Thanks so much for this video! I shared your video with Aliexpress where this is sold. They added a notice to the product. "notice: Not True MPPT,there is no large transformer coil inside."
BULLET DODGED!!! i nearly bought one and thought id check a review panel and i could of lost so much power from my morbidly foreseen solar array (as my missus puts it). cheaper bills, more eating out as i put it in my defense. thank you very much julian.... just subscribed!
Thanks for this great video! Sadly I bought this just a few weeks before you put these videos up. But I got it mostly for the battery %-level and the fact that load on off can be set so I can use it with lithium batteries, so mostly for output with separate charging station for the batteries but this being a fake I find it suddenly a bit too expensive for the purpose.. My next project is creating a charger unit for lithium batteries but using an arduino with a lower than usual voltage (4.00v) and the appropriate current cutoff once charged. Now tricky bit is feeding supplement current from battery while using solar panels as charging current is cut off once charged! So much easier with lead acids and float voltage. I'd love to see a MPPT implementation, so keep up the good work! :)
Thanks for this! I have had one of these on my camper trailer for a few years now and I've always suspected that it was not a real MPPT controller. I've never got more than about 12v/5A out of a 100 watt solar panel, even in full sun.
@PCBoardRepair I was thinking that didn't sound right but then saw your name and decided maybe I would research your claim and after some looking I believe that checks out 😅 As long as all 100w panels are 18.5 volts and 5.4 amps like my ten second google search showed then you are correct. My response is mostly just for other inquisitive comment readers... save them some time.
hi I've one of these and am rather confused , I have a 24v 180 watt panel , with a 12v battery system, I am getting 14-15v at input side of controller and 7-9 amps coming of panel which seems high to me (as I thought the panel would be dragged to battery level which is 12.7 (charging ) so few points is 8 amps usual for a 180 watt panel ? And it seems I've 14--15v at input side of controller (is this volts reading part of a trick )?
Actually I do that in the PWM5, but it's for about 5 microseconds every 5 seconds - a loss of .0001% - the crappy fake MPPT unit was losing something like 10% - terrible
+Steve Robertson (Off-Grid Living) He is very wrong I have one just like it 80 amp and it works fantastic if you notice he has not turned it up it is set on 13.5 witch is cruising or maintaining mode its not going to do much because he has the panel set to cut off at 13.5 volts now if he were to turn up the PV off from 13.5 v to 14.5 v or even as high as 18 v he would see this thing take off I am very impressed with my PWM !!! He does not know what he is talking about ....
Did you not read my post I have one and using it it works fantastic ( 80 amp ). if you notice in his video he has it set to switch off at 13.5 volts on the left of the controller and the 13.5 volt at the top is actual voltage so therefore its not going to charge but trickle thats the clicking sound now if he were to turn it up to 14 volts or higher he will see a huge difference, unless you have one you really wont know! but I do have one and it works very well and not to mention I am an electrical technician and have tested the unit very well.....But he is correct about it not being a mppt, and if you notice he has an 80 watt panel trying to run a 100 watt bulb what more do you expect...
+James Tyler Hi there, I have the same controller - I was looking at that exact thing too. That was a little confusing! I really don't know what the MPPT part is, but this unit seems to be working for what I want it to do. I watch these videos to learn new things, and then I come to ones like this that are what I have seen in others, and I see issues here that I wouldn't have known otherwise. Im glad it wasn't just uneducated little old me that saw what you are talking about. Thanks, I thought I was going crazy.
I've had one for 18 months - and mine works great too. Also, I complained to the seller about it not being real MPPT and they gave me 50% discount! There's a real flaw in this test review - but the poster won't reply to any criticism apparently...
Does anybody know if you can just buy a buck converter to step the voltage down independently, then feed the output into a pwm controller? Would the benefit be there, or would it be a waste? Thanks in advance.
You do realize you have to multiply the current times the volts that are incoming to figure out the wattage. I'm guessing you don't know that. I just learned that TODAY myself. Say you have 24V x 4.5A = wait for it. Over your 100w bulb pull.... 108w charging.. hmm... The charger can ONLY charge as well as what's incoming through it. Correct ?
Thanks for the video. The pwm controller you tested is very reliable, had 2 for 6 years. Now wish I hadn't, and its dawning they are a source of at least two issues
Thank you for this. I have one of these, it's been charging my campervan batteries OK but now I realise it's not as efficient as a real MPPT controller, I had better replace it. Especially as winter is coming, I'll be needing every bit of solar energy I can get! Problem will be knowing which ones are genuine MPPT and proper PWM before I buy.
I have one, opened it up, no large inductor, no schottky diodes, so it lacks the necessary components for buck regulation. Also, at 12:50, your charge controller isn't trying to "maximize voltage on the panel", it's maximizing *wattage* on the panel. The reason for MTTP is that as you load the panel down, the voltage drops while the current rises, but it's *not linear*, so as you load the panel down, you will see the overall power (volts x amps) goes up, levels off, and as you draw more current and the voltage continues to drop, the overall power starts dropping. MPPT "searches" for the amount of current draw on the panel that maximizes the watts delivered to the battery. (that's the peak tracking, Maximum POWER Point Tracker - watts being power, it's not MVPT, it's MPPT) Anyway, annoying con they have here using "MPPT" as their brand name, to try to dodge false advertising.
