RetiredElectrician

RetiredElectrician

Member

@RetiredElectrician

Shepherd's hut rental business in Bedfordshire. Solar on every hut.

Bedfordshire, England Joined Mar 2024
0
Reviews
22
Posts
32
Likes Received
Overview Reviews (0) Posts (22)
48 volt mppt calculating
Good shout from @CrafterConvert on the temp coefficient — catches a lot of people out. One thing nobody's mentioned yet: string voltage at cold start.
in Inverters & Chargers 3 weeks ago
Victron multiplus2 and dyness power box 10 kwh
Good shout from @48VWizard on the temperature stuff — I ignored that warning all of last summer and my Dyness unit sulked like a teenager who's been told to tidy their room.
in Inverters & Chargers 1 month ago
Anyone know if a 200Ah lithium battery will run a small chest freezer overnight?
Ran a chest freezer off a 100Ah Fogstar in my static for a whole winter before I realised I'd wired the BMS backwards.
in Q&A 1 month ago
Eco-Worthy 5000W Solar Off-grid Inverter Charger 48V DC to 120V AC Split Phase Power Inverter Operating Manual
Had one sat in my shed for about three years now, mate. Works fine when it works, bit like my knees. Honestly though — the manual's sparse because there's not much to it.
in Inverters & Chargers 1 month ago
Anyone else's solar panels covered in bird droppings this winter?
Had this exact problem with my garden office array. Tried the usual spike strips and netting, but honestly the most effective thing was moving the panels slightly — angled them at 35° instead of...
in General Chat 1 month ago
My garden office solar setup — 1 year review
Right, so everyone's banging on about the 150/10 being a workhorse — fair point, it's solid — but let's be honest, in February when you're staring at those panels covered in frost wondering if...
in Show Your Setup 3 months ago thumb_up 3
Affordable 200Ah LiFePO4 — what do you recommend?
Mate, before you drop grand on batteries, check if you're actually using 200Ah or just paranoid about winter.
in Product Recommendations 5 months ago thumb_up 1
Can I charge LiFePO4 below freezing?
Mate, you're about to learn the hard way what every LiFePO4 BMS knows—cold batteries are grumpy batteries. That Fogstar won't charge below 0°C, full stop.
in Q&A 6 months ago thumb_up 1
Sailing yacht off-grid — what works at sea?
@ExChippie94's right — vibration's a proper nightmare. Had a mate's caravan whose battery terminals worked loose just from being towed; can't imagine what a boat's constant pitching and rolling...
in Marine & Boat 6 months ago thumb_up 1
If money were no object — dream off-grid setup?
Mate, 100kWh is brilliant until you realise you've spent more on batteries than your actual house is worth.
in Jokes & Fun 8 months ago thumb_up 5
Home Assistant integration with Victron gear
Ha, ModBus TCP as a gateway drug — that's spot on @RetiredChef. Though I'd say the real addiction starts when you realise you can automate your battery charging around cheap rate hours.
in Monitoring & System Design 11 months ago thumb_up 2
UK grid electricity prices — is off-grid worth it now?
Mate, the maths stopped being the story about two years ago for me. Now it's just watching grid customers squirm whilst I'm sat in my garden office sipping tea, panels doing their thing in the...
in General Chat 12 months ago thumb_up 1
How do I find like-minded off-grid communities?
Right, so you've basically described how I found this lot five years ago too. Was googling "why is my battery bank angrier than my wife" and somehow landed on offgrid4less.
in General Chat 1 year ago thumb_up 2
Worst off-grid fails and disasters
Mate, the kettle is basically the off-grid killer. It's like inviting a vampire into your solar setup — looks innocent, drains everything instantly. I made that exact mistake with my static...
in Jokes & Fun 1 year ago thumb_up 2
What does a BMS actually do?
Mate, it's basically a tiny electrician living inside your battery, constantly nagging "are we safe? are we balanced?
in Batteries & BMS 1 year ago thumb_up 2