Renogy ADVENTURER Charge Controller 12/24V

[DIYSolarPower]

Can I charge a 24v lithium ion battery with this CC?

On Amazon, it says this about the product:
12V/24V Automatically Detect Automatically detects 12V or 24V DC system voltages (for non-lithium batteries). The LCD screen and multiple LED indicators display the solar charging and battery operation information,

On Renogy website, it says this:
The Renogy Adventurer-Li is a 30A PWM solar power charge controller that is designed to be used with 12V or 24V photovoltaic systems.


I bought it from Amazon which left me with the impression that it would charge a 24v system. Note about the text in red above, it will charge lithium batteries but the auto detect has work so 24v has to be selected. On Renogy's website, it imply 12/24v relates to the solar panels. I would need to charge above 24 volts and when I cycle through the available charge voltages, 16 volts is the maximum.



Links:
Renogy - Product Page
Amazon - Product Page
Manual

 

[rodrick]

It should work if your panel’s are over 35 volts but under the 50 volt max adjusted for low temp output you input voltage to the cc has to be higher than battery voltage

 

[DIYSolarPower]

I'm not using panels to charge. I'm using a DC-to-DC power supply since all I want to do it use it for backup power during a brownout (some lights, CP, laptop). Power supply will output 60v but CC only takes 50v max.

 

[HarryN]

According to the manual, for 24 volt systems, this needs to be entered manually to work.

As a practical matter, I have tried to use some of their solar charge controllers ( per customer requests - not my choice ) and it is not unusual for the actual unit to operate substantially differently than what is in the manual.

For instance, the manual might say to enter a setting, but in real life, this was not possible. I even hired a friend who is an aerospace embedded software engineer to help me with one and we still failed.

If it does not work pretty quickly, just stop wasting your time and buy a Bogart Engineering unit instead, with the WiFi unit. Those absolutely work with 12 / 24 volt, various battery types, and you can enter your own settings (with the WiFi module )

Good luck.

Harry

 

[HarryN]

I'm not using panels to charge. I'm using a DC-to-DC power supply since all I want to do it use it for backup power during a brownout (some lights, CP, laptop). Power supply will output 60v but CC only takes 50v max.

Ok. I am familiar with that concept and have tried it with the Bogart but it has some limiters in it.

60 volts will most likely blow it out.

Unfortunately what you are trying to do with that setup most likely will not work.

Can you turn the PS voltage down to 35 volts?

 

[DIYSolarPower]

"Can you turn the PS voltage down to 35 volts?"

Yes. It is variable output.

 

[DIYSolarPower]

"According to the manual, for 24 volt systems, this needs to be entered manually to work."

The manual says:
Press “SELECT” to change the Boost Voltage. The default setting is 14.2V and the user is able to set it in the range 12.6~16.0V, with a step of 0.2V.


I don't know what Boost voltage is and how/if it is different than charge voltage. This Boost voltage comment is confusing me. For a lithium-ion pack, what should the Boost voltage be?

The pack is 2P, 7S with a Daly BMS. It is lithium-ion and each battery's top charge is 4.2 volts so maximum is 4.2*7=29.4. My understanding is that the CC should be outputting 29.4 to fully charge the pack.


The manual also says:
When using the Adventurer to charge a 24V lithium battery bank, set the system voltage to 24V instead of auto recognition. Otherwise, the over-discharged 24V lithium battery wouldn’t be activated.


It clearly seems like it should charge a lithium-ion pack, but, again, that "boost voltage" comment is confusing. I don't know what to set it to. I will search google for "Boost Voltage charge controller" to see what comes up. I can't do that until later tonight.

 

[mikefitz]

Don't mess about with PWM controllers and low cost power supplies where battery charging is required.
Use a quality battery charger that will correctly and safely charge your lithium battery.

Using lithium ion is already in the danger zone for battery system used inside a dwelling.

For information 'boost voltage' is the term for absorbtion voltage or charge voltage 'target'.

 

[DIYSolarPower]

It is in a concrete structure.

The PS is high quality actually and keep in mind, I charge and then wait for the next brownout which could be months away so I won't have to charge much.

I'll try to find what boost voltage means for this charge controller when lithium-ion is the battery type. Boost voltage in the 12 to 16 volt range seems useless when connected to a 24v pack.

 

[Hogheavenfarm]

You have to double the settings given for 24 volts -

 

[DIYSolarPower]

You have to double the settings given for 24 volts -

So max volts for the pack is 29.4 so boost voltage should be set to 14.7?

 

[Hogheavenfarm]

"When using the Adventurer to charge a 24V lithium battery bank, set the system voltage to 24V instead of auto recognition. Otherwise, the over-discharged 24V lithium battery wouldn’t be activated." - so are you set to 24v and not on auto?
This manual doesnt have the note to "double the figures for 24v" like mine, so the question is, does it double by itself when set to 24v? Not clear.

 

[JWLV]

With Renogy after you set the battery voltage, all settings should be entered as a 12v battery. If your battery is 24v, Renogy will double it for you.
For Lithium batteries, just set float & boost, to the same value.

 

[DIYSolarPower]

"When using the Adventurer to charge a 24V lithium battery bank, set the system voltage to 24V instead of auto recognition. Otherwise, the over-discharged 24V lithium battery wouldn’t be activated." - so are you set to 24v and not on auto?
This manual doesnt have the note to "double the figures for 24v" like mine, so the question is, does it double by itself when set to 24v? Not clear.

Right, it isn't clear. I put a question on Renogy's forum just a few minutes ago. I hope I get an answer. If I do, I'll post it here.

I did set the battery type to Li and the voltage to 24v. I think JWLV is implying the adventurer will double any related 12v value to 24v in the background so the doubling like you mentioned is not explicitly. I just have to trust that it is doubling 14.7 to 29.4.

 

[HarryN]

For an MPPT charge controller, ideally you want the input voltage to be at least 10 volts higher than the fully charged battery voltage or it is kind of a waste of time.

For a PWM controller like that, the input voltage only needs to be 1 - 2 volts higher, so anything 30 - 35 volts is fine.

Prior to building the battery pack up in series, it is a good idea to have both packs at the same state of charge. The easiest way to do this is to first wire them in parallel and use the charger in 12 volt mode for a few days. So you could set the PW to perhaps 15 - 16 volts for this aspect.

Bogart Engineering SCC supports the power supply mode that you are trying to do, and also self limits the current to 30 amps so it won't burn out. No idea about that unit but maybe it is in the manual.

 

[teampow]

With Renogy after you set the battery voltage, all settings should be entered as a 12v battery. If your battery is 24v, Renogy will double it for you.
For Lithium batteries, just set float & boost, to the same value.

I'm curious if this applies to for my SRNE ML2440 that I am having issues with. It detects it as a 24v system but the adjustment range only goes from 9v to 17v. I am wondering if it doubles it as well, their customer service is pointless.

 

[mikefitz]

The SRNE unit is also sold by Renogy as the 'Rover', its identical. You are correct, when used in a 24 volt system the voltage settings are double. You have to do this mentally, the display settings still show as for a 12v system.
Auto detect may not work for lithium setting, set up 24 volt in the menu system.

 

[teampow]

The SRNE unit is also sold by Renogy as the 'Rover', its identical. You are correct, when used in a 24 volt system the voltage settings are double. You have to do this mentally, the display settings still show as for a 12v system.
Auto detect may not work for lithium setting, set up 24 volt in the menu system.

Thank you, I got my system up and running thanks to this thread. Feels good to be free from the grid. Especially when we have brownouts literally everyday here in the Philippines.