jsmith8918
New Member
Hello, all. Total newbie here. I have a camper trailer with some leftovers of my friend's former solar system including 2 (unknown brand) 100W panels, 1 (@100Ah?) Sun Cycle 12V Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery Model GP-LiFePO4, Magnum Energy MagnaSine MS-E Series Pure Sine Wave Inverter/Charger 2000W 12V 100A model MS2012, Magnum Energy ME-RC (remote control?), Nature Power Solar Panel 28-Amp PWM Charge Controller 60028 UPC 839290006054. All of these items have been installed on our camper trailer for about two years now, but I've never learned how to actually use them. I started watching Prowse's YouTube videos (excellent!) and read the "Made Easy" book (also excellent)! From one of the videos, I became convinced that I should probably replace my current PWM controller with an MPPT. I bought from Amazon the "MPPT Solar Charge Controller 40A Max.PV 100V Negative Grounded Tracer 4210AN + Remote Meter MT50+Temp Sensor Cable for Gel Sealed Flooded Lithium Solar Battery Charging" which is a controller and "remote meter." But after comparing wiring diagrams in the "Made Easy" book with the literature that came in the MPPT package, I can't find any diagram that looks exactly right for my system (mostly because of the apparently oversize Inverter/Charger). I'm normally a tinkerer and usually don't hesitate to just start hooking wires up and seeing if stuff works, but I'm now hesitant to do that after reading Prowse's cautions about possibly frying components by such haphazard experimentation. So I'm hoping someone might be able to help direct me through this solar wiring minefield with maybe a wiring diagram (either commercial or hand-drawn is fine with me, or even a photocopy of one from the "Made Easy!" book with appropriate hand-drawn modifications). And though my goal is to replace the existing PWM with the new MPPT, I also don't know whether I should use the MT50 in place of the ME-RC (or if those even do the same job). Finally, my MPPT package arrived from Amazon with damage in the form of a dented mounting flange on one corner, and though I can straighten it out with pliers, does that maybe suggest it was thrown around hard enough to damage internal components (maybe necessitating a return / exchange). Thank you in advance for any help and / or suggestions. Kind regards.