Brilliant Scott, you answered the exact questions I needed to know. Thank you for taking the time to put together this video. Given that the timing control for the load is not very flexible on the unit itself, I think I'll switch the load to ON permanently and use a separate timer to control the power to the load. 🙂
GREAT job SCOTT!!! You've explained this better than anyone. We really appreciate the help and the time you take out of your busy schedule to teach us. Now I'm going to go watch another one of your videos and see what else I can learn from your excellent tutorials. Be safe
You said 0h is from "the second the sun rises and starts producing solar power (sunrise) the load will stay on until sunset" but the setting is called dusk to dawn? Did you get it backwards?
The clarification you gave about the USB ports was my question answered. Glad I stayed till the very end of your very helpfull video. Thank you vey much!
Hi Scott, nice explanation on the built in output port. Since this output allows to schedule the time for either 12 VDC or 24 VDC devices, it can easily drive a relay coil at one Amp. Then the relay makes it possible to control the timing of the inverter that powers 120 VAC loads. The inverter consumes power at night unless it's turned off, unless the capacity of the battery allows to resume the charge the next morning. All that depends on how much Ah your battery is capable. As far as the USB is concerned, since it's enabled all the time, it can be used for a small LED motion sensor light whenever servicing the unit at night or to power a security camera. I got a newer version of this PWM controller from Temu for about $15, but I ordered the 24 VDC to give me 720 W max or 240W if I follow your derating. Anyways, that's plenty enough to drive all four air pumps and the two 200 GPH water pumps for my pump through a 300W PWM inverter from Temu that I paid only $25 and 2 200W used solar panels at $20 each! Great deal overall!
fantastic video, just what i needed. i have multiple charge controllers set up to all our vehicles, ride on mowers, tractor cars now im starting on solar/battery powered grow lights, all this time i had no idea what the load really does, the instructions are not very clear to me and i diddnt need the load anyway, but it was the dusk to dawn thing i was now looking at, for auto on off for grow lights, i just bought a system/kit panels, lifepo4 battery and 30amp charge controller (thank you for pointing out 30amp is prob not 30amp on a charge controller i would not have known this) and i also would have bought the dusk dawn snesors but now will buy a separate larger charge controller and use the load feature with timer. t start with i only have 18 x 9watt led baton lights, so around 200w all together. Im glad to find your channel Scott, i live remote and youtube/google is how i learn to do all the stuff i need to be self sufficient so this is GOLD thank you.
Ah, fair enough. I was kind of assuming the "Load" connections were for something like a big resistor or an incandescent lightbulb or something similar, so if your batteries were fully charged, but the solar cells were still cranking out watts, there was somewhere for the excess power to go. Thanks for explaining this.
@@kaydog890 I actually did a bit of research after writing that comment, and the answer is that there ISN'T any excess power to get rid of. Solar cells have a sort of resistance "Sweet spot" where they produce the most amps, and the charge controller plays with this resistance to modulate the panels output. That can go all the way up to pretty much disconnecting the panels so they produce a high "open circuit" voltage, but in that state they make next to no amps. This is why disconnected solar cells don't just build up energy until they start arcing all over the place and exploding. When disconnected they see a pretty much infinitely large resistance, so produce a miniscule amount of power.......... OK, this way of describing it isn't really 100% accurate, but it's close enough to how it works to be "True enough", and it's easier to get your head around this that to take a deep dive into the science behind how solar panels work. :D It helps to think of the solar cell like a kind of battery, but one that stores it's power about 90 million miles away in the sun. :D . When a charged normal battery isn't connected to anything it's still got POTENTIAL energy inside, but without any way for it to flow from one terminal to the other it's energy that's just sitting there....... twiddling it's thumbs and waiting for something to do. Solar panels have a similar sort of potential energy in the form of the light that's constantly hitting it, the difference is, if a solar cell can't do anything with this energy it's just wasted as a slight amount of heat. In most senses though, solar cells can just be thought of like batteries. To an extent you can run them in parallel to get a higher amperage, in series to up the voltage, or a mixture of both to try and keep the open circuit voltage and total amps produced below what your charge controller and wiring can handle.
So to run a 12v fridge 24hours connect the fridge to the load port and the solar will charge the battery and the charge controller will manage the charging of the battery and also running the fridge?
Hello.. I did buy this unit and id do not charge the battery at al. I hear about the cable must be G10 so what is wrong. I did change the cable to the battery to G10 and still not work. Must al the cables be thicker G10 cables ? I se that you do have a thicker cable that comes from the solar penal. How can i get a thinker cable to connect the solar penal to the controller ? Who can help me out of this so i can use it as soon as possible ?
Thank you Scott, you have helped me greatly as I have the same controller (only 20amp version). The 'Chinglish' instruction sheet is confusing, so this helped me understand the functions way better, thanks again! ...I do have one problem however, my 'charge icon' (arrow from Solar icon) is suddenly not working (I have 2 x 80W slimline solar panels on top my teardrop camper trailer), but battery not receiving charge! Will look for other tutorials to help...
