This little charge controller has been working great for a couple of years. Today, I went out to my camper and saw that my battery was dead so I took a look at the screen on this charger and it was totally blank. I have had that happen before so I unplugged the solar input cables from the PV panel and plug them back in and got nothing. Usually it lights back up. I did some multimeter tests and found that the solar panel is putting out 2.5 amps and 24 volts which seems normal. Makes me wonder if this charger bit the dust. Does anybody have a way that I can test this solar charger itself before I throw it away? If I get another one like this, is there a different one that you guys would recommend over this? I noticed a few companies make these little teeny Chargers and that's what I need because it sits in the battery box with my battery. Thanks a lot.
10a allto solar mppt quit working
- Thread starter slayer666
- Start date
TM48
Solar Wizard
What is the state of the battery? It's the battery which powers the charge controller.
Since the battery was dead, I took hope in what you said. That hope however... was quashed the next time I tested it with the battery fully charged. The mppt is deader than Good Friday. Ordered another Chinese Express mppt that is about the same for 15 bucks! Cheapisium? Anyway.. hopefully it'll give me a year of service just like, this last Chinese hunk 'o shit did. This solar stuff at it's core... its all Chinese, isnt it? Chinesium and Chinisdom make Chinology, to be sure!
TM48
Solar Wizard
Bummer. If it happens again I'd recommend buying a small Victron SSC. I have a 75/15 that's been running for about six years in an uncontrolled environment mounted inside a 8N battery box next to my front gates. Less than $70.
Solar Guppy
Red Cobra Guppy
Most charge controllers run off the battery, even with Solar attached, they won't power up without a battery
seneysolar
24V
Quality comes at a cost. Most people are OK with the Chinese crap on Amazon because they only care its cheap they don't think beyond that. Personally, I think 95% of this stuff will be in a landfill in 5 years.
If you want a quality unit the Victron 75/15 was mentioned, at $75 its a good balance of quality and cost. The only thing I have heard on these is the terminals are fragile and can be over torqued easily, so be careful on install. Overall, I have no doubt these will last 20+ years if properly installed/cared for.
For reference, the Morningstar Sunsaver 15 MPPT is almost $300 which will likely never fail, ever.
Now, why spend that much on a MPPT? Think about the cost of a battery and having to replace it. Think about the value of a ruined camping trip that you only get to take once or twice a year. Think about the Chinese controller going up in flames with high voltage PV like their breakers do on occasion.
At the end of the day the value is in the functionality, reliability, and safety.
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