@@michaelzimmerman9221 Good to know about the fan. The extra fan is a precaution for very hot weather as the controller is in a garage. The built in fan must be really quiet because I don’t even hear it.
I have the same brand new in a box here, but the 20A version. Bought it for like 23USD shipped. I am now testing with another MPPT device and I notice something which might affect your system as well. My panels are approx 30m (100ft) away from my house and I used 2 times electrical wire in parallel.(extension leads, I'm a total amateur I know) So I would say about 14AWG. The drop in power is enormous. The MPPT device itself is capable of delivering 150W max and almost always peaks out when it is connected directly to the panels. 150W+100W+40W+30W panels in parallel, so it is almost always saturated when the sun shines (what an absolute .. sunmmer we have had here in the Benelux so far). Now the same device connected at my house with that cable length I get like a max of 90 Watt. My guess is that cable length and thickness is messing around with the MPPT as the cable acts as a resistor. Not sure what cable thickness and length you use but it might make a big difference here. Btw If I measure the voltage at my house so over the long wires when nothing is connected it goes to like 21V which is indeed Vopen. When I short it my Amp meter goes in overload so definately over 10Amps. So if I would say max power at like 18V then the MPPT would surely would also produce the 150W max but the wire seems to mess up the thing.
@@Luke-san I found the PowMr mppt charge controller delivers little, if any, increase in power over my pwm controller. Maybe it’s because I’m operating a 12 V system. Maybe mppt works better for higher voltage system. I kind of suspected that but my reason for upgrading is because my 30A pwm controller can go into thermal protection (shutdown and back on later) when weather is very hot. The new controller supposedly can handle 60A. So that’s my reason for the change. The only way to see if one is better is to operate both under the same conditions. Thanks for your input. As with any DC keep your cables thick and short to avoid voltage drop.
Low voltage does cause significant power loss over a long connecting cable. Maybe you could experiment with connecting the solar panels in series instead if that will be within the maximum input voltage of the charge controller. 🤔
@@wtam69biggest difference will be when you put more voltage coming from the panels, compared to PWM when you go above the voltage it won’t turn into current but MPPT does, so if you put 24 or 48 volts it will change a lot, I saw that your panels are providing something close to 16v and it’s real close to around 14.2v for charging voltage, so that’s why you are not seeing big difference, if you double the PV it will increase the current going to your batteries
you must hook up your panels in series to make24v or 36v on a a 12v battery and inverter system you can not go over 720 watts on a 12v system i have one of the same powmr it work crazy well that way on smaller gauge wire
@@charlessammons9987 Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. I’m doing well and hope everyone is as well. I just use my iPhone to upload videos and the iMovie app is limited in editing capabilities so the quality suffers. TH-cam “whims” can be a drawback but I can’t blame my video performance and quality on the platform. Tinkering is my hobby and I’m glad I can share my experience with others.
Hello from Greece. I bought these chargers,(2) but I have a question for you and I hope you can help me. I have 4 photovoltaic panels. of 420 watts 13.15 amp (1640 watts 49.60 amp) the chargers do not give me this performance. I tried with the charger I had, (PWM) And I had the performance of the panels. The charging option is in SEL . Thanks.
@@ΠαναγιωτηςΒασιλικοπουλος-β1γ There is actually little difference for me between this mppt and the own charger. The difference for me is the power handling capacity. PowMr can handle more. Mppt works if you have higher voltages that do not match your batteries. If you configure your system to closely match the charging profiles of your batteries, you don’t need mppt. Your car battery charger if regulated at 14.5v to charge a 12 voltage. Not much loss there. Adding or using a mppt charger, if there is such a thing for cars, won’t help you. Sometimes stupid is better.
@@wtam69 thanks i like how you had your amp meter i have been playing with the solar my self for a while started out with harbor ft i put four panels in series got 80v
@@leetaves9143Actually the charge controller displays amps and voltage from solar panels but I like the large pointer analog type amp meter that you can see from several feet away.
@@wtam69 ya that what i think too i have the small one,s now and their hard to read i also do diy batterys but temu has them cheaper then i can make them about 140.00 , at 85 im slowing down a bit in FL
I’ve had the same charge controller for 4 years and it’s worked flawlessly! No need for the extra fan!
@@michaelzimmerman9221 Good to know about the fan. The extra fan is a precaution for very hot weather as the controller is in a garage. The built in fan must be really quiet because I don’t even hear it.
@@wtam69it's actual a FORCED FAN... it won't blow unless the temperature is above 55 degrees
@@raphaelfemide7974 Thanks for the info. 55 seems pretty hot.