I bought the 30A controller some years ago, I installed it in my campingbus with 24V system, it worked fine when I adjusted the settings correct. I specially liked that power-cutout so my batterybank never went flat, and the possibillity to adjust the charging current for the batterybank. I now use it in a smaller bus with 12V system, very satisfied with the controller here too.
I have one of these PWM controllers. the Fraud here is that it is NOT an MPPT Controller. Other than that this PWM Controller works as advertised. The Company have since removed the MPPT name from the charger. I have used this controller for over two years with no issues. When I bought the controller I read the posted SPECS and bought the controller for $12. I knew is wasn't a MPPT controller when I bought it from the Specs. My Garden Solar system runs a 12v well pump to water my large garden here in Texas, 12v solenoid Valve , has a 100W Panel, Car Battery, 2 Chicken Coop door actuators, 12v lighting, and a Coop CAM. Keeps working even after 4 rainy days in a row.
Julian thanks again for your great review- i bought two of these beggars, and found in additional faults with neither "MPPT" controllers to incorrectly show battery voltage and amps. Absolute rubbish these controllers... ;) ;)
help. i have a 144 watt unisolar flexible panel . it max is 42 volt /5 amp. i want to charge 24 volts 109 ah battery[2x12 volt]. these panels are different than regular type and will continue to put out low volts in really low light. of course i am as poor as crap,so i'm looking for low price but something that actually works. nothing fancy needed. power in /power out.
Thanks very much. I hope that employees of Lazada.ph would watch your video so that they might realize that what they are selling is actually fake MPPT. I bought 4 units and found out that it is a fake MPPT returned back to them and they just does not want to accept it back. I told them it is fake MPPT. They said you reach the maximum days of return so you cant return it back.
It's unbelievable that selling this junk for that price which is clearly a total fraud is still possible today. Bad quality design is one thing, but this isn't even what it's advertising to be. On an unrelated note, I love your way of screwing your setup to a wooden plank. If you don't mind, I'm going to steal that idea of yours and do that for my test-setups, too.
I agree with you. But what disturbs me the most is that no action is taken from eBay and dishonest sellers like this are allowed to make money by selling all sorts of fakes and dangerous electronics.
Hi, Great informative video. Unfortunately I have just bought 2 from Ebay and cant cancel! What do you recommend as an alternative. I need one for my garage which is 100m away from my house and it doesnt have power. I have the solar panel already Cheers
Just run the antenna next to one of the solar panel cables. It'll pick up the change in the magnetic field when the current pulses and emit an audible click.
that plug needs to be in, the mppt m20 might have a float voltage at 13.5 that what that was doing with my 30 amp on the set shuts it off what the read out panel on charge controler have not meters
Hi Julian, me again! What is the cheapest true/real MPPT controller that you have found? Preferably with an LCD screen as I like to see what's going on! Cheers :)
It seems perfectly clear to me that the "MPPT" is just the brand name. Nowhere in the documentation, AFAIK, was Maximum Power Point Tracking ever mentioned. Now the PWM part is a little harder to explain away, as is the deliberate action to simulate MPPT.
jusb1066 plain? It's all about where the feedback is from. Constant current or constant voltage or more complex. Even regulate for constant input voltage. There is the fet with driver, inductor and active/passive diode anyway. Add input and out capacitor + emi filters to go fancy.
by plain i mean a standard buck/boost converter to convert the panel voltage and maintain the battery, i just wonder how that would compare, and buck converters are cheap , i think Julian has half the worlds supply!
jusb1066 The problem with an off-the-shelf buck converter, is that it's designed to keep the output voltage constant. In MPPT, we want to control the input voltage. The feedback loop is unusual too - the input voltage is adjusted to yield maximum input power.
Julian Ilett True, but I have seen controllers from the big ones (linear technology, texas instruments etc) that claim to do mppt. Maybe worthy to check out? There is a slight chance they are all lithium spesific
This is a shame and I am very glad you are testing these for us. I also received a fake dc to dc converter that was advertised as CV-CC in the title. It is party my fault as I didn't notice that it only had one pot. I have in the past asked the seller to refund or replace but I'm not sure it's a good idea to do that too often as I wonder if the sellers exchange lists and I would hate to be blackballed if there is such a thing. The other reason I have not yet tried to get a refund if that it is still a good buy even if it wasn't cc. Do you try to get Chinese sellers to make right bad purchases?
If I feel that I've been conned, I'll do anything in my power to make sure the seller is going to make things right. It's a shame, it's a disgrace doing business like that. There should also be an option to leave feedback for products on eBay, not just for sellers. It would make things so much easier for buyers.
Thanks for the heads up was about to buy one! Thanks for saving me the wasted money. Do you have a make you have tested and can confirm works well? I think I need a 60+Amp because I've 4 x 390Ah 6 volt trojan batteries! :)
If you want good sunshine to conduct your experiments you are welcome to come to Australia. Love the video and hate to be conned out of hard earned cash.
I see a LOT of very similar looking charge controllers. This seems to be an area where a division by price is possible. Above $100 is pretty much guaranteed to be good with everything below being suspect. I have several of the $10 charge controllers and all have some kind of flaw from over charging, over discharging to software crashes.
