?? About Windy Nation P30L Charge Controller & Temp Probe

xyzHollyxyz wrote:
What about this controller?

10A is a bit small. You need 15A PWM.

If you are trying to stay within $40 cost, you are not gonna get a real McCoy. This one is 3-stage, but, besides being too small and totally unknown ebay thing, it looks like not adjustable. So your battery must have exactly these setpoints.

Also, I would be wary of that alleged "stage 4" - there is no such thing in daily charging routine. In the best case it's a Chinglish, in the worst - Equalization mode that goes automatically when you don't need it.

Youtube is full of funny reviews of fly by night Ebay controllers. It can be anything - not holding voltage steady, no temperature control working, not even a real PWM.

Stick with P30, and replace it when replacing the battery.

Those pictured settings have no bearing on the normal battery charge function.
The settings are fine if you do use load control although low voltage disconnect at 12.0 would be easier on the battery if you do use the function and the load is not critical.

Just use duct tape to hold the sensor against the battery case.

What about this controller?

PWM Solar Charge Controller USB 20A LCD Fully 4-Stage PWM Charge Management for Max 50V 480W Solar Panel RTD-20A NEW Regulator

PRODUCT FEATURES

High accuracy control by advanced microprocessor
4-Stage intelligent PWM charging with temperature compensation
External true ambient temperature sensor

1.Build-in industrial micro controller.
2.Big LCD display,with 5V USB charger
3. PWM charge management.
4.Build-in short-circuit protection,open-circuit protection,reverse protection,over-load protection.
5.Dual mosfet Reverse current protection ,low heat production.

It's not what we want, it's what batteries want. They want 14.6 once a day. Truly 3-stage controller will do everything on its own, 14.6 and then 13.8. This P30 will need a human intervention for that.

With any loads running, battery will demand 14.6 for at least 30-60 minutes, before they are fed up to the point when current drops to few percent C. Turning it down to 13.8 earlier will leave it undercharged.

Well, at least it has temp compensation. There are few times more expensive units that don't.

You're correct that the reconnect is only for the load. The over voltage setting will disconnect and reconnect your solar charge when the batteries hit your set point or fall below your set point.

As for the temp sensor I just drop it into the battery box and call it good. I remove the batteries in the fall and don't mess with attaching it.

The advice I got from this forum when I hooked up my P30L and have been using for 2 years is when camping and using the electrical system I bump the controller up to 14.6 and leave it. Once home and storing the camper until the next trip I set the Voltage disconnect to 13.6, depending on the weather or amount of use on the last day of camping I might leave the controller set at 14.6 for another day or so before turning it down.

When you get right down to it with 200 watts of solar you aren't going to see 14.6 volts into the batterys for any extended period of time.

Guys can say what they want about the P30L controler and or the Windynation 200 watt kit but for over 2 years it has been keeping my batteries charged up just fine in all but the coldest winter conditions. I've owned my trailer for 3 camping seasons and only have 35 hours on the genny, most of that coming from last hunting season where I held a deer for 10 days in my chest freezer. Ran the genny about 2 hours a day during mid day to keep the freezer under 40 degrees.

xyzHollyxyz wrote:

In the photo, where I have highlighted with arrows, these are the connect and disconnect points that can be set, right?
(but I am thinking, based on the arrow going to the "load", that the reconnect is ONLY for the load?)

Can you tell me if these two default settings are set as they should be? (I will NOT have a load, so maybe that is a moot question for "on")

Default setting? Here it is: Amazon.com -> RMA -> print label and ship it back :)

Then ask about 3-stage controller with adjustable setpoints and temp compensation.

What you got here is a one-stage controller. It has one setpoint called "overvoltage". If you set it to 13.8 or whatever your AGM recommends for Float, it will rise to 13.8 and disconnect. When battery drops below 13.8, it will automatically reconnect again and so on, to keep it near 13.8.

If you have nothing better to do, you can set it to 14.6 (or whatever your AGM suggests for Bulk/Absorb), wait it until it rises to this point, and then change it to 13.8 and go about your other chores. Doesn't sound like fun to me.

Keeping it at 14.6 all day won't be a good idea, and not letting AGM rise to 14.6 won't be good either.

"Low voltage reconnect" has nothing to do with solar. This is for loads disconnect-reconnect, and normally people don't use Loads terminal.

The "Load" power section of the controller has nothing to do with the controller's main purpose, to control the charge voltage to your battery. The "Load" section is an auxiliary circuit, typically used for lighting or ancillary devices. You can pretty much ignore those settings if you don't use the "Load" function.

If you don't want to change the connector for the temp sensor to fit on a battery terminal, either tape it on or use something like Goop to glue it to the battery case.