I have the same brand new in a box here, but the 20A version. Bought it for like 23USD shipped. I am now testing with another MPPT device and I notice something which might affect your system as well. My panels are approx 30m (100ft) away from my house and I used 2 times electrical wire in parallel.(extension leads, I'm a total amateur I know) So I would say about 14AWG. The drop in power is enormous. The MPPT device itself is capable of delivering 150W max and almost always peaks out when it is connected directly to the panels. 150W+100W+40W+30W panels in parallel, so it is almost always saturated when the sun shines (what an absolute .. sunmmer we have had here in the Benelux so far). Now the same device connected at my house with that cable length I get like a max of 90 Watt. My guess is that cable length and thickness is messing around with the MPPT as the cable acts as a resistor.
Not sure what cable thickness and length you use but it might make a big difference here.
Btw If I measure the voltage at my house so over the long wires when nothing is connected it goes to like 21V which is indeed Vopen. When I short it my Amp meter goes in overload so definately over 10Amps. So if I would say max power at like 18V then the MPPT would surely would also produce the 150W max but the wire seems to mess up the thing.
@@Luke-san I found the PowMr mppt charge controller delivers little, if any, increase in power over my pwm controller. Maybe it’s because I’m operating a 12 V system. Maybe mppt works better for higher voltage system. I kind of suspected that but my reason for upgrading is because my 30A pwm controller can go into thermal protection (shutdown and back on later) when weather is very hot. The new controller supposedly can handle 60A. So that’s my reason for the change. The only way to see if one is better is to operate both under the same conditions. Thanks for your input. As with any DC keep your cables thick and short to avoid voltage drop.
Low voltage does cause significant power loss over a long connecting cable.
Maybe you could experiment with connecting the solar panels in series instead if that will be within the maximum input voltage of the charge controller. 🤔
@@wtam69 you need to go to 24v or higher im doing 24v panels it work great it makes a big different,s on a 12v battery and inverter system
@@wtam69biggest difference will be when you put more voltage coming from the panels, compared to PWM when you go above the voltage it won’t turn into current but MPPT does, so if you put 24 or 48 volts it will change a lot, I saw that your panels are providing something close to 16v and it’s real close to around 14.2v for charging voltage, so that’s why you are not seeing big difference, if you double the PV it will increase the current going to your batteries
@@wtam69according to this mppt, the best voltage to charge a 12v battery is between 20-80v so you are out of this efficiency range
you must hook up your panels in series to make24v or 36v on a a 12v battery and inverter system you can not go over 720 watts on a 12v system i have one of the same powmr it work crazy well that way on smaller gauge wire
Love your videos. I've noticed a few getting deleted. Hopefully you're doing well and not suffering the whims of TH-cam.
@@charlessammons9987 Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. I’m doing well and hope everyone is as well. I just use my iPhone to upload videos and the iMovie app is limited in editing capabilities so the quality suffers. TH-cam “whims” can be a drawback but I can’t blame my video performance and quality on the platform. Tinkering is my hobby and I’m glad I can share my experience with others.
Never could understand what is meant by amp-hour. Thanks for the video, lots of hard work.
@@Southernshaker How many amps of current for one hour. How many watts that would be depend on the voltage. So it would be 100Ah at 12, 24 or 48v.
Thanks that helps clear things up.@@wtam69
Hello from Greece.
I bought these chargers,(2) but I have a question for you and I hope you can help me.
I have 4 photovoltaic panels. of 420 watts 13.15 amp (1640 watts 49.60 amp) the chargers do not give me this performance. I tried with the charger I had, (PWM) And I had the performance of the panels. The charging option is in SEL .
Thanks.
@@ΠαναγιωτηςΒασιλικοπουλος-β1γ There is actually little difference for me between this mppt and the own charger. The difference for me is the power handling capacity. PowMr can handle more. Mppt works if you have higher voltages that do not match your batteries. If you configure your system to closely match the charging profiles of your batteries, you don’t need mppt. Your car battery charger if regulated at 14.5v to charge a 12 voltage. Not much loss there. Adding or using a mppt charger, if there is such a thing for cars, won’t help you. Sometimes stupid is better.
@@wtam69 Thank you for the answer. You are probably right. Stupid is not stupid at all
how did you hook up your amp meter from the charge controller to the batterys?? or solar panels to the controller on neg side or pos side
@@leetaves9143 on negative side with a shunt but you can also use positive if you are powering the meter (digital type) with a separate power source.
@@wtam69 thanks i like how you had your amp meter i have been playing with the solar my self for a while started out with harbor ft i put four panels in series got 80v
@@leetaves9143Actually the charge controller displays amps and voltage from solar panels but I like the large pointer analog type amp meter that you can see from several feet away.
@@wtam69 ya that what i think too i have the small one,s now and their hard to read i also do diy batterys but temu has them cheaper then i can make them about 140.00 , at 85 im slowing down a bit in FL
@@leetaves9143 You have plenty of sun there. And you can go fishing there all the time🙂