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Barney26

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Joined
Jun 13, 2024
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Hi, I need help setting my charge controller,
Solar panel is max 20v
Charge controller as per photo
Solar panel connected to charge controller- connected to 12v battery running 12v water pump.
Pump only runs for a few seconds then stops keeps cutting in and out, will not run when tap open .
 

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How many amps is needed to run the water pump?

It looks like you have the pump connected to the controllers load connector. You may be exceeding what its made to handle.

Next I would suggest using a volt meter to see what voltages look like while its trying to run.

Test :
Battery volts
Panel volts
Load terminals volts

Post that info back here so we can help you.
 
I found two reviews on that unit and it kind of went like I figured on the load controlling part :

Load output doesn’t stay on
By BT in the United States on February 18, 2024 The load output is erratic and does not stay on. Many times the load-on indicator (the arrow between the battery icon and light bulb icon) will be flashing. I have no idea what that means (the directions do not mention anything). The load on/off button has no effect. Have to remove both batt and solar for > 2 mins to get it to reset….

Load will not power a 200 Watt inverter
By Mom and Teacher in the United States on February 4, 2024 The load function is useless, it does not work to power anything useful. Solar functions seem to charge batteries, but i bought it to run lights at night and charge battery during the day. I will be sending them back and getting something that will power a small inverter.
Click to expand...
 
My neighbour here in Thailand bought one identical for the grand price of $2 within a few weeks of him using it the 12v deep cell he had attached exploded nearly killing a friend sleeping in a nearby hammock. I would highly suggest buying something else.
 
I never use the load part on charge controllers. Just to risky. I always use some kind of external controller.

As for blowing up batteries that was another popular review for that controller when I was looking up the load issues :)
 
Barney as stated above, don't connect the pump to the pwn solar charge controller. Connect it direct to your battery.

The load output on the controller is for very small items. The pump needs the full power of the battery.
 
Use charge controller "load output" to drive a power relay that controls power directly from the battery (via a fuse) to the load.
There are almost always settings in a charge controller that control the "load output". Settings like minimum and maximum battery voltage. If the battery voltage drops below the minimum then the "load output" is turned off. Another voltage setting then determines when the "load out" is turned back on.
 
marionw said:
Use charge controller "load output" to drive a power relay that controls power directly from the battery (via a fuse) to the load.
There are almost always settings in a charge controller that control the "load output". Settings like minimum and maximum battery voltage. If the battery voltage drops below the minimum then the "load output" is turned off. Another voltage setting then determines when the "load out" is turned back on.
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure this is the rare case, there is no settings , Maybe a default cutout for low battery voltage but the fact as I stated earlier there is certainly no charging cutoff for over voltage by default
 
Thanks for all the feedback, I have wired the pump directly to the battery as suggested. The pump has a cutout at 1.7 bar.
The pump runs to two water troughs on the farm and a tap.
I’ll see how this runs for a few days and let you know.
 

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Barney26 said:
Thanks for all the feedback, I have wired the pump directly to the battery as suggested. The pump has a cutout at 1.7 bar.
The pump runs to two water troughs on the farm and a tap.
I’ll see how this runs for a few days and let you know.
Click to expand...
Keep an eye on the battery voltage, best case scenario the controller and panels charge more than you use and there's nothing to worry about, worse case the PV cells can't keep up and over discharged the battery. Either way I'd highly suggest a better charge controller, something like the epever tracer 1210an should be fairly cheap and give you a 10amp output plenty to cover the 5amp pump as long as the inrush current isn't too high, if you have a DC clMP meter I'd highly suggest you check if you can.
 
Update, all working fine now.
The system was installed by previous owner so wired incorrectly.
Now running the pump from battery which is being charged by the solar panel.
Thanks again for all your comments and suggestions.
 
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