I am pleased to report that I have just passed my Canadian Amateur Radio exam. My wife took the exam and has also passed. We expect to have our call signs shortly and after getting both HF and 2 meter radios should be on the air within the next few weeks. Your I've been subscribed to your channel for some time now. You've been an inspiration which motivated us to take the exam and get licensed. Your focus on QRP rigs and portable operation has been of special interest.
Happy to say I passed here in NYC in June. I"ve already purchased the General Guide and will take that as well. Who wants to be limited to 50MHz and up? Who said Amateur Radio is on the decline? We have to keep this art alive. ;) 73s.
Yes, you need a higher voltage for that MPPT to turn on.. I thought mine was dead when I plugged 12.6v adapter to it... Connected to my Solar panel though it turned on fine.
hi, i have an 18v solar panel. so with this mppt board will it charge the 3s 18650 batteries directly from the mppt? or does it need the bms board too? i note that the 18650 3s requires 12.6v to charge, so does the mppt board put out 12.6v? thanks.
I don't remember, but there are mppt boards specifically for 3S LION packs, otherwise you need a BMS because most regular mppt boards are for lead-acid batteries. Check out my video on the Wonton board...
I don't understand why you use an extra bms? The MPPT charger circuit board has a 3S 5A bms integrated (see specs). You just connect the battery leads directly to the PMMT circuit board and that will do it. You will be able to charge with variable solar (or adapter) voltage inputs ranging from 6-18v. The integrated bms will have a constant input voltage or cuts off entirely if solar power gets too low.
I connected MPPT Epever controller with 44volts solar panels to 18650 6s module without balancer... and it started overcharging battery block... why? How can i limit output voltage to the battery from MPPT?
First is your MPPT charger rated for a 44V input? What is the output voltage? For 6S it should be 25.2V. If not you need a voltage regulator. You must use a BMS to balance the cells. Cells should never get more than 4.2V each. The BMS must limit current too, based on your cells C rating for charging.
Hi Julian, no, they go to the battery. Would using the BMS with the MPPT board better? I thought an occasional unbalanced charge wouldn't be too bad, but I can certainly re-wire...
Radio Prepper well you reduce the complexity of the build by taking the output of the charge controller to the charge-discharge (P+/P-) port of the BMS. Also, by bypassing the BMS, any protection the BMS woulc have provided would be bypassed. Let the charge controller and BMS work together to do their jobs.
Radio Prepper you're welcome. I think the charge controller problem was related to the 16 volts power supply you were applying to it. It will definitely work with the solar panel or with an adjustable constant current constant voltage buck converter set to 3 amps or under and 13 volts
OH8STN , I think you just saved me from frying my batteries. I did exactly the same thing and connected the battery to my mppt. It all makes sense now. I have a question. If the B-,B+ is for battery, and P- and P+ for mppt in. Where does the + and - for powering in my case a water pump come from? Thanks to both of you for this topic. Cheers!!
Still better than PWM, it's just that compared to a true MPPT, it won't "track" the maximum power point, given the condition, these are just "MPP" and will attempt to keep the solar panel output voltage constant, set to its optimal efficiency. A true MPPT may not be required for such low power application and in order to track, it needs to constantly disturb which incurs some additional losses afaik
Excellent work! How are you sure your 18650's are genuine when buying on eBay or Amazon? Is there a trusted seller you know of? Thanks Gil. -Joe NYC. KD2QCZ
I am pleased to report that I have just passed my Canadian Amateur Radio exam. My wife took the exam and has also passed. We expect to have our call signs shortly and after getting both HF and 2 meter radios should be on the air within the next few weeks. Your I've been subscribed to your channel for some time now. You've been an inspiration which motivated us to take the exam and get licensed. Your focus on QRP rigs and portable operation has been of special interest.
Awesome, congratulations to both of you!
