Ecoworthy 20a settings?

Anyone?

Also it seems the controller is not working. The panel is mounted flat so the sun is at a pretty steep angle, but even so the controller stays in sleep mode and is not putting out any amps. I placed a load on the battery and still nothing.

The voltage on the controller is correct until you hook up the panel then it drops by about .8 volts. Multimeter still reads 12.5v at the batteries.

I have 38v going into the controller, but nothing coming out?

Any ideas?

You may have blown the controller when connecting everything
If you did not follow procedure

Connect batteries first
Then connect panels to controller

If you connect panels first, it sometimes blows the controller

Check for reverse connections,
Check to make sure you used the correct terminals
Some controllers have six terminals
Load terminals are for a light or dc motor, Not for the batteries

I did connect battery first then panel also double checked and,everything is hooked up in the correct spot......

Stupid problem....either the Nash pre wired kit, or me, switched the polariarty of the panel. Working great now, 10a with the sun at an angle. Pretty happy with that.

coruss wrote:

-For the Bulk, Absorb and float voltage settings I was planning on using 14.8, and 13.2 per the battery spec sheet. What should I do for the float voltage?
-"Over discharge protection voltage".....Not sure what to do here?
-"Discharge restart voltage".....Again, not sure?

I think this gizmo has only 2 settings: Absorb and Float. If battery specs call for 13.2 Float, then set Float to 13.2.

Absorb voltage is what they call Constant Current voltage or Overcharge voltage. A mystery of Chinese engineering mentality.

Over discharge is when it disconnects the load, set it to 11.8 maybe. Restart is when it reconnects the load - it should be set higher.This is - if you use those "load" terminals. But you don't have to.

Be aware that this thing doesn't know what the battery temperature is, and all temp comp adjustments are per controller temperature.

Have you tried looking at the ecoworthy instructions?


The information is out there, all you have to do is let it in.

Prospector, the OP questions don't surprise me.
The wording of the manual is er... "unusual", to put it this way. Not too difficult to understand when you already know something about controllers, but for somebody new to solar it does sound weird. They should've hired somebody who knows how these settings are normally described in English. Or to proof-read it better. There is "absorption" reading on the display, but no setpoint with such a name :)

The strongest side of this controller is affordability. It is MPPT and it works. Other than that - you get what you pay for. Including unclear lingo, among other things.

The Eco_w's I use are the original model and I don't know if they changed the directions when the Voc went up. Mine have a absorb and float setting and it doesn't stay in absorb long.

I think it is still the least expensive REAL MPPT controller and a boon to me back then. It's simple and those here using them haven't been complaining.

coruss

I do know that under wiring, under ventilation and direct sun will over heat them. As it gets hot a sensor inside cuts the output at first and then shows overheat. Mount a inch above the surface and don't skimp on the run to the battery. You should be getting close to capacity so you don't want any extra heat. Other than that mine have been very dependable.

JiminDenver wrote:
The Eco_w's I use are the original model and I don't know if they changed the directions when the Voc went up. Mine have a absorb and float setting and it doesn't stay in absorb long.

Maybe they forgot to change the manual. Or, indeed, changed it to worse. If look at it, it suggests to pull the Absorb reading on the display in order to set that "Over Charge" voltage. So, with a little head scratching you get it.

I don't see anything that looks like Absorb timer, or a "normal" 60-90 minutes fixed time. It's probably made to go from Abs to Float almost immediately. Good for when batteries are in storage :)

The EW is a 2 stage controller. It has bulk and another setting that can be either abs or float. Conditions and seasons can be adjusted for.

EW settings via BFL13:

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/28677768/gotomsg/28680339.cfm#28680339

It seems there is a need for a very short Vabs time for storage, where you are likely to hit Vabs early morning, and a possible need for while camping "depending" on a bunch of factors that are variable. In my case solar is only for camping and we use shore power for "storage" so smk's type of concerns for storage with solar are not an issue for me. I do have an adjustable voltage (manual) solar controller, so I can reduce the voltage in the afternoon if need be, but it is not on a timer. I have to be there, see what is happening, and do something about it. No big deal! :) I sure don't need to strap my laptop to the controller and do a bunch of geeky stuff which I would not be able to do anyway, not being all that computer-smart, in order to get my batts charged while camping! :) As it happens the Eco-Worthy MPPT has no time at Vabs. it drops to "float" (adjustable) as soon as the batts get to the high set point (adjustable) for absorption. Kind of strange, but you can set the float voltage as high as 14.5 to do the rest of the day. so for storage, with that controller you don't need a timer. Just set float at 13.x and it will do that as soon as it hits whatever you chose for Vabs (which could also be 13.x of course.) No timer needed there and you could set it up the first day and leave it like that as long as you want for storage.

I sure don't need to strap my laptop to the controller and do a bunch of geeky stuff Nobody does. When firmware (the geeky software that is "firmly" embedded into controller) is well composed, it does this all. I never connect laptop to my controller, don't feel any need. My controller display is enormously informational. Though, even with less informational display of Tristar you wouldn't have much need for a laptop after you've set it up. Some other people are having fun downloading all the weekly, daily etc graphs for output. Your Eco firmware has limited features, so it can't generate these graphs - no big deal. Some other limitations of this charger seem more important to me. Like those you mention in the end of your post - zero Abs time and thus the need to choose between either +14V for the rest of the day (I don't like this, be it storage or camping), or instant transition to +13V Float after it hits V Abs (acceptable for storage, and not good for when camping). No. The way the Eco-Worthy works is it has two adjustable voltages. The first is for how high it will get the batteries in the first place (absorb voltage setting) this can be set as high as 15v. the next setting id for Float voltage which goes from about 13 to 14.5v. If you want the controller to keep the batts high for any time after it gets them to your Absorb setting, you have to pick a high Float setting. But if you want to float at 13 you can do that. What you can't do is stay at Absorb once it gets there. And you can't do the real absorption time above 14.5 since that is as high as Float goes, so if you want time at 14.8 you can't have it. (my 6s are happy with that, so no problem for me--in fact I had to drop Float to 13.6 so they wouldn't lose so much water from overcharging during "high summer") If you are in storage and don't want it to get so high in the first place, just set your Absorb at 13.x. You could set Float to the same 13.x and have no drop at all.

Yes, you can do whatever you like for the situation. In Spring and Fall I set it to 14.8/14.5 and on nice days it gets to 14.8 late in the day and does a bit of 14.5 before dark. In mid-Summer, long days, that means it gets to 14.8 earlier and spends way too long at 14.5 so the batts lose water all afternoon, being overcharged. So I changed it to 14.8/13.6. That still got the batts to full (hitting baseline SG as confirmed by hydrometer, not just from Trimetric info) before they got drawn down again from camping activities from supper-time on. So it is not a bad thing to do the 14.8/13.6 routine on long summer "nice days" You don't go to a lower float as with "storage" while still camping and using the batteries to run things. I tried 13.2 at first and the Trimetric showed when a load came on, I lost the solar charging input at first and there was a draw on the batts until the solar could pick up the slack. So that is why converters are set a t 13.6 for "normal" when on shore power. Same thing when on solar while camping. You need that 13.6

Good luck!