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diy solar

Renogy DC DC Charger w/ MPPT

I am a total neophyte but my thought is connect the panels in parallel and use the Kisae DMT 1250 which has a cutoff voltage of 51 volts
 
I am a total neophyte but my thought is connect the panels in parallel and use the Kisae DMT 1250 which has a cutoff voltage of 51 volts
Thanks Mex! I just checked that out on their website.. although it says the max solar input voltage is 32V I think. Am I missing something here?
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Thanks Mex! I just checked that out on their website.. although it says the max solar input voltage is 32V I think. Am I missing something here?
View attachment 20018
Yes but it says in the manual that it allows over paneling for cloudy days and early morning and late afternoon sun and it also says 51 volts is the cutoff voltage.... but maybe contact Don Rowe, they are a dealer and knowledgeable about the product. I own one but as of yet my Lifo4 batteries are still in construct/balance mode and as I said I am a real newbie. Sgt. Raven would be a good member to question, he uses the unit currently and is very helpful. Good luck!
 
I don't think I would put it on the Solar input. I think I would hook it up to the starting battery, turn it on and see the output voltage of the charger hooked up there. Will it charge up to the point it starts sending current to the house battery.

If not, then hard wire a plug to each battery and the output of the charger. Then it is plug and play to charge either of them. That or wire it through a A-B-Both switch.

If it is not already set up with a plug on the output, then I would use the small Anderson Power Poles, the 15-30-45A size ones. The 15/30/45 are for different AWG wire sizes, they are all the same other than that.

My little Battery Tender 1.25A trickle charger comes with a SAE plug and both battery clips and a hard wire end. IMO, the Anderson PPs are a better connector than SAE plugs. Both terminals are shielded when not plugged in with them and it won't short out unless you stick something inside one of them.

https://www.qsradio.com/shop-now.html#!/30A-Powerpoles-bag-of-8-Sets/p/32789863/category=8415250
Hi there!

I'm new to the forum and to electrical stuff in general. I was researching this topic of where to connect an ac charger to the renogy dcc50s, and my research brought me here. I like the idea of connecting the ac charger to the solar input on the renogy but it seems folks here don't recommend it. Why exactly is it not recommended?

I have a noco genius 10 which has a 12v 10A power supply function. If I turn the smart charging features off and just use it as a power supply, how could it hurt to dump it into the solar input as if I just added more panels and some sunlight every time I plug in to shore power? I only have 2-100w 12v panels run in parallel so there should be plenty of capacity left to add an extra 10 amps. Am I missing something? Maybe some sort of voltage conflict, perhaps?

I'm not terribly concerned about charging my starting batteries but coming through the solar port, the renogy would keep them topped off once my house battery is charged anyways.

I eager to hear what folks think about this idea.
 
Turns out my noco power supply function only works when manually set and there is no memory for it so it has to be done each time I plug into shore power. Not gonna fly as a simple power supply. I'm still curious for an explanation of why it shouldn't be hooked to the solar input. I'm sure there is a good reason. If anyone can be more specific than "the starter battery is better," i'm all ears.

If I have to, I'll do the work and try wiring it to the starter battery like renogy suggests and see if that works. I'm concerned that the noco's 10a limit is going to be insufficient for that approach and it just seems to me like the smart functions of the charger are going to interfere with the smart functions of the dcc50s, but we'll see. I just bought this charger not too long ago and I'd like to not have to deal with buying a new one if I can.

Has anyone had problems just wiring the AC charger directly to the battery? I've read of others doing it but you never know exactly how that works out in the long run and, like others before on this thread, I'm concerned that the two chargers trying to feed the battery at the same time would cause complications.
 
I have a Progressive Dynamic lithium charger which is just a 14.6v power supply. I am thinking about connecting it to the solar panel input as it can be programmed via the BT2 interface so you can set the charging parameters. I believe with the diodes in the panels there should be no issue. I read that someone did this either here on on wanderthewest, I need to find that message string.
 
I have a Progressive Dynamic lithium charger which is just a 14.6v power supply. I am thinking about connecting it to the solar panel input as it can be programmed via the BT2 interface so you can set the charging parameters. I believe with the diodes in the panels there should be no issue. I read that someone did this either here on on wanderthewest, I need to find that message string.

Hard to find good info on this.


Found this forum thread that used a power supply through a pwm but the pwm kept trying to draw more than the power supply rating and burnt it out. Not sure how an mppt would fair in comparison but it seemed that the failure could have been a limitation of the power supply. Perhaps a current limiting power supply would avoid that particular issue.

Then after all that, I found this article.

This article makes it sound like I can safely hook my noco genius 10 directly to my house bank and let the renogy and noco sort themselves out when I'm on shore power. That saves me having to buy anything new for now and if I upgrade later would just probably pick up a beefier charger and run some new lines to connect to my starter battery like renogy suggests. Seems like the smart features of the different charge controllers have a way of safely sorting things out so that part is less concerning at least.
 
