Solar panel regulator / controller.

Obanboy666

Obanboy666

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My new PVC conversion will have a Sargent EC155 control / charger as standard and looking at the spec this only charges the batteries to 13.8 v max and it would appear it is not an intelligent charger.
Do mppt solar panel regulators charge intelligently ? Bulk, absorption, float etc etc ? I will be asking the converter about fitting a higher spec Sargent unit that will intelligent charge but if this is not an option I may consider solar if it will intelligent charge.
 
You're the customer, you tell them what you want, if they cant accommodate you tell them you will find someone who can, I would be very surprised if if they can't and would be a little concerned about the whole build. :goodluck:
 
ColinD said:
You're the customer, you tell them what you want, if they cant accommodate you tell them you will find someone who can, I would be very surprised if if they can't and would be a little concerned about the whole build. :goodluck:
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Thanks for the advise but you didn't answer my question regarding solar panel regulators.
 
Bit more pricey, but I went with the ctek dual. It's a smart charger that charges the leisure batteries from both the vehicle battery (when the engine is running) and the solar panels (built in mppt), when the leisure batteries are fully charged it then pulse charges the main vehicle battery to keep it topped up.
 
sorry i misread your post this is what i used for solar which has 2 pos outputs of which one is master but you can wire together if you wish, i put the master to start battery,kemo m174 at £25 ebay.
 

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Obanboy666 said:
My new PVC conversion will have a Sargent EC155 control / charger as standard and looking at the spec this only charges the batteries to 13.8 v max and it would appear it is not an intelligent charger.
Do mppt solar panel regulators charge intelligently ? Bulk, absorption, float etc etc ? I will be asking the converter about fitting a higher spec Sargent unit that will intelligent charge but if this is not an option I may consider solar if it will intelligent charge.
Click to expand...

Most Solar Chargers are not intelligent and just feed in the charge to the battery bank in a similar way that split-charge relays do.
Pretty sure you are correct regarding the EC155 as well - just puts up to 12A in at a set voltage and that is it.

On my setup (2 x 100W Solar, 2 x 100Ah AGM), I have an Amperor Associates Power Integrator (PI) which provides a full battery optimisation routine as part of the charging regime, both on Solar and Split-Charge, so "fixes" the split-charge unintelligent approach as well.
I use that PI with a Sargent EC155 like yours and find them a good combination. i don't use the Sargent split-charge feature at all, and only use the charger as a voltage "maintainer" rather then recharger.

The CTEK Dual 250 is a very similar unit as I understand it, with both the CTEK and the Amperor PI having battery charging and optimisation via both solar and split, plus B2B trickle charge to the vehicle battery (not sure what the CTEK does, but the Amperor PI sends up to 1A to the starter).
If I didn't have the Amperor unit already, I would be comparing the two and reckon would be happy with either :)
 
Most decent solar controllers will have a microprocessor which you can set the battery type. The on board charger on a van will be limited to 13.8v because this is the NCC standard. My onboard charger is never switched on the panels are responsible for the batteries.

Dave
 
DavidB963 said:
Most decent solar controllers will have a microprocessor which you can set the battery type. The on board charger on a van will be limited to 13.8v because this is the NCC standard. My onboard charger is never switched on the panels are responsible for the batteries.

Dave
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You maybe able to set between types of batteries on them, but they will not have a battery conditioning routine within them.
 
wildebus said:
Okay ... "one may not be able to ...."
Maybe your answer would have been more useful to the OP if you revealed what "decent solar controller" you have instead of being a smartarse?
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I have used solar for 30 years. Perhaps you could say why decent ones do not.

You can start your search with CTEK but there are many more.

If you can only answer with more abuse do not expect a reply.

Dave
 
DavidB963 said:
I have used solar for 30 years. Perhaps you could say why decent ones do not.

You can start your search with CTEK but there are many more.

If you can only answer with more abuse do not expect a reply.

Dave
Click to expand...
The OP was looking for advice about solar controllers which will also provide intelligent battery charging.
Most solar controllers on sale don't do that.
I did not say most = decent. Why don't you help the OP with your 30 years of solar use by actually advising him with some suggestions.
i suggest you read the thread and see what the original question was and maybe answer that instead of suggesting I search for decent controllers, as I do not need to do that as I am not the one asking the question or looking for the answer.

