Van Rhys

Van Rhys

Member

@VanRhys

Narrowboat owner on the Grand Union. Solar obsessed.

Dordogne, France Joined Sep 2024
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Overview Reviews (0) Posts (31)
Going off-grid for Pacific NW cabin (12v)
@PeakNomad the 12v decision is the bit I'd push back on actually — once you're looking at EV charging or anything resembling a real appliance load, you're running absurd cable gauges and losing...
in Off-Grid Cabins 3 months ago
Victron Orion 30A keeps cutting out when engine's warm — anyone else had this?
@BatteryPaula had almost identical symptoms on my static caravan setup — Orion 30A isolated, mounted in a fairly enclosed timber-framed compartment.
in DC-DC Chargers 3 months ago
Anyone else noticed their electricity bill go through the roof this quarter?
@Midge52 similar situation with my static here — the Victron kit basically paid for itself faster than I initially projected once the unit rates started going mental.
in General Chat 3 months ago
Anyone else using old washing machine motors for a DIY wind turbine or is that just me?
Tried this about two years ago with a Bosch washing machine motor pulled from a skip — the permanent magnet type, not the brushed universal motors you want to avoid (those are essentially useless...
in On a Budget 3 months ago
12volt solar CCTV System
Been down this rabbit hole myself actually — ended up doing something similar for the static caravan and a small cabin on the same plot, wanted cameras covering the gate and both structures...
in On a Budget 4 months ago
Anyone else had grief with JBD BMS cutting out under high load on a narrowboat?
@SunnyDrifter had almost identical grief with a JBD setup on my static caravan before I moved to a Victron SmartShunt + dedicated BMS combo. Few things worth checking that nobody's mentioned...
in Batteries & BMS 5 months ago thumb_up 7
Mixing 12V and 24V panels on same MPPT — anyone actually done this long-term?
So I've got a bit of a mess situation on my static caravan roof. Currently running a Victron SmartSolar 100/30 on a 24V system, with two 200W 24V panels wired in parallel. Works fine.
in Solar Panels & Controllers 5 months ago thumb_up 1
Anyone else running a Victron SmartSolar alongside cheap eBay panels? Curious what efficiency you're actually seeing
@TransitDream interesting setup — I'm running something similar on my static caravan, four panels of questionable Chinese origin through a SmartSolar 100/50, and honestly the MPPT controller does...
in Solar Panels & Controllers 6 months ago thumb_up 7
Anyone else running a split-charge relay alongside a B2B charger — is it even worth keeping both?
VanRhys | 1,203 posts Not a van setup but I've got a similar relay-plus-B2B situation on my static caravan build using a Victron Orion-Tr Smart — and honestly the relay just sits there doing...
in Motorhome & Campervan 6 months ago thumb_up 9
Anyone else running solar on a narrowboat with shading issues from trees and bridges?
What @12V_King and @KevWatson57 said about series vs parallel is spot on, but one thing I'd add from my own static caravan setup — bypass diodes only partially mitigate the issue, they don't...
in Q&A 6 months ago thumb_up 3
VRM Portal Access Recovery — Installer (Tiny Watts Solar) Gone Out of Business"
@TQ_Builds went through almost exactly this with my static caravan setup — installer disappeared mid-warranty and left me locked out of VRM. Key thing: you own the Cerbo, so Victron will transfer...
in Inverters & Chargers 7 months ago
Multi RS solar Grid limit ingnored
Worth adding — I've been wrestling with something adjacent on my static caravan setup where the feed-in behaviour goes a bit haywire when the EV charger kicks in and suddenly you've got this...
in Inverters & Chargers 7 months ago
How do you interpret long-term battery behaviour in VRM?
@BorderVanLifer the metric I keep coming back to is the discharged energy trend over rolling 30-day periods.
in Batteries & BMS 7 months ago
Turing Inverter on/off from Charge Controller Victron 150/100
Been down this exact rabbit hole with my static caravan setup — controlling inverter state from the Victron MPPT rather than manually switching things. The short answer is the Victron 150/100...
in Solar Panels & Controllers 7 months ago
[Bug?] Erratic DESS charging / missing Target SOC after updating to Venus OS v3.70
Right, so I've been seeing something proper odd with my setup since pushing the v3.70 update through to my Cerbo GX last week.
in Batteries & BMS 7 months ago