Try inputting the voltage from 2 series stringed "12v" panels or even a 24v panel ( 30+ volts input)and see if its different. MPPT works best when higher input voltages are present, and it will still charge a 12v battery.. think of lower voltages in the morning on a 12v panel and not at 12volts, but in a series string, the voltages will now be higher, and the MPPT will work as it should
I got hosed as well. I bought a 40 amp of this type. I now have a 40 amp MPPT by Renogy (Tracer) to go along with a 20 amp Tracer MPPT. My MPPTs perfectly control 8 100-watt Renogy panels. This fake MPPT acted very oddly once the battery reached full. It acted like a bad PWM with my ammeters all jerking about. I watched it run for just a few minutes. Did not trust it. My better PWM (HQRP) had the ammeter gently pulsing. Live and learn I hope.
all those type of control all they are is the switch on for a second then they switch off it's not really pulse-width modulation but they can say that because the pulse switches on and the pulse switches off. they are junk some will even burn up and catch on fire because they're not rated for the load that they say they are
I have the 80amp model, works, but when you have sun. cloud. sun. cloud.. it freaks out the controller & will over charge the batteries. for the money you can't really complain though.
Great videos very helpful and saved me lots of time buying the wrong things :) Just an idea about solar chargers and Inverters. There are lots of grid tie solar inverters going cheap on ebay. I was wondering If I get a cheap modified sine wave 12 /24 volt to 220 / 240 Volt inverter and use that to provide the grid sync so I can use a cheap Grid Tie inverter to make 220 / 240 volts AC pure Sine wave? Or a small (10's of watts) pure sine wave inverter What happens if I do this and my load is less than the power coming from my solar panels? ETC I can think of several other questions too. Just an idea that I thought might appeal as a very cheap way to get serious 220 / 240volt AC power. :)
i will guess it is doing what my cheapo charger does, blips the power now and again in a voltage window, about once a second, acts as a float or charge depending on load, thats fair for a mains charger, but wastes power for solar , I guess at best this is a crude voltage regulator
I can't understand why they would do something like this. It doesn't really cost that much more to make even a proper PWM controller, and based on the MPPT charge controller Great Scott made (admittedly a couple of years after this video), there isn't really much expense to making a proper MPPT controller. This isn't even a money-saving device, this has hallmarks of being made by someone who doesn't know what he's doing and is trying to convince people that he does. There was actually more effort put into the *fraud* parts of this thing than it would have taken to make one that works properly!
If you read the manual it tells you it wont charge if the battery is at full charge maybe your battery dont need anymore current.Also the temperature sensor is just a thermal device to keep the unit cool for dummies who overload their system.
10 лет назад
Great video, man! Too bad that I've found it after buying this controller and not before... My model is an updated version, looks slightly different, but I suspect that it is the same rip-off in essence. I don't have a pulse meter, so I can't really test it, but I've definitely lost my confidence in it.
10 лет назад
Is this charge controller even less efficient compared to a standard PWM controller because of those drops which are meant to fool us into thinking that it's MPPT? Thanks!
I have three of these 2 30 amp and one 40 on a 24 volt system. I only load them to 75 % of amp rating. One has been working since 2014 no problems. Adjust the voltage, I run mine at 29.1 volts no problems. Also have a morning star 45 amp as well still working great and I am off grid so things must be reliable. go figure
be-AWARE the voltage input on this controller is the voltage going into your battery. IF You don't match the solar panels to your battery voltage you might damage your batteries.
There is nothing wrong with this PWM I have one like it an 80 amp works better than expected you just need to lern how to operate it, if you notice you have it shutting off at 13.5 volts that just for maintaining try raising the PV off voltage to 14.5 or higher you will see a major difference and for the pulses its not high frequency its just on and off slowly allowing the panels to build voltage back up instead of a constant drain I tested mine on the bench before ever installing it because it does not come with very good instructions but that being said I LOVE IT..!
Hello julian it would be interesting if you know (?) Some model charger MPPT controller, which is not very expensive but it is good or in other words, real not fake like many circulating for example on ebay. Some things I have learned with your videoso size usually of MPPT, are larger, and was to buy an equal fortunately I saw the video on time. I've used for a long time equal to this black, who appeared in the video, for $ 6 or 5 and has worked well. I bought the solar cells and made the panels, learned everything on youtube. I like many of his, videos. greetings José
Hey, look guys: to review an MPPT, you need to LOAD the battery down to 12.7V or something, to show the MPPT in bulk charge mode. Many genuine MPPT charge controllers use PWM in float mode. You also have to show the interior of the controller, because genuine MPPTs have big heavy coils in them. If the controller has only a few MOSFETS and a heatsink, then it's not MPPT. I know how hard it is to review these things: I've screwed up a review, myself.
Soccercrazyigboman The ones by Tracer are true MPPT (20,30,40A), and also the cheapie PCM3012 is 25A output. The PCMxxxx is from Taiwan. It's quite efficient, and I have overloaded it to 23A input, without it blowing up. It typically has voltage calibration problems, so it's pot luck what you get. I've done a proper review on the new model Tracer 4215B. It has some slow MPP software issues, but is built like an aluminium brick. I recommend buying the USB cable and MT50 console with it. Don't buy it and then decide to get the cable.