I have this same controller, it always gets hot and smells when the sun is high and display E12 or E16. I have 6 panels on two 12v batteries. What could be the issue.
When people talk about a float charge for a solar charge controller, I have trouble understanding if the float charge is going to be the max charged voltage, and which would shut off the power going in? They talk about the idea of 'float charge' and bulk charge, and I'm worried if I have this at the wrong ranges for my batteries if its overcharging them. And do you want to limit the float charge for some types of batteries like lead acid and AGM battery types, and what kinds of ranges? Its also hard because on the sides of the batteries they quote cycle charges and standby charges but not float charges or bulk charges. So I'm not sure how to translate those figures to the float charge, etc?
Intuitively the 0 (zero) hour option seems the wrong way round. Turning the load ON at SUNRISE and OFF at SUNSET doesn't make sense particularly if you want to run security lights. Or have I got it wrong (I've watched the video 4 times to check if I'm hearing correctly) ?
A 12v relay can be connected to the load. An inverter is connected to the relay so that the relay turns inverter on. Then, larger consumers and higher voltages than 12v can be used.
i bought the same controller---- I heard you could run the panel direct to the controller and use the USB ports, but from what you said you cannot, you need a battery
Hello Scott I have a ❓🙋🏻♂️. First of all, I’m super new to the whole solar stuff but I wanted to know if u would recommend this ?: (12V 18AH Battery Rechargeable Lead Acid AGM Battery with Nut and Bolt Terminal) For a 30 watt solar kit I just purchased. My thoughts led to this battery because I read the higher AH (18AH) the faster the charge from 30 watt solar to this battery. I hope I made sense 😂
My controller doesn't display "0H"but does display "00". Unfortunately, when it is set to "00" I can't get the output to turn on. I am trying to power a small 12V, 6W fountain pump during the daytime only.
I had the same issue. The controller that I am using whilst looks identical to Scott's must be different. When set to o it turns off the load while it is receiving charge from the solar panel. Even the manual states "00h - By default the DC output is turned off when there is sunlight". I just run in 24H mode and turn off the output manually when I need.
Wow I thought it had a min batt voltage you can set to cut load to prevent battery drain. The internal timer is great will set that one.= for small 12v heater after sunset in greenhouse.
Never have solar connected to charge controller without a battery connected if thats what you have in mind to do. It will most likely damage the controller.
Great explanation, however. I am trying to power 40 12v led outdoor pathway lights so I need to add a relay which is an automotive 12v 40 amp to Handel the load. I need help to figure out how to add it into the circuit.
I have a question about the load side of the power manager. I have lithium batteries in my bank coming from the controller and don’t want to “mix” with my starter battery. Can I use the load side of the power manager to trickle my starter battery without harm? Thanks!
Thank you, very clear explanation. I have a couple of questions if you are able to answer, much appreciated. i have a 120W water pump, can it be run via the load setting or would i have to run it from the battery. If i run trough the load it would enable me to use an irrigation controller and a small relay to control the circuit.
This is the kind of video i needed but only answered half my question. Where do you find things to run the load on? For indtance lights and small fans that have the red/ blk wire to connect in. Or do we have to cut/strip wires and manually do it? Ive trued searching amazon for dc load lights but havent really come across much besides like small van lights/ for music stuff.
Thank you for the information. You didn't mention if the controller remembers your settings once it is disconnected from the battery, or do you have to set up every time ??😢
I ordered a two panel solar kit. And the solar panels already have a place for wires on the back of them. As they were part of the $50 kit. At your convenience if you could help me with this I would truly appreciate it. What I'm not understanding is how I'm going to hook it up the panels when they only have an extension for the little wires? Just wanting to know if it's too late for me to do anything about it. Thank you and God Bless you!
Great job deciphering the code. But how on earth does the manufacturer expect the helpless user could break the secrets behind this Enigma of 1-23H, 0H 😅 Thank a lot
Sorry Scott I made a mistake. I have 1x100w solar panel going to 2x110amp leisure batteries with 1000w inverter. Is this OK. Can I add another 100w panel to the set up.
How do you set up the bulk charging parameters?....and in the beginning what are you multiplying the charger controller amps by to get the 120W of power?
Great video, thanks. One further question on the load on/off. If i set for 3hrs (after dusk) and use the manual on to turn on the load when it's "off" when will it turn off automatically or will it stay on indefinitely?
I have a technical question: I am using this system for a water pump which I am as for now starting manually every day for about 30min at about mid-day. I would like to make this automatical but the options here do not seem to match with my request. The best ide that I came with is to set the discharge reconnect to it's max value and the work mode to stop at about mid-day. I didn't try this yet as I think that it would anyway work more than the 30 min what I need... The real question is : how can I set it to work only from 11h30 to 12h00 ? Maybe an external device ? Sorry for long text, I am an absolute beginner at electricity and still quite unsure of what I am doing...
