any opinions about cheaper imported mppt units ,prices asked vary greatly , but in relation to specs they appear to be the same as the branded products, as per warrenty you could get a couple of duds and still be ahead? i am looking at changing my pwm ontrollers to more effecient mppt but is it worth paying the $$ just to get a brand name , IMHO warrenties are only honoured if you can find the reciept
Electrical mppt controllers
- Thread starter poor but proud
- Start date
I search youtube for reviews of a particular mppt controller. The cheaper ones seem to work ok but may have a few less features like a phone app or a digital display
Well I went with a Epever X-Tra N 4210, it has worked extremely well over the last couple of years, first with a couple of GELs then rewritten for the Lithium, the newer models have lithum in their programming, it has a full display and can be set up without the need for some phone app, it can also have a monitor plugged in so the read outs can be viewed remotely in van, adjustments to settings can be done on the unit or via the monitor which is very handy , its a good self contained unit no need for other bits to be added ............. once set up its set and forget really.
I am pretty sure the Kings Plus 40amp MPPT Controller is the same unit and the run down they give covers it all..............
www.4wdsupacentre.com.au
https://www.epever.com/product/xtra-10-40a-mppt-solar-charge-controller/ spec sheets mine is the 5 button unit...
I am pretty sure the Kings Plus 40amp MPPT Controller is the same unit and the run down they give covers it all..............
Home Page - Adventure Kings
https://www.epever.com/product/xtra-10-40a-mppt-solar-charge-controller/ spec sheets mine is the 5 button unit...
As you have seen in my previous post I am a classic techno tragic. I just want to go out and enjoy the journey and exploring new (and old ) places, if the lights come on that's good , if I can't light the fridge or the stove that's bad , too much of our life is spent looking and fiddling with things I know nothing about and at my age will never even try and understand , ah well maybe time to stay home or just go to caravan parks ,BTW. On our latest adventure we saw a number of parks that look like ' heavens waiting room ' a lot of boomers who sold the family home to buy the dream rig , 20 years down the track too old,too frail,too broke to move just sitting waiting for ???Well I went with a Epever X-Tra N 4210, it has worked extremely well over the last couple of years, first with a couple of GELs then rewritten for the Lithium, the newer models have lithum in their programming, it has a full display and can be set up without the need for some phone app, it can also have a monitor plugged in so the read outs can be viewed remotely in van, adjustments to settings can be done on the unit or via the monitor which is very handy , its a good self contained unit no need for other bits to be added ............. once set up its set and forget really.
I am pretty sure the Kings Plus 40amp MPPT Controller is the same unit and the run down they give covers it all..............
Home Page - Adventure Kings
https://www.epever.com/product/xtra-10-40a-mppt-solar-charge-controller/ spec sheets mine is the 5 button unit...
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Well mate you would like Big Mals set up, while I may like to know the Why's and How's things work I don't want stuff around with them, KiSS is always of primary importance with my purchase's, Big Mal runs its own show mostly so I can throw a line or just sit back thinking about how I could ................. If I have to start using parks then its time I hung up the keys I think, they are not only expensive but require a lot of work getting in position on some stamp sized spot, too much work then I have neighbours, yuck and I would be travelliing to some itinerary, not me ........................ Most off grid camps I'm set up 15 mins after driving in, beer in hand and Sat dish sorted.
This Boomers have it easy is just BS, I worked my guts out for near 35 years so we could own our place and eventually paid my house off at retirement so not selling up any time soon and I'm certainly not selling up for some Big Rig only to find I'm left stranded with nothing when old timers throws a curly one, I'm 70 now so know full well the joy of getting out of bed of a morning to be greeted by creaks and groans, lol,lol but I'm vertical so gotta be a good day...............
You would like the Epever, just plug in the wires push a couple of buttons for initial set up, like all of them then forget about it .............. if you want to see whats happening no need to stuff around getting bluetooth to work on the phone or some such rubbish just use Mk 1 eyeball...
This Boomers have it easy is just BS, I worked my guts out for near 35 years so we could own our place and eventually paid my house off at retirement so not selling up any time soon and I'm certainly not selling up for some Big Rig only to find I'm left stranded with nothing when old timers throws a curly one, I'm 70 now so know full well the joy of getting out of bed of a morning to be greeted by creaks and groans, lol,lol but I'm vertical so gotta be a good day...............
