Upgraded Cheap(est?) PWM Solar Charge Controller - 12v Solar Shed
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.พ. 2025
- This series of solar charge controllers are incredibly cheap, pretty efficient and quite functional. Previous versions have however been a bit light weight when it comes to current.
In this video I look at the latest version (CTK5S) setup for 6 or 12 volt sealed lead acid batteries and compare it to the previous versions (CTK3A).
❗️These links are affiliated and I may earn a small commission if you purchase❗️
This item was purchased on eBay: goo.gl/l0E6eS
Thanks for watching - It'd be great to hear your comments.
Please like, share and subscribe!
Brilliant little unit - added to my shopping cart - thanks Adam
You're welcome - did you get one of the originals?
No, I didn't like the lithium ones because there's no balancing circuitry.
Here's hoping for version three :-)
mr julian they have managed to make pwm solar controller with only one fet so you must re-adjust your design in which you have used charge pump and complicated your circuit..... .....mosfet drain should have gon to 12vdc source should be to the 20 volt panel side this way only one fet on the high side would be more enough....
if you remove the charge pump your great design end up coin size pwm controller
what you say about this?
got ours well back, he never said anything about discharging the extra power out the light control box red box for a better name. you can charge 18650 but if the battery is full the trickle charge will not go to the battery instead it will go to a light, or any other item you wish it to vent the power to until the battery needs more charge? making any since? just asking another tuber showed this method, that is why we are asking you because BIGCLIVEDOTCOM Clive watches you as well as us. thanks if you reply ok if you don't Old One Legged Joseph T retied navy
Very nice video.
Im getting this charge controller to trickle charge my motorcycle battery together with a 5 watt panel.
Thanks for sharing!
Hi Adam,
I got my copy of this controller. Here's a couple of notes from my experimenting with it.
- My cheap meter says that it's drawing 8mA compared to my CMP12 that draws 18mA.
- It seems a bit more hardy than the CMP12 controllers, I was on a roll! I forgot it wasn't rated to 24v and plugged that into the battery side and it survived. Then with 12V, one of the wires on my battery terminal came loose while the solar panel was connected and it survived the couple of seconds before I could disconnect the solar, from previous experience I can tell you a CMP12 would not.
- The wire terminals are smaller than I was expecting, they fit the automotive 10A wiring fine but the 10AWG wire I normally use for the battery connection wasn't close to fitting.
- You are right that LEDs are crazy dim.
Thanks again for your review!
Hi adam I bought the earlier 12 volt version, I'm going to get this one too. Thanks for the video's they are great. Hugely informative. Mike bkk
Hi Adam i have tested this controller yesterday after it just had arrived and surprisingly it's efficiency is between 90%-92% i wish i could of attached the pictures here but i can't :D
+Taqatak Glad to hear it's working well for you.
yeah really well and super cheap :D
It doesn't accept 24v input right?
I recently purchased another version of this. The back of the case says DHS-5S-6V12V10A and the circuit board is marked DHS-3S V1.3 and 2016-9-1. It supports two different lithium chemistries, NiMH and lead acid. The QR code on the box decodes as EN12438A1,9510789,24,QHM.
Top review as ever, ended up buying one myself too. This stuff is addictive :-)
Thanks Colin - good job many of the things I feature are very cheap! :-)
I just wish solar panels were as accessible to go with the controllers, decent size panels are still relatively expensive.
Yeah I know what you mean. I have visions of fitting four 80-100w panels on the shed roof - can't possibly afford it though. I think we were pleased when prices got down to £1/watt but they haven't dipped much since!
Hi Adam,
Just subscribed, I found your videos on these solar charge controllers very helpful and insightful. Thank you for taking the time to make them. I purchased the 5S (6V 10A) unit to drive an LED lighting strip. Connected to a 10Watt panel and a 4.5AH 6V SLA battery. However, I've discovered an interesting issue which I can't seem to solve, hence I'm reaching out to see if you had any ideas.
On a closed load circuit the current on the LED strip is about 1.1 Amps, but it's having a pronounced voltage dip/sag effect on the battery under load (drops to ~5.35V). In turn, the charge controller MOSFET is opening the load circuit to protect the battery from under-discharge ('m assuming because the voltage has fallen below 5.4/6V). This stops the voltage sag and the battery returns to it's original voltage (>6V). The charge controller then closes the load circuit again as the voltage climbs above the cutoff threshold and the whole cycle repeats. This is causing the LEDs to flash on and off on about a 1/5second cycle.
The only solution idea I've been able to come up with is to add a 10Ohm 10Watt resistor to cut the current to the strip in order to reduce the voltage sag. But I'm wondering if perhaps this is normal behaviour for the charge controller.Any insights you have would be appreciated. Thanks again for your videos so far. Addictive stuff!
