PowMr are still ripoff, beware.

[ericfx1984]

Yup!

I did a video on their new offering, which clearly looks like a current model MakeSkyBlue on the inside. Except the interface sucks, and I could not even figure out how to configure anything.

I too did a review on this unit... one of them had a screw bouncing around inside, I fixed that and ran it... it ran HOT, really hot, and would shut off... I returned them both...

 

[Frank in Thailand]

I have used 3 X 60A PowMR, and
nothing but praise, for the price.

Yes, they have a loud small fan

And they do run hot..
(Small heatsinks, just large enough)

So absolutely room for improvement.

Like 120mm fan
Larger heatsinks

They probably don't live up to their 95% efficiency (or so)
But neither does Victron....

So for the price....
It's an amazing product.

I'm well aware about the "fight" between them, both claim to be the MPPT Inventor or so ???

As long as they are performing OK, I don't really care what name is on there

 

[DestroyFX]

Well it charged for ten minutes and on checking I see it is back to failure state. Trash, nothing to be done with this crap. Return to maker and enclose the pitiful "manual" which we all agree is almost worthless. Expose these people from Shenzehn HEHEJIN industrial Co., Ltd CHINA, they have failed us all and deserve no more time wasted on their nasty products. Ebay, come and sort this out, I want my money back!

The old model of PowMr use to have that specific bug (I think it was because it was using a very old MakeSkyBlue firmware). I thought they at least fixed that one in there updated ripoff, That for confirming it's still present.

Last year I did score my two 48V, 60A MakeSkyBlue for a total of about 80$ on sale on aliexpress (from the MakeSkyBlue official store). And I did confirm that there the real thing. At that price There is really no reason to go to theses clones except maybe because the MakeSkyBlue still look like a cheap tin can but well, they actually work great for the price.

 

[DestroyFX]

I have used 3 X 60A PowMR, and
nothing but praise, for the price.

Yes, they have a loud small fanView attachment 106401

And they do run hot..
(Small heatsinks, just large enough)

So absolutely room for improvement.

Like 120mm fan
Larger heatsinks

They probably don't live up to their 95% efficiency (or so)
But neither does Victron....

So for the price....
It's an amazing product.

I'm well aware about the "fight" between them, both claim to be the MPPT Inventor or so ???

As long as they are performing OK, I don't really care what name is on there

Hope you're backend on where you did screw all the stuff have good fire retardant. That old ripoff model can't be trusted
Just to be curious, how much A you feed them?

 

[Sverige]

Dangerous, can catch on fire.

Do you have any more detail on this bit please?

 

[DestroyFX]

Do you have any more detail on this bit please?

The video on youtube of that unit that caught on fire is not there anymore, I suppose it got striked (common practice on youtube to get rid of video you don't like)

 

[Frank in Thailand]

Hope you're backend on where you did screw all the stuff have good fire retardant. That old ripoff model can't be trusted
Just to be curious, how much A you feed them?

Actually...

My affiliate spider sences work overtime here.

You are so absolutely negative about PowMR and all sunshine about "make sky blue"...

How many PowMR have you actually owned and tested under the same conditions as blue sky's??

You are making quite a lot of statements, about safety without backing them up.

Even accused YouTube for removing videos that would get negative feedback??
And who would give that negative feedback?

98% of the viewers like a good electronics fire ?
malicious pleasure ??

So..
Straight up:
Are you affiliated in any way with completion of PowMR?

And please prof this, as you are only rain about PowMR and sunshine about Blue Sky's....

 

[DestroyFX]

Actually...

My affiliate spider sences work overtime here.

You are so absolutely negative about PowMR and all sunshine about "make sky blue"...

How many PowMR have you actually owned and tested under the same conditions as blue sky's??

You are making quite a lot of statements, about safety without backing them up.

Even accused YouTube for removing videos that would get negative feedback??
And who would give that negative feedback?

98% of the viewers like a good electronics fire ?
malicious pleasure ??

So..
Straight up:
Are you affiliated in any way with completion of PowMR?

And please prof this, as you are only rain about PowMR and sunshine about Blue Sky's....

Removing youtube video using negative feedback, when I said that?