If you want to use it as a charge controller, and use the PWM, set your charge voltage to 14.8V, and you'll see your amps charging going up. Using it at 13.5 V is using it only as a power supply, when applied to a fully charged battery, so all you take out is all the panel puts in to the battery, at a float voltage, it's a net wash. Use it as a Charge controller, bump up your voltage, not as a power supply unit with a puny 60 or 80 watt panel. Tie it in to 200 watts worth, and see what you get then. Sorry, your review is a load of rubbish. It's a PWM charger... and if the price was too good to be true for a MPPT, and it was, then you're not capable of recognizing a pig wearing lipstick. Go spend $100 US if you truly want MPPT. Also go get 600 to 800 watts of panel at 24v or more if you want MPPT to play with.
Julian - I'm interested to know what your reply is to this comment. Is this true what Randy VV says about the PWM function? Have you tested that function incorrectly as he claims?
Randy van Vliet-The video clearly shows THIS mppt controller and the test conditions. He was not testing a "US $100" controller nor was he using "600 to 800 watts" of panels. How about you go and buy 600 to 800 watts of panels, get the data, post a video and prove that your not a pig wearing lip stick !
***** I think YOU are missing an important point: he's testing it for charging function - when it's just idling at the cut off point. Unless you have a valid argument to put - R V Vliet s right, the test for here PWM is completely flawed.
There are controller IC's doing quite a lot: www.linear.com/product/LT8490 www.ti.com/sitesearch/docs/universalsearch.tsp?searchTerm=mppt datasheets.maximintegrated.com/en/ds/MAX17710.pdf Probably only usefull if your battery is Li-Ion, even some of them may be adapted for other types. You can get a quite much complete reference design from those places.
I'm new at this stuff, but i was just wondering if it wasn't doing anything because it is hooked to a fully charged battery??? maybe put a load out on it or hook a inverter / load to it? like I say... I'm a newbie hahaha ok..good...i didn't wait for the whole video hahaha it's on a load now at 6 minutes... duh... I'll just walk away lol
FAKE CONTROLLER ALERT: I found the Dioxin 20A MPPT charge controller is actually just a PWM, its a small black metal weatherproof box with wires sticking out, too good for the price :(
Well F**k. I need a beer. Clearly, I suppose, you're extremely knowledgeable, but where does that leave me (and other suckers) who don't know jack about solar and are trying to complete their first simple project. I thought I had it all figured out. All I need is an electronic device to limit the voltage from an 18v solar panel to the 12v pond pump that will turn off the pump when the sun don't shine. What device (specify is best) do I need.
+John Dowd So how about these controller's tracing efficiency?Ours are very high,everything's quality has depend on his cost!!Anyone who need the high quality with competitive price solar controller,it can contact with me,we arethe professional SOLAR CONTROLLER FACTORY, en.depowersupply.cn/ skype:daphne2008 miil.chow@depowersupply.comfacebook.com/profile.php?id=100011816713609
Thanks so much for this video! I shared your video with Aliexpress where this is sold. They added a notice to the product. "notice: Not True MPPT,there is no large transformer coil inside."
Result!
BULLET DODGED!!! i nearly bought one and thought id check a review panel and i could of lost so much power from my morbidly foreseen solar array (as my missus puts it). cheaper bills, more eating out as i put it in my defense.
thank you very much julian.... just subscribed!
Thanks for this great video! Sadly I bought this just a few weeks before you put these videos up. But I got it mostly for the battery %-level and the fact that load on off can be set so I can use it with lithium batteries, so mostly for output with separate charging station for the batteries but this being a fake I find it suddenly a bit too expensive for the purpose.. My next project is creating a charger unit for lithium batteries but using an arduino with a lower than usual voltage (4.00v) and the appropriate current cutoff once charged. Now tricky bit is feeding supplement current from battery while using solar panels as charging current is cut off once charged! So much easier with lead acids and float voltage. I'd love to see a MPPT implementation, so keep up the good work! :)
Thanks for this! I have had one of these on my camper trailer for a few years now and I've always suspected that it was not a real MPPT controller. I've never got more than about 12v/5A out of a 100 watt solar panel, even in full sun.
you wont because 5A is the limit for a 100W panel
@PCBoardRepair I was thinking that didn't sound right but then saw your name and decided maybe I would research your claim and after some looking I believe that checks out 😅
As long as all 100w panels are 18.5 volts and 5.4 amps like my ten second google search showed then you are correct.
My response is mostly just for other inquisitive comment readers... save them some time.
If the light bulb is connected to the inverter. I assume 240 volts. would the current draw be more like .4 amps (100/240)
yes, @240V, but what's it gonna be on the 12V side to make that 100W@240v?
hi I've one of these and am rather confused , I have a 24v 180 watt panel , with a 12v battery system, I am getting 14-15v at input side of controller and 7-9 amps coming of panel which seems high to me (as I thought the panel would be dragged to battery level which is 12.7 (charging )
so few points is 8 amps usual for a 180 watt panel ? And it seems I've 14--15v at input side of controller (is this volts reading part of a trick )?
In some of my designs I periodically unload the battery from the circuit/panel to check the voltage. I wonder if this circuit does something similar?
