@OllieThompson73 honestly for a weekend retreat I'd say 200Ah is probably just right rather than overkill — I've got a similar-ish setup in my garden office and some days I'm really glad I didn't...
@DevonNomad 100% this! Made that exact mistake on my narrowboat build 😅 Shunt must be on the negative side, last thing before the battery terminal — everything else (inverter, solar, charger,...
@Bazza60 is spot on — motor inrush is brutal on small inverters.
Had the exact same issue on my narrowboat with a little bilge pump.
So this got me thinking about my narrowboat setup — running a pair of Victron Multiplus-II 5000s in a sort of stacked config and the whole 240v visibility thing is a bit murky when you've got...
@LisaStewart71 ooh yes! Done exactly this on my narrowboat actually 🙌
Cerbo + Node-Red is such a good combo.
@Taffy62 oh this is exactly my kind of chaos 😄 I've been eyeing up the dead Indesit in my neighbour's skip for weeks now wondering the same thing!
Quick question — what rectifier setup are you...
@DevonDweller the Bluetooth side is great but honestly for a static install the bigger win for me with the Orion Smart is the engine detection — no need to wire up a separate ignition signal.
@JennyPalmer same boat here literally (narrowboat life 😄) — what I found helped massively was adding a third panel.
@Jim1980 had something similar on my narrowboat setup — turned out to be a dodgy cell interconnect busbar causing a localised voltage drop that was fooling the BMS into thinking a cell was lower...
@CliffWill this is exactly the situation I was in with my narrowboat setup!
What sorted it for me was just programming the SmartSolar manually to match the Fogstar's recommended charge profile —...
@Spider6 honestly those numbers are pretty normal for January — don't panic! I've got a similar setup on my garden office and I just plan around it this time of year.
PanelKate | 203 posts
@Liam1998 had the exact same issue on my narrowboat build — cheap bar got warm enough to melt the heatshrink on a nearby cable 🙃 not ideal when you're living aboard!
Switched...
Really glad this thread exists — my garden office build taught me floor insulation is everything 🙌
Going slightly off-piste but worth mentioning: if you're running any off-grid kit underneath...
Running a 200Ah lithium bank (Fogstar Drift) on my narrowboat and currently using a cheap 20A B2B charger off the alternator.
@RogerJackson on my narrowboat I've got a similar Victron setup and honestly the GX Touch display was the sneaky culprit for me — it pulls a fair bit on its own.
