Thanks for the response, Justin. The trouble I am having, since I am a noob, is learning all the different brands and which is best. I guess an example is;
for dc-to-dc charging, with possible solar, I wonder how the REDARC products hold up against the Renogy. I know they are more expensive, but, long term, would it be worth considering. I wonder if there is a website that does comparisons? So far, I have not found one.
I don't want to 'over-think' this, but do want reliability.
Thanks
Ahhh I see. That sort of thing, unfortunately, I can't advise on - we
only deal with Victron and Sterling primary components because we only deal with components that we ourselves have tested to exhaustion and found reliable. The majority of our customers are either boondockers or boaters, to whom reliability isn't a matter of a desire but is actually a matter of life-or-death, plus we fully support everything we sell, so we refuse to sell anything that we wouldn't trust with our lives, basically.
I
will say this: Renogy isn't a manufacturer - it's a branding company. They buy stock from various warehouses and put their name on it, but whether or not you get a reliable product depends on which warehouse they bought recently... so it's always a crapshoot with them. You might end up with a fantastic product at a very reasonable price, or you might end up with total junk... and there's no way to tell until it's too late. So -my personal two cents- I'd avoid them like the plague.
I've heard good things about Redarc but, since we don't distribute or support them, I can't weigh in on their reliability.
I will note, however, that Victron has solutions for (almost) every possible need you might have. The new
Orion-Tr Smart DC-DC chargers are here - or, rather, the 12 to 24 models and the 24 to 24 models are here, the 12 to 12 models are on the pallet to us (we ordered most of the very first shipment to the US, so we'll have quite a nice stock of those in a week or two). The 12/12 models offer a 30A maximum charge rate to the house bank (so figure, depending on wire gauge and run length, about 38-45A draw from the start battery); they're fully programmable via bluetooth, infinitely parallelable for higher charge current, have isolated input/output, low footprint, and passive cooling for quiet operation.
And, for solar charging,
Victron's SmartSolar MPPTs are the most efficient on the market, so they're well worth the consideration.
Bottom line: Victron is Tier-1 equipment... it's pricey (though not the priciest) but it has unrivalled warranty coverage and, almost without exception, is the most efficient equipment on the market... which is why that's all we distribute when it comes to SCCs and Inverter/Chargers and things like that - in B2B charging, it's Victron and Sterling. Plenty of others here can likely offer advice on how Victron/Redarc/Renogy stack up against each other, though, so keep looking around and doing your research and you'll find what'll work best for you.