Whats_per_question
New Member
Saw this fake being sold as a genuine fake, and had to pause a moment to appreciate;
LOLs on this controller
- Thread starter Whats_per_question
- Start date
Lol...
wiseacre
Solar Addict
Pity the poor slob who starts the bid @ $1
I almost did because it wouldn't hurt to have a cheap PWM for a couple reasons but I read further before I leaped
I almost did because it wouldn't hurt to have a cheap PWM for a couple reasons but I read further before I leaped
yodamota
Solar Enthusiast
nice controller you got there!
I almost want to make an account just to ask questions about the unit. Maybe it can power my whole house?!?!?!?
I almost want to make an account just to ask questions about the unit. Maybe it can power my whole house?!?!?!?
Steve_S
Offgrid Cabineer, N.E. Ontario, Canada
Oh my THAT IS PRECIOUS ! Wanna bet some shmucks will buy that...
crossy
Solar Addict
I had a chap in Seoul offer me a "genuine fake Rolex", he had other "genuine fakes too".
I bought my parents a few, with instructions not to go to a jeweler to get new batteries. One lasted 15 years on batteries from the local market
I bought my parents a few, with instructions not to go to a jeweler to get new batteries. One lasted 15 years on batteries from the local market
Daddy Tanuki
Solar Wizard
Kiwi2000
Solar Enthusiast
hugemoth
Solar Enthusiast
I have had one of those in my camper for several years, anyway it looks the same. Not MPPT of course but it has worked just fine with 100 watts of PV and a single 110 AH lead acid RV battery. Cost me under $15.
pollenface
Solar Addict
Ebay/amazon is full of these mislabeled PWM controllers.
yodamota
Solar Enthusiast
Awesome!I've just left another comment.
From the listing! LOL lets all live life on the edge of fraud
Whats_per_question
New Member
They are at it again ... you have to applaud the creativity in the listings.
Reading the listings, it seems to me that they are frustrated with TradeMe staff not doing any policing of fraudulent listings. I've noticed that since TradeMe were aquired by Fairfax in 2006, Fairfax (or the TradeMe managment board) appear to have stripped out most of the staff that police the honesty of the site, so its not surprising that fraud on the site is very easy to find.
What i am guessing is that rather than try to whack-a-mole all the fraudulent claims about these cheap PWM controllers being high performance MPPT controllers, the "seller' here is creating the lowest price listing, but being honest about the product in an attempt to educate the buyers rather than police the sellers, which i would imagine everyone on this forum would applaud given we are all about education.
30A Fake MPPT Solar Charge Controller with LCD Display Dual USB
mppt controller 60a Dual USB (but fake, not really MPPT)
100a Mppt Solar Panel Regulator Charge Controller Auto Focus
Reading the listings, it seems to me that they are frustrated with TradeMe staff not doing any policing of fraudulent listings. I've noticed that since TradeMe were aquired by Fairfax in 2006, Fairfax (or the TradeMe managment board) appear to have stripped out most of the staff that police the honesty of the site, so its not surprising that fraud on the site is very easy to find.
What i am guessing is that rather than try to whack-a-mole all the fraudulent claims about these cheap PWM controllers being high performance MPPT controllers, the "seller' here is creating the lowest price listing, but being honest about the product in an attempt to educate the buyers rather than police the sellers, which i would imagine everyone on this forum would applaud given we are all about education.
30A Fake MPPT Solar Charge Controller with LCD Display Dual USB
mppt controller 60a Dual USB (but fake, not really MPPT)
100a Mppt Solar Panel Regulator Charge Controller Auto Focus
Kiwi2000
Solar Enthusiast
I laughed at this comment...
"Do yourself a favour - there are many many importers selling off cheap Epever controllers that are actually MPPT. They are cheap, some would say unreliable, but at least they ARE an actual MPPT controller and won't trash your battery. If you want a really really good MPPT controller, you can't go wrong with Victron"
"Do yourself a favour - there are many many importers selling off cheap Epever controllers that are actually MPPT. They are cheap, some would say unreliable, but at least they ARE an actual MPPT controller and won't trash your battery. If you want a really really good MPPT controller, you can't go wrong with Victron"
pollenface
Solar Addict
I solved my Epever problems by disconnecting them and putting them into a box on my shelf.
Whats_per_question
New Member
@pollenface : What problems did you have? I've designed/installed/troubleshoot many epevers, and other than a small number of outright failures (battery terminals becoming short circuited, or the dreaded click-click but no screen, or just totally dead) i've had few issues.
The Epever do seem to not achieve some of the potential panel power compared to a victron (slow tracking has been mentioned often on the forum), and they don't seem to handle over-panelling as well as the victrons, but overall i've found them to be solid MPPT units.
But ... I see a lot of people reconsidering Epever's place in the market now that Victron have had such a wake-up in their SCC pricing.
The Epever do seem to not achieve some of the potential panel power compared to a victron (slow tracking has been mentioned often on the forum), and they don't seem to handle over-panelling as well as the victrons, but overall i've found them to be solid MPPT units.
But ... I see a lot of people reconsidering Epever's place in the market now that Victron have had such a wake-up in their SCC pricing.
Dagoth Ur Does Solar
Solar Enthusiast
Someone on here said "if it has USB ports on it, it's almost certainly PWM" and so far that has seemed to be the case based off these fraudulently labelled ones I've seen.
Rednecktek
Solar Wizard
I did the same thing, my systems work so much better now.
The reason I ditched almost all of mine (still have 1 in service I just forgot to replace last fall) was the constant restarting of the tracking. It was so slow to find the max power point and would start over every time a cloud thought about wandering in the general area of my panels. So much wasted time NOT charging when I needed it to. When you get 3Ah out of a mostly sunny entire day? Time to go!
Yeah, that's one of my common comments. With very few exceptions, if it has USB ports on it, it's a PWM lying to you and calling itself a MPPT.
Whats_per_question
New Member
Sad news for everyone on the forum (and members of the public who are not aware of the scam); In typical TradeMe style, it seem that our comedian trader on TradeMe has been shut down, but the scam sellers are still up.
Another case of TradeMe shooting the messenger, blessing the scammers.
Another case of TradeMe shooting the messenger, blessing the scammers.
pollenface
Solar Addict
Momentary voltage spikes exceeding inverter cut-off voltage during cloud edge effects and occasionally the instant a heavy load is switched off while in full sun. Speaking for my Tracer AN units, they cannot regulate their output fast enough to compensate for sudden changes of load or sunshine. With boost voltage set to 14.1v and float set to 13.6v I still see spikes upwards of 15v multiple times within a 30 day period, causing mini inverter black outs. Lowering the Charging Limit Voltage makes no difference. Note I have lead-acid batteries, so behavior may be different with Lifepo4 (which I'm yet to test).
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Whats_per_question
New Member
Here's a trader on TradeMe that is claiming that PWM are the most common controller used, and this is because they "do not use moving parts like MPPT controller"
Do any of you have enough PHDs between you to work out which are the "moving parts" in an MPPT controller?
Maybe the trader is thinking of back in the day when MPPT was achieved with a mouse running in a hamster wheel with variable gearing to regulate the charge going into the battery? (or at least that's what my boss told me on my first day)
www.trademe.co.nz
Do any of you have enough PHDs between you to work out which are the "moving parts" in an MPPT controller?
Maybe the trader is thinking of back in the day when MPPT was achieved with a mouse running in a hamster wheel with variable gearing to regulate the charge going into the battery? (or at least that's what my boss told me on my first day)
Trade Me
www.trademe.co.nz
