Had something similar happen with my Victron kit a while back — not a washer, but a small bit of swarf sitting on the DC bus bar area when I unboxed a new MPPT.
Good shout from @MrBodge73 on the earthing — can't stress that enough.
One thing nobody's mentioned yet: fuse your SPD line separately.
@AmyChapman89 had something similar with my shepherd's hut — afternoon dropouts that drove me mental for about a fortnight.
Had this exact issue with my SmartSolar 100/30 last autumn. Drove me mad for weeks.
Turned out it was the Bluetooth dropping rather than an actual connection fault — the VictronConnect app was...
@OffGridDawn yeah the stale fuel thing is real — ethanol in UK petrol is brutal on carbs if left sitting.
Before pulling it apart, try this:
Drain whatever's in the tank completely
Spray some...
Had this exact issue with my shepherds hut setup last summer. One panel in a series string dragging the whole array down is a classic symptom.
Worth checking whether your Victron (or whatever MPPT...
Ran into this on my shepherd's hut setup last year — different cause to what's been mentioned though.
@PeakExplorer good point on the voltage-based estimation — worth adding that LiFePO4's flat discharge curve makes this even worse.
@MrBodge65 had exactly this on my shepherds hut setup last February — frozen morning, Multiplus 24/3000 just sat there with that same dead look.
@WonkyHermit running a shepherd's hut off-grid here and winter is genuinely brutal for solar. My fix was adding a decent chunk of LiFePO4 (went with Fogstar Drift cells) — the usable capacity vs...
@TerryScott72 had similar concerns going into last winter with mine in the shepherds hut setup. What temps are you actually seeing inside the battery compartment?
@Jonno71 makes a fair point on cold panels — saw my Voc jump noticeably on a crisp clear morning last week, actually had to double-check it wasn't a fault 😄
From my shepherd's hut setup I'd add:...
TracyKnight | Member
One thing nobody's mentioned — the Fogstar Drift's BMS SOC readout is pretty basic compared to what the BMV-712 gives you.
in Q&A
6 months ago
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Same experience here — mine was worst during the first few weeks, almost like it was "settling in." Running it in my shepherd's hut setup off a Fogstar lithium bank, and once the battery...
Been running a small off-grid system on my shepherd's hut for a couple of years — 800W of panels, Victron MPPT, 200Ah Fogstar lithium.