Actually I do that in the PWM5, but it's for about 5 microseconds every 5 seconds - a loss of .0001% - the crappy fake MPPT unit was losing something like 10% - terrible
Julian, thank you for this review! You have saved many people a lot of money. Great service to all of us!
+Steve Robertson (Off-Grid Living) He is very wrong I have one just like it 80 amp and it works fantastic if you notice he has not turned it up it is set on 13.5 witch is cruising or maintaining mode its not going to do much because he has the panel set to cut off at 13.5 volts now if he were to turn up the PV off from 13.5 v to 14.5 v or even as high as 18 v he would see this thing take off I am very impressed with my PWM !!! He does not know what he is talking about ....
+James Tyler Did you watch the video?
Did you understand it?
The controller is fake.
It does not do what it says it should do.
Did you not read my post I have one and using it it works fantastic ( 80 amp ). if you notice in his video he has it set to switch off at 13.5 volts on the left of the controller and the 13.5 volt at the top is actual voltage so therefore its not going to charge but trickle thats the clicking sound now if he were to turn it up to 14 volts or higher he will see a huge difference, unless you have one you really wont know! but I do have one and it works very well and not to mention I am an electrical technician and have tested the unit very well.....But he is correct about it not being a mppt, and if you notice he has an 80 watt panel trying to run a 100 watt bulb what more do you expect...
+James Tyler Hi there, I have the same controller - I was looking at that exact thing too. That was a little confusing! I really don't know what the MPPT part is, but this unit seems to be working for what I want it to do. I watch these videos to learn new things, and then I come to ones like this that are what I have seen in others, and I see issues here that I wouldn't have known otherwise. Im glad it wasn't just uneducated little old me that saw what you are talking about. Thanks, I thought I was going crazy.
I've had one for 18 months - and mine works great too. Also, I complained to the seller about it not being real MPPT and they gave me 50% discount!
There's a real flaw in this test review - but the poster won't reply to any criticism apparently...
Does anybody know if you can just buy a buck converter to step the voltage down independently, then feed the output into a pwm controller? Would the benefit be there, or would it be a waste? Thanks in advance.
As for the thick metal back plate in video #1,I reckon it's there to add weight to give the impression of a bulky inductor inside.
I want to know what is write on the following components: Q7, Q20, Q21, Q22.
Regards
can you do a comparision between a pwm controller, a mppt and this one and compare the output?
Julian
I have one MPPT same as you show viedo.what if I increase the PV more than 13.5 conectetd with 2 batt. of 100 with 2 solar blates 250w
is it possible to regulate the output voltage to be constant at 12.1 to 12.7, regardless if the input is 14v ?
which mttp is taken from alixprest ?
sir ? i need some help related to the charge controller and inverter can you help me?
You do realize you have to multiply the current times the volts that are incoming to figure out the wattage. I'm guessing you don't know that. I just learned that TODAY myself. Say you have 24V x 4.5A = wait for it. Over your 100w bulb pull.... 108w charging.. hmm... The charger can ONLY charge as well as what's incoming through it. Correct ?
Thanks for the video. The pwm controller you tested is very reliable, had 2 for 6 years. Now wish I hadn't, and its dawning they are a source of at least two issues
Thank you for this. I have one of these, it's been charging my campervan batteries OK but now I realise it's not as efficient as a real MPPT controller, I had better replace it. Especially as winter is coming, I'll be needing every bit of solar energy I can get! Problem will be knowing which ones are genuine MPPT and proper PWM before I buy.
Thanks, great video, is there a 20 Amp controller under $50 that you would recommend for an RV
I have one, opened it up, no large inductor, no schottky diodes, so it lacks the necessary components for buck regulation. Also, at 12:50, your charge controller isn't trying to "maximize voltage on the panel", it's maximizing *wattage* on the panel. The reason for MTTP is that as you load the panel down, the voltage drops while the current rises, but it's *not linear*, so as you load the panel down, you will see the overall power (volts x amps) goes up, levels off, and as you draw more current and the voltage continues to drop, the overall power starts dropping. MPPT "searches" for the amount of current draw on the panel that maximizes the watts delivered to the battery. (that's the peak tracking, Maximum POWER Point Tracker - watts being power, it's not MVPT, it's MPPT) Anyway, annoying con they have here using "MPPT" as their brand name, to try to dodge false advertising.
I got the 20A con as well. In your opinion, what is a decent charge controller for a small shed, only to power leds and charge a 12V 22ah battery?
Carlos Arruda For this I'd use something cheap like the CMP12
I bought the 30A controller some years ago, I installed it in my campingbus with 24V system, it worked fine when I adjusted the settings correct. I specially liked that power-cutout so my batterybank never went flat, and the possibillity to adjust the charging current for the batterybank. I now use it in a smaller bus with 12V system, very satisfied with the controller here too.
Is this the same as ooycyoo? They look similar
Measuring ON/OFF pulses with DVM's?
So whats a good solar charge controller on a budget? in the 10 - 40amp range?
I have one of these PWM controllers. the Fraud here is that it is NOT an MPPT Controller. Other than that this PWM Controller works as advertised. The Company have since removed the MPPT name from the charger. I have used this controller for over two years with no issues. When I bought the controller I read the posted SPECS and bought the controller for $12. I knew is wasn't a MPPT controller when I bought it from the Specs. My Garden Solar system runs a 12v well pump to water my large garden here in Texas, 12v solenoid Valve , has a 100W Panel, Car Battery, 2 Chicken Coop door actuators, 12v lighting, and a Coop CAM. Keeps working even after 4 rainy days in a row.
