- Sep 23, 2013
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I would check that with Udo Lang. Unless the 'k' is significant, I'd be surprised if it mattered. I have an email from Udo saying that you can use what you like with an EBL99.Unfortunately yes ...
It's an EBL99k
You do have to make your own arrangements to charge the starter battery if you bypass the EBL though - either use a dual output regulator or fit a Battery Master (or equivalent). If you have a battery monitor that shows anything more sophisticated than just voltage, that also may be a consideration.
I explained what I wanted to do & why to Udo, then asked these questions:
1. If I use a different solar charge controller, should this still be connected through the EBL 99, or should it be connected straight to the habitation & starter batteries?
2. If the solar charge controller is connected straight to the batteries, bypassing the EBL 99, is there a danger of the EBL 99 being confused when it senses the solar charge voltage at the battery?
3. What particular benefits are there from using the LRM1218 with an EBL 99 that would not be available if another controller was used?
With many thanks for any information you are able to provide,
His answer:
You can use any solar-charger to connect to the EBL 99 or the battery you like to charge.
No problem to add further chargers (solar-chargers) when they are connected at the EBL 99 at the solar-entry or the additional charger entry.
Then connections at the EBL are just for easy connection for a solar-charger. But it depends on the place where you build in the solar-panel and where you wire it.
If the direct connection to the battery will be more easy to wire, don´t worry.
When you have a panel in the camper which is showing Ampere, you will not see there the Amps going from any solar-charger directly to the battery, but this is not the issue.
I did use a different controller & it's all been working fine for the last 12 months. I use the van as a mobile office 12 months of the year in the UK, so I wanted 2 x 100W panels wired in series to squeeze every last drop of available power out of a weak winter sun & short winter days. For more normal use, I probably would have gone for the more straightforward option of using their own controller.