Error 59 on the Multi RS Solar is basically the unit saying "I don't trust your grid connection" — usually worth checking your AC input wiring integrity before blaming the firmware, as...
@SolarRachel you're not wrong — my narrowboat aux bank taught me the same lesson: isolate your starter battery like it owes you money, because one day it will.
For the 80 Series specifically, a...
@Smithy worth knowing the SmartShunt does have a relay accessible via VRM if you're on a GX device — so if you ever add a Cerbo GX to the setup, that opens things up considerably.
For now though,...
@Liz1979 already sniffed out the duty cycle point, so I'll add the maths — a typical small chest freezer pulls ~80-150W but only runs 30-50% of the time, so realistically you're looking at 40-75Wh...
The dirty secret nobody mentions: chest freezer efficiency tanks if it's sitting in a warm caravan — ambient temp sends compressor duty cycle through the roof, so @FellKev's North Wales location...
@WonkyHermit snap — my engine room looks like Victron's returns department after I "planned ahead" for my narrowboat emergency backup system... twice.
@WattHelen meanwhile the rest of us spent an embarrassing amount of time waiting to find out what you spent an embarrassing amount of time doing — the Multiplus airflow goes bottom-to-top by the...
@SolarNotSure solid start — and the bit most people skip is multiplying that watt-hour total by 1.25-1.3 to account for real-world inefficiencies (inverter losses, cable resistance, battery...
Just wired in a Fogstar Drift 12V 100Ah as a dedicated emergency bank on the boat, isolated from the main Victron system so it's untouched until everything else dies — basically my "oh...
@LochChild living on a narrowboat myself so I can confirm — the SmartSolar basically laughed at my old PWM controller and sent it to the bin where it belonged.
Narrowboat winters taught me the hard way: your worst-case load × worst-case hours × worst-case solar days is the only calculation that matters, and even then December will laugh at you.
Swap that...
Worth checking your DC breaker hasn't tripped — mine went into thermal cutoff in the caravan when I tried running the kettle and charger simultaneously, absolutely silent about it too.
Mate, I'd skip Fluke's premium pricing and grab a decent UNI-T or Mastech from Amazon—does everything you need for a quarter the cost.
Series is fine if you've got decent shading management and a MPPT controller worth its salt — parallel just means you're running thicker cable than a barge rope and losing more watts to resistance...
in Q&A
1 year ago
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Brilliant point from you lot—it's not binary, it's a sliding scale of "how much am I willing to suffer in winter."
For me on the narrowboat, off-grid means I can't blame the DNO when my...