Julian thanks again for your great review- i bought two of these beggars, and found in additional faults with neither "MPPT" controllers to incorrectly show battery voltage and amps. Absolute rubbish these controllers... ;) ;)
help. i have a 144 watt unisolar flexible panel . it max is 42 volt /5 amp. i want to charge 24 volts 109 ah battery[2x12 volt]. these panels are different than regular type and will continue to put out low volts in really low light. of course i am as poor as crap,so i'm looking for low price but something that actually works. nothing fancy needed. power in /power out.
Thanks very much. I hope that employees of Lazada.ph would watch your video so that they might realize that what they are selling is actually fake MPPT. I bought 4 units and found out that it is a fake MPPT returned back to them and they just does not want to accept it back. I told them it is fake MPPT. They said you reach the maximum days of return so you cant return it back.
thank you for saving me some money as i seriously looked at buying one of these for like $58 australian dollars , thanks again
bought it on amazon the relays failed to turn load off during the night and my battery got damaged , do not buy
It's unbelievable that selling this junk for that price which is clearly a total fraud is still possible today. Bad quality design is one thing, but this isn't even what it's advertising to be.
On an unrelated note, I love your way of screwing your setup to a wooden plank. If you don't mind, I'm going to steal that idea of yours and do that for my test-setups, too.
I agree with you. But what disturbs me the most is that no action is taken from eBay and dishonest sellers like this are allowed to make money by selling all sorts of fakes and dangerous electronics.
Please do steal the idea - I just find it quick and easy.
Hi,
Great informative video. Unfortunately I have just bought 2 from Ebay and cant cancel!
What do you recommend as an alternative. I need one for my garage which is 100m away from my house and it doesnt have power. I have the solar panel already
Cheers
Thanks for the review, my question is where did you connect the radio to produce that clicking sound?
Just run the antenna next to one of the solar panel cables. It'll pick up the change in the magnetic field when the current pulses and emit an audible click.
I have bought this item, can i use it or (better) not?
Thanks for the review, I'm looking to upgrade my charge controller and won't be sniffing at this one any time soon.
that plug needs to be in, the mppt m20 might have a float voltage at 13.5 that what that was doing with my 30 amp on the set shuts it off what the read out panel on charge controler have not meters
They use mppt as it's brand name that's how they can get away with it
Love this! You're doing an excellent job. Thank you!
Hi Julian, me again! What is the cheapest true/real MPPT controller that you have found? Preferably with an LCD screen as I like to see what's going on! Cheers :)
It’s a true minefield out there. The basic rule of thumb seems to be... if it’s made in China or been assembled in China then its garbage.
It seems perfectly clear to me that the "MPPT" is just the brand name.
Nowhere in the documentation, AFAIK, was Maximum Power Point Tracking ever mentioned.
Now the PWM part is a little harder to explain away, as is the deliberate action to simulate MPPT.
Do you plan to show the inside of the not so much mppt controller?
he did in part one, just the other day
, i would be curious to see what a plain dc-dc/ buck converter would do as a charge controller
jusb1066 plain? It's all about where the feedback is from.
Constant current or constant voltage or more complex. Even regulate for constant input voltage.
There is the fet with driver, inductor and active/passive diode anyway. Add input and out capacitor + emi filters to go fancy.
by plain i mean a standard buck/boost converter to convert the panel voltage and maintain the battery, i just wonder how that would compare, and buck converters are cheap
, i think Julian has half the worlds supply!
jusb1066 The problem with an off-the-shelf buck converter, is that it's designed to keep the output voltage constant. In MPPT, we want to control the input voltage. The feedback loop is unusual too - the input voltage is adjusted to yield maximum input power.
Julian Ilett True, but I have seen controllers from the big ones (linear technology, texas instruments etc) that claim to do mppt. Maybe worthy to check out? There is a slight chance they are all lithium spesific
This is a shame and I am very glad you are testing these for us. I also received a fake dc to dc converter that was advertised as CV-CC in the title. It is party my fault as I didn't notice that it only had one pot. I have in the past asked the seller to refund or replace but I'm not sure it's a good idea to do that too often as I wonder if the sellers exchange lists and I would hate to be blackballed if there is such a thing. The other reason I have not yet tried to get a refund if that it is still a good buy even if it wasn't cc. Do you try to get Chinese sellers to make right bad purchases?
If I feel that I've been conned, I'll do anything in my power to make sure the seller is going to make things right. It's a shame, it's a disgrace doing business like that.
There should also be an option to leave feedback for products on eBay, not just for sellers. It would make things so much easier for buyers.
runner180fxr I completely agree. I'm going to start buying from sites like banggood and dx now, simply because they DO have product reviews
Thanks for the heads up was about to buy one! Thanks for saving me the wasted money. Do you have a make you have tested and can confirm works well? I think I need a 60+Amp because I've 4 x 390Ah 6 volt trojan batteries! :)
What is the MppT charge controlar .. really?🤔
I am a proud owner of this fake charge controller!! Better just bin it now I have heard all its secrets!! Thanks for the research into 'mppt' .
