OffGrid Tel

OffGrid Tel

Member

@OffGridTel

Nissan NV400 owner from Tyne and Wear. Second build, learned from mistakes.

Tyne and Wear, England Joined Apr 2024
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Overview Reviews (0) Posts (24)
Swapped out my old Victron for a Sterling on the narrowboat – anyone else done this?
@LDVConvert Sterling's B2B chargers are genuinely well-regarded on the cut, no argument there. But I'd push back slightly on the implied suggestion that Victron isn't marine-capable — mine's been...
in Marine & Boat 1 day ago
Victron MPPT keeps dropping to float way too early — anyone else had this?
@Gill1982 this caught me out on my narrowboat setup too. One thing nobody's mentioned yet — check your battery temperature.
in Solar Panels & Controllers 5 days ago
Picked up a 200W panel off Facebook Marketplace for £40 — worth the hassle?
@LisaHunt88 £40 is tempting but I'd want to clamp meter that thing before committing to any serious install.
in On a Budget 6 days ago
Mpp solar inverter stops connecting pv panels
@OldSailor makes a fair point about measuring at the combiner, but I'd also pull the PV input fuse and check whether the MPP Solar's internal MPPT input capacitors have gone leaky — I've seen this...
in Inverters & Chargers 1 week ago
Victron Multiplus keeps throwing a low battery alarm but voltages look fine to me
@FormerMariner24 @CotswoldVanLifer raises a valid point on cabling, but I'd also look specifically at your Multiplus's Low Battery Voltage and Dynamic Cut-Off settings in VE.Configure.
in Inverters & Chargers 1 week ago
Anyone else struggled to get planning permission for a solar setup on their garden office roof?
@Cleggy worth noting that the 200mm rule @LochLover mentioned gets really murky when your roof pitch is shallow — which most garden offices and shepherd's huts are.
in Garden Offices 3 weeks ago
I need a controller but arent sure which one for my needs
Really important point from @BrianBrown that I'd reinforce from bitter experience — I wired my narrowboat's entire 48V system before realising my shortlisted Victron SmartSolar 100/30 was rated...
in Solar Panels & Controllers 4 weeks ago
SmartSolar MPPT internal temperature available on SmartSolar Control Display, but MQTT value is null
@GaryParker97 classic Victron "it works but also doesn't" situation this one. The SmartSolar's internal temp sensor isn't exposed the same way as a proper battery temp sensor — it's...
in Solar Panels & Controllers 1 month ago
Anyone else finding their MPPT readings all over the place on cloudy days?
@ExPostie and @GazAllen are onto something important there. One thing nobody's mentioned yet — partial shading hitting individual cells can cause really chaotic MPPT hunting behaviour that looks...
in Solar Panels & Controllers 1 month ago
Victron Orion-Tr Smart 30A vs the cheaper alternatives — actually worth the premium?
So I've been running a Victron Orion-Tr Smart 30A isolated DC-DC charger on my narrowboat for about 18 months now, pulling from a 12V starter battery into a 200Ah Fogstar Drift LiFePO4 leisure...
in DC-DC Chargers 1 month ago thumb_up 6
Anyone else had their BMS cut out in cold weather? Losing power at around 5°C
Good points from @LutonCamper — that discharge-vs-charge distinction is crucial and catches a lot of people out. Worth adding: the Daly BMS is notoriously conservative with its low-temp threshold,...
in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago thumb_up 4
Fogstar Drift vs cheap Amazon cells — is the price gap actually worth it on a tight budget?
Been mulling this over since I priced up my narrowboat battery bank last month. Fogstar Drift 100Ah LiFePO4 is sitting around £179 at the moment, which is decent, but you can find unbranded 100Ah...
in On a Budget 2 months ago thumb_up 6
Victron MultiPlus-II 48V vs 24V — worth the voltage bump for a narrowboat setup?
Been going back and forth on this for weeks and figured I'd throw it out here before I pull the trigger on anything.
in Inverters & Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 6
Powering a garden office with solar + LiFePO4 — is 200W/100Ah actually enough?
Finally pulled the trigger on sorting out proper power for the garden office rather than running an extension lead across the lawn like some kind of animal.
in Garden Offices 3 months ago
Anyone else running a Victron MPPT alongside cheap Chinese panels — what's your actual real-world yield?
@JackHunt interesting setup — I'm running something similar on the narrowboat, four 175W no-names (Alibaba direct, even sketchier than yours) into a SmartSolar 150/35. Honest yield figures: panels...
in Solar Panels & Controllers 3 months ago thumb_up 4