Eco-worthy 20a MPPT controller

[JiminDenver]

Last month I purchased the Eco-Worthy 20a MPPT controller from their website for $89 plus $24 shipping. Right now it says $102.50 and free shipping. You can see them on ebay with free shipping and if good can get one for as low as $80. That will be on a slow boat too as it took forever to get here.

Eco-worthy

u tube video I found on it

I set it up crudely this morning and wouldn't you guess, instantly had cloudy skies. Dark enough that there were no shadows and the controller was at best showing 2a. The panel is my Schott 230 watt, 36v panel rated up to 7.66a imp and 8.33a isc which I've confirmed before. It is just leaned against a fence and not tilted /rotated for best results

I started out using old batteries as a test, better to fry them than my trailers grp 27. They could be pulled down fast using a 350w inverter and a few lightbulbs, otherwise even in the shade the batteries voltage jumped and the controller went into float mode. In float and absorb modes it does PWM, only bulk mode does MPPT.

When the clouds cleared or as much as can be expected with the pollution, haze and smoke from the fires, I saw the amps jump to over 12a but only for a bit. They started dropping and went down to just over 5a in bulk mode. The controller is black , sitting in the direct sun and had gotten quite hot to the touch. It has a temp sensor in it so I am assuming it caused the cut in amps because even shading the box with my hand caused the amps to rise above 7 again. I shaded it and the amps went back up.
The best I saw was 13.1a in bulk mode. The controller has a PWM-MPPT comparison and at 13.1a it said the comparison was 8.67a in PWM. This is a calculation and too high for the rating. In absorb mode (PWM), in full sun it read in the 7a+ range which is close to the rated imp.
At that point the inverter was running 160w of bulbs and the batteries voltage was still climbing.

The next test will be to see if the set up will recharge the TTs grp 27 in a day after being brought down to 50%. If it can, I will be thrilled because even with furnace use we never see a 50% drop now and the Generator can be silent once again. Not bad for $200 invested.
If it can not, I'll have to decide if the controller is good enough and can be run in parallel like cruz does or send the controller back and run both of my panels off of a Rogue.

A few other tidbits.
as i mentioned, the temp sensor is in the case. I am going to see if I can't make it remote to the batteries somehow. That is a big advantage to the Rogue among other things but for a $250 savings I'll make sacrifices. I just need a charged battery for boondocking.

[pianotuna]

Hi,

Fuse to the wire size between the controller and battery bank, no more than one foot from the battery.

kje wrote:
The Eco are doing well. 🙂
I don't have a fuse between the regulator and the 90a battery, is that dangerous? If it is, what A should the fuse be?

[kje]

The Eco are doing well. 🙂
I don't have a fuse between the regulator and the 90a battery, is that dangerous? If it is, what A should the fuse be?

[JiminDenver]

According to the lifeline manual, all voltages in float and absorb are set according to the temperature. Beyond that, I am afraid I will have to refer you to the experts as I am quite new to this myself.

My remaining Eco-W is still seeing use along side the Morningstar. I think I'll hang onto it as a back up.

[kje]

Thank you Jim 🙂 Its really working good now. Is it smart to change the float voltage a little higher now and then?

[JiminDenver]

It's quite an education just to read the various AGM threads like mine asking questions on how to charge my Lifelines. Most of it is over my head but it will sink in...eventually.

Good luck with the Eco-W, I'm quite fond of them and still recommend them if I think they fit the need.

[kje]

Thank you Jim 🙂
Maybe 13.3v is the right float voltage now. I guess it is about 25 degrees celsius.

[JiminDenver]

Great to hear. I used a Eco-worthy to charge one of my AGM 8-D's yesterday. I actually set the float at absorb level for the first part until the amps tapered and then dropped it to float level.

The voltages you want are temperature specific. Mex says the Lifeline manual can be used for other AGM's, so here it is. The charging is on page 19.

Lifeline manual.

[kje]

Today it is charging. 🙂 Halleluja. 🙂 I'm not sure why it was sleeping yesterday.

What should I set as float voltage for my AGM battery?

[BFL13]

Any chance you put the panel wires on the load terminals by mistake? Murphy's Law!

[kje]

I measured 33v from the cable ends of the panel

[BFL13]

Depending on the panel junction box, you can have a loose wire connection in there if it is where you make your connections and then put the cover back on.

Otherwise the "open" could be in the external connections between panel and controller. You don't need a fuse along there, but if you did put one in, check that too.

At least now it looks pretty sure that there is nothing wrong with the Eco-W.

[JiminDenver]

sleeping means it doesn't think anything is coning in, or at least not enough to keep the controller awake. Pull the panel connections and make sure the polarity is correct and that you are seeing the panel output at the point the cables go into the controller. The numbers off of those leads should be close to the same as if you measured at the panel.

[kje]

The battery voltage is 12.1v measured with my multimeter. The eco-worthy also think it is 12.1v without the panel connected. I have thick battery cables 2meters between controller and battery. The controller say 0.0 A and sleeping...

[JiminDenver]

Again what is the voltage of the battery? What does the controller think it is? When was it charged last? How big are the cables between the controller and the battery?

Too small of a cable will make it hard for the controller to sense the battery voltage.

also make sure the panel polarity is correct. I have no idea what would happen if they were reversed.

When you say no charging, does the controller say 0.0a or sleeping?

I hope there isn't a issue with the controller. I have only had a issue once and it was self inflicted. Even so when I contacted Eco-worthy their only question was did I want it replaced or repaired. ( I did neither, it was my fault, not theirs)