Anyone else using a Victron Cerbo GX for remote monitoring on a boat or shepherd's hut setup?

Just got a Cerbo GX installed on my shepherd's hut system — 400W of Renogy panels, a Victron SmartSolar 100/30, and a 200Ah Fogstar Drift LiFePO4. VRM portal is genuinely brilliant for keeping an eye on things remotely, but I'm already drowning in data I don't fully understand.

Specifically, the "Battery Time Remaining" figure seems to bounce around wildly — 6 hours one minute, 14 hours the next. Is that normal, or have I got something misconfigured? I've set the battery capacity to 200Ah in the settings but wondering if there's something else I'm missing.

Also, has anyone set up custom alerts on VRM? I'd love a notification if the SOC drops below 20% overnight — useful when I'm not on site and can't exactly nip out to check. Is that something the free tier supports or do I need to be throwing money at Victron?

@StormyWelder same setup essentially on my narrowboat — Cerbo GX tied into a MultiPlus-II and a pair of Fogstar Drift 200Ah in parallel. The VRM portal is solid but the real game-changer for me was setting up custom alerts.

Few things worth doing if you haven't already:

• Enable two-way control via VRM so you can tweak charge settings remotely
• Set low SOC alerts — saved my bank more than once when I've been away from the boat
• The VRM app on mobile is surprisingly decent for a quick glance

One gripe: the Cerbo's WiFi range on a steel-hull boat is rubbish. Ended up running a short ethernet cable instead. Sorted it completely.

What's your EV charging situation? I've been experimenting with diverting excess solar to charge the car and the Cerbo makes that whole orchestration much easier.

@StormyWelder running something similar for my garden office — Cerbo GX with a SmartSolar and a single Fogstar Drift 100Ah. The VRM alerts are what sold it for me, get a notification if the battery drops below a set SOC overnight. Dead useful as emergency backup peace of mind too.

One tip — set up the VRM dashboard widgets properly from the start, took me ages to reorganise mine after the fact.

@LazyNomad curious how you're finding the Cerbo on a narrowboat with all that 240V load from the MultiPlus-II? Wondering if the data gets noisy when the inverter kicks in hard.

@StormyWelder this thread has found me at the right moment! I've just been agonising over whether to add a Cerbo GX to my garden office setup — currently flying blind with just the SmartSolar Bluetooth, which is fine until you're in the house wondering why the lights went off.

The bit that sold me was reading about the scheduled charging integration for EV charging — I'm hoping to eventually tie in a small overnight charge routine for my Zoe without babysitting the whole thing manually.

@SolarTrevor curious how you're finding the VRM alerts in practice for the garden office specifically — do you get false alarms when the office sits idle for days at a time? That's my main worry before committing to the hardware.

@StormyWelder Had a Cerbo GX on my shepherd's hut for two winters now — the GX Touch 50 screen mounted by the door is the bit that really sells it to visitors, they think you've built a spaceship out of reclaimed timber.

One thing worth noting: set your VRM alarm rules properly before you leave it unattended overnight, otherwise you'll be getting 3am push notifications about a cloud passing over your panels like it's a national emergency.

The tank level inputs are underrated too if you're running a water setup alongside — got mine wired to my fresh water tank gauge and it's all on one dashboard.

Really interested in this thread — I've been going back and forth on adding a Cerbo GX to my boat setup for months now.

Quick question for those already running one: how does it handle the Bluetooth vs VE.Direct connection to the SmartSolar? I've currently got my MPPT talking directly via Bluetooth to the Victron app, but I'm wondering whether switching to a hardwired VE.Direct connection through the Cerbo would give more reliable data logging — especially when I'm away from the boat and relying purely on VRM remotely.

Also, @ExFarmer79 — does the GX Touch 50 work well in a damp environment? A boat interior obviously gets condensation issues that a shepherd's hut probably doesn't, so slightly concerned about longevity.

Anyone running a Cerbo on a narrowboat or cruiser specifically? Would love to hear whether the cellular data costs on VRM add up over a full season.

Running a Cerbo GX on the boat for about eighteen months now, and the moment that sold me was sitting in a marina café watching the battery SOC drop in real time whilst a dodgy bilge pump was quietly misbitting in the background. Caught it before it became a disaster.

@SmartSolar_Queen the boat use case is particularly strong — temperature and humidity sensors via the GX inputs have been a revelation for monitoring the engine bay. The VRM historical data also saved a warranty conversation with Fogstar once; just pulled up the charge graphs and proved the system had behaved perfectly.

One genuine watch-out: the Cerbo needs a reliable 12V feed. Mine's fused directly off the battery with a dedicated run. Lost it once to a dodgy inline fuse and felt genuinely anxious until it came back online — didn't realise how dependent I'd become on that visibility.

My static caravan runs the same Cerbo GX + VRM combo and honestly the best feature is getting a low battery alert whilst you're sitting in the pub deciding whether to order another round — nothing focuses the mind on renewable energy quite like a potential flat battery ruining the EV charging schedule back home.

Great thread! I've had a Cerbo GX running on my narrowboat for about two years now paired with a SmartSolar 150/35 and two 100Ah Fogstar Drift batteries. One thing nobody's mentioned yet — the tank level and temperature inputs are genuinely useful if you're running a shepherd's hut with a water tank or monitoring ambient temps. Also worth setting up the scheduled charge windows if you're on shore power occasionally, keeps the batteries topped off without overworking them. @SmartSolar_Queen honestly just go for it, you won't regret it.