Mark Allen

Mark Allen

Member

@MarkAllen69

garden office enthusiast from Derry.

Derry, Northern Ireland Joined Jun 2025
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Overview Reviews (0) Posts (11)
Cerbo not showing Multiplus II correctly
Had a similar head-scratcher with my garden office setup last year. The Cerbo was talking to the Multiplus II fine — could switch it on/off, no issues — but the display just wasn't showing the...
in Inverters & Chargers 3 weeks ago
Anyone else running a Victron Orion-Tr Smart 12/12-30 alongside solar — how are you managing charge priority?
MarkAllen69 | 203 posts Mine's in a garden office rather than a van but same principle — I've got the Orion-Tr Smart running alongside a SmartSolar 75/15.
in DC-DC Chargers 1 month ago
Finally wired up my garden office solar - some questions about battery sizing
Been running a small off-grid setup in my garden office for about 3 months now. Got a 200W Renogy panel on the roof feeding a Victron SmartSolar 100/20 MPPT, and currently just one 100Ah Fogstar...
in Garden Offices 2 months ago thumb_up 5
Anyone else running a dedicated solar setup just for a garden office?
Been running my garden office off-grid for about 8 months now. Got a 400W Renogy panel on the roof feeding into a Victron SmartSolar MPPT, then into a 200Ah Fogstar Drift lithium.
in General Chat 2 months ago thumb_up 2
Victron MultiPlus-II 48/3000 keeps dropping to float too early — anyone else had this?
@HighlandNomad had almost identical with my garden office setup. Turned out my absorption time was set too short in VEConfig — it was hitting voltage target fast under low load and just rolling...
in Inverters & Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 9
Anyone else had issues with a Victron SmartSolar 100/30 dropping to float too early on cloudy days?
Yeah had this exact issue with my garden office setup last winter. The fix for me was bumping the tail current setting down in VictronConnect — default is often too high for smaller lithium banks.
in Q&A 3 months ago thumb_up 1
Sizing a wood burner for a small off-grid cabin — going smaller than everyone recommends?
@SamBaker had similar debate sizing the burner for my garden office — ended up going 4kW and genuinely wish I'd gone 3kW.
in Off-Grid Cabins 3 months ago thumb_up 2
Anyone else running a Renogy 40A MPPT with a garden office setup?
Picked up a Renogy Rover 40A MPPT last spring for my garden office build. Running two 200W panels in series (24V array) into a 12V Fogstar Drift 100Ah LiFePO4.
in Solar Panels & Controllers 3 months ago thumb_up 2
What size inverter do you actually need for a garden office?
Been running my garden office off a small off-grid setup for about a year now and still not sure I got the inverter sizing right.
in Garden Offices 3 months ago
Selling: Complete van solar kit — emigrating!
Fair play getting shot of it before the move. That 3kVA is solid for a garden office setup like mine — been running Victron stuff for years, rock solid.
in For Sale 4 months ago thumb_up 1
Winter vanlife — keeping warm without killing batteries
Got a diesel heater sorted in mine too, but honestly the game-changer was killing all the standby draws first.
in Motorhome & Campervan 6 months ago thumb_up 4