There is many way to get youtube videos removed. dyor

 

[bigbank]

To each his own in life , BUT……I am amazed reading the countless problems , over and over and over people seem to have dealing with these offshore companys , getting scammed , getting poor products and poor customer service , ( if any at all) . Why do people keep doing this..? In this age of online Amazon prime, Walmart , Costco and many others right here in America and in their city, why.?
With all the ease of return ,customer benefits ,price match guaranty’s and everything else we have right here ,why would anyone put them selves through this self induced product anxiety.

One can’t make new money ,if one is chasing old money…

buy good , buy once , live happy.
jus saying,
jim..

Absolutely, in principle you are right. But I used prime trash with amazon 2 weeks ago and 90% of the articles have been lost and amazon send you to the 3rd party who send you back to Amazon and so it continues. Just 200 bucks lost but that is the way people expect to be treated. We don't complain any more. Just accept. The only quality products I can see ANYWHERE are made in Switzerland or Sweden. I wanted to buy a decent taperecorder since this touch screen rubbish is no longer acceptable to me. But a decent taperecorder (second hand) in ebay is listed at 24,000$ - clearly the 30 trillion American debt has an affect on prices of quality gear. Check yourself a Nagra open reel portable recorder second hand can also be acquired for only 4500$ but then it may not work properly and so you are back where you started.
Does anyone recommend a particular make to get 60Amps power? My mate suggests skipping the controller and just rigging up several batteries in series and all the PVs in parallel to get the correct voltage - a very simple solution, not efficient but at least I could get power!

 

[Sverige]

The video on youtube of that unit that caught on fire is not there anymore, I suppose it got striked (common practice on youtube to get rid of video you don't like)

Ok. Hard to make a judgement based on one video which is now removed. I wouldn’t be able to conclude it’s a dangerous product just from that.

I’ve seen these green PowMr charge controllers on sale for a few years now and even have one myself. I think if they were bursting into flames it would quickly get expensive for the resellers as there must be thousands of them which have been sold.

Mine hasn’t given me trouble, except it certainly does overstate the current by nearly 20%. When 60A shows on the display, my clamp meter says about 52A. It will run continuously at this “60A” for hours though, with the cooling fan keeping it reliable (in my experience). My other comment is sometimes it will get “stuck” delivering less power than it should. Switching off the breaker to cut power from the PV panels then reconnecting then allows it to sort itself out and deliver much more current to battery than it had been doing in same illumination conditions minutes earlier.

Overall I wouldn’t recommend it as a unit and don’t approve of the alleged IP theft from MSB, but since I now have it I don’t think I’ll be replacing it with something much more expensive unless I find out there’s something to your allegation that they present a fire risk. No one wants to live with that, but I won’t just believe it unsubstantiated either.

 

[JRH]

Absolutely, in principle you are right. But I used prime trash with amazon 2 weeks ago and 90% of the articles have been lost and amazon send you to the 3rd party who send you back to Amazon and so it continues. Just 200 bucks lost but that is the way people expect to be treated. We don't complain any more. Just accept. The only quality products I can see ANYWHERE are made in Switzerland or Sweden. I wanted to buy a decent taperecorder since this touch screen rubbish is no longer acceptable to me. But a decent taperecorder (second hand) in ebay is listed at 24,000$ - clearly the 30 trillion American debt has an affect on prices of quality gear. Check yourself a Nagra open reel portable recorder second hand can also be acquired for only 4500$ but then it may not work properly and so you are back where you started.
Does anyone recommend a particular make to get 60Amps power? My mate suggests skipping the controller and just rigging up several batteries in series and all the PVs in parallel to get the correct voltage - a very simple solution, not efficient but at least I could get power!

I appreciate your message but your comparing toy rockets to a full blown King Air jet. .. you are dealing in a level product in the recording/ sound business that very few people even know exist.I have been in the sound production busines my whole life and I have seen 100,000 dollar mixing consoles too. I have seen 100,000 dollar guitars and that’s some of the cheaper collectibles.. BUT That’s not the normal purchase people make or thst im speaking of , you talking about a niche market of extreme rarity…a 24,000 dollar tape deck is like a 10,000 dollar turntable…YES , they exist but they are very rarely seen by most people.
I suggest you do what I have seen done before on high ticket items , fly or drive to them and GO PICK THEM UP IN PERSON …. try them out pay for them in cash or pre arranged terms and bring em home…

Ebay is the Wild West , 10 to 15 years ago used them a lot but not much anymore…to many scamers hitting on ya for anything expensive…

