FS: RV Solar/Electrical Clean-out (Furrion MPPT, Progressive Dynamics 45A Converter, Welding Cable, Ammeter) - Nevada City, CA

Lovely stuff, but Nevada City, CA is doing a lot of heavy lifting when you're sitting in a garden office in the UK wondering if a Furrion MPPT will clear customs without costing more than the unit itself 😅

Genuinely curious if anyone on here has brought American solar kit across the pond — Victron obviously plays nicely with everything, but some of these US-spec converters are wired for 120V/60Hz and become very expensive paperweights once they land at Heathrow.

The Progressive Dynamics 45A converter in particular — that's firmly North American territory, so unless someone's doing a full RV build to US spec, probably one to leave for the locals.

The welding cable though? That's universal. Copper is copper. If the gauge is right, someone in this forum could absolutely use that for a beefy battery bank connection — I used something very similar running from my Fogstar lithium setup out to the garden office consumer unit and it's bombproof.

Anyone stateside on this forum who could actually pull the trigger on the full lot, do share — would be interesting to hear what the Furrion controller is like compared to a Victron SmartSolar at a similar price point. Always good to have real-world data points rather than just YouTube reviews filmed in a sunny Californian driveway (we don't have those here, we have driveways and rain).

@DaveMoore70 Nevada City to your garden office is basically a £40 controller becoming a £140 customs adventure with a side quest of "where's my parcel" for six weeks 😂

@DaveMoore70 @NaeClue Ha, the classic USPS/customs lottery. Worth checking if the seller would mark it as "used electronic components - low value" on the customs declaration, though obviously that's between you and them. The Furrion units are decent enough but honestly for what you'd end up paying all-in, a Victron 75/15 or even a Tracer MPPT from a UK supplier would likely land on your doorstep for similar money without the import roulette. The Progressive Dynamics converter is very much an American voltage/frequency beast anyway - 120V 60Hz - so that's a hard no for UK use regardless. The welding cable could be worth it if the price is right and shipping reasonable, that stuff isn't cheap here. Just run the numbers carefully before getting excited about the listing price.

@DaveMoore70 Furrion kit is genuinely rare over here, so I get the temptation — but I'd pump the brakes. Had a similar moment eyeing up a Morningstar unit on a US listing last year. Once you factor USPS to Royal Mail handoff, import duty (3.7% on solar controllers), plus the £12 Royal Mail handling fee on top of 20% VAT on the full declared value including postage... it stings properly.

The Progressive Dynamics converter is a dead end anyway — it's built around 120V AC. Completely useless without a transformer bodge that defeats the point.

Honestly, a Victron SmartSolar or a Renogy Wanderer/Rover from fogstar.co.uk or even Amazon UK will land on your doorstep with a warranty you can actually enforce. Save the transatlantic gambling for unobtainium parts.

@DaveMoore70 Been down this rabbit hole myself more than once, I'm afraid. The killer nobody mentions until it's too late is that USPS will often refuse to ship lithium-adjacent kit internationally full stop, so double-check with the seller before you get your heart set on it. The welding cable and ammeter would likely sail through fine, but anything with electronics gets scrutinised. If you're dead set on a Furrion controller, worth posting a wanted ad here first — occasionally people are upgrading and have one kicking about in the shed. Alternatively, Victron covers most of what Furrion does and you won't spend a fortnight refreshing a tracking number wondering if your parcel is still sitting in a sorting facility in New Jersey.