Renogy DC DC Charger w/ MPPT

[Arbee]

I see in the manual that the BT2 is sold out in Canada and the Manual has the #5 outlet as a “future Development”

Yet the manual does have the unit as compatible. DC Home App (iOS) version is 1.5 now. I wanted to be able to monitor DC-DC / MPPT and battery SOC while I learn all this.

Suggestions?

Annie, on page 7 of the manual, at least the version found here https://www.renogy.com/content/RBC3050D1S-G1/RBC3050D1S-Manual.pdf the reference to the point marked as #5, which you speak of, is INCORRECTLY labelled by Renogy as one for future development. It is currently used, at least in the version of the DCC50/30S product I purchased near the beginning of 2021.

Renogy should update their manual to correctly label this port as working. Better, Renogy should have manuals for the various releases of the DCC50/30S IMHO that they have shipped since its introduction. My understanding is that Renogy has tweaked the design since its inception.

In my version of the DCC50/30S product this port is very much functioning as the means by which the BT-2 product you reference (and which I own) is not only energized, but communicates its status to the BT-2, which in turn, via the airwaves, communicates this status to either the Renogy BT app or DC Home app for smart phones.

Perhaps earlier versions of the DCC50/30S shipped with this port #5 inactive. I can't speak Annie to whether your version of the DCC50/30S product supports port #5, but I'll guess that if you note the various numbers from the sticker on the product and share them with Renogy in an email, they might be able to confirm for you if YOUR specific DCC50/30S unit has compatibility with the BT-2.

Never will the BT-1 be compatible with the DCC50/30S.

As to it being out of stock in what I will presume is your native Canada, I ordered mine from the States in which I reside and can't speak to exactly how ordering may differ for you as compared to me.

I hope this helps.

 

[Annie C]

Annie, on page 7 of the manual, at least the version found here https://www.renogy.com/content/RBC3050D1S-G1/RBC3050D1S-Manual.pdf the reference to the point marked as #5, which you speak of, is INCORRECTLY labelled by Renogy as one for future development. It is currently used, at least in the version of the DCC50/30S product I purchased near the beginning of 2021.

Renogy should update their manual to correctly label this port as working. Better, Renogy should have manuals for the various releases of the DCC50/30S IMHO that they have shipped since its introduction. My understanding is that Renogy has tweaked the design since its inception.

In my version of the DCC50/30S product this port is very much functioning as the means by which the BT-2 product you reference (and which I own) is not only energized, but communicates its status to the BT-2, which in turn, via the airwaves, communicates this status to either the Renogy BT app or DC Home app for smart phones.

Perhaps earlier versions of the DCC50/30S shipped with this port #5 inactive. I can't speak Annie to whether your version of the DCC50/30S product supports port #5, but I'll guess that if you note the various numbers from the sticker on the product and share them with Renogy in an email, they might be able to confirm for you if YOUR specific DCC50/30S unit has compatibility with the BT-2.

Never will the BT-1 be compatible with the DCC50/30S.

As to it being out of stock in what I will presume is your native Canada, I ordered mine from the States in which I reside and can't speak to exactly how ordering may differ for you as compared to me.

I hope this helps.

Thank you. That makes more sense. My DCC50S arrived yesterday.

I was able to get a BT-2 from Amazon vs directly.

I also saw in one drawing someone had added a 500A shunt and Renogy Battery Monitor In addition to the BT2. Seems like a duplication?

 

[Arbee]

Thank you. That makes more sense. My DCC50S arrived yesterday.

I was able to get a BT-2 from Amazon vs directly.

I also saw in one drawing someone had added a 500A shunt and Renogy Battery Monitor In addition to the BT2. Seems like a duplication?

Hi Annie:

I think you are saying that the incorporation of this shunt proves unnecessary to your way of thinking because, after all, the Renogy DCC50/30S is monitoring both the house and starter batteries' voltage, so why the need for more gear to do that?

