New controller? Looks like it was added today.

Good to see another player at 30A. The Midnite website says "1st quarter '14" and anticipated "backorders into 2cd quarter". It might be worth my while, if I choose to get more panel, to buy another Morningstar MPPT-15.

Almot wrote:
I'm still trying to figure out what is there in Kid for $389 or Kid $285+20 that is missing in my Rogue 3048 for $375, or vice versa.

Not sure how I missed this. For some reason last night I blew right past you were bringing the Rogue into the mix.

What's missing in both the Rogue for $375 and the TS-30 for $477 that the Kid for $349 gives you is the Wizbang functionality.

The two big things you get are ending absorb based on current to the batteries and SOC.

With SOC functionality you can subtract the price of the Trimetric from the Kid's price so now the Kid costs $349 - $152 = $197.

-Jeff

mena661 wrote:
So if you had 8 140W panels {in series} with a Imp of 7.7A each then all 8 panels would only put out 7.7A...

... and it would put out 7.7*17*8/13=80A post controller. You're forgetting MPPT conversion. In watts, max total array with 30A MPPT and 12V bank is ~480W. It doesn't make sense having more watts, because any watts over this limit will be clipped off.

mena661 wrote:

BFL13 wrote:

You can navel-gaze with your laptop, but your batteries won't thank you for that.

LOL!

It should be known that BFL13 doesn't believe in MPPT or any kind of R@D, for that matter :)...

This is all an evil contrivance that should be banned. Items should magically appear on Ebay at "world" prices, and our workers and engineers should magically disappear because they don't want to accept "world" wages and pensions. I've been told in the church that when we cross to the other side, we won't be needing anything there, must be a nice living...

Remember amps don't add in series. That's the benefit. So if you had 8 140W panels with a Imp of 7.7A each then all 8 panels would only put out 7.7A. Also, the amp ratings of controllers are on the output. But in reality the 8 140W panels would be over the voltage input most likely.

With 150V you can have 8*17V panels. But they can't be more than 60W each because of 30A post-controller limit. Such an array is going to cost a bit more than 2*240W, and it won't have an edge in fighting the roof structures shading, compared to parallel wiring.

150V input is good for having a bunch of panels in series. Something I wanted to do with 12V panels and the Rogue 20A (100V input).

Ok, with built-in display it's closer to my situation because my Rogue has it, and I don't feel like I need a remote display. So TS-MPPT-30 is out.

I'm still trying to figure out what is there in Kid for $389 or Kid $285+20 that is missing in my Rogue 3048 for $375, or vice versa. Call it a buyer's remorse. Other than factory location, of course - sounds like not in the US, but let's leave it for now.

Since MPPT 3048 has a sealed circuit board, $389+20 version would be the closest analog. $409 is already more than $375, but maybe it's worth it. I looked into manual but couldn't find much to confirm this.

#10 input terminals is a bit small for a 30A controller, but for series connection this will do.
#10 terminals for battery wire is odd, considering 30A output.
No remote voltage sense - not a big omission, but not good either.
No charging voltage limit for cold weather, or I didn't find in the manual.
Absorption can't be current-based, only time-based.

So what's good?

• 150V is not bad. Not sure how this could be useful with 30A limit - honestly - but this isn't bad.
  
• Removable fuse - this is good.
  
• I like LED Christmas lights to augment the display readings. Don't know how this is useful, but it looks nice. Maybe not so good when it's in the plain view.
  
• Environmental rating IP64 is a big deal, if they mean what they say. Not clear if this is for either version, or for marine only. IP64 means it can withstand heavy rain for a short time. Not sure how this will works with terminals and knock-outs though. Haven't seen anybody mounting a controller out in the open, and for a portable setup 30A is little big, so hard to tell if this can be of practical use. But wouldn't hurt for sure.

Overall, Kid's manual is more "dummy-oriented" and the unit itself seems to have fewer adjustments and ways to tinker with - which may or may not be good depending on user.

So far, I've concluded that my buyer's remorse can sleep peacefully. Maybe technical heads here will find in the Kid manual more than I did.

BFL13 wrote:

You can navel-gaze with your laptop, but your batteries won't thank you for that.

LOL! I just got back from a 5 day trip yesterday. It was full hookups so the batteries got to rest for once. Wait, they usually are resting. A hard life being Mena661's batteries.

Almot wrote:
what is the difference from Kid for $289? Circuit board not sealed, remote temp sensor and voltage sensor is missing and/or can not be connected, or something else?

If you remove the functionality of the wizbang jr and include battery temp sensors you now have...

The Kid $285 + battery temp sensor $20 for a total of $305.

TS-MPPT-30 $357 + display $93 + battery temp sensor $27 for a total of $477.

Apples to apples eliminating the functionality of the wizbang you would mount the kid inside somewhere convenient and the TS out near the batteries with the remote inside somewhere convenient. You would see this or this .

With the Kid if convenient is not close to the batteries you could use an inline 10awg to 8awg or 6awg butt splice crimp connector to use larger wire for no voltage drop. Max wire size on the Kid terminal block is 10awg.

-Jeff