Thanks Bob,
It looks like the Victron is over $100, and I got the EPEver stuff for $40+$20 so I think I'm still ahead there a bit.
The two main reasons I got the EPEver was Will Prowse mentioning he liked it and for the RS-485 communications bus so I can use a project like this to keep an eye on...
An update:
I couldn't stand to wait until mid-July to receive the 50W panel for testing, so this morning I begged a friend of mine to disconnect his 100W panel and bring it over. The results were exactly the same, in the app it showed the panel voltage over 20V and the current around 50mA. Now...
Folks, I don't think we're getting anywhere here...
I'll order the 50W panel and report back when I get it, unfortunately it looks like it'll be a couple week.s
That's the whole point of this thread.
there aint' no watts comin' from the panel, 'cause the controller ain't drawin' any
When I hook up the old PWM controller, it draws about 7.5W from the panel and charges/keeps the battery charged just fine.
Swap out controllers, panel voltage is near open...
Even if I start it at fully charged ... 12.8V or so open circuit after rest... The voltage just slowly declines.
10W should be enough to keep it charged, It was way more than enough to keep it charged with the old PWM controller I replaced with the Tracer.
I agree its not enough to charge it.
Voltage drop is a factor of current. So if there's only 0.060A travelling from the battery to the controller. 14AWG wire is about 2.5 ohms per 1000 feet, and I have 10 feet, that's 10/1000*2.5=0.025 ohms
0.025 ohms X 0.060 A = 0.0015 Volts dropped across the wires between the controller and...
It is a group 24 RV/Marine Deep Cycle Battery... I think that's somewhere in the 75AH range.
I agree with you 100% on the math, 10W ~ 0.75A let's say conservatively, so 75AH would take 100 hours to charge in ideal circumstances...
But the battery is already fully charged, I'm just trying to keep...
I agree that 10W may not be enough for this SCC to act correctly, but to say it is "using" all of the 10W before any can be sent to the battery is simply incorrect. Measuring the across the panel terminals on the SCC with a multi-meter shows 20-22V. Measuring in-line with the panel with...
No it shows "daytime" (I edited the first post to include a screenshot from the controller)
If it were using close to 10W and not having luck with that, I could understand that, but its using only around 1.0W sometimes even less from the panel.
Hello Brewman,
In my opinion, no the battery is not completely charged. My understanding for flooded lead acid batteries is that 100% SoC would be around 12.6V open circuit at the terminals. Both the App and a multi-meter report the battery voltage at around 12.2V currently, but it has dipped...
Greetings, I just replaced a cheap PWM charge controller with a Tracer 1215BN. I have the BlueTooth box so I can monitor the stats on my phone.
At the brightest hottest part of the day I'm seeing 0.05A / 1.1W charging current and the panel voltage being 21.5V which is near open circuit voltage...