The mistske most people make on Amazon is dealing with 3rd party sellers .. I will rarely buy anything that is not a PRIME item and is not shipped or sold by AMAZON its self , with PRIME benefits …
Amazon or Walmart is NOT where you should order certain things and you have to learn how to use their platform and when to shop else where..
In the years of my music store business I have bought thousand of Amazon items and never had a single problem with service , shipping , or customer service… not once. All returns were handled promptly and quick ..I have never lost a penny with Amazon ,or anyone else thst was an American based seller..as far as Netherlands products go , all of my Victron stuff has been totally a great purchase ,all from Amazon.
Almost all of my solar purchases except wire has been through Amazon, but it is USA made and sold On its own website..
the last bit of advice I would give is , if you are getting poor quality when it arrives , then you are ordering poor quality to start with… there can be no other reason..quit ordering cheapo stuff.!!
I recommend to everyone to pick mid-top tier stuff If possible ….. don’t try to save the last 10 bucks on stuff.
In my life I have seen most people lose money, trying to save money.

I certainly want a good price on things but that’s not my driving force on any product… there are other things just as important such as quality , service , customer support, returns, shipping , do they speak ENGLISH. ,are the based or Represented in the USA in a signifigant way…
there are other thing ,but that’s the big points…

Thanks ,and good luck on future purchases..

Jim.

 

[bigbank]

I appreciate your message but your comparing toy rockets to a full blown King Air jet. .. you are dealing in a level product in the recording/ sound business that very few people even know exist.I have been in the sound production busines my whole life and I have seen 100,000 dollar mixing consoles too. I have seen 100,000 dollar guitars and that’s some of the cheaper collectibles.. BUT That’s not the normal purchase people make or thst im speaking of , you talking about a niche market of extreme rarity…a 24,000 dollar tape deck is like a 10,000 dollar turntable…YES , they exist but they are very rarely seen by most people.
I suggest you do what I have seen done before on high ticket items , fly or drive to them and GO PICK THEM UP IN PERSON …. try them out pay for them in cash or pre arranged terms and bring em home…

Ebay is the Wild West , 10 to 15 years ago used them a lot but not much anymore…to many scamers hitting on ya for anything expensive…

The mistske most people make on Amazon is dealing with 3rd party sellers .. I will rarely buy anything that is not a PRIME item and is not shipped or sold by AMAZON its self , with PRIME benefits …
Amazon or Walmart is NOT where you should order certain things and you have to learn how to use their platform and when to shop else where..
In the years of my music store business I have bought thousand of Amazon items and never had a single problem with service , shipping , or customer service… not once. All returns were handled promptly and quick ..I have never lost a penny with Amazon ,or anyone else thst was an American based seller..as far as Netherlands products go , all of my Victron stuff has been totally a great purchase ,all from Amazon.
Almost all of my solar purchases except wire has been through Amazon, but it is USA made and sold On its own website..
the last bit of advice I would give is , if you are getting poor quality when it arrives , then you are ordering poor quality to start with… there can be no other reason..quit ordering cheapo stuff.!!
I recommend to everyone to pick mid-top tier stuff If possible ….. don’t try to save the last 10 bucks on stuff.
In my life I have seen most people lose money, trying to save money.

I certainly want a good price on things but that’s not my driving force on any product… there are other things just as important such as quality , service , customer support, returns, shipping , do they speak ENGLISH. ,are the based or Represented in the USA in a signifigant way…
there are other thing ,but that’s the big points…

Thanks ,and good luck on future purchases..

Jim.

Thanks for your many lines of comment Jim. I accept your point about cheapo, but can´t comment on amazon as I didn´t make the order but just told my mate what I wanted and he is a prime customer now for years so could have known about prime rules.

