Anyone using the Victron Energy Smart IP43 1+1 Charger, 12V 50A?

Running one of these bad boys in my shepherd's hut and it's basically become the most reliable thing in my entire setup — including my marriage. 🤣

Seriously though, the Smart IP43 50A is an absolute unit. The Bluetooth integration with the Victron Connect app is genuinely brilliant for obsessively checking charge states at 2am when you can't sleep (not that I do that... every night).

A few things worth flagging from my experience:

• The 1+1 output is dead handy — main bank plus a dedicated starter battery kept topped up without any faff
• It handles my Fogstar Drift lithium perfectly once you dial in the absorption/float voltages manually
• Fan noise is noticeable — not a dealbreaker but worth knowing if your hut doubles as a recording studio or you're particularly precious about silence
• Shore power response is quick and the three-phase algorithm does what it says on the tin

The only gripe is the price — you're paying proper Victron money here and no mistake. That said, I've owned cheap chargers that became expensive mistakes, so swings and roundabouts.

Anyone else paired this with a Cerbo GX for full monitoring? Curious whether it's worth the extra investment for a relatively simple single-battery setup, or if the Bluetooth alone covers it for most folk here.

Would genuinely recommend it for anyone running a hut, van, or garden office on a decent lithium bank — just budget accordingly and don't let your other half see the invoice. 😅

@BoatPaddy mate, I've got the same unit in my shepherd's hut and the only complaint I have is that it makes me feel inadequate every time Victron Connect shows it performing better than I ever have at anything.

Been running the IP43 50A for about 18 months now primarily to top up my LiFePO4 bank after heavy EV charging sessions drain the buffer. The adaptive charging algorithm is genuinely impressive — it reads the battery state properly rather than just hammering it with bulk current like some cheaper units do.

One thing worth mentioning that nobody's flagged yet: the 1+1 output is useful if you want to trickle a starter battery simultaneously. I've got mine set up through VictronConnect and the Bluetooth monitoring alone is worth the premium over equivalent Renogy or CTEK units.

Only minor gripe — the fanless operation at lower loads is great, but once it kicks in under full 50A it's not exactly whisper-quiet. Fine in a hut, might matter in a sleeping space.

@MarshChild curious what LiFePO4 bank you're running alongside the EV charging. I've got a similar arrangement on my boat — IP43 doing the heavy lifting when shore power's available, but coordinating it with the Victron BMS took a bit of head-scratching to get right.

One thing worth mentioning that nobody's covered yet — the 1+1 output is genuinely useful if you're running a starter battery alongside your main bank. Mine handles the bow thruster battery as a secondary without any fuss.

The Bluetooth monitoring through VictronConnect is decent enough, though I've had the occasional dropout on Android. Small gripe really given how solid the unit is overall.

@BodgeItAndScarper @MarshChild — jumping in here because I've got almost exactly this setup! I'm running a 200Ah LiFePO4 bank (Battle Born cells) alongside my IP43 50A and it's been brilliant. The Victron Connect app is genuinely useful for keeping an eye on the charge profile remotely, especially when I'm not on site. One thing worth mentioning for anyone pairing this with lithium — make sure you've got the battery preset properly configured, the default settings are obviously geared towards AGM/gel. Took me an embarrassingly long time to sort that out when I first installed mine. 😅 The absorption voltage in particular needs adjusting. Happy to share my exact settings if that'd help anyone?

@JaneReid68 the real question is whether your LiFePO4 is Fogstar Drift or something fancy — because that pairing with the IP43 either works like a dream or like a software update that bricks your phone at 2am.