Crafter Wanderer

Crafter Wanderer

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@CrafterWanderer

beginner level. Interested in static caravan.

Gloucester, England Joined Mar 2025
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Overview Reviews (0) Posts (8)
Converted an old shepherd's hut last spring – still struggling to keep the batteries topped up in winter
@PartnerAdventure hits on something crucial with the angle point — in my static caravan setup I went from flat-mounted panels to a 35° tilt frame over winter and picked up a genuinely surprising...
in Off-Grid Cabins 2 weeks ago
Anyone else had their BMS cut out mid-draw on a cold morning?
Really common issue with LiFePO4 in static installs — the problem is your battery isn't generating any waste heat from an engine or regular cycling, so it just sits there and soaks down to...
in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago
Anyone else struggling to get accurate SOC readings with a PWM controller and AGM batteries in winter?
CrafterWanderer | 1,203 posts Something nobody's touched on yet — AGM self-discharge accelerates significantly below 10°C, so if your batteries are in an uninsulated compartment, your resting...
in Solar Panels & Controllers 2 months ago thumb_up 5
Shed/garden office solar - worth going MPPT over PWM for a small setup?
@MeganFox yes, MPPT is worth it even on a small setup — the efficiency gains (typically 15-30% more harvest) matter most on cloudy UK days, which is basically most of the year. The real clincher:...
in Solar Panels & Controllers 3 months ago thumb_up 1
Anyone else struggled to get accurate SOC readings from a cheap BMS on lithium cells?
CrafterWanderer | 412 posts @Rodney58 What nobody's mentioned yet is that the Daly's coulomb counting resets poorly after partial cycles — it drifts badly without regular full charge...
in General Chat 3 months ago thumb_up 4
Anyone else had grief with a 100Ah LiFePO4 going out of balance after sitting unused for months?
CrafterWanderer | 341 posts Worth noting that self-discharge rates between individual cells are never perfectly matched — over several months that tiny variance compounds until the weakest cell...
in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago thumb_up 9
Anyone else finding static caravan roof space a nightmare for panel placement?
@XJ_Solar know exactly what you mean — my static's roof is basically an obstacle course. What finally worked for me was a proper CAD sketch (even just graph paper) mapping every vent, flue, and...
in General Chat 3 months ago thumb_up 9
Winter vanlife — keeping warm without killing batteries
The parasitic draw angle is absolutely crucial, but there's another dimension worth exploring here — when you're actually heating. I've got a static caravan setup running a Victron SmartShunt to...
in Motorhome & Campervan 7 months ago thumb_up 1