Regarding cheapo stuff. I did originally order PV controller at 230 euros from epever and TWICE it crashed, failed was dead. First due to too many PV volts (and their "English" manual was not English as I produced for Sony or Cannon when working for them in Japan) and the replacement unit died due to too much drain on power. It was producing 200 watts but my pump needed more power and like most of these hi tech things from today it was destroyed....not even an internal fuse, so also sits there waiting for years for me to find the original order on a "Retina mac". That also never lasted longer than 3 months, so much for Retina screens, 30 seconds in full sunshine and the screen popped and had a huge black hole in it, but being on tour I couldn´t send it to apple for repair. They don´t give a replacement machine for those who suffer the poor quality manufacturing, for the time it is being fixed. Hence they all get rid of their trash one way or another, and better to lose just 100 quid than 300.
This 108 euro powmr controller has a place for a computer output which is not connected, so like the above epever could potentially be at least monitored correctly, if I take it apart perhaps I could stick a socket RJ11 or whatever it is to get that feature, but the guarantee may be void just by looking inside.
Meanwhile it works, for an hour in the morning and the moon icon disappears, sun arrives but then the alert error symbol appears as soon as the PV power increases or as I charge my phone directly from the battery. It is another of a dozen items which is useless, or which can only be used in a compromised fashion. This mac has a german keyboard, a curse for writing with onehand in bed, but better than not responding.
My Volvo needs the brakes fixed next, but at least it has delivered quality driving for 20 years until an idiot put the wrong brake fluid into it 5 months ago. I will be working on that later today, writing to the insurance who sent me to a useless garage in Portugal who are the cause of 1200 euros of brake repairs since then.
I cancelled all my contracts with airbnb this week and that is a relief to be free of their non-existent service, even though it was my major source of income. They employ help staff who said on my recording of the telephone conversation "I am fluent English", which is to be expected from cheapos from San Fransicko.
Nuff said.
2022 08 18 08 01

 

[Nobodybusiness]

I appreciate your message but your comparing toy rockets to a full blown King Air jet. .. you are dealing in a level product in the recording/ sound business that very few people even know exist.I have been in the sound production busines my whole life and I have seen 100,000 dollar mixing consoles too. I have seen 100,000 dollar guitars and that’s some of the cheaper collectibles.. BUT That’s not the normal purchase people make or thst im speaking of , you talking about a niche market of extreme rarity…a 24,000 dollar tape deck is like a 10,000 dollar turntable…YES , they exist but they are very rarely seen by most people.
I suggest you do what I have seen done before on high ticket items , fly or drive to them and GO PICK THEM UP IN PERSON …. try them out pay for them in cash or pre arranged terms and bring em home…

Ebay is the Wild West , 10 to 15 years ago used them a lot but not much anymore…to many scamers hitting on ya for anything expensive…

The mistske most people make on Amazon is dealing with 3rd party sellers .. I will rarely buy anything that is not a PRIME item and is not shipped or sold by AMAZON its self , with PRIME benefits …
Amazon or Walmart is NOT where you should order certain things and you have to learn how to use their platform and when to shop else where..
In the years of my music store business I have bought thousand of Amazon items and never had a single problem with service , shipping , or customer service… not once. All returns were handled promptly and quick ..I have never lost a penny with Amazon ,or anyone else thst was an American based seller..as far as Netherlands products go , all of my Victron stuff has been totally a great purchase ,all from Amazon.
Almost all of my solar purchases except wire has been through Amazon, but it is USA made and sold On its own website..
the last bit of advice I would give is , if you are getting poor quality when it arrives , then you are ordering poor quality to start with… there can be no other reason..quit ordering cheapo stuff.!!
I recommend to everyone to pick mid-top tier stuff If possible ….. don’t try to save the last 10 bucks on stuff.
In my life I have seen most people lose money, trying to save money.

I certainly want a good price on things but that’s not my driving force on any product… there are other things just as important such as quality , service , customer support, returns, shipping , do they speak ENGLISH. ,are the based or Represented in the USA in a signifigant way…
there are other thing ,but that’s the big points…

Thanks ,and good luck on future purchases..

Jim.

It’s a generational Thing.

All of us old heads belong to that” buy once cry once “ philosophy.

Also some people think they can “scale” by buying multiple cheap items. Doesn’t usually work.

This is definitely one of those fields that unless you are prepared for some frustration then buy or build from TOP quality pieces.

Expensive? Yes but worth it for the most part.

The market Just isn’t mature enough yet for average folks to know from years of “word of mouth service” or perceived value.

It’s getting better.
You can buy certain AIO inverters and Commercial available Batteries that provide “long” service at least based upon a few years of service and scuttlebutt on forums like these.

I say all that but I also won’t buy Fotress Evault products even though they are a great battery.

It’s the one thing I will try to DIY because of the cost and ROI.

To each their own I suppose. ?

 

[JRH]

It’s a generational Thing.

All of us old heads belong to that” buy once cry once “ philosophy.

Also some people think they can “scale” by buying multiple cheap items. Doesn’t usually work.

