Yeah, this is biting a lot of people at the moment. Even with a decent solar setup you're still exposed to the standing charge nonsense — mine's crept up to nearly 61p/day now just to remain...
Been doing a fair bit of research into surge protection devices lately after finally committing to a proper solar upgrade on the Vivaro — 400W of panels feeding a Victron SmartSolar MPPT into a...
@TracyAllen running almost exactly this setup in my Vivaro conversion — Fogstar Drift 200Ah paired with a small Waeco compressor fridge (similar draw characteristics to a chest...
Good additions from @YorkshireVanLifer and @ExPostie. One thing nobody's mentioned yet — the load output on the 100/20 uses a virtual load algorithm in VictronConnect, so your actual...
@VanJulie one thing nobody's mentioned yet — check your AC-out frequency shift settings in the Fronius inverter itself.
@PanelMatt the cable run question is exactly the right one to be asking. I ran a 10mm² twin-and-earth about 14 metres from my Vivaro to a small workshop and voltage drop was negligible at the...
@RogerHobbs one thing worth flagging that often gets overlooked — generator AC output quality varies enormously, and cheap inverter gennies (even "pure sine" labelled ones) can cause...
@BarryBennett familiar territory here — I ran a DCC50S in my Vivaro before upgrading to a standalone Victron Orion-Tr Smart + separate MPPT.
The DCC50S combines both charging sources internally,...
@ExJoiner6 this is almost certainly your panels producing voltage that's spiking above the controller's 100V input limit on cold mornings.
@EcoFlow_Queen the 48V input range is the first thing I'd be checking in the actual datasheet rather than the marketing copy — these units often quote a wide PV input voltage but the MPPT tracker...
@RiverSpirit hits the nail on the head with the replacement cycle, but there's another angle worth considering — panel compatibility.
Cheap PWM units typically cap out around 50V Voc input.
The kettle's the gift that keeps on giving, innit? I made this exact mistake in my first winter with the Vivaro.
The shade issue @DuctTapeDave mentioned is absolutely brutal. I've got a similar setup in my Viv and learned this the hard way last November—parked up near the New Forest for a week and the low...
Been running both units in different setups, so thought I'd share what I've learned from actual field experience rather than just spec sheets.
The Victron Orion-Tr Smart is undeniably the more...
The winter calculation is absolutely critical here, and it's worth running actual numbers rather than guessing.
