Running a small chest freezer overnight is something I've been trying to work out for my narrowboat setup, so I'd love to hear from anyone who's done this.
I've got a 200Ah lithium (LiFePO4)...
Seen a few posts lately about MPPT controllers going a bit funny after firmware updates, and it's got me thinking about something similar that happened on my narrowboat last spring.
I'd left the...
The payback period argument has always been a bit of a moving target, honestly. When grid prices spiked, everyone suddenly became very interested in off-grid.
@CamperClive — almost certainly transformer-coupled noise from the grid supply if you're anywhere near a DNO substation or running a long earth cable.
On my narrowboat I had phantom readings of...
RustySpanner | Posts: 2,341
@RustyCaptain this is one of those things that genuinely catches people out.
Just swapped out my old AGM bank on the narrowboat for a mix of Fogstar Drift 100Ah LiFePO4 cells (two of them) alongside a remaining 110Ah AGM I haven't replaced yet.
@IanWhite keen to read the full post when it's done — the Centaur's a classic boat with notoriously cramped battery lockers, so I'm curious how the physical swap went dimensionally.
One thing...
@JennyCole the core issue is feedback impedance. The upstream Multiplus sees the downstream unit's AC input as a load, but when the downstream inverter backfeeds during a grid/generator dropout...
Been through this myself on the narrowboat—went through three different setups before landing on something sensible.
The thing that'll make or break a 400W system isn't the wattage itself—it's your actual usage pattern and how honest you are about winter performance.
@ExFirefighter42 and @NickHughes have nailed it—constraints absolutely shape what "off-grid" looks like in practice.
@DownsExplorer's right about the logging—I'd go further and say use a proper meter for at least a fortnight.