This is definitely one of those fields that unless you are prepared for some frustration then buy or build from TOP quality pieces.

Expensive? Yes but worth it for the most part.

The market Just isn’t mature enough yet for average folks to know from years of “word of mouth service” or perceived value.

It’s getting better.
You can buy certain AIO inverters and Commercial available Batteries that provide “long” service at least based upon a few years of service and scuttlebutt on forums like these.

I say all that but I also won’t buy Fotress Evault products even though they are a great battery.

It’s the one thing I will try to DIY because of the cost and ROI.

To each their own I suppose. ?

Copy that…thx.…….jim.

 

[JRH]

Thanks for your many lines of comment Jim. I accept your point about cheapo, but can´t comment on amazon as I didn´t make the order but just told my mate what I wanted and he is a prime customer now for years so could have known about prime rules.

Regarding cheapo stuff. I did originally order PV controller at 230 euros from epever and TWICE it crashed, failed was dead. First due to too many PV volts (and their "English" manual was not English as I produced for Sony or Cannon when working for them in Japan) and the replacement unit died due to too much drain on power. It was producing 200 watts but my pump needed more power and like most of these hi tech things from today it was destroyed....not even an internal fuse, so also sits there waiting for years for me to find the original order on a "Retina mac". That also never lasted longer than 3 months, so much for Retina screens, 30 seconds in full sunshine and the screen popped and had a huge black hole in it, but being on tour I couldn´t send it to apple for repair. They don´t give a replacement machine for those who suffer the poor quality manufacturing, for the time it is being fixed. Hence they all get rid of their trash one way or another, and better to lose just 100 quid than 300.
This 108 euro powmr controller has a place for a computer output which is not connected, so like the above epever could potentially be at least monitored correctly, if I take it apart perhaps I could stick a socket RJ11 or whatever it is to get that feature, but the guarantee may be void just by looking inside.
Meanwhile it works, for an hour in the morning and the moon icon disappears, sun arrives but then the alert error symbol appears as soon as the PV power increases or as I charge my phone directly from the battery. It is another of a dozen items which is useless, or which can only be used in a compromised fashion. This mac has a german keyboard, a curse for writing with onehand in bed, but better than not responding.
My Volvo needs the brakes fixed next, but at least it has delivered quality driving for 20 years until an idiot put the wrong brake fluid into it 5 months ago. I will be working on that later today, writing to the insurance who sent me to a useless garage in Portugal who are the cause of 1200 euros of brake repairs since then.
I cancelled all my contracts with airbnb this week and that is a relief to be free of their non-existent service, even though it was my major source of income. They employ help staff who said on my recording of the telephone conversation "I am fluent English", which is to be expected from cheapos from San Fransicko.
Nuff said.
2022 08 18 08 01

Thx for sharing your thoughts…yes your fluent in English… no problem there…,Jim.

 

[32 volt boater]

Dude like trim up those wires all copper hanging out

 

[DestroyFX]

View attachment 108554


Dude like trim up those wires all copper hanging out

Sure, for you I can do that

 

[32 volt boater]

Cool.

My solar wire rats next was greatly improved when I found dollar store zip ties. 1 cent each so don't like it cut and start over.

Waiting in my order of "1080PCS Heat Shrink Wire Connectors, Sopoby Marine Grade Electrical Connectors Kit of Tinned Red Copper, Waterproof Crimp Insulated Ring Fork Spade Butt Splice AWG 22-10"

Thats going to ba a game changer.

​

 

[MZ/X]

Would you mind dumping you're PowMr M60-PRO EEPROM?
As I know you got one and I don't think you are going to be using it. I'd like to know what they use for firmware.
Could be the top right, 8 legged chip. Can't see from the pictures

Hi, unfortunately on the top right is a PWM controller (UC3845). The microcontroller has a serial bus and apparently an ISP interface for programming, but it seems hopeless to identify the microcontroller.
My PowMr M60-PRO works perfectly fine as long as it is in MPPT mode (Mode 4), but once it has switched to Mode 7, it does not return to MPPT mode, but rather lets the battery run down. I've tried all battery settings, all behave the same way. I think it's a software problem. I bought it directly from the manufacturer, but no response so far.

 

[Ukasz]

Yea, main issue with this product so far is accusations that it works mainly in pwm mode.
Any1 can confirm it?