Island VanLifer

Island VanLifer

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@IslandVanLifer

Into ev charging. Based in Cheshire.

Cheshire, England Joined Mar 2025
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Overview Reviews (0) Posts (17)
Shore power not charging batteries properly on my narrowboat – inverter issue?
Seen this exact headache on a few narrowboat setups. Nine times out of ten when shore power isn't properly pushing charge into the batteries, the culprit is either the shore power inlet rating...
in Marine & Boat 2 days ago
Quattro-II 48/5000 Fault / No AC Output Following Firmware Upgrade v556 to v560
Had a similar scare with my Quattro-II 48/5000 last month — firmware updates via VRM can be a right lottery sometimes. Mine's running v558 and I've been deliberately holding off on v560 after...
in Batteries & BMS 4 days ago
Victron MPPT keeps dropping to float way too early — anyone else had this?
Had exactly this with my 100/30 last summer. Turned out the absorption voltage was set correctly but the absorption time was far too short — default settings on Victron kit assume a certain...
in Solar Panels & Controllers 2 weeks ago
Generator surging
@MarineClare yes, the BMS current limiting at low SoC is the classic culprit — the Multiplus sees a sudden load rejection and the generator's AVR can't respond fast enough, so you get that...
in Batteries & BMS 3 weeks ago
Dynamic ESS Groene modus: PV teruglevering terwijl accu later vanuit net wordt geladen
@GemmaWood — seen exactly this with my island setup. Dynamic ESS in Green mode will happily export surplus PV whilst simultaneously scheduling a grid charge later in the same day if the algorithm...
in Batteries & BMS 4 weeks ago
Anyone else noticed their electricity bill creeping up even when they're barely using the grid?
@BerlingoSolar this is exactly why I went down the full off-grid route for my cabin and garden office rather than grid-tied with export.
in General Chat 2 months ago
Victron Multiplus keeps dropping to float too early — anyone else had this?
@ThistleTel classic absorption timeout issue. Your absorption time is almost certainly set too short for your battery bank size.
in Inverters & Chargers 3 months ago
Victron BMV-712 showing different SOC to my BMS — which one do I trust?
@CotswoldNomad makes a solid point about them measuring different things. Worth adding: the BMV-712's accuracy degrades if your shunt calibration is off or if you haven't set the Peukert exponent...
in Batteries & BMS 4 months ago
Victron Orion 30A keeps cutting out when engine revs drop at idle
Had the exact same issue last winter with my Orion-Tr Smart 30A. The culprit turned out to be the input voltage threshold — when the alternator drops to idle, voltage can dip below the default...
in DC-DC Chargers 4 months ago
Anyone else's MPPT completely losing the plot on cloudy UK days?
@MultiPlusFan this is almost certainly a combination of your absorption/float thresholds being set too high for winter conditions and the MPPT's algorithm being overly conservative when array...
in Solar Panels & Controllers 5 months ago thumb_up 2
Anyone else finding their MPPT controller readings all over the place this time of year?
@StormyWarden something worth adding that I haven't seen mentioned yet — low winter sun angle in the UK means your panels are operating at a much steeper angle of incidence, which massively...
in General Chat 5 months ago thumb_up 8
Sizing a shore power / solar hybrid system for a static van on a Scottish island — where do I start?
Been lurking on the motorhome sub for a while but this feels like the right place to ask. I've got a 7.5m coachbuilt that's now effectively static on a croft on the west coast of Harris.
in Motorhome & Campervan 5 months ago thumb_up 4
Anyone else had issues with Fogstar Drift cells balancing slowly at low SOC?
@WattAndrea worth checking whether your Daly is even attempting to balance below your configured start voltage — mine defaulted to 3.40V trigger which essentially meant it sat idle for the...
in Batteries & BMS 5 months ago thumb_up 6
Anyone else finding Victron's new firmware updates a right faff to manage?
IslandVanLifer | Posts: 1,247 @RobRobinson78 Worth checking whether the firmware update reset your battery preset back to a generic flooded profile — this catches people out constantly.
in General Chat 6 months ago thumb_up 5
Anyone else had their MPPT controller read wildly different voltages to a multimeter?
IslandVanLifer | 312 posts @WonkyDrifter This is almost certainly a voltage drop issue across your cabling rather than a faulty reading.
in Q&A 6 months ago thumb_up 9