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Ray, I am seriously waiting for you to install the flux capacitor with 1.5 gigawatt output. On a serious note; you represent the cutting edge of R.V. boondocking and power generating/ storage. ..So far ahead of where I am. You do this 24/7 & 365 days and as such are a great source of in the field testing & results. Cheers!
You mentioned the temp sensor and something about not having to worry about it because you have lithium batteries. From my understanding, neither SLA or lithium should be charged below 32 degrees F. So the temp sensor is useful for any battery, unless your battery has built in low temp protection.
Yes, my Lion Energy lithium batteries have low temperature cutoff for charging and discharging. Most better quality lithium battereis have that. I don't believe that this controller will protect lithium batteries that don't have their own low temp protection. I believe the temp sensor is only for adjusting voltage output higher for cold lead acid type not protecting lithium. So you would need a separate low temp cutoff device if the lithium battery BMS doesn't have it. Maybe wrong but don't recall that feature. btw, people charge their lead acid automotive batteries all the time in temps well below 32F. SLA just need a higher charge voltage at low temps levels, thus the controller will output higher voltage to attain optimal charging amps when the lead acid battery is colder, sometimes as high as 15VDC. www.solar-electric.com/lib/wind-sun/BSrts.pdf Cheers, Ray "With out temperature compensation charge voltage would be too low at low battery temperatures leading to chronic under charging and battery damage due to sulfation. At high battery temperatures charge voltage would be too high leading to excessive water loss and undue degradation of the positive plate. Both of these conditions can impair battery performance and shorten battery life."
I bought one a few days back. Replacing my Renogy PWM. I could not get it to work / charge my lithium batteries. I checked numerous times over the next 2 days. checking connections and settings. I had it set to "lithium & 12v". I used the default settings for everything else. I could never get it to charge over 0.5 amps. My battery app was showing them at 46% SOC. In an attempt to diagnose, i used my ohm / Volt / Amp meter and verified that the connections were all good and the solar panels were functioning. I placed one battery on my bench charger and it charged for 5 hours at 10 amps. I then reconnected my PWM charger and hooked up the 2nd battery. It all worked fine & charged it right up. .I assume for some reason the BougeRV was still reading the batteries voltages and deciding they were already charged as if a L.A battery (?).. I ended up returning the Bouge controller. I'd sure like to know what, if anything I did wrong though...
Sounds like it must have been a defective controller. Even set to default lead acid, it will charge at a high rate into a 46% battery. I've been running mine this summer working well, hooked in tandem with an SRNE controller.
@@LoveYourRV THANK YOU ... that is what I thought as well. But since it didn't; maybe since it was reading at 13+ volts the Bouge was 'thinking' like a L A. and therefore it was fully charged?? I knew you were having no issues from your video, so assumed it was defective and returned it. I'll try again later; especially after I have proved my PWM works fine with the same set up. I was just thinking maybe I didn't do something correctly.
Different topic, it's about those pesky mosquitoes, bugs, knats no see ums etc. that are such a nuisance in the RV, especially when trying to fall asleep. I have a 2015 Keystone and was wondering how they got in. I examined my screens and discovered large gaps ( almost 1/4 inch gap ) on the sides of my crank out window screens. The sides definitely do not rest flush to the window frame the way the top and bottom do. I made one inch tabs from aluminium strips and used the window frame screw to mount them so they pull the screen sides much closer. One about in the middle took care of it. Hopefully this will greatly cut down on these pesky invaders. Maybe you have a similar experience. Happy spring!
Hello there I remember watching your video almost 2 years ago or so and you sold me on the original PMTT controller the one that you just removed in fact I am still using it I don’t plan to change it anytime soon so yeah thank you for the review I am glad that I bought it. maybe in the future I end up getting the new model but right now I am extremely happy with this one that I have.. thank you for the review
What are your opinions of it after having it for several months now? Has it held up and performed well over time? I looked and didn't see a follow-up video yet so thought I'd ask here. Nice initial video.
So far, it's worked well enough. I used it on my primary system for 4 months but now have it charging a truck box battery system I built for keeping my dash cams charged. My main system has three SRNE controllers now including a DC-DC converter model. ua-cam.com/video/lswPHZ-sRXY/v-deo.html Overall I think I like the SRNE ones a little better. The display is easier to read with more info and a better app. Btw, I found out who makes the BougeRV one. A company called www.helios-ne.com/products/mppt-solar-charge-controller-ms4830n-touch-screen.html Cheers, Ray
Seem like it might be a good controller. Yes, those green LEDs 😎. I'd be sticking a piece of electrical tape over them. (I expect they are bright enough to shine thru, attenuated.)
Have you observed how well it tracks in poor solar conditions (variable or overcast)? Some low cost MPPT algorithms get confused and stuck at artificially-low outputs.
Seems to do a decent job. I'm currently using it to keep a 100Ah battery charged with a 100W panel for my dashcam parking mode. I don't notice getting stuck at low output. Before I had it side by side with a SRNE MPPT 40A solar charger and it was comparable.
I have this controller. The only thing I don't like is the aluminum case around the terminal inputs. Cable insulation needs to be trimmed exactly to length. Wasn't paying attention and connected mine a little long. Got a little spark. Should be plastic around that area.