Ash - Melbourne, Aus.
Any clue what all three leds strobing across means? I had one working fine and now the leds strobe across. I thought maybe the thing got wet, so I bought the bigger 5a/10a version and it does the same thing.
Bargin! The 3A ones are a little underpowered for my liking, but 10A is fine :)
Neat. I wonder what battery chemistry it's optimised for - flooded, AGM or SLA
Hi Adam, I have the 6V/12V with 10A version of this charger, I was wondering if it can only charge Lead Acid batteries, or other batteries as well. Mine didn't come with a manual, I hope you can give me some hints on the subject. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
do you know if they have a 24v unit yet? great video. thanks for your search in cheap quality controllers.
Hello Adam.
Can you please helpme to find a good solar charger to put into a drone called Parrot Disco.
I wanna put solar cell but a going to use 3 cells lipo batetteries 4 amps so i am looking for a very small carger for the weight and reduced space whay i have in the drone.
Would you give a recomendation of a perfect solar charger setting to use.
Thanks. 🙂
I just bought and wired the 6/12v 10A version with 3 led monitoring display. I am using it on a 7v solar panel and a 6v lead acid battery. I am wondering if the protection for overcharge is good enough for the battery i am using. As apparently on the badly translated leaflet it says that over voltage protection kicks in at 8.3v and resumes charging at 7.5v on a 6v system. I believe that with a 7v max solar panel this won't ever trigger as there is no way of over charging the battery with a 7v panel.
Also i am trying to understand the functioning of the 4 dip switches. Mine are all set to the 0000 position. Is it a setting for timer switch when the load turns on after it detects no flow from solar panel?
An explanatory video about this function would be greatly appreciated by most i suppose. Thanks for the very informative videos you make.
Maybe I'm unlucky but I've just bought one of these and its quiescent current is 18mA. My two older units, with just 2 LEDs, take less than 5mA. Still good value though.
Great review! I like to follow your channel. Keep the good work! But I was wondering how much power this PWM controller uses compared to PWM Solar Charge Controller Version 3 that you made or PIC version that Julian Ilett made? Thanks and best regards. And yes, I bought one too :)
I'm going to come back to you later today - I need to check some of my figures before I say anything misleading! :-)
+Peter Zupan Hello again. To answer your question the Arduino based charge controllers I built consumed 28mA for the first version, 23mA for the second, 8mA for the third version using the ATTiny85.
Julian's PWM5 PIC based controller used very little - in the order of about 5mA I believe, but I don't have one to check.
The 3 amp version of this PIC based controller consumes 5.5mA and the new 10 amp version takes 8.5mA. The extra is mainly taken up with the extra load LED I guess.
Hope that helps.
Thank you very much! That helps alot :)
Hey Adam, Thanks for another awesome review! Any ideas on how this compares to the other really cheap CMP12/BSV20A controllers? Cheers
I've only got one of that particular range of solar charge controllers. I only briefly featured it in my video about building my own solar charge controller: th-cam.com/video/db1JZUecYlI/w-d-xo.html (It's pretty much all in the first minute of that video).
I found that my version with the LED voltmeter used quite a lot of power (mainly due to the LEDs in the display) but I also came to the conclusion that the range is not PWM but a simple switching solar charge controller.
I'd suggest this range of PIC controlled solar chargers are far better than the CMP12 range due to those two important factors.
Thanks for the reply, I'll check out that video. Mine doesn't have the LED voltage display but I didn't realise it wasn't PWM. It looks like I'll be ordering one of these new controllers as well!
How if not need to use the load?.how to off the load?..just need to charge battery only
whats the self power consumption on it? does it have reverse blocking diode?
Hi adem i see you do the batteries testing and the charge exit i mis the load exit i want to know how much power there is. In the litlle pmw blue Solar Charger.thanks
Hi Adam,
Great Channel you have 😀
Would it be possible to use this with a small wind turbine?
Can this be used to charge a 6v sla battery ,if so what volt solar panel would i use thanks
Hi Adam, what is the max input voltage of the solar cell's?
Does this charge controller have a blocking diode? i'm building a small solar system with 2x10w panels.
can you run them in parallel and double the amperage?
Do you know if that controller can charge the batteries and provide power to a load at the same time by intelligently using the solar power instead of the battery if solar is sufficient? (Power Path)
I'm wondering if it could be used as a cheap UPS.
Thanks for your video. I'm now watching your other videos and they're informative.
Just Subscribed !
+Bunch To be honest I don't think this is that intelligent. Most charge controllers react to the changes in the battery - so if a load turns on and this reduces the battery voltage the PWM duty cycle would adjust to bring the battery back to a target voltage. This could mean ten percent of the current is going to that battery and 90 percent to the load however. Of cause once the load demands overtake the capability of the solar there will be a net loss on the battery.
