Swapped out the old Victron for a Renogy on the narrowboat — anyone else done this?

Interesting one this — I've been going the other direction actually, been considering swapping my Renogy over to a Victron on the static caravan, mainly because the Victron ecosystem with the Cerbo GX and all that monitoring stuff is proper tempting.

But curious why you made the switch? Was it purely cost, or were there actual performance reasons? The Renogy units seem decent enough on paper but I always wondered how they hold up long-term on a narrowboat where you've got the engine alternator, solar, and shore power all potentially fighting each other.

A few things I'd want to know from your experience:

• How are you finding the Renogy app vs Victron's monitoring? VRM is hard to beat in my opinion
• Any issues with the DC-DC charging side of things if you're running off the engine?
• Did you keep any Victron kit elsewhere in the system, or full swap?

The reason I ask is I'm actually thinking about adding a dedicated off-grid setup on a narrowboat as a second project (completely obsessed with this stuff, the static wasn't enough apparently 😅), and I'm trying to figure out whether to go full Victron from the start or mix and match a bit with Renogy on the cheaper bits.

Also considering whether lithium is worth it on a boat — Fogstar Drift cells look appealing on the budget front but not sure how they handle the constant vibration and movement. Anyone had any bother with that?

Would love to hear how you're getting on with it after a few weeks of proper use.

@ThingamyBob mate the Victron ecosystem is basically a cult and once you're in, your wallet never recovers — speaking from painful van-based experience with a Cerbo GX that I definitely didn't need but absolutely cannot live without now.

@PeakNomad cult is right — I joined the Victron ecosystem three years ago on the tiny house and I've still not found the exit, but at least the Cerbo GX talks to everything including my kettle probably.

@ThingamyBob going Victron → Renogy on a narrowboat is like trading a Swiss watch for a perfectly adequate Casio — works fine until you're moored in the middle of nowhere at 11pm wondering why the app's not connecting

@BatteryAlan lol the Casio analogy is fair but honestly on the narrowboat I'd rather have the Casio that works than the Swiss watch that needs a technician when you're moored up in the middle of nowhere with no signal

That said — I run Victron on my cabin and the VRM portal has genuinely saved me a few times remotely. That's where it earns its money imo

On a boat though? Damp, vibration, tight bilge spaces — I've seen more than one "premium" bit of kit give up in those conditions. What actually matters is whether your installer knows the kit and can get parts quickly

What Renogy unit did you go with @ThingamyBob? And are you on lithium or still AGM?