Just Robin

I'm equally a bit confused around Lithium charging with the V BMS 12/200. A lot of the issues of solar and alternator charging are exactly the same in the RV / van culture. Same problems, minus the water. But the solution offered in all the RV installs seems to focus on DC-DC B-to-B chargers. Here, and in videos around Lithium charging on boats, I see a lot more focus on building something different - adjusting or replacing the alternator regulator controllers, or paralleling banks of both SLA and Lithium as a single hybrid bank, or other solutions. This BMS 12/200 solution (seen used in Journey with Jono vids too) seems to be Victron's newest way. But why aren't I seeing mention of it for RV uses? Only for boating uses. Maybe just hasn't broken into that market yet. In my "when I have enough money to retire" dreams I would have been planning to use DC-DC B-to-B as the way to charge Lithiums. It seems the simplest thing, as it totally isolates "13.xV Lithium charging" away from "alternators designed for 14.4V SLA". Paralleling multiple small DC-DC even allows for switching one or other charger off to give control over slow charging (on a long day's cruising or nearing the top of the charge) vs fast charging (when needing to run diesel for an hour in winter for a quick boost) The BMS 12/200 is using a fuse as a simple resistor shunt to measure current flow, and behind the scenes it is somehow adjusting the massive amount of current it is allowing the batteries to pull from the alternator. What logic or magic is happening behind the scenes inside thay BMS 12/200 is all hidden behind the victron curtain of mystery. It's not clear whether it is reducing charge being pushed when near to the top of capacity, or reducing charge demand while the engine is first warming up. But on the other hand, it seems to be Victron's main focus now for A-to-B Lithium charging, so I guess that's a good sign that it will replace the DC-DC converters for that purpose and hopefully get some good victron support. It's not truly A-to-B - as it still needs what they term an 'alternator protect' battery - a sacrificial SLA battery to dump load into whenever it shuts off charging - which I guess still makes it a B-to-B. It can also handle upto 200A, which makes it suitable for large alternators quickly charging large Lithium banks - whereas DC-DC converters will cost a lot more Amp for Amp. A 50A Victron DC-DC is quite an expense compared to a 200A Victron BMS 12/200. But then, once you've committed to Victron charging, I guess you're committed to overpaying for victron batteries. DC-DC solutions will support non-victron banks more easily. There are opportunities to save costs on Lithiums, but perhaps saving costs in one place creates more cost/complexity in others. I would put some time into finding out more details about the BMS 12/200 before making any decisions on DC-DC converters.

Hehe. I do wonder. I'd be tempted by a big skylight or a dogbox myself, but I'd seriously consider the practicalities of it before cutting a great big ole. That boat has multiple of them, and unnecessarily electrically actuated ones too. The one over the saloon may be a good idea - reverse layout central saloon after all - but the one over the bed at the bow is just plain silly. That's where the solar panels should be.

So based on this 800mm, those chairs need to be kept a lot further away. Even with the walls in place, the promo image shows 300mm. I think they'd barely achieve 800mm with the chairs pushed right to the ends of the saloon. Does ALL soft furniture material fall under that? Or is there some leeway given if the furniture is treated in some way? Moving furniture is one thing, but the carpet and wood trim is another... Seems a lot closer than that to me. Maybe 10cm across to the wood trim edge.

Well, "having pictures of a squirrel on the sides" can be an important factor in financial decision making. Much more important than whether it puts out any heat. ? But then covering up pictures of squirrels with walls? Surely unforgivable. (in my case, paying £125000 based entirely on some pictures of squirrels would verge on lottery-win territory. I'm more in the barely floating shed financial range, for now)

Indeed, if/when I'm in a more nautical position than my current situation, I intend to live TV-free. When there is water and nature and a burning stove to look at, I don't feel a TV is necessary.

Only the grey ones I hope? Cute red ones should be allowed to keep their legs.

Dropping slightly below floor level is an ingenious solution, where possible. An idea I've never considered.

Ah. So limitations on chair material being too close. But then, I would say there's still only about 30-40cm from the chair to the face of the stove. The wall isn't totally enclosing it. I guess at least it stops the chair being leaned directly on the stove metal.

Excuse my first post being a bit 'negative'. Been reading for a long time without posting. Please see Exhibit A below. Not my own picture, but a recent build with a high price tag promoted at a well known broker. First off... (and ignoring for a moment the placement of two chairs staring at a bookshelf and having to twist their heads 90 degrees to even see the TV)... Is that stove not far too close to the wooden trim of that surround? The heat from that stove contained in what I can only describe as a "cupboard" has nowhere to go, so much of the heat is being focussed and reflected onto the wooden trim for it to escape that cubby hole. Looks to be only a few inches from stove to wood trim. Next, the marble plinth underneath. With no lip edge, seems far too close from stove to carpet. Must be what? 5, 6 inches at best? Maybe the pic is deceptive, but I've watched coal jump and roll a good 2 foot across a newly fitted expensive thick white carpet, and it wasn't pretty. Looking up top, the flue seems almost resting on the wooden trim. Maybe an inch at best. Looks to be a double-skinned flue, and at least it's the colder end of it, but even so isn't that a bit close? What are the general recommendations for minimums here vs what are the absolute lowest 'get away with it' BSS or RCD limits? I'd always want to lean on the side of caution and exceed minimums, but this example of 'what you can get at top tier for £125k' seems far more risky than I'd be comfortable with in my own build. But then at that price, I'd think this must be 'ok'? So are my own expectations too 'cautious'? In general, what's the appeal of this cubby hole stove arrangement? Am I missing something obvious? Surely the point of having the stove is to warm the boat and warm the people sat near it. Anything enclosing and containing the heat is just warming the stove and sending more heat up the chimney. Building a wall between the chairs and the stove seems to negate the whole purpose. Is this just for someone that wants to challenge nature in an attempt to heat the winter air surrounding their boat rather than the air inside? Or never light it and just look at it? Or is there some appeal of having this sort of arrangement, that is going over my head?