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08-07-2016, 05:46 PM
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#1
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Kitty Hawk
Posts: 381
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Help find a solar controller
I need help finding this solar controller.
My buddy has this installed with 2-100 watt Renogy panels on his Sprinter.
His system has been working great for 2 years so I am looking for this controller.
thanks
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08-07-2016, 06:53 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Longwood, FL
Posts: 1,562
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__________________
Greg
Old van: 1997 E250 EB30 (Stolen)
New van: 2003 E250 EB10
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08-07-2016, 07:09 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Kitty Hawk
Posts: 381
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gcvt
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WOW I have been looking for a couple of hours with no luck....Thank You
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08-07-2016, 07:09 PM
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#4
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Site Team
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Southern New Mexico
Posts: 10,179
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I ended up buying my second MPPT solar controller off Amazon, after buying my first, super cheap MPPT solar controller off eBay. There are many, many cheap solar controllers, but I believe many eBay ones are not true MPPT controllers. At least some of the Amazon ones have been analyzed, admittedly by Amazon Reviewers, to be true MPPT.
My cheap one off eBay worked, but I never took the time to see if t was truly MPPT. I just never got close to the solar panel output I expected, so I swapped it out.
Herb
__________________
SMB-less as of 02/04/2012. Our savings account is richer, but our adventures are poorer.
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08-07-2016, 07:16 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Longwood, FL
Posts: 1,562
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hogasm
WOW I have been looking for a couple of hours with no luck....Thank You
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No problem.
__________________
Greg
Old van: 1997 E250 EB30 (Stolen)
New van: 2003 E250 EB10
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08-07-2016, 08:24 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Longwood, FL
Posts: 1,562
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__________________
Greg
Old van: 1997 E250 EB30 (Stolen)
New van: 2003 E250 EB10
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08-08-2016, 07:09 AM
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#7
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Beaverton, OR
Posts: 2,506
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I guess it would help if the reviewer really understood the difference between MPPT and PWM controllers. All that said, the thing that I would like to see it have is battery temperature feedback.
Going to their website MPP Solar Inc ยป PCM2012/3012 Series
you can find a little more information, it is interesting that is actually supports a com port that you can use to alter the charging set points, and other valuable things. I see that as a big plus, although it does not talk about a "program" to do this, I suspect they have one. There is also a review on this site, which is better, but still somewhat lacking in their understanding. I would say my concerns from that review would be that the accuracy of the displayed information. The reviewer says 3 to 5 percent, if you have a separate Battery Monitor this would not be a big concern. It does bring into question the accuracy of the charge set-points, etc
-greg
__________________
-greg
__________________________________________________ ______________
"Goldilocks" 2020 Ford Transit High Roof Extended 3.5 EcoBoost AWD Homebuilt
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08-08-2016, 07:24 AM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: San Francisco, CA
Posts: 3,285
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For $160 more than the orig you can get Midnite Solar's The KID for $290 from a few online sources. It has great features and is considered one of the best solar controllers you can buy. Highly accurate, temperature sensing and has diversion load ability with various parameter settings. It also has AGM, and Lithium charge profiles built in which can find tuned for the particulars of your battery bank.
More than double the cost but when protecting a few hundred dollars or more of batteries, I think it is very much worth consideration.
__________________
Ray
Beastie 3: 2002 7.3 EB Cargo: Agile TTB, CCV High Top, Custom Walk Through, Lots of stuff added. www.BlingMyRig.com
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09-07-2016, 05:58 PM
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#10
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: San Francisco, CA
Posts: 3,285
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Great! It is a very nice unit with lots of features.
Whiz Bang Jr. is worth it if you want to use the The Kid to monitor your SOC and usages. If you have a different battery monitoring system already, then it is redundant.
Panels: check out the LG NeON line. Thought I saw their single 300w panel for around $300. If you have the space on the roof, more is better.
Wiring: 6 ga will be problematic going into circuit breaker terminals as well as the Kid. If the panels are wired to produce 35 volts, 10 ga wire is sufficient and is the standard for the MC4 connectors. If wired to produce 17.7v then the voltage drop over distance vs wire gauge becomes more critical.
Cool!
__________________
Ray
Beastie 3: 2002 7.3 EB Cargo: Agile TTB, CCV High Top, Custom Walk Through, Lots of stuff added. www.BlingMyRig.com
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