Happy to say I passed here in NYC in June. I"ve already purchased the General Guide and will take that as well. Who wants to be limited to 50MHz and up? Who said Amateur Radio is on the decline? We have to keep this art alive. ;) 73s.
Awesome! Congratulations.
Nice build Gil and Julian did a great design and research on parts needed to do the right charge and balance in the BMS =)
Yes, you need a higher voltage for that MPPT to turn on.. I thought mine was dead when I plugged 12.6v adapter to it... Connected to my Solar panel though it turned on fine.
Bien joué ! Ça me donne des idées !
hi, i have an 18v solar panel. so with this mppt board will it charge the 3s 18650 batteries directly from the mppt? or does it need the bms board too? i note that the 18650 3s requires 12.6v to charge, so does the mppt board put out 12.6v? thanks.
I don't remember, but there are mppt boards specifically for 3S LION packs, otherwise you need a BMS because most regular mppt boards are for lead-acid batteries. Check out my video on the Wonton board...
I don't understand why you use an extra bms? The MPPT charger circuit board has a 3S 5A bms integrated (see specs). You just connect the battery leads directly to the PMMT circuit board and that will do it. You will be able to charge with variable solar (or adapter) voltage inputs ranging from 6-18v. The integrated bms will have a constant input voltage or cuts off entirely if solar power gets too low.
The MPPT charger does not balance the cells
I connected MPPT Epever controller with 44volts solar panels to 18650 6s module without balancer... and it started overcharging battery block... why? How can i limit output voltage to the battery from MPPT?
First is your MPPT charger rated for a 44V input? What is the output voltage? For 6S it should be 25.2V. If not you need a voltage regulator. You must use a BMS to balance the cells. Cells should never get more than 4.2V each. The BMS must limit current too, based on your cells C rating for charging.
@@RadioPrepper thx, the max input is about 150 v. 10 amp.
Hi Gil.
Did you put the charge controller to the P+ & P- of the BMS board?
I always love portable power videos, so thanks for sharing
Hi Julian, no, they go to the battery. Would using the BMS with the MPPT board better? I thought an occasional unbalanced charge wouldn't be too bad, but I can certainly re-wire...
Radio Prepper well you reduce the complexity of the build by taking the output of the charge controller to the charge-discharge (P+/P-) port of the BMS. Also, by bypassing the BMS, any protection the BMS woulc have provided would be bypassed.
Let the charge controller and BMS work together to do their jobs.
Thanks, I might try that since I need to troubleshoot the MPPT charger; just a few minutes to re-route wires..
Radio Prepper you're welcome. I think the charge controller problem was related to the 16 volts power supply you were applying to it. It will definitely work with the solar panel or with an adjustable constant current constant voltage buck converter set to 3 amps or under and 13 volts
OH8STN , I think you just saved me from frying my batteries. I did exactly the same thing and connected the battery to my mppt. It all makes sense now. I have a question. If the B-,B+ is for battery, and P- and P+ for mppt in. Where does the + and - for powering in my case a water pump come from? Thanks to both of you for this topic. Cheers!!
Hi Gil,
are you sure it’s actually a mppt controller? Did you try to measure voltage/amps on input under various insolation conditions?
No, it could be fake...
The CN3791 is not a true MPPT but approximate, fixed voltage, these are usually tuned for 18V panels, you can lookup the datasheet
I suspected as much, for the price...
Still better than PWM, it's just that compared to a true MPPT, it won't "track" the maximum power point, given the condition, these are just "MPP" and will attempt to keep the solar panel output voltage constant, set to its optimal efficiency. A true MPPT may not be required for such low power application and in order to track, it needs to constantly disturb which incurs some additional losses afaik
I am working on a new solar/18650/mppt video; stay tuned..
Excellent work! How are you sure your 18650's are genuine when buying on eBay or Amazon? Is there a trusted seller you know of? Thanks Gil. -Joe NYC. KD2QCZ
Not really... I try to get genuine Panasonic cells... Those found in old laptops are usually good.