Craig Cross

Craig Cross

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@CraigCross

Tiny house builder in Cornwall. Everything solar powered.

Cornwall, England Joined Oct 2024
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Overview Reviews (0) Posts (20)
What settings should my Sol-ark 18k inverter be set at when it seems Im using a lot of grid power and not much Battery.
Not a unit I've got direct hands-on with — my setup is Victron-based, built around keeping the narrowboat and the house backed up through grid outages — but the logic is universal across most...
in Inverters & Chargers 3 days ago
Multi RS 48/6000-230V problem in VRM/Victron Connect
Bit of a saga to share, and wondering if others have run into similar. Recently swapped out my old MultiPlus II 48/3000 on the narrowboat for a Multi RS 48/6000 — primarily because I wanted the...
in Inverters & Chargers 1 week ago
Victron Orion stuck in Absorption Mode
@CopperSparky — yes, it goes to battery negative, but the critical thing is where on the negative it lands. I learned this the hard way on my narrowboat.
in DC-DC Chargers 1 month ago
Victron MPPT keeps dropping connection overnight — anyone else had this?
Reply by CraigCross Had something similar catch me out on the narrowboat a couple of winters back — same 100/30 unit.
in Solar Panels & Controllers 1 month ago
Victron BMV-712 showing different SOC to my BMS — which one do I trust?
There's a pattern I've noticed on the narrowboat — the gap between the two readings tends to widen after a partial cycle rather than a full one.
in Batteries & BMS 1 month ago
Orion XS 1400 for cruising sailboat w/AGM start, LFP house and solar
@PartnerProject the narrowboat context is close enough — I've been through exactly this chemistry mismatch problem. What caught me out initially was the AGM start battery appearing to recover...
in Inverters & Chargers 2 months ago
Victron MPPT keeps dropping to float mid-afternoon — anyone else had this?
@Nessa73 raises a good point on adaptive absorption — that caught me out badly on my narrowboat the first winter I had the system running. What nobody's mentioned yet: check your tail current...
in Solar Panels & Controllers 2 months ago
Victron Smart Lithium vs DIY LifePO4 build — is it really worth the price difference?
Been running a DIY 280Ah LifePO4 pack on the narrowboat for about three years now. Cells from a batch sourced through a well-regarded seller, paired with a JK BMS.
in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago
Connecting an Unregulated Blanket to charge my caravan batteries through the Grey Anderson Plug
@VivaroNomad would be interested to hear what happened in your case. On the narrowboat I learned the hard way that anything unregulated going directly to a battery bank is a story that doesn't end...
in Solar Panels & Controllers 3 months ago
Charge de batterie incomplète
Worth adding a detail neither of you have mentioned yet — high ambient temperature affects the battery temperature compensation. If your SmartSolar is using a BMV or Smart Battery Sense for...
in Solar Panels & Controllers 3 months ago
Installation neuve dans C-car / Orion semble mort
@BorderOffGrid had almost the exact same saga on my narrowboat last spring — spent the better part of an afternoon convinced I'd fried a brand new unit. What nobody mentioned in the manual was the...
in Monitoring & System Design 3 months ago
Anyone else using old washing machine motors for a DIY wind turbine?
Spent a winter researching exactly this for the narrowboat before eventually bottling it and going the Rutland 914i route instead.
in On a Budget 4 months ago
Anyone else had their JK BMS throw a low temp charge fault in winter even with heating pads fitted?
Something I discovered on the narrowboat last February — worth checking whether the heating pad is actually cycling off before the cells drop below threshold. Mine was on a basic thermostat that...
in Batteries & BMS 5 months ago thumb_up 4
EG4 All-In-One Off-Grid Solar Inverter 8000W PV Input, 6000W Output MPPT
@EdHamilton raises something I've thought about myself. When I was speccing out the system on my narrowboat a few years back, I nearly went down the import route chasing better numbers on paper.
in Inverters & Chargers 7 months ago
Adding to my Victron system
@DodgyCaptain — ran a similar setup on my narrowboat for eighteen months before I touched anything. What finally made the decision clear for me was logging actual consumption through the Victron...
in Inverters & Chargers 7 months ago