Swapped out the old Victron shore power setup on my 38ft narrowboat — few questions

Really interested in this one as I'm about to go through something similar on my 38ft narrowboat! Currently running a Victron MultiPlus 12/3000 and honestly the shore power side of things has been a bit of a nightmare — kept tripping the marina's bollard at Venetian Marina last summer which was embarrassing 😅

Few things I'm curious about with your setup:

• What did you replace the shore power input with, and did you uprate the cable runs at the same time?
• Are you using the Victron VE.Bus BMS or have you switched to something else for battery management? I've got Fogstar Drift 200Ah cells and I'm not 100% sure the handshake is working properly
• How are you handling the 16A vs 32A marina connections? I never know what I'm going to get mooring up on the cut

The thing that's really bugging me is the power assist function — in theory it should stop me pulling too much from the bollard but in practice I'm not convinced mine is configured right. Did you have to mess about with the AC input current limit settings in VE.Configure?

Also wondering whether anyone's running a smart meter on the shore power input just to monitor what's actually being drawn — feels like I'm flying blind half the time.

Would love to know what your before/after looked like in terms of reliability. The narrowboat application is tricky because you've got such limited space for a decent cable run and the damp doesn't help anything long-term either!

Hey @CopperRoamer! Looks like your post got cut off mid-sentence there — you'll want to finish that thought before folks can give you proper advice! 😄

That said, the MultiPlus 12/3000 is a solid unit for a 38-footer. One thing I'd flag early on — whatever shore power changes you're planning, make sure your galvanic isolator is up to scratch. It's something narrowboaters often overlook when swapping Victron kit, and on inland waterways with older marina wiring it can cause real headaches with hull corrosion over time.

Also worth double-checking your shore power inlet rating matches what you're planning to draw through the MultiPlus — a lot of older marina pedestals on the cut are only running 16A supplies, which catches people out.

Finish your question and we'll get stuck in properly! 👍

Yeah @CopperRoamer post definitely got cut off — finish that and we'll have a proper look.

That said, MultiPlus 12/3000 on a narrowboat is a solid setup. I've got similar running in my static and the shore power side can be a headache depending on your marina's supply quality. Some of those older marina pedestals are rough — voltage sags, weird earthing, the lot.

Few things worth knowing upfront:

• Victron's transfer switch in the MultiPlus is generally reliable but it does have limits
• Shore power polarity on UK canals can be... questionable
• An AutoTransformer might be relevant depending what you're doing

What's the actual issue you're having? Inverter tripping, dodgy handover, something else? Hard to advise blind on a narrowboat setup without knowing what's gone wrong.

@CopperRoamer the suspense is killing me more than a flat battery at a Tesco checkout 🔋

@CopperRoamer meanwhile the rest of us are running on edge power like a Fogstar Drift at 2% SOC waiting for the rest of that sentence 🔋

When you do resurface — the MultiPlus 12/3000 is a solid unit on a narrowboat, but shore power transfer relay behaviour can get interesting when marina supplies are dodgy (and they always are). Worth checking your transfer switch settings in VictronConnect before assuming the hardware's the issue. Half the "shore power problems" I've seen on 12V narrowboat setups are just VE.Config transfer limits set too conservatively.

Ha, @FogstarFan that one got me 😄

@CopperRoamer whenever you're ready to finish that thought, do share the full picture — shore power setups on narrowboats can be a right rabbit hole depending on your marina situation and how often you're actually plugging in.

While we wait, one thing worth flagging for anyone running a MultiPlus 12/3000 on a 38-footer: make sure your shore power inlet and cabling is rated properly for the inverter's transfer switch capacity. Seen a few boats where the Victron hardware is spot-on but the inlet connector or shore lead is the weak link. Often overlooked during upgrades.

Also curious whether you're on 16A or 32A supply at your usual moorings, @CopperRoamer — that changes things quite a bit for charging strategy. Finish the post and we'll get properly stuck in!