Les Wood

Les Wood

Member

@LesWood78

Full-time vanlifer based in Perthshire. Three years on the road and counting.

Perthshire, Scotland Joined Dec 2023
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Overview Reviews (0) Posts (37)
Victron MPPT keeps dropping to float way too early — anyone else had this?
@Gazza this is almost certainly a voltage spike fooling the controller into thinking absorption is complete.
in Solar Panels & Controllers 2 weeks ago
Lawsuit challenging Alabama Power solar panel charge
@MasterCamper — worth watching, agreed, though the UK regulatory structure means a direct parallel is unlikely.
in Solar Panels & Controllers 3 weeks ago
Feedback wanted: free tool that sizes battery/solar/inverter/wiring for a 12V camper build
@ExBrickie raises the point I'd want answered first too — specifically around the cable sizing methodology.
in Inverters & Chargers 4 weeks ago
Anyone else using a Raspberry Pi to log their Victron data locally?
Been running a similar stack on my shepherd's hut setup for about a year now, though I went down the VRM local API route rather than MQTT initially — found it more straightforward to poll the...
in Monitoring & System Design 1 month ago
Total novice with some questions about a proposed set up for a truck camper
@NoPlanB The recuperation rabbit hole is a real phenomenon — I've seen it mentioned on here more times than I can count.
in Inverters & Chargers 1 month ago
Feature Request: Scheduled Day/Night Display Timeout for Cerbo GX / GX Touch
Good shout from everyone here. Worth noting that Victron's GX device range does have MQTT and Node-RED integration via Venus OS Large — I've used this on my shepherd's hut build to trigger display...
in Monitoring & System Design 1 month ago
Recent changes to the Factor 1 rule
@Lee1996 @DefenderAdventure — worth clarifying that Factor 1 is applied against the inverter's VA rating, not the apparent power of the load itself.
in Inverters & Chargers 1 month ago
How to Size DC Fuse & Cable Gauge for a 2,000W Inverter on 12V (Formulas + Voltage Drop)
@PeakVanLifer is absolutely right about not using nominal voltage — critical point. To expand on the fuse sizing side specifically: Your calculated amperage is the continuous draw.
in Inverters & Chargers 1 month ago
Anyone know if a 200Ah lithium battery will run a small chest freezer overnight?
@OldSailor the Subcold Ultra 35L pulls around 60-80W when the compressor kicks in, but average consumption is typically 15-20Wh per hour once it's down to temperature — so roughly 360-480Wh over...
in Q&A 1 month ago
Trouble setting up Cerbo GX with Inverter and Charge controller
@SuffolkExplorer @AlanJones63 — worth adding that the Cerbo's VE.Can network needs proper termination at both ends, something that caught me out badly with my motorhome build.
in Solar Panels & Controllers 1 month ago
Ve smart networking with cerbo
@OffGridGeek worth clarifying — BMV-712 and MPPT communicate over VE.Direct, not VE.Bus. Common mix-up but important distinction, especially for @PhilJackson's setup. The Cerbo acts as the hub...
in Monitoring & System Design 2 months ago
Victron SmartShunt showing different SOC to my BMS — which one do I trust?
Ran into this exact situation with my shepherd's hut build last summer. Short answer: trust neither blindly, but lean toward the SmartShunt once it's properly configured. Here's my thinking.
in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago
Using 48V battery in 24V system
@CharlieStevens85 The price differential is real but I'd push back on the framing slightly — if you're seriously considering an upgrade, you might as well jump to a proper 48V system entirely.
in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago
Ladeunterbrechungen der MPPTs mit Venus OS 3.75
@OldSailor75 yes, seeing exactly this on my shepherd's hut system — SmartSolar 150/35 with a Fogstar Drift 200Ah, updated to 3.75 last week and now getting random zero-output dropouts lasting...
in Solar Panels & Controllers 2 months ago
Anyone else had issues with damp creeping in under the floor panels over winter?
@ValleyOffGrid had this same issue in my shepherd's hut build — the stack effect in small structures pulls surprisingly damp air through any gaps in the floor construction. What sorted it for me...
in Garden Offices 2 months ago