If I've correctly paraphrased your mindset then I've come to understand why you might think such a shunt unnecessary. It is not. Nor is it essential.

The mere collection of voltage from a battery's terminals, as the DCC50/30S does, and products like the BT-2 help you view, is often an inadequate reflection of a battery's remaining power. Different battery chemistry's charge to different voltages, and those voltages drop differently when the battery is used based on such chemistry. The calculation of voltage can also vary based upon whether appliances are drawing from the battery at the time such voltage readings are taken.

For this reason, those who wish to have a better handle on battery life than mere voltage readings incorporate the use of shunt, which provides known resistances from which readings can be taken to far better derive the state of charge and remaining life of a battery before charge need once again be applied.

 

[Annie C]

Thank you for the reply. Yes, you are correct in your assumptions on my understanding.

I will add a shunt to my build as well as I do want a very accurate SOC for the battery.

thank you for your input.

 

[cdvreede]

I've been trying to get a definitive answer regarding whether or not the DCC50s has a low-temperature cutoff when used with LifePO4 batteries. The "key features" cited by Will in his original post say that the charger does have temperature protection, but I can't find that on the Renogy website or in the manual. Responses to both an email and call to Renogy are that the unit does not cutoff at low temps, because they expect every LifePO4 BMS to have that functionality (which, I believe, is not the case). That said, I didn't get a great feeling of competence from the people I spoke to at Renogy.

Does anyone have an answer? I would try testing it myself, but it's not quite cold enough here yet.

temp cutoff - works in Lithium setting. DOES NOT WORK in user setting...

 

[cdvreede]

Hello everyone. I have a USER profile setup with a temperature compensation of 3C. I woke up to find my battery was taking a charge at -13C from the solar panels at about 0.4A Why is the Renogy allowing a charge? I am pretty miffed about this because I want to protect my batteries and charging them below 0C is terrible for them.

USER profile does not include the low temp cutoff - Lithium profile does. trying to get some support from Renogy to make that configurable. your batteries shot??

 

[Arbee]

I've been trying to get a definitive answer regarding whether or not the DCC50s has a low-temperature cutoff when used with LifePO4 batteries. The "key features" cited by Will in his original post say that the charger does have temperature protection, but I can't find that on the Renogy website or in the manual. Responses to both an email and call to Renogy are that the unit does not cutoff at low temps, because they expect every LifePO4 BMS to have that functionality (which, I believe, is not the case). That said, I didn't get a great feeling of competence from the people I spoke to at Renogy.

Does anyone have an answer? I would try testing it myself, but it's not quite cold enough here yet.

@samhandwich: I know another member answered this for you but if your interested in WHERE such information you got is sourced, the lack of temperature compensation when choosing a house battery type of Lithium is found on page 9 of the manual https://www.renogy.com/content/RBC3050D1S-G1/RBC3050D1S-Manual.pdf as the last sentence under the Battery Temperature Sensor section.

 

[Arbee]

USER profile does not include the low temp cutoff - Lithium profile does. trying to get some support from Renogy to make that configurable. your batteries shot??

@cdvreede: you may have more current information that I do and know that the low temp cutoff is ignored under the house battery type of USER, but FWIW the smartphone Renogy BT app, which Renogy BTW considers decommissioned, has it capable of being set, while it appears that the DC home smartphone app does not.

....for whatever that's worth....

 

[cdvreede]

@cdvreede: you may have more current information that I do and know that the low temp cutoff is ignored under the house battery type of USER, but FWIW the smartphone Renogy BT app, which Renogy BTW considers decommissioned, has it capable of being set, while it appears that the DC home smartphone app does not.

....for whatever that's worth....

information quite current - tested it myself this morning by dipping the temp sensor into a cocktail of ice and salt. Lithium profile will stop charging at about 1C. User profile does not - not even at -9C.

