Two Solar Controllers......Any difference except price?

No comment on those two
But I got an eBay email the other day because I had looked at some controller links from this forum...Not complaining , I do use eBay

The thing was..one seller was comparing his "quality" solar controller to the cheaper one
They looked identical on the outward appearance
But he showed pictures of the assembly the board and components

Heavier soldering and thicker pathways at input output connections
What he says is heavier components, and adjustable components, instead of fixed value components, a k a pots vs resistors etc..
Aluminum back heat sink vs plastic
Etc...

What I took away from this..is there are a lot of one man operations
Doing assembly and sales
The MFG are selling components...boards housings heat sink etc.. Etc..
The builder installs the circuit parts and they very by builder
And the quality of the assembly and finished product verys greatly

link to eBay site and comparison pictures

I see this type of thing on eBay all the time. Amazon price might be $25. Most eBay sellers will sell it for at or near that price, but there will be those few who will want far more, or will want the same price but shipping/handling charges will be excessive. I consider these people to be ripoff artists.

It seems that Marc has a good thing going. :)

Looks like the same controller but the cheaper one is shipped from China. These shipments are normally about a 2 week leadtime, same as with all the LED suppliers over there.

This caught my eye because this is the identical controller I am using,....bought 2 of them for 8 bucks each.
I think I see another difference, the hi $ one has longer guarantee, and shipped from the US.
The amazing thing, both these are advertised along side each other at the bottom.
These sell at many Solar places for $59.

Golden_HVAC wrote:
Well on the second link, the guy who took the picture took more time to get it centered, and level before taking the picture. So buy that one! It might be a little more expensive, however the seller is taking more time to display the item, thus it's $102 higher value!

I bought 2 controllers from AliExpress.com and they where rated at 20 amps at $14 each. They worked well so far. . .

Fred.

Well on the second link, the guy who took the picture took more time to get it centered, and level before taking the picture. So buy that one! It might be a little more expensive, however the seller is taking more time to display the item, thus it's $102 higher value!

I bought 2 controllers from AliExpress.com and they where rated at 20 amps at $14 each. They worked well so far. . .

Fred.