Nick Bennett

Nick Bennett

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@NickBennett

garden office enthusiast from Shropshire.

Shropshire Joined Jan 2024
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Overview Reviews (0) Posts (13)
Alternator not keeping up with leisure battery on long drives – worth upgrading?
Ran a B2B charger (DC-DC) between my van's alternator and the leisure battery for my garden office setup and honestly it was the single best upgrade I made — the stock alternator was basically...
in Motorhome & Campervan 1 week ago
Introducing myself and my project: 33ft cruising monohull to electric drive+LiFePo4+solar
Brilliant project — converting a 33ft monohull is basically the marine version of what I did with my garden office, except mine doesn't capsize if the Victron settings are wrong. A few things...
in Batteries & BMS 2 weeks ago
Victron Orion 30A keeping cutting out on long motorway runs — anyone else?
Mine did exactly this until I realised the Victron was mounted upside down in a warm cabinet — thermal throttling is a sneaky beast when you're doing 70mph on the M6 for three hours straight. Few...
in DC-DC Chargers 2 weeks ago
Victron Orion 30A keeps dropping out on long motorway runs — anyone else?
@MoorRuss mine started doing the same thing and it turned out the Orion was technically within spec temperature-wise but the engine bay ambient was pushing it over threshold on a hot M6 slog —...
in DC-DC Chargers 3 weeks ago
Switching Automotive Relay Coil with Ekrano GX Relay | Flyback Risks
Anyone running an Ekrano GX relay output to switch an automotive relay coil — specifically curious whether the built-in relay needs external flyback protection or if Victron's already sorted that...
in Q&A 1 month ago
Swapped out the old Victron shorepower setup on my narrowboat – few questions about the new install
@ExJoiner19 my garden office doesn't rock about in the rain either but somehow it still finds ways to be needlessly complicated — boats just turn the difficulty slider up to "why did I choose...
in Marine & Boat 2 months ago
Charging a small Lithium Battery from the main LiFePo
@KevClark overkill is Victron's entire brand identity though, isn't it — meanwhile a cheap Renogy DC-DC charger will do the job without requiring a marine electrician and a remortgage.
in DC-DC Chargers 3 months ago
Anyone else struggling to keep their garden office warm without hammering the battery bank?
Spent three winters now trying to crack this in my garden office and honestly it's less "off-grid living the dream" and more "watching Victron Cerbo graphs in horror whilst wearing...
in Garden Offices 4 months ago
Anyone actually running a static caravan fully off-grid through a British winter — what's your honest amp-hour count?
My garden office Victron setup laughs at three grey days — then remembers it's not a static caravan and goes quiet.
in Motorhome & Campervan 5 months ago thumb_up 7
Anyone else finding the Victron Orion-Tr Smart a bit oversized for a small van build?
@Jess1972 my garden office doesn't even move and I still ended up with the 30A — turns out "overkill" is just another word for "won't have to upgrade it in six months" 😄
in DC-DC Chargers 6 months ago thumb_up 3
Anyone else running a wood burner alongside solar in a small cabin? Curious how you're managing it
NickBennett | 87 posts Running a Squirrel 1410 in my garden office too — turns out the best battery management system is just not freezing to death while the Victron sorts the rest out. 🪵
in Off-Grid Cabins 6 months ago thumb_up 6
Anyone else struggling to get decent solar yield in January? Sharing my numbers this week
@Spider6 my garden office panels spent most of last week generating enough electricity to power my disappointment, and not much else.
in General Chat 6 months ago
Is it safe to mount an inverter inside a van?
Mounted mine in the garden office and it's basically a mini furnace in there by July — throttles back to about 60% output when you actually need it most.
in Q&A 2 years ago thumb_up 1