 

[Arbee]

information quite current - tested it myself this morning by dipping the temp sensor into a cocktail of ice and salt. Lithium profile will stop charging at about 1C. User profile does not - not even at -9C.

Duly noted. Not only is your 411 "quite," but "about" current.

 

[Oldtoad]

Charging profile for DIY Lifepo4 and Renogy RBC50D1S Looked everywhere....
I seem to remember somewhere it was said, 'Best to select a charge profile other than Lithium.'
Is that correct?
Which one?
I think it is Gel due to the 14.2 Boost Charge Voltage, but I could be wrong, 29 pages, OMG, too much!!!

 

[Arbee]

Charging profile for DIY Lifepo4 and Renogy RBC50D1S Looked everywhere....
I seem to remember somewhere it was said, 'Best to select a charge profile other than Lithium.'
Is that correct?
Which one?
I think it is Gel due to the 14.2 Boost Charge Voltage, but I could be wrong, 29 pages, OMG, too much!!!

Here's what I can say on that @Oldtoad . @RandyP : a bit of a justifiably frustrated DCC50/30S user who seems to pay attention here to the "DCC50S traffic," but who has adopted other tech to charge his house and starter batteries with solar, had some interesting things to say in the past about the necessity of acquiring the Renogy smart app (Renogy BT or DC Home) and the BT-2 product that allows smart phones to read and program the DCC50/30S, simply so the owner could set their house LiFePo4 battery to the "User" setting AND configure parameters more appropriately for LiFePO4 batteries, despite their being a Lithium house battery charging profile already programmed into the DCC50/30S. I think I got that right. I could point you to the links need be--or maybe Randy will chime in.

That said, I can also report that when I spoke to the Relion rep about my 20 amp LT (low temperature: heating element built in) house battery I was running, he was fine with the Sealed/AGM or GEL parameters (last page of the manual) https://www.renogy.com/content/RBC3050D1S-G1/RBC3050D1S-Manual.pdf under the notion that my battery's BMS isn't going to let much harm come to it. Setting your DCC50/30S to either of those, as I suspect you realize, need not involve purchase of the BT-2 accessory.

 

[Oldtoad]

Here's what I can say on that @Oldtoad . @RandyP : a bit of a justifiably frustrated DCC50/30S user who seems to pay attention here to the "DCC50S traffic," but who has adopted other tech to charge his house and starter batteries with solar, had some interesting things to say in the past about the necessity of acquiring the Renogy smart app (Renogy BT or DC Home) and the BT-2 product that allows smart phones to read and program the DCC50/30S, simply so the owner could set their house LiFePo4 battery to the "User" setting AND configure parameters more appropriately for LiFePO4 batteries, despite their being a Lithium house battery charging profile already programmed into the DCC50/30S. I think I got that right. I could point you to the links need be--or maybe Randy will chime in.

That said, I can also report that when I spoke to the Relion rep about my 20 amp LT (low temperature: heating element built in) house battery I was running, he was fine with the Sealed/AGM or GEL parameters (last page of the manual) https://www.renogy.com/content/RBC3050D1S-G1/RBC3050D1S-Manual.pdf under the notion that my battery's BMS isn't going to let much harm come to it. Setting your DCC50/30S to either of those, as I suspect you realize, need not involve purchase of the BT-2 accessory.

Arbee, thanks.
Already have an Epever MPPT and a Renogy 20A Dc-Dc but wanted to use the Epever elsewhere so I picked up the RBC50 to simplify my panel.
Then did a DIY 280Ah here and do not want to screw that up. Even though I think the Overkill BMS will protect the battery. I wanna do it right.
Going to do some more inquiries.
Thank You RandyP, you are a persistent dig-deeper.

 

[ekarlson]

Annie, on page 7 of the manual, at least the version found here https://www.renogy.com/content/RBC3050D1S-G1/RBC3050D1S-Manual.pdf the reference to the point marked as #5, which you speak of, is INCORRECTLY labelled by Renogy as one for future development. It is currently used, at least in the version of the DCC50/30S product I purchased near the beginning of 2021.

