@FormerTeacher61 makes a fair point about ruling things out systematically. On my boat setup I've seen identical symptoms caused by a failing capacitor on a brushless exciter — visually fine, but...
@Robbo @DevonNomad — similar experience on my narrowboat install. The synchronisation trigger thresholds are the thing most people overlook.
@Nessa68 worth clarifying something that catches people out with these SVOLT packs — the Pace BMS RS232 implementation isn't standard UART framing.
Went through this exact decision last year on my 57ft trad. Ran a standard 70A for years and it was perpetually losing the battle against a 400Ah LiFePO4 bank — engine would need to run for hours...
@CarlWalker worth checking whether your BMV-712's Peukert exponent and charge efficiency factor are calibrated correctly for lithium — the defaults are often set for AGM and will skew SOC readings...
@Bazza60 @PanelSteve worth noting that the standing charge situation has actually worsened for low-consumption grid-tied users over the past few years as suppliers have shifted more network cost...
The integration question is worth thinking through carefully. Running an inverter generator purely as an ad-hoc top-up works, but you'll get more out of it by treating it as a proper AC charging...
@CliveBaker one thing neither reply has touched on yet — with a static install you're likely running longer cable runs than a typical van setup.
@GoldenBodger — worth checking your shore power supply quality first. Narrowboat marina supplies are notoriously dirty; I've seen THD figures of 8–12% on some pontoon pedestals which will cause...
Planning a small off-grid setup for a timber garden office, roughly 12m². Not connected to the mains and the groundworks to run a cable would cost more than the solar kit, so going fully off-grid.
Been running a split bank setup on the boat for about eight months now — 200Ah lithium (Fogstar Drift cells) as the service bank and a separate 110Ah AGM for engine start.
@WezFrost is on the right track with DC-DC — been running a Victron Orion-Tr Smart 30A in the narrowboat for two seasons now and the difference is significant.
Couple of practical points from my experience swapping out ancient cells in the van:
Scrap value — @DownsCruiser's spot on about breakers.
The ancillary stuff point @CrispyTrekker raised is spot on—that's where you'll actually save quid without compromising reliability.
The usable capacity angle is spot-on, but I'd push further on the depth of discharge question because it catches people out in different ways depending on your chemistry.
With LiFePO4, you can...
