MPPT Charge Controller (1 Viewer)

[freelanderuk]

After an accident yesterday with the multimeter on my pwm controller i have had to buy a new controller and opted for this one with the separate lcd display Link Removed
the lcd disply seams to do all the same things as the nasa bm1 does when monitoring the battery and hopefully with the mppt charge controller enable my panel to work more efficiently,

the cost was £100 delivered from the uk ,i could have got from ebay china and saved a few quid but then liable for customs charges and a long delay in delivery ,

will report once fitted

 

[Xoxoc]

After an accident yesterday with the multimeter on my pwm controller i have had to buy a new controller and opted for this one with the separate lcd display Link Removed
[HI]the lcd disply seams to do all the same things as the nasa bm1 does when monitoring the battery[/HI] and hopefully with the mppt charge controller enable my panel to work more efficiently,

the cost was £100 delivered from the uk ,i could have got from ebay china and saved a few quid but then liable for customs charges and a long delay in delivery ,

will report once fitted

Please excuse me if I have missed it but I can't see where it states that the display show amps out of the battery, nor the time to fully discharged or fully charged (as the Nasa BM-1 does).

I don't see how it could monitor the batteries fully if connected in-line between the panels and the batteries. Any load attached to the batteries would not be seen by this unit surely?

Also, slightly concerned that the page you link to shows two pictures of two different units.

And whilst it does mention that an external lcd is available, I don't think it says it is included in the £100 does it?

It may be a very good charge controller, but it isn't a battery monitor like the Nasa BM-1.

 

[freelanderuk]

the lcd display is included in the price of £100 as stated on the web site , the lcd display is a seperate item from the mppt controler a pdf manual of the disply is here http://www.koneze.com/pdf/Manual_METER-2.pdf ,

The meter display the following
(solar panel voltage, solar panel charging current), (battery voltage, charging current), (load voltage, load current), (battery capacityAH, battery temp.), (battery capacity percentage, temp. compensation), (battery capacityAH, battery type), (charging accumulation AH, charging accumulation WH), (discharging accumulation AH, discharging accumulation WH) as eight team data. Use K2, K3, or Left, right key for repeating the data for the team. Data shows as pictures on the disply.
can you have a look at the manual Bryan please and comment if it does a similar thing to the nasa bm1

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[Jim]

If the remote LCD is included in the price then the system looks far better than the BM1. Thanks it seems exactly what I'm looking for but I'd need a 30 amp model.

 

[freelanderuk]

the lcd is in the price , i spoke to the people at solarexpressuk yesterday and delivery is also included in the price ,first class recorded

 

[freelanderuk]

manual for mppt charge controller http://www.koneze.com/pdf/Manual_TRACER1206,1210,1215-MPPT.pdf

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[hilldweller]

If the remote LCD is included in the price then the system looks far better than the BM1.

It's different to BM1. It senses the load internally, BM1 fits a tiny resistor on the battery to sense the load at the battery.

You'd need a serious rewire to retrofit this.

BM1 is a much better solution for the complexity of a MH.

 

[Jim]

You'd need a serious rewire to retrofit this.
.

Me n wires hate each other, so I'll be giving it a miss then

 

[freelanderuk]

i retract the seams to with similar to but in the end its a mppt charge controller with a display that shows things and i dont think for a bad price

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[Jim]

i retract the seams to with similar to but in the end its a mppt charge controller with a display that shows things and i dont think for a bad price

If you can wire it in, you will have a system as good if not better than the BM1 but with the BM1 you need a regulator as well. Let us know how you get on with fitting it:thumb:

 

[freelanderuk]

there is not alot to wire it in the solar panel connects by 2 wires the battery connects by 2 wires and the display plugs into the controller with a rj45 plug

 

[hilldweller]

but in the end its a mppt charge controller with a display that shows things and i dont think for a bad price

No arguing there.

Where it falls over is the 10A load, a laptop can take that much.

So think in terms of a good charger and ignore the outputs unless they happen to fit in with some low current mods you fancy.

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[freelanderuk]

the charge controller i had was not using the load connections so i dont think i need to use them when i fit this

 

[Geo]

the charge controller i had was not using the load connections so i dont think i need to use them when i fit this

You might as well its there and the power it supplies is free
I wired up a cig lighter socket to mine when the batts are topped up any surplus goes to the socket:thumb: I have phones and torch on charge all the time for free
as for being like a BM1 sorry i dont think its owt like one
It may display spurious numbers but me thinks that side of it is a gadget at best

 

[freelanderuk]

cheers Geo for the tips, as for the display we will have to wait till its installed to see what its like

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[Geo]

cheers Geo for the tips, as for the display we will have to wait till its installed to see what its like

iF IT IS A S GOOD WE DONT WANT TO KNOW

 

[pappajohn]

it would appear the discharge rate is directly calculated from the charge rate.

the unit calculates discharge by the rate of current being put into the battery.....very low input = fully charged battery....very low load and visa versa.

the unit has a default battery capacity of 200ah so can calculate the battery state by input voltage....it doesnt know the actual battery ah........what if you have one fully charged 110ah battery ? it will show you have 200ah available oh:

references to 'load' will be the load imposed on the controller at any given time.....not to discharge load from the battery.

could be talking bollox but thats how i see it.

 

[freelanderuk]

if you read the instructions for setting up you can actually change the battery capacity for what ever battery you use,up to 200ah, as for the rest it should be here today and fitted

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[freelanderuk]

controller and display fitted and had a chance to see what's shown on the display , it shows

the voltage the panel is producing and the amps the panel is producing

the battery voltage and amps available to charge the battery

load amps and amps used if you have something connected to the load

battery size in AH and temp of the controller

% at which the battery is charged

battery size and type of battery ( sealed , gel or flooded)

amps produced by panel( can be deleted ) and total amps produced by panel since connected

total amps used on load (can be deleted ) and total amps used on load since panel connected

it's as accurate as the fox d1 panel i have fitted , would i buy again? i think the answer would be yes as it does give some useful information and you get a mppt charge controller , same as the nasa bm1 no

 

[Jim]

same as the nasa bm1 no

Sounds better, it costs less and you don't get a regulator with the BM1:thumb: