Solar MPPT Charge Controller Deep Cycle Battery Float Charger Dump Trailer MUST HAVE!

35 thoughts on “Solar MPPT Charge Controller Deep Cycle Battery Float Charger Dump Trailer MUST HAVE!”

1. That POS will not keep your battery charged!

2. Over priced 3 watts panel wont charge that battery

3. Hey man, great video. How was this treated you over the past year?

4. Ray, I know it's been awhile since you installed this, but I'm looking at the same solar maint/charger for a tractor. How has this unit worked for you this past year, and is it still functioning as advertised? I appreciate your time, love the channel and have really enjoyed the dually rebuild!!

5. I did the same to my truck, but with a 10w rated panel — it was chinesium, as you say, so it only did 300mA @ about 20v, or about 6w… A quick tip — charge controllers DO prevent over-charge, but that's not so important in lead-acid chemistry. If you over charge a lead acid, it will just turn into a hydrogen generator (if you think about it, this makes sense). And at 3 watts, you won't be separating much H2O into it's parts even if the battery does over charge. What you do lose to gassing will be vented away (cause it's outdoor), and can be replaced by refilling it with distilled water every 6 months or so. Chargers also match the load to the source which can result in more energy transfer. But again, the internal resistance of lead acid isn't high enough for that to be of much benefit. In short: a charge controller isn't really needed for such a small panel because its two benefits (needed for high power panels) just don't achieve much at lower power ratings. I put a controller on mine, too, but found the LEDs on the charge controller used more power at night than I got during the day so, I took it off… It's a neat idea, but especially when you consider the price of the controllers; a simpler setup is to just connect the panel directly IF the panel is <10w and the battery is well ventilated. MPPT for sure is way overkill for the application.

6. The main advantage of the MPPT controller is that it loads the solar panel in such a way as to keep the panel operating at its maximum power point under all lightning conditions, i.e., the point on the current vs. voltage curve that results in maximum power (watts) as light changes.

7. Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

8. I think, Ray, you got scammed. You may technically got an MPPT (the only sign I see it being an MPPT is the 30V at the output without the battery), all the manufacturing budget was spent on that being an MPPT (which is nonsense feature at 3W solar system) and apparently not on a proper charge controller design (which is, what you really need and what seems to be not working at all – there is no way a decent charge controller to output anything above 15 or 16V even in an intermittent manner).
   Basic (PWM,…) vs MPPT is not and is even not supposed to be about how it manages the the battery (whether it overcharges it or so), it is supposed to be only about how much power it is able to extract from a given solar panel (it stands for Maximum Power operating Point Tracker) And it is only relevant only under the condition the battery is able and ready to accept whatever power the solar system is able to give out. Simple ones just rely to the panel voltage to always be above the battery (so you need about 16..20V panel for a 12V battery), so operate the solar panel in the current mode. Because a 18 V or so panel is loaded to the 13..14V only, the real power delivered to the battery is just about 70..80% of what the maximum of the same panel would be. The MPPT contains a voltage converter, which is able to adopt whatever voltage the panel needs to deliver the maximum power for the given illumination, it allows you to use that 20..30% extra power from the same panel, in other words allows you to save the 20..25% on a panel size so cost for the same power.
   The main aim is with larger power levels to get from the same equipment cos more power. And here lies the first problem for so low power as a 3W system: The extra complexity and cost of the controller do not scale down with power, as the panel cost does. So if you want 3W of real power at a given sunlight, you will get that in way cheaper and more reliable way by just buying a 4W panel and use the simple (I would even guess more reliable) controller. There is no way the MPPT complexity would ever ay off on such low power levels. At 10W or more, or when the surface for the panel placement is the limiting factor the MPPT may bring some savings, because the extra controller cost would be less than the extra panel cost for the same real output.

9. Normally you connect the battery first and then the solar cell

10. Is the solar panel waterproof??

11. I want to know if a cell phone screen protector on top of it what keeps efficiency?

12. 3watts seems too low.. i would have thought if there is self discharge going that much you would need 10watt atleast.. you should do an update video in like 2 months!

13. Ray make sure you take those screws out and put some silicone around them or the holes asap as well as around the bottom edge all around the panel. Thats just asking for water intrusion and rust + the underside of the panel collecting water and rusting through the lid

14. I have a 100W panel I bought from Amazon for $85. It came with a pwm controller. I get 20v out of the panel and about 5A max current into the controller. Controller steps it down to charging voltage to my battery. The PWM does float charge perfectly. I have a small inverter connected to the battery to plug my boat charger into. It’s charging 3 deep cycle batteries at once and it works perfectly.

15. What's this about bad electricity in Australia?

16. Eager to see how this works out. Live by the same motto, buy once cry once

17. I put a small solar panel in the cab of my pickup truck 5 years ago. My truck sits between hauling a horse trailer and a boat and I wanted to maintain battery charge while the truck was sitting. The solar charger was more a maintainer than a charger and has worked great.

18. You got scammed, harbor freights is like 9.99 and works the same

19. great idea to have a independent charger for the deep marine battery on the trailer,
    it is better to pay it forward buy the best , so you do not have to replace the unit next year.

20. Ray I can't seem to get into your video on oil prices. Anyway I wanted to say it's your livelihood and your choice to offer your customers the best. Now I'm not rich by any means but how you explain why you use the superior oil makes sense from a quality standpoint and in the long run a better investment in a vehicle that we depend upon to get around. I guess I will have to save my pennies for the better oil. Thanks again for not bowing to everyone who criticizes your business and decisions that you make. It's your character and the integrity of your business you are standing by. Keep it up Ray for this is part of the reasons I constantly watch 😊

21. Have ya thought about taking the Wife Unit out to dinner with all the $$$ ya got from the scrap?

22. I'd put some rubber grommets under the panel. They don't like vibrations.

23. We put something similar on our HMMWVs in the late 90s. No idea if it did anything lol.

24. I been using the 1.5W solar panels for marine application. there is no controller. the solar panel too weak to overcharge the battery, and typically keeps it at 13.4V. much cheaper option.

25. Putting rain leak holes in the battery box lid? Could have used automotive trim double sided tape. Putting holes in the rain cover defeats the purpose of the roof.

26. That unit will barely maintain that sized battery, it's probably better suited for a 10ah battery. There are pwm controllers that float charge. Mppt only means it'll squeeze as much as it can out of a panel when sunlight conditions change.
    That was a crazy expensive kit but I hope it serves your purpose.

27. It might help to get a correct reading if your multimeter was set to Volts rather than milli-volts🤣
    Also, we have plenty of 'good' power here in Australia.
    However our power prices per kWh are relatively high, and we get plenty of sun, so many people take advantage of solar, and people in remote areas often use solar where they can't access grid power or don't want to constantly run a generator👍

28. 🎉 👌 😄 👍 . . .

29. I'm glad you finaly got solar for yoyr dump trailer.

30. Follow up need! Its been a day! where is my one month review! I think this is the way to go to extend the life of the battery.

31. Where did you get the idea that we "don't have good electricity" down here in Australia ??? lots of reliable 240V and a huge take up of rooftop solar panels !!

32. I just ordered my first case of Brake Cleaner. You're rubbing off on us, Ray.

33. "Australians don't have good electricity" lol what? Please explain Ray. 😲

34. NICE new charger for your trailer, KUDOS on the maintenance of shop equipment(Hang onto those receipts its a tax deduction for the Biz!) BTW… is there an APP for that charg
    😛

35. Good mechanic has the Leatherman in his pocket all times

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