Ok , so i took a "cigarette plug adapter" and wired it into the load , so my load in now powering a cigarette socket , into the cigarette socket i plugged in a 75 watt power inverter which is so small that it doesnt have a cooling fan , and therefore doesnt waste much juice when its on. And it also has 1 USB socket and into that i plugged a USB powered light bulb , so when you turn on the load it also turns on its own work lights , so u can see the top of the battery and front of the charge controller and everything else one might want to check on at night. Thank you for explaining to me that i only had 120 watts to play with there ,,,,,, that could have gone badly otherwise lol . The 75 watt power inverter is also just enough to run my modem all night if i wanted to get my laptop running to find out why my power went out.
OK, so what do you actually connect to the output load, practically? I'm using with an RV...I don't have anything that would plug two wires into a controller, so still no idea what you use for that output load...?
Your videos are to the point and that is why I decided to ask for your input. I am setting up a Solar Pond aeration with 2 100 watt panels same Controller, 100 aH 12v battery , a 225W(400W surge) inverter and a HiBlo Air pump1.6amp 120v. I need to know how to correctly connect the inverter. Should it be connected to the controller or directly to the battery leaving the load port empty. Also should all Positive 10awg wires be Fused?
Thanks for the feedback. It depends on the rated output watts your controller load can handle. In the video, mine can only handle up to 120 watts, which wouldn’t work for your setup. So I would hook directly up to the battery. And when it comes to fuses, I’m not an expert, but I would say when in doubt, it never hurts to use one. I hope that helps!
Hi Scott, can you explain the functions marked on the manual as 2, 3 and 4 after the main display and before the timer function: 1) Floating charge: 13.7V (default, adjustable), 12.0-15.0V? : Can you explain what this is? 2) Discharge stop voltage: 10.7V (default, adjustable), 8.0-11.5V : This I managed, it's a limit set that when the battery voltage is below the set value ex. 10.7V, the controller cuts off the supply to the load. Unfortunately I couldn't set this below 8V, I guess it's to protect the battery from draining too much. 3) Discharge reconnection voltage: 12.5V (default, adjustable), 11.0-13.0V : Can you explain this function please? Thanks
Cool vid thanks, I'm trying to work out the simple math so i know what wattage the controller is effectively producing... When I switched the controlled on obviously all i could see is voltage.. So I'm i'm running 100w solar into a 12v battery can you please tell me the magic math so I know what its putting out in watts at any one time. Thanks!
Can I use the load output without connecting a battery? We are using the controller in a solar powered boat competition. Two of the races use only solar panels to power the boat. The third race, an endurance race, uses small batteries to power the motor.
In my video description I wrote this: UPDATE: If you set the timer to 0H, It actually runs from dusk to dawn, not dawn to dusk like I said in the video. Maybe that will do the trick!
Much appreciated Scott. I have this 30amp unit. Connected to my 110 amp leisure batterles with 1 2x100w solar panel with a 1000w invertor does this sound OK.can I add another solar panel to the set up
I do not take my power or load from the load buttons. I run an inverter connected directly to two 12volt batteries. This means that I can power 240 volt items like electric drills/TV/Microwave.. The inverter stops my using it when the battery goes below a critical voltage. Scott please notify me if you comment.
Yes, that's how I use it to get 110 volt power, an inverter directly off the battery because for most applications the load output doesn't provide sufficient power.
thats for the vid , since I am new to this I have a simple question I have a DC pump 12V 180W 80 ampere controller , can i just put the pump into the load terminal ? or shall i connect it to the battery directly ? So far i understood is the load terminal the regulated output from the Battery ? is that so far correct ?
Thanks for the vid ! i think i have the same controller, used it over the weekend and i don't think it was working. how can i tell if the solar panel is charging my battery?
Some people connect both appliance and mppt directly to the battery. How is this different from connecting the appliance to the load port. Thanks for sharing.
By connecting the appliance to the load port, you can adjust the settings like when it powers on or off. But it doesn’t really work when you have a large load, in that case you need to connect to the battery directly.
I'm running a 60 watt greenhouse heater through a 300 watt inverter overnight. It drains my 105 ah deep cycle battery to 10v after 2 nights? Should I be able to run this heater this way without draining the battery?
so is it ok to charge your batteries with a generator when the sun hasn't shown for a couple days. do you have to disconnect from charge controller to do this
I'm using a drompower 60a mppt solar charge controller with 5 12V sealed batteries and 10 200W Solar panels. I'm unable to have electricity the whole night. Could you guide me through the load setup?
Hi Scott, could you clarify the 00h setting? - when my device is set to that, is the load supposed to be switched on between sunset and sunrise, or between sunrise and sunset? I want the load to be on during the day while the sun is on the PV, but its not doing that - its not turning on the load in daylight when PV is coming in. Any help appreciated.
Scott Nice job! The link you posted for the solar controller (that appears to be blue) comes up with a green one not like the demo you used and I would like to purchase the one you demoed. I am hooking it to a Pop up Truck camper and the camper has to have a maximum of 10 amps. can you provide me with a link on Amazon Please!