If you want good sunshine to conduct your experiments you are welcome to come to Australia.
Love the video and hate to be conned out of hard earned cash.
I envy your weather.
I see a LOT of very similar looking charge controllers. This seems to be an area where a division by price is possible. Above $100 is pretty much guaranteed to be good with everything below being suspect. I have several of the $10 charge controllers and all have some kind of flaw from over charging, over discharging to software crashes.
Try inputting the voltage from 2 series stringed "12v" panels or even a 24v panel ( 30+ volts input)and see if its different. MPPT works best when higher input voltages are present, and it will still charge a 12v battery.. think of lower voltages in the morning on a 12v panel and not at 12volts, but in a series string, the voltages will now be higher, and the MPPT will work as it should
Is of not pwm when full
I got hosed as well. I bought a 40 amp of this type. I now have a 40 amp MPPT by Renogy (Tracer) to go along with a 20 amp Tracer MPPT. My MPPTs perfectly control 8 100-watt Renogy panels. This fake MPPT acted very oddly once the battery reached full. It acted like a bad PWM with my ammeters all jerking about. I watched it run for just a few minutes. Did not trust it. My better PWM (HQRP) had the ammeter gently pulsing. Live and learn I hope.
mppt is their produck NAME :), thanks for your work, now i know that mppt must cost :)
all those type of control all they are is the switch on for a second then they switch off it's not really pulse-width modulation but they can say that because the pulse switches on and the pulse switches off. they are junk some will even burn up and catch on fire because they're not rated for the load that they say they are
Thanks I was researching to see the reviews on the so called mppt and will not be purchasing, again thank you
I have the 80amp model, works, but when you have sun. cloud. sun. cloud.. it freaks out the controller & will over charge the batteries. for the money you can't really complain though.
Great videos very helpful and saved me lots of time buying the wrong things :) Just an idea about solar chargers and Inverters.
There are lots of grid tie solar inverters going cheap on ebay.
I was wondering If I get a cheap modified sine wave 12 /24 volt to 220 / 240 Volt inverter and use that to provide the grid sync so I can use a cheap Grid Tie inverter to make 220 / 240 volts AC pure Sine wave? Or a small (10's of watts) pure sine wave inverter
What happens if I do this and my load is less than the power coming from my solar panels? ETC I can think of several other questions too.
Just an idea that I thought might appeal as a very cheap way to get serious 220 / 240volt AC power. :)
i will guess it is doing what my cheapo charger does, blips the power now and again in a voltage window, about once a second, acts as a float or charge depending on load, thats fair for a mains charger, but wastes power for solar
, I guess at best this is a crude voltage regulator
So, Tell us a good MPPT Solar Charge Controller.
I can't understand why they would do something like this. It doesn't really cost that much more to make even a proper PWM controller, and based on the MPPT charge controller Great Scott made (admittedly a couple of years after this video), there isn't really much expense to making a proper MPPT controller.
This isn't even a money-saving device, this has hallmarks of being made by someone who doesn't know what he's doing and is trying to convince people that he does. There was actually more effort put into the *fraud* parts of this thing than it would have taken to make one that works properly!
for those who is not into science could you please explain in casual language is that white controller working at all?:)))
If you read the manual it tells you it wont charge if the battery is at full charge maybe your battery dont need anymore current.Also the temperature sensor is just a thermal device to keep the unit cool for dummies who overload their system.
Great video, man! Too bad that I've found it after buying this controller and not before... My model is an updated version, looks slightly different, but I suspect that it is the same rip-off in essence. I don't have a pulse meter, so I can't really test it, but I've definitely lost my confidence in it.
Is this charge controller even less efficient compared to a standard PWM controller because of those drops which are meant to fool us into thinking that it's MPPT? Thanks!
Thanks for this. Saved me some bucks!
For current gain you need a dc-dc converter. Ain't no CG with PWM Mr. Lett !!
Great review. That's saved me forty quid.
Thanks for the fantastic video. Do you have any legit MPPT controllers that you would recommend? Cheers.
No. Because the genuine ones are expensive and my financial adviser won't let me buy one!
You need to put a load on this . It is working properly from what I can see
But it is a pwm not mppt
great video, just confirms why my controller is not all it is cracked up to be...just rubbish cheers
Ah, now I get it. Mppt = minimum power point tracking...
Great review! Thank you
Thx for the review Julian..... I almost brought one.
I have three of these 2 30 amp and one 40 on a 24 volt system. I only load them to 75 % of amp rating. One has been working since 2014 no problems. Adjust the voltage, I run mine at 29.1 volts no problems. Also have a morning star 45 amp as well still working great and I am off grid so things must be reliable. go figure
be-AWARE the voltage input on this controller is the voltage going into your battery. IF You don't match the solar panels to your battery voltage you might damage your batteries.
There is nothing wrong with this PWM I have one like it an 80 amp works better than expected you just need to lern how to operate it, if you notice you have it shutting off at 13.5 volts that just for maintaining try raising the PV off voltage to 14.5 or higher you will see a major difference and for the pulses its not high frequency its just on and off slowly allowing the panels to build voltage back up instead of a constant drain I tested mine on the bench before ever installing it because it does not come with very good instructions but that being said I LOVE IT..!
I cranked mine up to 15.2 volts.
