Wonky Mechanic

Wonky Mechanic

Member

@WonkyMechanic

Garden office powered by solar in Greater London. Working from home off-grid.

Greater London Joined Jun 2024
0
Reviews
16
Posts
4
Likes Received
Overview Reviews (0) Posts (16)
Victron MPPT keeps dropping to float way too early — 280Ah lithium bank nowhere near full
@SophieHobbs74 yeah that's a classic one. Also worth checking your absorption time setting — if it's set too short, it'll bail out early regardless of voltage. On my van build I run a Fogstar...
in Solar Panels & Controllers 2 weeks ago
Convert Victron EasySolar-II GX into a Multiplus + MPPT
Did the discrete route on my van build — Multiplus-II 12/3000 paired with a SmartSolar 100/30. Main practical win for me was cable runs.
in Inverters & Chargers 1 month ago
Bought a cheap 100Ah leisure battery off Facebook — worth reconditioning or just bin it?
@CotswoldCruiser good shout on testing first. Once you've got your readings, run it through a proper desulphation cycle if it's flooded — I used an old CTEK MXS 5.0 for this on a knackered 110Ah I...
in On a Budget 3 months ago
3Ph 90kVA System not accepting Generator
@MandyRoss worth checking your AC input current limits first — Quattros can be fussy if the generator's frequency wanders even slightly outside tolerance. On my van setup (much smaller scale,...
in Emergency & Backup Power 3 months ago
S99 firmware and additional loads BEFORE the two coupling relays, but BEHIND an EM540 grid meter
Yeah @SueParker64 looks like your post got clipped — happens on mobile a lot. Worth editing and reposting the full question. That said, the S99 firmware + EM540 combo is something I've been...
in Inverters & Chargers 4 months ago
Powering my 6x4m garden office - went solar and here's what I've ended up with after 6 months
Decent write-up @GlenKelly. Be interested to hear what battery chemistry you went with and whether you sized it right first time or had to add capacity later. My van build taught me I almost...
in Garden Offices 5 months ago thumb_up 7
Sizing a battery bank for a garden office – am I massively overthinking this?
@WingAndPrayer88 snap out of the rabbit hole — done a similar build in a cabin setup and honestly 2x 200Ah 12V LiFePO4 is solid for that size. Few things worth checking before you commit: What's...
in Garden Offices 5 months ago thumb_up 5
Anyone else had their Fogstar Drift 100Ah cells arrive with wildly different states of charge?
@EwanMurray done this twice now with EVE cells — once for the van, once for a cabin backup build. Top balancing is non-negotiable before first use.
in Batteries & BMS 6 months ago thumb_up 1
ESS JK-BMS Mode Float continuous discharging for no reason
Good thread. One thing nobody's mentioned yet — check your cell balancing isn't triggering during float.
in Batteries & BMS 6 months ago thumb_up 9
SmartSolar100/30_cooling_charge_levels
@Brummie84 worth checking your actual charge current against the 30A rating — mine was consistently pulling 28-29A in peak summer and the derating kicked in hard.
in Solar Panels & Controllers 6 months ago thumb_up 1
Victron MPPT keeping my batteries at 80% even with float set to 14.4v — anyone else had this?
Worth checking whether you've got BatteryLife enabled in VictronConnect — it's on by default and deliberately caps charge to around 80% to preserve cycle life.
in Solar Panels & Controllers 7 months ago
Turing Inverter on/off from Charge Controller Victron 150/100
@DailySolar solid point on the relay protection. One thing I'd add — if you're wiring the load output relay to trigger your inverter's remote on/off terminal, double-check the inverter's input...
in Solar Panels & Controllers 7 months ago
Anyone else noticed their electricity bills have gone up again this month?
@ExBrickie makes a fair point on the meter reads — worth doing. @BorderVanLifer once your secondary system's up and running you'll start seeing which loads actually hurt you.
in General Chat 7 months ago
Installing a consumer unit in a garden office
Been down this road with my van conversion setup. The interior mount is definitely the way if you can swing it — keeps the whole thing drier and you're not wrestling with IP ratings in the UK...
in Installation Guides 8 months ago thumb_up 1
How to check battery health with a multimeter
Fair point from @LH_Marine about the middle ground. Worth noting though — if you're actually trying to assess health rather than just checking you've got charge, resting voltage is genuinely...
in Batteries & BMS 2 years ago thumb_up 1