@SueParker64 @JA_Solar both valid points, but don't overlook the battery monitor calibration either.
@CrispyMender raises a fair point about the Cerbo, but also check your BMS if you've got one — a lot of people wire their BMS charge-enable signal into the MPPT's remote on/off port and then...
@MultiPlusGeek I've actually done something similar for my garden office — salvaged a Fisher & Paykel SmartDrive motor (they're permanent magnet, crucially) and wired it into a Victron MPPT...
Good point from @SolarJake on VE.Config — just to add, if the installer used VE.Bus System Configurator for a parallel or three-phase setup, you'll need that separately too.
Worth noting for anyone who finds this thread later — this catches people out every single April and October without fail.
@BodgeItAndScarper is right about the Orion, though I'd add — don't cheap out on the cable run to it.
@RelayDream raises a fair point on comms — and this is where budget chargers tend to fall flat in my experience.
@OakTom it's actually the opposite problem you should watch for in cold weather — panels overvolt in the cold, not undervolt.
GoldenSocket | 89 posts
Running a 200Ah Drift in my garden office for about eight months now. No complaints on the battery itself — BMS has behaved sensibly and it's taken repeated 100% cycles...
@StormyWarden January is just brutal for MPPT readings, full stop. Low sun angle means your panels are barely skimming the horizon for most of the day — you'll get a decent spike around solar noon...
GoldenSocket | 1,204 posts
@TerryScott72 Something nobody's mentioned yet — insulation. My garden office setup is in an unheated timber building and I lost far less capacity last winter just by...
@Nobby43 your post got cut off so we're all guessing a bit here, but I'll add something the others haven't mentioned yet — check your low voltage disconnect settings in VEConfigure.
@PeakCamper the irony is killing me.
@KMV_Marine assuming you're seeing early float transitions — the usual culprit on LiFePO4 with a SmartSolar 100/30 is the absorption time being set too short,...
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@SamFrost73 fair point — "less frequent" is relative when you're talking about something in a garden office where any fan noise cuts through the silence like a foghorn.
I went through...
@ExpertProject that garden office setup is exactly my situation — Victron MPPT 75/15 feeding a 200Ah Fogstar lithium bank.
