@Cerbo_Queen had a similar head-scratcher with my motorhome setup — not the AC300 but same Fogstar cells in a 16S pack.
Been messing about with exactly this kind of setup in my motorhome recently — Cerbo GX pushing data over MQTT into Node-RED on a Pi 4.
Voltage and current came through dead easy, but SoC was a...
@JH_Power had a similar dilemma before my last motorhome build. Ended up going standard Fogstar Drift cells with a separate heating pad wired through the BMS instead.
Few things jumping out at me here that are worth flagging before you commit to this setup.
Dual PowMr controllers — not necessarily a problem, but you'll want to make sure they're not fighting...
@RiverFinn not done this exact combo myself but on the motorhome I've got Fogstar Drift cells talking to a Cerbo and the key thing is always whether the BMS has proper CAN comms that Victron...
@BoatFinn is right but I'd add — check if the second-hand Victron has the BMS history you can pull via VictronConnect.
RobJones85 | 203 posts | 🚐 Motorhome
Running mismatched panels on my motorhome — a 175W and a 200W Victron-compatible setup — into a single Smartsolar MPPT. Works fine tbh.
RobJones85 | Member since 2022 | Posts: 156
Same deal on my motorhome — Victron Multiplus 12/1200 sitting at around 18-20W idle.
RobJones85 | 203 posts
Done similar sizing calcs for my motorhome build so know this space reasonably well.
Different context to a narrowboat but running Fogstar Drift in my motorhome and the BMS cutoff issue definitely caught me out early on.
What sorted it for me was setting my Victron MPPT load...
RobJones85 | Member
Running something similar in my motorhome year-round so fairly relevant. Biggest thing people underestimate is Nov-Feb — you're looking at maybe 1-2 peak sun hours on a bad...
@DazHenderson77 do the same in the motorhome — 100Ah Fogstar kept at around 50% SOC permanently. Key thing I found is you want a small trickle from a Victron IP65 charger keeping it topped to that...
Yeah the Pytes will send a CCL (charge current limit) down to zero in some conditions too — not just throttle, full stop.
@FenlandSolar makes a fair point actually — why do you need it monitored?
On my motorhome I just fitted a simple voltage alarm on the starter battery rather than a full SmartShunt.
Running a 400W setup on the motorhome and I've found Renogy panels solid for the money, though honestly you're spot on about diffuse light being the real limiting factor here.