Installing a DCC50S in a 2019 Sienna. I haven't found any discussion for connecting the IGN wire to the vehicle ignition for smart alternators. The manual doesn't give details and I have no idea where or how this connection is made. Contacted Renogy by email for more detailed information but received a vague reply that it varies depending on the alternator. So no help at all. Has anyone done this? Especially if it was in a 3rd generation Sienna (2011-20).
 
There are quite a few people who have done this on a VW T6 with Bluemotion. From what I can tell, the IGN has a voltage when the alternator is providing voltage. Checkout https://www.t6forum.com , pretty sure you should be able to find some posts where people have done it. I dont know what a Sienna is but if its got a smart alternator it should be the same process, you just need to find which wire you need.
 
Thanks boopz. I looked at that forum but don't really know enough to wade through all the terminology and technical talk, particularly on the T6 which I don't think we have in the U.S. The Sienna is a Toyota minivan. I think I'm gonna have to pay to get it done by someone who knows what they're doing. Really surprised that connecting the IGN wire isn't much of a topic on the forums I've seen. Many vehicles have smart alternators now.
 
Can you use this with a Nissan NV 2500 cargo van that has a 120 amp battery in it?
 
It seems like running a 400W 12v system with the DCC50S is fairly trivial using Will's awesome diagram/being within the MC-4 amp cutoff, but can anyone provide a little detail on how one could 'max out' the DCC50S with say 660W of panels? Do you run 24 max voc panels? 12v parallel with a combiner box? Looking to do a skoolie rooftop build with this controller, but it seems extra tricky with that annoying 25V max cutoff.....
 
Newbee here. I have a 2019 sprinter which I have install 3 Renogy solar panels on running trough my DCC50s. My sprinter came with the additional AGM AUX batter under the passengers that I would like to be able to use with my setup which is currently running off of an Renogy 100ah lithium. So my questions are.

Can I charge both off of solar some how?
Could I use both some how? I'm not sure I should mix them, but maybe there is a safe way to do it.

Thanks

IMG_3099.jpg
 
First off, thank you to everybody on this thread. I bought the DCS 50A because of you guys as it fits my needs. So far the install has been fine except I don't know where on the alternator the IGN wire is supposed to attach. Where my one finger is or where my teeth fingers are. Any help?
 
@WillyG Hey, were you able to get your ignition wire setup? I think Renogy doesn't supply much info around that because it would take a massive book to cover all that info, plus the liability...

Basically, you're looking for the ignition wire for your vehicle, typically found under the driver dash, in the driver kick, or at the steering column. If you've ever installed a car alarm, you know what I'm talking about. Best option for you is to hit up your local car stereo shop that has a Direct Tech account with Directed where they can print out the wire locations/colors for your exact vehicle. I have a 2013 Highlander, it was a PITA to get to it, but its actually on the fuse box under the driver dash on the back side of it.

To test, you'll want a test light (preferably a multimeter). The wire should read 0 volts when the ignition is off and around 12-12.5 volts when the ignition is on ( to the position that you'd be in when the car is running, not just accessory).

Way easier that trying to find the wire at the alternator, which is may not be anyway.

I've got the DCC50 + the BT2.

DCC50 has been good so far, but I totally drained my battleborn and drove 4 hours already and its still not charged back up... Need to look into it.

The BT2 is finicky, but once working, has stayed working. The renogy app is pretty garbage. Renogy still hasn't responded to my questions from like 6 weeks ago... Luckily I found the info I needed from you wonderful people to get it started in Aug.

I'll post some pics of the build as soon as I figure out where I'm supposed to in the forum lol...

Happy Thursday!
 
Best option for you is to hit up your local car stereo shop that has a Direct Tech account with Directed where they can print out the wire locations/colors for your exact vehicle.

I'm like to diy, but I would gladly pay $100.00USD for someone else to run that cable.
Excellent idea.
I do want to know where it terminates though just in case I have to replace a fuse.
 
@smoothJoey I agree, if you're not familiar with ignition systems/vehicle electronics paying a legit shop or person to do it might be best. And yea, I put a fuse on there as well, just in case. 3 amp I think. Also, I trimmed the insolation of the wire back a bit and soldered it, did not cut the vehicle wire.
 
@smoothJoey I agree, if you're not familiar with ignition systems/vehicle electronics paying a legit shop or person to do it might be best. And yea, I put a fuse on there as well, just in case. 3 amp I think. Also, I trimmed the insolation of the wire back a bit and soldered it, did not cut the vehicle wire.
I can read a wiring diagram but I'm too old for the crawling around holding a penlight in my teeth.
If I was going to do that it would have to be a much bigger prize.
 
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