I know you made this video a while ago, but did you ever figure out what the dip switches are used for? Great video BTW!
Yes I did. In another video I found they were for controlling the load output with a timer. Useful for a light at dusk etc.
Hi Adam, I really do appreciate your reply. Could you steer me in the right direction toward that video? I had a feeling they were for timing of somekind, but the manual is a bit difficult to decipher. Thanks!!!
I’ve found it... Cheap(est?) PWM Solar Charge Controller Update - 12v Solar Shed th-cam.com/video/-NZ_B1dLVr0/w-d-xo.html
Thank You!!! That is really a nice feature. They should push it a bit more. Hard to believe that this can be made and sold for next to nothing! Thanks for your work!
Hi,
2 questions. What would I use to solar charge just a single li-ion cell from either a 5v panel, and an 18v panel?
Thanks in advance!
I have two of the 3.7v 3A versions of this controller and both have the same problem. If the battery goes below the low cutoff voltage (3.44v) on mine the batteries won't recharge. With fully charged batteries I get the following voltages Battery 4.16v, Load 4.16v, Solar panel 16.5v (18v panel, early morning, slightly overcast) but when the controller cuts off load I get 3.44v on both battery and solar panel terminals. Can someone tell me what is going wrong?
Just received a 3A version...but it has 3 mosfet, PCB marked YHCK10A-V3.1 and it appears that they desoldered the bipolar LED lol, I wonder if it will work if I soldered one back. I can't tell in your video, but are C6, D9, R25, R26, R7 un-populated? Unless it's disabled in software, so I may have gotten a 10A version, prices were pretty similar, I wanted the more minimalist 3A design in case it uses slighty less power but stil ended up with a crippled 10A, at least if I leave that LED off, it will draw less power :) Edit: Tried with only a battery, the left side is flashing, is that the green LED? My battery is sitting at 12.9V
Hi Adam, purchased a 5A model recently to charge my 12V 7Ah SLA battery. I have a doubt if it's overcharging the battery. Because when I check the voltage at the batt terminals, the charge controller pushes the voltage up to 15.8V for a few seconds, and stops charging, only to repeat this process after 10 seconds or so. Is this really PWM charging, or just switched? I also heard the SLA venting today for a second, so I was wondering if this was a sign of overcharge. Any ideas would be appreciated. It's a new battery, fully charged.
Thank you for your wonderful, interesting and very helpful videos. I'm taking your suggestion from a prior video in using a jump starter as a solar power bank. I want to use jump starter, at least in part, as a battery backup for my internet when the AC power goes out - kind of like a UPS for DC devices (cable "modem," wifi router, phone, etc). Most of the devices are 12v, but one is 18v (I have an old 12 volt switchable converter that I can use to bump the voltage, although I don't know how efficient it is). In any case, here is my question for anyone listening.
The charge controller load output and battery when plugged into a charger produces up to 13+ volts to charge the battery. My charge controller does not (and I suspect most charge controllers do not) regulate the load output to 12 volts. Is there generally enough tolerance in 12 volt wall wart appliances to work reliably at 13+ volts, or does the output need to be regulated to a smooth 12 volts? And if it needs to be regulated, is there a cheap way to do that?
+Gregory Germain You're correct that most charge controllers do not regulate the load output and some electronics are picky about there voltages.
Personally I'd use a DC to DC converter that can handle your loads to be on the safe side. You'll need something that can work close to its input voltage though. The LTC3780 module might be an option - input voltages can be higher or lower than output and it can supply up to 10amps at full tilt.
rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?icep_ff3=9&pub=5575189419&toolid=10001&campid=5337903455&customid=LTC3780&icep_uq=LTC3780&icep_sellerId=&icep_ex_kw=&icep_sortBy=12&icep_catId=&icep_minPrice=&icep_maxPrice=&ipn=psmain&icep_vectorid=229466&kwid=902099&mtid=824&kw=lg
Can i use this charge controller as an over charging protector for my 6volt battery?? Please give me reply..
@adamwelchuk Not sure if you still monitor comments on this, but if you do, where can I find data on the maximum output on the dc load side? I want to run a bit more than just a dc light, but dont want to blow the load circuit. Anyone else in the comments have insight ?
i have connect it to battery and lamp "battery" begin and still flashing. solar don't connect. this is good? or lamp "battery" need be "on" without flash? sorry for bad english
+Борис Стигнеев Solar Led should be on if the solar voltage is high enough to charge. Blinking battery light led flashing means a low battery. goo.gl/photos/npSnZgmsouU9Xa9MA
Is it possible to use this SCC to power a web camera during day; use power directly from the solar panel(s) and charge the battery with the excess and use that power at dawn?
