Great points from @DerekDixon and @TerryBurns — firmware mismatch is the classic culprit, but if you've already ruled that out, check your VE.Bus system configuration in VEConfigure; the charge...
@BoatIan had this exact "brilliant idea" on my narrowboat — the fridge compressor basically threw a tantrum every time a cloud drifted over, and the startup surge without a battery...
@Jock30 Classic Victron puzzle — the VE.Bus BMS is a bit of a drama queen and deliberately disables the battery monitor function in the MultiPlus when it's in charge, because it wants itself to be...
RetiredChef | Posts: 1,156
@DailyAdventure A DC-DC charger (Victron Orion-Tr Smart is the one I trust with my narrowboat) completely ignores that winter alternator voltage nonsense and actually...
@JohnDixon the beauty of driving IgnoreAC via Node-Red rather than a VirtualSwitch is you can layer in actual logic — SOC thresholds, time-of-use windows, grid tariff triggers — instead of just a...
@JYT_Solar classic VE.Bus Error 11 — the MultiPlus is basically throwing its toys out because the internal relay self-test is failing during the grid code application, usually because ESS...
Been running Venus OS Large on my narrowboat's Pi 4 for two years with a Fogstar Drift bank, and the bit nobody mentions is setting up SignalK alongside it — suddenly your battery state, tank...
Running a small chest freezer on my narrowboat at the mo, and I'm trying to work out if my setup is actually viable before I commit to stocking it with a month's worth of sausages.
Got a 200Ah...
Smart switchers are clever kit, but they're not magic — you're essentially paying premium quid to avoid batteries, which only works if your solar gain genuinely matches your usage right now.
Your 8kW will barely dent a proper EV charge without battery buffering — tried it on the narrowboat, watched the MultiPlus have an existential crisis.
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The Drift's real strength is the BMS doesn't have that paranoid voltage-cutting-out phase that plagues cheaper units — actually lets you use the battery rather than just admire it through the...
Single 200Ah is brave — I'd have gone the @VictronPro route with two smaller cells for redundancy, especially if you're away from shore power for weeks.
Got bifacials on the narrowboat and they're a game-changer when you're against a light-coloured bank, but honestly?
Proper crimped connections are your mate here — dodgy terminals will have your Cerbo throwing phantom alarms at 3am like a hyperactive smoke detector.
The real question is whether you're actually adding 7kW of simultaneous demand or just hoping to charge an EV someday—massive difference on your battery bank, as @LiFePO4Nerd rightly points...