Renogy should update their manual to correctly label this port as working. Better, Renogy should have manuals for the various releases of the DCC50/30S IMHO that they have shipped since its introduction. My understanding is that Renogy has tweaked the design since its inception.

In my version of the DCC50/30S product this port is very much functioning as the means by which the BT-2 product you reference (and which I own) is not only energized, but communicates its status to the BT-2, which in turn, via the airwaves, communicates this status to either the Renogy BT app or DC Home app for smart phones.

Perhaps earlier versions of the DCC50/30S shipped with this port #5 inactive. I can't speak Annie to whether your version of the DCC50/30S product supports port #5, but I'll guess that if you note the various numbers from the sticker on the product and share them with Renogy in an email, they might be able to confirm for you if YOUR specific DCC50/30S unit has compatibility with the BT-2.

Never will the BT-1 be compatible with the DCC50/30S.

As to it being out of stock in what I will presume is your native Canada, I ordered mine from the States in which I reside and can't speak to exactly how ordering may differ for you as compared to me.

I hope this helps.

I saw a related comment about "USER settings" being a "future development" in the on-line manual. Are you able to configure the "user" settings for the charge profile via the mobile app via bluetooth connection?

 

[Arbee]

I saw a related comment about "USER settings" being a "future development" in the on-line manual. Are you able to configure the "user" settings for the charge profile via the mobile app via bluetooth connection?

Yes I am. Once the Renogy BT App connects to my DCC30S (same for DCC50S) I press the "Settings" at the bottom of the screen with the gear icon.

From the screen that results I press the "Read" button on the top left of the screen to get the current settings, which, if you select the Battery Type "User," can allow you to change many of the parameters.

Then I press the "Set" button in the upper right hand corner of the screen to save those settings.

It is possible that you may be running an older firmware version of the DCC50/30S that doesn't support this for which the manual's claim that this is a future feature is accurate.

The DC Home app, which replaces the Renogy BT app also allows such changes, although a limited set of values of the Renogy BT App.

When pairing your DCC50//30S to the DC Home app, configure the device as a "DC-DC" device.

Now, what do all these voltages on either app, especially the Renogy BT App mean, darned if I know....and Renogy Customer Service is of no help.

If your running a LiFePO4 house battery, @RandyP had tweaked some battery setting, talking about it on the forum, before throwing his hands up in the air is it regards Renogy products. I can probably link his talk if you want it.

 

[Arbee]

I saw a related comment about "USER settings" being a "future development" in the on-line manual. Are you able to configure the "user" settings for the charge profile via the mobile app via bluetooth connection?

If you need screen shots posted of the steps please let me know.

 

[Plalonde]

Saw that, but if you can live within that constraint, this is a terrific device for vans/trailers. I've recommended it in a few posts, so REALLY glad your review was positive!!!

How can I get this thing working with the Renogy 200W single solar panel that output + 26-27V ?

 

[Oldtoad]

How can I get this thing working with the Renogy 200W single solar panel that output + 26-27V ?

Important to understand the difference between a 12v panel and a 24v panel.
I got bit by this.
12v panel puts out up to 25v, 24v panel puts out much more, will not work.

 

[Plalonde]

Important to understand the difference between a 12v panel and a 24v panel.
I got bit by this.
12v panel puts out up to 25v, 24v panel puts out much more, will not work.

Thanks. It's a 12v 200w panel. Here are the specs:

Maximum Power: 200W	Maximum System Voltage: 1000V DC (UL)
Optimum Operating Voltage (Vmp): 21.0V	Open-Circuit Voltage (Voc): 24.1V

 

[RandyP]

How can I get this thing working with the Renogy 200W single solar panel that output + 26-27V ?

Look at the specs for the DCC50S.
Max. Solar Input Volts 25V.
If its over 25V, you have the wrong solar panels for this device.