You would like the Epever, just plug in the wires push a couple of buttons for initial set up, like all of them then forget about it .............. if you want to see whats happening no need to stuff around getting bluetooth to work on the phone or some such rubbish just use Mk 1 eyeball...
the only buttons i press these days to get a caculated response belong to the missus ,press the buttons and off she goes ( she never reads this forum so i am at present safe )
Let me know where it is if you ever find the “mute”.
Just got very brave or stupid and actually asked where the mute button was ,her response, good luck finding that one
Yes they are the same. I compared the 2 manuals. I found a few rebranded versions of the same model too.
The kings one is listed at $169 but if you buy it with a 6M anderson cable it's only $114...
Thought so ............................. Just like my lithium battery it was about $200 less if I bought a led torch as well, of course I did, both good value......................
i am getting a kings mppt solar controller for christmas got it on black friday sale for under $100 , got the 20 amp one as it suits my panels and battery set up , now i am seeing itech shingle tech panels for $149 ,maybe new panel on tug and old panels to roof of caravan port ,and let it run the mppt controller full time, that fits my doomsday planning????
I've ordered a PowMr 25A mppt controller for $50 to try out. Less features but youtube reviews are ok and my old ecoworthy 20a units are ....old
Installed the PowMr and it is definitely mppt-ing. Very simple setup if you pick lithium battery type. Will watch it over the next few days to see how it performs
Nice display but doesn't completely dim which may be fun at night time
Voltage options are ok
And usual set of things can be adjusted. The manual does refer to 2 nice to have things which don't seem to be in this model: 2 stage charging for lithium and, a voltage setting for when the controller returns to bulk/mppt mode. That would be great for lithium as many controllers stay in float far too long
Nice display but doesn't completely dim which may be fun at night time Voltage options are ok And usual set of things can be adjusted. The manual does refer to 2 nice to have things which don't seem to be in this model: 2 stage charging for lithium and, a voltage setting for when the controller returns to bulk/mppt mode. That would be great for lithium as many controllers stay in float far too longJust align the controller settings to what the batteries BMS wants and all should operate in harmony.................. with mine as the load increases the solar covers the draw and the battery remains constant ...........
Yeah my old controllers don't do this very well. Probably because the lead acid (aka only) profile is not sensitive enough or they have had one too many knocks
I gave my set up the big test, I hooked my fridge up to the van battery, just used a short cable with andersons to go from external 12v feed to the feed fridge cable for Jeep hook up, about 1100 on a sunny day and fired up the fridge, expecting great numbers to come up on the screen but No, the watts/amps from panels just increased and a small increase in voltage, battery stayed at 100% for the hour or so I ran it, thing was the controller only upped the input from panels to cover the fridge, with 440w on roof it might have shown half .............................. You may notice that it will throw up voltages of the 15-17 area but the amp output is high thats what MPPTs do .................... since my battery is never run down, mostly 75% if that I never see high amperage into it or high watts from panels, it just ticks over.... but the fridge test meant it all works, works well and I don't have to sit in front of the display checking things..
It also proved that if I see big numbers on the screen amps/watts then something is wrong. So if you have 600w of panels on roof don't expect to see those numbers on the screen very often if at all .........
I did the fridge test with my old PWM unit it did similar but it was probably one of the best PWM units around, in the full sun it was just as good as the Epever but at other times the Epever runs rings around it ............... Have fun with your new gear but don;t wear out the grey cells looking for problems.............
Well the new one is now installed in place of the oldest controller and doing what is expected. It was a bit of a hassle to install because the cheap ones use quite small terminals and I use chunky cables.
The newer of the old ones seems to have got the message and is working properly by maintaining the float voltage regardless of load. Probably because I reset it when pulling fuses.
The newer of the old ones seems to have got the message and is working properly by maintaining the float voltage regardless of load. Probably because I reset it when pulling fuses.
Wednesday 1/1/2025 at 1.16 am first entry of the new year ,I was not thinking about mppt controllers at that time of the day
But was it the real 0116 or the fake southern version ???????
Was up at 0430 dark, saw calendar showing 1st JAN 25, amazing I slept right through from last year till the new year and still the sun rose as planned, well assume so as it was raining ...........
Was up at 0430 dark, saw calendar showing 1st JAN 25, amazing I slept right through from last year till the new year and still the sun rose as planned, well assume so as it was raining ...........
Both are fake, unless of course, you are on the 150 degree meridian