Hello julian
it would be interesting if you know (?) Some model charger MPPT controller, which is not very expensive but it is good or in other words, real not fake like many circulating for example on ebay.
Some things I have learned with your videoso size usually of MPPT, are larger, and was to buy an equal fortunately I saw the video on time.
I've used for a long time equal to this black, who appeared in the video, for $ 6 or 5 and has worked well. I bought the solar cells and made the panels, learned everything on youtube.
I like many of his, videos.
greetings
José
Hey, look guys: to review an MPPT, you need to LOAD the battery down to 12.7V or something, to show the MPPT in bulk charge mode. Many genuine MPPT charge controllers use PWM in float mode. You also have to show the interior of the controller, because genuine MPPTs have big heavy coils in them. If the controller has only a few MOSFETS and a heatsink, then it's not MPPT.
I know how hard it is to review these things: I've screwed up a review, myself.
Did you review this unit to check if it is MPPT? Btw do you have any recommedations for a cheap true MPPT or semi MPPT on ebay?
Soccercrazyigboman
The ones by Tracer are true MPPT (20,30,40A), and also the cheapie PCM3012 is 25A output. The PCMxxxx is from Taiwan. It's quite efficient, and I have overloaded it to 23A input, without it blowing up. It typically has voltage calibration problems, so it's pot luck what you get. I've done a proper review on the new model Tracer 4215B. It has some slow MPP software issues, but is built like an aluminium brick. I recommend buying the USB cable and MT50 console with it. Don't buy it and then decide to get the cable.
Thanks, I was about to order it .... (was) ... not anymore, thanks a lot !
If you want to use it as a charge controller, and use the PWM, set your charge voltage to 14.8V, and you'll see your amps charging going up. Using it at 13.5 V is using it only as a power supply, when applied to a fully charged battery, so all you take out is all the panel puts in to the battery, at a float voltage, it's a net wash. Use it as a Charge controller, bump up your voltage, not as a power supply unit with a puny 60 or 80 watt panel. Tie it in to 200 watts worth, and see what you get then. Sorry, your review is a load of rubbish. It's a PWM charger... and if the price was too good to be true for a MPPT, and it was, then you're not capable of recognizing a pig wearing lipstick. Go spend $100 US if you truly want MPPT. Also go get 600 to 800 watts of panel at 24v or more if you want MPPT to play with.
Julian - I'm interested to know what your reply is to this comment. Is this true what Randy VV says about the PWM function? Have you tested that function incorrectly as he claims?
Randy van Vliet-The video clearly shows THIS mppt controller and the test conditions. He was not testing a "US $100" controller nor was he using "600 to 800 watts" of panels. How about you go and buy 600 to 800 watts of panels, get the data, post a video and prove that your not a pig wearing lip stick !
*****
I think YOU are missing an important point: he's testing it for charging function - when it's just idling at the cut off point.
Unless you have a valid argument to put - R V Vliet s right, the test for here PWM is completely flawed.
Yes I missed THAT point. Deliberately. ahhhh forget it
I set it back to 14.3 V.My dump load kicks in @ 14.4 V.
There are controller IC's doing quite a lot:
www.linear.com/product/LT8490
www.ti.com/sitesearch/docs/universalsearch.tsp?searchTerm=mppt
datasheets.maximintegrated.com/en/ds/MAX17710.pdf
Probably only usefull if your battery is Li-Ion, even some of them may be adapted for other types. You can get a quite much complete reference design from those places.
I'm new at this stuff, but i was just wondering if it wasn't doing anything because it is hooked to a fully charged battery??? maybe put a load out on it or hook a inverter / load to it? like I say... I'm a newbie hahaha
ok..good...i didn't wait for the whole video hahaha it's on a load now at 6 minutes... duh... I'll just walk away lol
It is not actively trying to trick you. It is supposed to average out to the correct voltage.
Thank you Sir, I like Ur. Channel
It includes a free smiley face though... They need to scrub MPPT off this thing..
I bought a real PCM-3012 MPPsolar MPPT instead.
Thanks for your video
Good info thanks!
all talk about the fake mppt but at least you should mention or recommend some mppt driver to buy
This guy is awesome!! Love it...lol
Lmao. I found one and thought it looked neat so was trying to find temp sensor for it.
No wonder i couldnt find the manufacturer, its "mppt" 😂
FAKE CONTROLLER ALERT: I found the Dioxin 20A MPPT charge controller is actually just a PWM, its a small black metal weatherproof box with wires sticking out, too good for the price :(
Well F**k. I need a beer. Clearly, I suppose, you're extremely knowledgeable, but where does that leave me (and other suckers) who don't know jack about solar and are trying to complete their first simple project. I thought I had it all figured out. All I need is an electronic device to limit the voltage from an 18v solar panel to the 12v pond pump that will turn off the pump when the sun don't shine. What device (specify is best) do I need.
Technically, slow PWM *is* PWM.
Thank you I need a good one cheap, not a cheap fake
👍correct 🥂
Unfortunately I did thanks for the great videos
Its a cheap shitty chinese controller. Did you really expect anything else?
British man yells at cloud!
I just ordered one yesterday...already shipped so I couldn't cancell dam garbage
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nice!
Das ist ein besserer PWM-Regler. Mehr nicht.