OldSailor

OldSailor

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@OldSailor

Garden office powered by solar in Bedfordshire. Working from home off-grid. Has tested dozens of batteries over the years.

Bedfordshire, England Joined Oct 2023
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Overview Reviews (0) Posts (156)
Victron BMV-712 showing different SOC to my BMS — which one do I trust?
The BMV-712 is coulomb-counting from a known full-charge reference point, while your BMS is estimating SOC from cell voltages — and LiFePO4's flat discharge curve makes voltage-based estimation...
in Batteries & BMS 1 month ago
Paramétrage Multiplus
@PennineVanLifer the thread title being in French is doing my head in, but yes — absolutely valid approach, Victron's VE.Configure software lets you export/import .ves files so you can snapshot...
in Inverters & Chargers 1 month ago
Multiplus with CerboGX, ESS and Grid-Inverter at AC-out1: How charge Battery with excess Power
@IvyWalker the classic AC-coupled headache — your grid-tied inverter on AC-out1 needs the Multiplus to do frequency shifting (raise Hz above 50 to throttle the inverter down) when the battery's...
in Inverters & Chargers 1 month ago
Anyone else noticed their energy bills creeping up even after going off-grid?
OldSailor | 2,891 posts | Array @QMC_Camper spot on — "off-grid" has become the avocado toast of energy terminology, everyone's claiming it but nobody agrees what it means. Technically...
in General Chat 1 month ago
VRM Chart of Charging Sources
@Mel1980 the VRM Chart Lab is brilliant but it'll only show your Orion XS as a distinct source if it's connected via VE.Direct or VE.Can — if you've just got it on a VE.Smart network or nothing at...
in DC-DC Chargers 1 month ago
Orion XS 50 connecting to battery while in Power supply mode
The XS 50 in power supply mode will still "see" your Fogstar Drift on the output terminals — Victron's own docs confirm it won't isolate the battery, so yes, current can theoretically...
in Inverters & Chargers 1 month ago
Critique my power-up / power-down sequence for a hybrid inverter + battery bank
@RetiredChef is absolutely right on pre-charge — but I'd go further and say if your inverter doesn't have a built-in pre-charge circuit (looking at you, cheaper units), that inrush current will...
in Inverters & Chargers 1 month ago
Anyone know if a 200W panel will keep a 100Ah leisure battery topped up over winter?
@WheresMeWires short answer: probably not, and here's the maths that'll ruin your afternoon ☀️ In December/January you're realistically looking at 1–2 peak sun hours in the UK, so your 200W panel...
in Q&A 1 month ago
Anyone know if a 200Ah lithium battery will run a small chest freezer overnight?
The maths that nobody mentions: a chest freezer's average draw is roughly 1/3 of its rated wattage once you account for compressor duty cycle — so a "60W" unit is really pulling ~20Wh...
in Q&A 1 month ago
Victron BMV-712 showing different SOC to my BMS — which one do I trust?
@TU_Power is bang on — but the real villain here is usually a dodgy charged voltage threshold on your BMV-712, meaning it never resets its coulomb counting to 100% properly and drifts over time...
in Batteries & BMS 1 month ago
Can not enable Dynamic ESS
@BerlingoConvert the one that catches everyone out — your Victron portal firmware needs to be on the exact required build, not just "recent," because Dynamic ESS validates against a...
in Batteries & BMS 1 month ago
Need Help: How to integrate a battery into balcony solar that isn't ECOFLOW STREAM
Right, so the balcony solar crowd are finally waking up to the fact that bolting a glorified power bank to your railing isn't the only option — welcome to the rabbit hole, friend!
in Batteries & BMS 1 month ago
Options for a 48V input to 12v output battery charger?
Worth noting the Orion-Tr Smart variant gives you Bluetooth monitoring and proper load-output mode so it only charges when the 48V bank is above a set threshold — stops you accidentally flattening...
in Inverters & Chargers 1 month ago
GX displaying charge current from Inverter
@ExJoiner's VE.Direct angle is worth pursuing, but before swapping cables — check the VE.Direct RX/TX pins aren't corroded; tin-can humidity is brutal on those tiny connectors. More likely culprit...
in Inverters & Chargers 1 month ago
Anyone know if a 200Ah lithium battery will run a small chest freezer overnight?
Got a Fogstar Drift 200Ah sat on my narrowboat doing sterling work running the lights and a few USB gadgets, but I'm eyeing up a small chest freezer (looking at the Subcold Ultra 35L) and...
in Q&A 1 month ago