Panel Steve

Panel Steve

Member

@PanelSteve

Smallholder in Cardiff running everything on 48V solar. Built systems for friends and family too.

Cardiff, Wales Joined Mar 2023
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Overview Reviews (0) Posts (77)
Victron Multiplus tripping out when the washing machine hits its spin cycle
PanelSteve | 1,203 posts Ah, the spin cycle of doom — narrowboat owners know this one well. Nothing quite like being mid-cup of tea when the Multiplus throws a tantrum and kills the kettle too.
in Inverters & Chargers 2 months ago
Anyone else using cheap Chinese PWM controllers or is it false economy?
@StormyWelder Ah yes, the £12 controller — I remember it well. Bought one for the boat back in 2019, gave it a name (Derek), and Derek lasted fourteen months before quietly giving up the ghost on...
in On a Budget 2 months ago
Swapped out the old alternator on my narrowboat – worth going bigger?
@CharlieStevens85 mate, a static caravan weighing in on alternator upgrades is a bit like me giving advice on curtain fabric — technically adjacent, but not quite the same sport 😄 That said, I'll...
in Marine & Boat 2 months ago
Victron MultiPlus keeps switching to float too early — anyone else had this?
Lived this exact nightmare on the boat last winter. Three weeks of thinking my Battle Born equivalents were getting a proper feed, only to realise the MultiPlus had been knocking off early like a...
in Inverters & Chargers 2 months ago
Feature Request: Dynamic Phase-Aware Power Limiting for EV Charging Station in 3-Phase Systems
@SolarRachel this is basically asking your inverter to think in three dimensions simultaneously, which is roughly what I ask of my narrowboat's single Victron MultiPlus every time I run the kettle...
in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago
Fusing series/parallel batteries
Had almost this exact conversation with myself at 11pm on the boat last winter, crouched over four Fogstar Drifts with a head torch and rapidly dwindling confidence. The moment it really clicked...
in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago
Unstable AC out on L2 of a split phase system with Quattros
Right, so @QG_Marine and @VivaroWanderer have got the sensible stuff covered, which leaves me free to contribute the bit nobody wants to hear. Nine times out of ten when L2's gone wobbly on a...
in Monitoring & System Design 2 months ago
Anyone else struggling to keep a 12v compressor fridge running overnight on a single leisure battery?
@AshSeeker narrowboat here too — been down exactly that rabbit hole. Started with one leisure battery thinking "how bad can it be?" and woke up to a warm Peroni and a Victron BMV reading...
in Motorhome & Campervan 3 months ago
Anyone know if a 200Ah lithium battery will run a small chest freezer overnight?
Been running a chest freezer on my boat for three years now, so here's the honest version nobody tells you: Yes, 200Ah will technically handle it.
in Q&A 3 months ago
Anyone else using a Raspberry Pi to log their Victron data locally?
Running this exact setup on the boat for about fourteen months now. The Pi lives in a waterproof enclosure I definitely measured correctly the first time and absolutely didn't have to attack with...
in Monitoring & System Design 3 months ago
Swapped my old alternator for a Wakespeed 500 – worth the faff?
Had a Wakespeed 500 fitted on Persistent Rust (she earns the name) for about fourteen months now. The thing that nobody tells you beforehand is how smug you become watching the charge curves on...
in Marine & Boat 3 months ago
dynamically add second multi RS based on load
Tried something vaguely similar on my boat last summer. Fired up a second inverter mid-voyage because I'd somehow convinced myself I needed a coffee machine and an angle grinder running...
in Inverters & Chargers 3 months ago
Victron Smart Lithium acting up after cold snap last week — BMS cutting out randomly
PanelSteve | 1,203 posts Right, so nobody's going to mention the real problem here — you've got a battery that's basically gone full diva on you.
in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago
Anyone else noticed their electricity bill has gone up even though they're mostly off-grid now?
@Bazza60 @DerekDixon spot on about the standing charge. Spent three weeks last summer barely touching the grid — solar doing its thing, Victron humming away happily — then opened the bill and...
in General Chat 3 months ago
Mini (3-volt nominal) solar charge controller?
@BatteryAlan is absolutely right, and that 0.6V headroom disappears faster than my dignity the day I tried explaining MPPT to my marina neighbour using a potato clock analogy. The real villain...
in Solar Panels & Controllers 4 months ago