+Magnus Anemo You'd need an external timer switch. This controller won't turn on the load before dawn, it can only turn it on automatically at dusk and run for x amount of hours.
These controllers are sold for different battery voltages but can they be changed via the DIP switches. Does anyone have details of the dip switches?
I've found the answer to my question. The dip switches are only for controlling the load timing.
My question is for the 6v/12v 10 amp controller. Will this controller charge 18650 Li-ion batteries in a 4 cell battery holder? This time it does not say Li on the label
No it’s not really suitable. I don’t think 3s or 4s works with lead acid charge controllers - 7s does though, I’ve been running a 7s pack from a lead acid solar charge controller for ages now.
Can you please stop buying and reviewing these controllers...i have just bought this one now...ha ha what a good deal for £4.Thanks for the video Adam.
Sorry! :-)
Ok you seriously have to stop these reviews. It's in my ebay cart
Would be nice to read out the pics and put a socket on it so they could be swapped. I would love to create one to travel around in all parts of the world and be able to pack up as small as possible but being able to charge all kinds of cells.
btw subscribed, really like your videos
+Luc Peeters Thank you. You might not want to watch my next video which is currently in production then... :-)
arghhh that was quick, shall I wait pushing the 'buy it now' button?
+Luc Peeters if you're looking at lead acid chemistry then you should be safe to buy. I'm looking at another lithium product at the moment.
some sellers are showing this new 10a version working with 24v battery also have you tested it at 24v yet?
+bigjon1359 I haven't got one myself (as you've seen mine was 6/12v) but I expect that they are able to do what they say. All the ones I've tested have been good little units.
Very happy with mine too and it does not seem to work at 24v sorry for the last incorrect statement
How many price it?
Can someone upload a photo or a scan of the manual page for the 3-LED model (10A)? I've lost mine and now I don't know what the LED blinking modes are and what the switches do?
Try these... if you need them scanning let me know - but it might take a few days.
admw.uk/jy admw.uk/jz admw.uk/jA
Thanks a lot!
Hi Adam, hoy are you?
I Would like to ask you a question about this controller .
Is there any minimal current to work ? Because I’m trying to change a battery (12V 1,6A) using a solar panel (12V 25W) and it is not working.
My equipment is DHS-5S-6v12v10A.
Thank you!
Kellen How did you go? I just purchased 3 of these units and none are working. Connected battery first then the solar panel, and nothing. Cheers Greg
What's the difference of PWM and MPPT?
hello! does the load turns on when night time comes?
+Jeremy Deleon Yes it can do. You just need to set the dip switches inside according to the manual.
@@AdamWelchUK this sort of answers part of the question i just asked.
How does it know if u have a 6v sla battery connected as oposed to 12v thanks
did you find out?
did you look into the dip switch settings?
Yes. I eventually got one with a manual - it’s load control timer settings.
@@AdamWelchUK Can you post a copy of the manual somewhere?
4 switch how many switch is on
I used the 3A lead-acid version in a 12v 25w system and it burned out after just one day !
hello , i just got the 12v and the manual says high voltage protection 16.5
i think this is for a 3s lithium ion but i am right
wont this controller ruin a lead acid battery by overcharging it ?
16.5 is an emergency cut off I think in case something has gone wrong - it should never charge to this level normally. If it states 12v on the back I believe this is the lead acid version. The lithium versions state Li 11.1 or something similar - or at least they did when I bought them.
Adam Welch your right
thanks
Does your actually cut off charging when exceeding this value though?
Mine seems to work correctly until supply goes over approximately 17.45v, then the regulator appears to go into some sort of linear mode where it just passes through any increase in voltage to the battery, with no limiting of current. High battery cut off can easily be exceeded and the regulator does not turn off, even though the power led does turn off eventually.
seems you know technically the items are u a electronics engineer ?
The MOSFETs wouldn't really be in danger of getting too hot would they? If they're fully off (cutoff), not current flow, no power dissipation, no heat. If they're fully on (saturation), only milliohms of resistance so very little power dissipation, very little heat. Run them in a parallel pair, half the resistance in the circuit, or half the current per MOSFET, so again very little power dissipation.
I though that was one of the advantages of a MOSFET, requiring only a voltage difference to turn on (no current flow between gate and source or drain), and the very low forward voltage due to low Rds-on. Being used in a PWM circuit would be alternating between cutoff and saturation, so never any significant heat generation. I guess this is why they felt some solder blobs on a copper "plane" of the drain would suffice to dissipate what little heat may be generated.
Please solar controller for batery lithium ion 12v
Hı Adam my device does not charge the battery. The device is 6 and 11 volts
Does 10 amp version tricke charge?
The one I tested was a lead acid version - so it did bulk, absorb and float (or trickle).
its 2022 and its 15$USD now
LOL Nickel Metal Hard Dried
prices fechers stop talking and install one