Should I use the Load output on a Victron solar controller for wifi and cctv?

[Tzu]

I have a boat with copious batteries for its daily needs but after a flat battery set in the winter i added an 80w solar panel and 75/10 Victron controller. This seems to have been doing nicely and supplementing the all too frequent engine running to maintain the batteries. The boat has a GSM router for wifi access and I am looking to add CCTV, the blink system with battery powered cameras. I see that I can use the load output on the controller and via the app control the cut-out voltage at which point the load is disabled. Are there any pitfalls I've missed or good reasons to not go down this road?

 

[jakew009]

No real downsides if you can benefit from the low voltage cut off, just make sure it is fused properly.

 

[john_morris_uk]

Don’t know the answer but why the ‘frequent engine running to maintain the batteries?’ No load running and starting from cold and not really warming engines up I’ve always been led to believe does a lot more harm than good. Better to trickle charge the batteries with your solar to counter the self discharge??

 

[Tzu]

Don’t know the answer but why the ‘frequent engine running to maintain the batteries?’ No load running and starting from cold and not really warming engines up I’ve always been led to believe does a lot more harm than good. Better to trickle charge the batteries with your solar to counter the self discharge??

A poorly worded piece by myself.. the engine will run at the start and end of most journeys and frequently sometime in the middle of the journey too. During this time I know the batteries are being charged by the engine. My apologies for the confusion and thank you for your concern.

 

[john_morris_uk]

A poorly worded piece by myself.. the engine will run at the start and end of most journeys and frequently sometime in the middle of the journey too. During this time I know the batteries are being charged by the engine. My apologies for the confusion and thank you for your concern.

No problem.

It might not be relevant to you but I recall a friend whose electrics failed completely after 18 hours crossing the channel. He said, “But the battery must have been fully charged as I had motored down the Tamar from Saltash. We had a conversation about how thirty minutes of motoring doesn’t get anywhere near recharging a domestic lead acid battery that’s started off more than 50% discharged. It takes HOURS and HOURS on the old style alternator and regulator that he had. Even a smart regulator only improves things a bit.

Apologies for drifting your thread.