I'm not too familiar with charge controllers. How does it know when my 12v battery is fully charged? Do I have to set the controller somehow?
922112
The controller has LED indicators. When the battery is full, the battery LED indicator will flash green.
1806243
I haven't installed the controller yet. However, the instructions read, "The charge controller should ideally be located in an area relatively close to the battery and should be mounted indoors in a dry location" Per conversation with Renogy tech support, they advised the controller s/b 5-8 ft from the batteries. Hope this helps you.
317803
Check your battery set up correct and make sure your charge controller is a MPPT
1123836
Is this a 24volt panel that is not outputting full power? If you hook the panel to the charge controller that is first connected to the battery and you get green light I would go for it.
1220389
Yes, You should put a charge controller in line to batteries, rated at the proper amps/watts so you don't overcharge batt.
2033696
The controller takes the power from the panels and manages both the battery charging and load output. I am not sure what you are asking.
1258373
this controller doesn't care if it is 12 or 24 volts,, not very many watts though,, it will take a while to much charge in that battery
264281
This is a typical panel designed to charge a 12v battery. This means realistically that the voltage will be tied to the voltage of the battery. As the voltage in the battery increases ( due to charging ), so will the voltage produced by the panel. You need to have a charge controller between the panel and your battery, or you will damage your battery. This will disconnect the panel once your battery is fully charged. Typically, charge controllers will also limit the voltage to around 14.4 volts or so. Cars actually run at 13.8v, not 12v.
1352607
I haven't hooked mine up yet but yes, it just plugs into the charge controller.
204270
I got a similar unit and when I first plugged it in, it too showed "fully charged". I then unplugged it and checked the battery level, but it instantly showed 0V. So that told me the "full charge" reading was false and the charger was giving me that reading while the battery seemed like an "open circuit" and was not accepting power yet. So I did leave it plugged in and within 1/2 hour it began dropping the reading to show 65% charged or such which I knew was more realistic. So despite getting that "full charge" reading off the bat, it does need the charge time.
1494503
It's a renogy pmw30cc - pmw type charger 30 amp max charge controller. It auto selects between 12 and 24v systems. If you hook the load up to the controller it prevents over discharge. As for charging, it will switch to float mode when batteries are 100%. The manual says nothing specific about charge stages/modes but does list the following: load disconnect 11.1v/22.2v, load reconnect 12.6v/25.2v, equalization voltage (30 min) 14.6v/29.2v, boost voltage (30 min) 14.4v/28.8v, float voltage 13.6v/27.2v, battery type sealed lead acid and flooded.
22135
Yes. Charge controllers, like this one, are specially made to go through different charging cycles to extend battery life span and protect batteries from overcharging.Thank you,AW
2188086
it will keep the battery fully charged but can also hurt the batteries there are only so many charges a battery can take, also it will keep pulling power so when its fully charged I prefer to unplug the controller
399174
It doesn't matter that much, lithium ion batteries always have a controller, anything else would be dangerous, it shouldn't be more than an hour or a few more, in any case theres no risk of damaging it from "overcharging".
712395
What exactly are you asking? We hooked them up by the instructions. You need to buy the controller separately. They seem to be working properly. They have a red light that is on all the time so the solar is working. If the battery is totally dead it will not charge. If the battery is good it will keep it good and charged. Any other questions please ask.
712397
No..... and maybe.... The point of using the controller is that with small loads less than the rated amperage, when the battery is fully charged, your load is being supplied with power from the solar (bypassing the battery). This allows the charge controller to float charge the battery and also power your device.... If you are drawing lots of power through an inverter, then yes, you will need to connect directly to the battery.... Just FYI - the unit I got had an UN-replaceable fuse.... I had to create a work around to solve the problem....
1796518
You need an MPPT controller to prevent the battery from overcharging. The controller also prevents the battery from discharging at night.