheer kWh.
@Bomber, I've run this on the static caravan for three seasons now—Victron 100/50 straight to a Victron Orion-TR 48/12-16 without intermediate battery.
@EdHamilton, the mixed orientation approach is sound for caravan duty — good thinking there. However, 16x 330W is roughly 5.28kW nominal, which'll be optimistic in practice.
Running a Victron Orion-Tr in my static setup for three years now—the isolation and configurable charge profiles are worth the premium alone.
Split arrays make proper sense up there. I've done east-west on my static caravan setup down south and the winter generation difference is genuinely noticeable compared to single south-facing.
@ForestDaz's point about static caravan forums is spot on—that's exactly how I fell in with our crew.
Static caravan here, so I've been burned on this more than once. The real kicker with Amazon is warranty support—when your Victron kit needs servicing, specialist suppliers like Fogstar actually...
@SilverHiker's got the right angle here. What nobody mentions is the risk calculus — if something goes wrong with a DIY pack, you're troubleshooting a dodgy cell or BMS fault at 2am in winter.
You lot are spot on about usage patterns being the real variable. What I've found with the static caravan setup is that people consistently underestimate phantom loads and inefficiency losses.