What is up with some people on this forum? Some kind of pissing contest to every post? Sad.
 
I think it's the heat. I've been a right grumpy bugger all day.

That still doesn't explain why I'm like it the rest of the year though.
 
Jesus !
I only asked for info and started a right slanging match.
I have a Ctek intelligent charger that I bought a couple of years ago for my car and have only used once.
What I am thinking is when my PVC is parked up at home between my trips out instead of putting the ehu on I could just use the Ctek directly onto the battery which would charge the battery intelligently.
Looking in the Ctek storage bag it actually has a set of leads with a connector on that can be permanently left on the battery so that's what I will do.
At least when parked up at home the battery will go through the correct sequence / conditioning routine.
 
And what you asked - and want to do - makes very good sense and was a sensible question.
This is just how I use my Solar Controller and don't need to worry about plugging in to mains to optimize the batteries.

BTW, what CTEK mains charger do you have and what batteries in the PVC? Some of the CTEK Chargers are not able to recharge above a certain Ah rating. For example, I have the MXS5 and that is rated to about 110Ah (from memory) and I have a 200Ah battery bank, so there is a mismatch there (I bought the CTEK for the car, same as you by the sound of it), so when I needed to redo both batteries after a capacity test last week, I had to split the bank to seperate the batteries to recharge each in turn)
 
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wildebus said:
And what you asked - and want to do - makes very good sense and was a sensible question.
This is just how I use my Solar Controller and don't need to worry about plugging in to mains to optimize the batteries.

BTW, what CTEK mains charger do you have and what batteries in the PVC? Some of the CTEK Chargers are not able to recharge above a certain Ah rating. For example, I have the MXS5 and that is rated to about 110Ah (from memory) and I have a 200Ah battery bank, so there is a mismatch there (I bought the CTEK for the car, same as you by the sound of it), so when I needed to redo both batteries after a capacity test last week, I had to split the bank to seperate the batteries to recharge each in turn)
Click to expand...

My Ctek is the same as yours.
PVC will have 1 X 110amp battery, not sure what type / make.
 
Checking here ... CTEK MXS 5.0 Battery Charger with Automatic Temperature Compensation: Amazon.co.uk: Car & Motorbike , the MXS5 is good upto 110Ah, including AGM, so would be good.

If you didn't want to wire up permenantly, this is a handy extra for the CTEK chargers ... CTEK CTE-56263 CTEK Cigarette Lighter Connector Adaptor: Amazon.co.uk: Car & Motorbike
Just plug into a 12V accessory socket and away it will charge :)

With your EC155 unit, you can just turn on the EC50 controller and it will start charging the Leisure Battery. And if you push the button on the EC50 to switch to the vehicle battery instead, it will charge the Starter Battery instead.
I find it really handy to be able to do that
(But for anyone with a dual-way VSR like a Durite, then both batteries would get connected, so the MXS5 would not be suitable I think)
 
trevskoda said:
sorry i misread your post this is what i used for solar which has 2 pos outputs of which one is master but you can wire together if you wish, i put the master to start battery,kemo m174 at £25 ebay.
Click to expand...
have a feeling ,Trev ,that NASA are going to be moving to N.I. because that is where the technology is????
 
wildebus said:
Checking here ... CTEK MXS 5.0 Battery Charger with Automatic Temperature Compensation: Amazon.co.uk: Car & Motorbike , the MXS5 is good upto 110Ah, including AGM, so would be good.

If you didn't want to wire up permenantly, this is a handy extra for the CTEK chargers ... CTEK CTE-56263 CTEK Cigarette Lighter Connector Adaptor: Amazon.co.uk: Car & Motorbike
Just plug into a 12V accessory socket and away it will charge :)

With your EC155 unit, you can just turn on the EC50 controller and it will start charging the Leisure Battery. And if you push the button on the EC50 to switch to the vehicle battery instead, it will charge the Starter Battery instead.
I find it really handy to be able to do that
(But for anyone with a dual-way VSR like a Durite, then both batteries would get connected, so the MXS5 would not be suitable I think)
Click to expand...

As I previously mentioned my Ctek came with a flying lead that I can connect to the leisure battery terminals and leave in place and just plug in to the Ctek when / if I need to.
May get the cigarette lighter connector for the vehicle battery after I have checked if it live with the ignition off.
 
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