Hi Rob,
Got it working without any issues, charging my 12V 35/85A AGM battery. I added an input and output LED meters for now, and I am planning to add additional circuity to switch one of the meters for current measurement.
I also checked for RF Noise around the 100 Khz range with my Flex 6300 with a Pixel Loop antenna. Barely saw the signal above the normal background noise.
Thanks for an excellent product,
Javier
Got it working without any issues, charging my 12V 35/85A AGM battery. I added an input and output LED meters for now, and I am planning to add additional circuity to switch one of the meters for current measurement.
I also checked for RF Noise around the 100 Khz range with my Flex 6300 with a Pixel Loop antenna. Barely saw the signal above the normal background noise.
Thanks for an excellent product,
Javier
At Last! A Low RFI Solar Charge Controller.
I have now installed two of these devices.... one for home and one in our Club's new Emergency communications trailer. Our first attempt at solar power for our Comm trailer was a disaster having installed an Amazon purchased Renogy system. It radiated strongly not only in the HF spectrum, but also up through VHF as well. ARES Communications were nearly useless with that system if we left the solar charging system on.
After days of searching the Web I stumbled across DIYSolarforU and contacted the owner.... an individual who himself had been so concerned witht RFI from Solar Charge Controllers that he designed his own system. I ordered one Apollo MPPT charge controller to evaluate and was flabberghasted by the drop in RFI..... it was practically undetectable unless we put our antenna a few feet from the controller. It was quickly installed in place of the errant Renogy charge controller and our new Comm Trailer has now become very useful.... anywhere in the spectrum. We are using it with 200W of Solar Panels.
The product supplied comes as a bare circuit board -- no housing, but at this price it was well worth it. We simply mounted it on the trailer wall and covered the unit with a home thermostat plastic guard to prevent any damage to the unit . The clear plastic housing allows easy view of the solar charge parameters which scroll slowly on the LCD on board display while allowing reasonable ventilation ... not that this unit gets very warm to any extent. Given the small size of the circuit board, one should easily find numerous housing possibilities for this unit if you need to protect the board.
The only thing I could fault on this product is the terminal connectors, built for #12 wire max and seemingly in my opinion a bit delicate for this application. After notifying DIYSolarforU about this concern I was quickly advised that newer and more substantive terminal blocks were found and would be in place for subsequent production run of this product. The proprietor of this company is extremely responsive to customers!
I am very pleased with the two units I have set up, and anticipate ordering more in the future. Ed
I have now installed two of these devices.... one for home and one in our Club's new Emergency communications trailer. Our first attempt at solar power for our Comm trailer was a disaster having installed an Amazon purchased Renogy system. It radiated strongly not only in the HF spectrum, but also up through VHF as well. ARES Communications were nearly useless with that system if we left the solar charging system on.
After days of searching the Web I stumbled across DIYSolarforU and contacted the owner.... an individual who himself had been so concerned witht RFI from Solar Charge Controllers that he designed his own system. I ordered one Apollo MPPT charge controller to evaluate and was flabberghasted by the drop in RFI..... it was practically undetectable unless we put our antenna a few feet from the controller. It was quickly installed in place of the errant Renogy charge controller and our new Comm Trailer has now become very useful.... anywhere in the spectrum. We are using it with 200W of Solar Panels.
The product supplied comes as a bare circuit board -- no housing, but at this price it was well worth it. We simply mounted it on the trailer wall and covered the unit with a home thermostat plastic guard to prevent any damage to the unit . The clear plastic housing allows easy view of the solar charge parameters which scroll slowly on the LCD on board display while allowing reasonable ventilation ... not that this unit gets very warm to any extent. Given the small size of the circuit board, one should easily find numerous housing possibilities for this unit if you need to protect the board.
The only thing I could fault on this product is the terminal connectors, built for #12 wire max and seemingly in my opinion a bit delicate for this application. After notifying DIYSolarforU about this concern I was quickly advised that newer and more substantive terminal blocks were found and would be in place for subsequent production run of this product. The proprietor of this company is extremely responsive to customers!
I am very pleased with the two units I have set up, and anticipate ordering more in the future. Ed
Arrived as predicted. Installed Wednesday night and watched it come alive Thursday morning. I *LIKE* the 14v / 19v between day/night, BTW.
Despite the rain and overcast, I got 8-10 watts which was enough to keep the various night lights on throughout the house. When the rain stopped, the power level came up enough to trickle charge the battery. P-P of 46 watts and 4.65 A/H. Not bad for such a totally overcast crappy day.
Today has been AWESOME! Battery terminal voltage is up at 14.3 V, 3.75 to 4 A, 54 W, 86 P-P, and 17 A/H. The battery has been fully replenished and all loads (LED lighting in the kitchen and livingroom) are being sustained. Sweet :)
"The world is once again turning on greesed rails" (Cannery Row).
Thanks again!!!
--- Jay Nugent WB8TKL
Ypsilanti, MI
Despite the rain and overcast, I got 8-10 watts which was enough to keep the various night lights on throughout the house. When the rain stopped, the power level came up enough to trickle charge the battery. P-P of 46 watts and 4.65 A/H. Not bad for such a totally overcast crappy day.
Today has been AWESOME! Battery terminal voltage is up at 14.3 V, 3.75 to 4 A, 54 W, 86 P-P, and 17 A/H. The battery has been fully replenished and all loads (LED lighting in the kitchen and livingroom) are being sustained. Sweet :)
"The world is once again turning on greesed rails" (Cannery Row).
Thanks again!!!
--- Jay Nugent WB8TKL
Ypsilanti, MI