Good point. I have actually cut out the three center metal dividers so I could use larger cables. Makes it easier to get the insulated coating in far enough. Cheers, Ray
Timely test for me. I’m in the process of replacing charge controller. I’ve been using Renogy products but you may have converted me. Will anxiously await the next video. What gages of wire or cable were you using on the first test ? (The one with all the panels in the field)
It was mostly made up of 10 gauge. btw I did some research and think I found the manufacturer of the solar controller. BougeRV is mostly a distributor as far as I can tell and buys wholesale and rebrands stuff under their name. Renogy does much the same with many of its products. Several BougeRV and Renogy controllers look like they are made by SRNE. www.srnesolar.com/product-category/off-grid-household-solar-charge-controller I found this page from a company called Helios by searching for the model number listed on the new BougeRV controller - www.helios-ne.com/products/mppt-solar-charge-controller-ms4830n-negative-grounded-model-touch-screen-operation.html Looks identical except for the color. Cheers, Ray
@@LoveYourRV thank you. You have also confirmed my suspicions about “ rebranding “. I am finding this very common out there on numerous products. I’m using 10 as well but mine looked bigger and is a bit cumbersome as I “ chase the sun”. We’ll keep up the good works, I really appreciate it and am continually learning.
Hi Ray... great video. Not quite sure where to start.. id like to start with a simple system where I can boondock for 4 or 5 days but have a system which could be expanded for future longer endeavors . Would 1 lithium battery with a controller such as this fit the bill ?
Hard to say as everyone's power needs can be so different. 1 lithium is equal to about 2 lead-acid types since you can more deeply discharge them and they charge faster. I think if you could get 2 lithium that would be great.
600w max when input when using a 12v solar panel or using a 12v battery system? I have (2) 230w/48v panels and a single 200ah 12.8v LFP battery. Want to add another panel in the future, but will this controller handle it if all panels are wired in parallel?
Its got to do with the battery system voltage. Max charging rate is 40 amps so that decides the max solar wattage at different battery voltages. Max Solar Input Power: 600W/12V ; 1200W/24V 1800W/36V ; 2400W/48V
Looks good. Plenty of knowledge gained watching your videos. I completed my PV installation and recently tested it on a 10 day trip through the Black Hills. I have 480W of PC and 210ah of LION batteries and a 40A Renogy MPPT charge controller. I have two questions for you after seeing how my system worked on rainy or overcast days. First, do you get enough energy into your system to keep the batteries up when you are parked in the trees with intermittent sun or rain? Does enough solar trickle in that the batteries are recharged during the day? Or do you just have so much battery that you could run dark for several days? Second, I notice that this solar controller does not have a method to hookup, control and monitor the load. Do you miss that? How do you compensate? I worry that if I go without power for too long that the batteries will go dead and there is nothing to stop it. Thank you for your reviews.
Normally If the sun shines and I can get my ground panels into it I'm good with enough solar but after several days of cloudy weather I need to run my gas generator a few hours a day if the sun doesn't return. We are pretty heavy users of power both run computers lots, a portable fridge/freezer, and right now we have the Starlink dish on quite a bit and it draws a constant 70-100W. I've seen a ton of RV solar system installations and I can't say I've seen anyone use load terminals to power the RVs DC load circuits. Most aren't using controllers that even have load terminals since they don't use them. Doing as you say might be practical for small vans or truck campers systems. But, most larger RVs like have, 30 foot trailer, use a 60 amp circuit to power the various DC loads other than the inverter. Things like slides, awnings, landing jack motors, etc can draw a lot of juice. You don't want to be running that through the solar controller load terminals. You want that feed straight off the battery bank. Most solar controller's load outputs are max 20 amps, not enough to run DC motors in a typical RV. I can't even imagine the cost of a solar controller that has a 60 amp max load output. RVers usually have a battery monitor (Example: amzn.to/3H5f9uf )that alarms if the battery voltage get too low or install a Battery protect switch if worried about it (Example: Victron BatteryProtect 12/24V-100A amzn.to/3aBDSKk ) Also, nowadays most RV off grid systems are using lithium LiFEPO4 type batteries (Example: lionenergy.com/products/lion-safari-ut-1300 ) and they have their own BMS (Battery Management System) It automatically shuts off discharging if cell voltages get to low. Finally, most RV OEMs install a 45-70 amp converter charger on the DC line from the batteries to the DC distribution panel for the RV. If you use the solar controller load output to power that DC feed. The next time they plug into shore power that AC to DC charger will be trying to feed power backwards into the solar controller load terminals. so now the batteries won't charge. Cheers, Ray
I've used the controller with a few different lithium battery brands and haven't encountered an error. E02 in the manual states battery over-voltage. Make sure there isn't another charger hooked up that outputs too high of voltage. You could also try using the custom settings versus the preset see if that works better. Cheers, Ray
This charge controller cannot charge the battery to 100%. Even if it says so, I can still use my wall charge to charge lot more into it. Have you had this issue and how do you solve it? Or do you know any other charge controller can do 100% charge to the LiFePo4 battery?
Are you sure you have it set for lithium batteries and not lead acid? I've tested on several different brands of lithium batteries and it charges them 100%
@@LoveYourRV Yes, I'm pretty sure. It says it charged to full. But you can then connect to a wall charger and you can charge a lot more into it. The voltage is not accurate of indicator of SOC, which I think where the problem is.
@@stevedxu Oh, I see what you're saying. Yeah, ignore the solar controller's battery percent voltage gauge. They are useless, especially with lithium having a higher resting voltage and a narrow range between full and empty. But don't worry even if the gauge says 100% the solar controller will keep charging if set for 14.2V lithium voltage. You can never trust the % readout on solar controllers. They are just guessing based on battery voltage, which isn't reliable because it could be charging or discharging at the time. To get an accurate percentage, you need a battery monitor that uses a shunt to measure amps in and out. Then the total amp-hours used and remaining can be calculated. Something like this www.loveyourrv.com/new-test-gadget-koolertron-battery-monitor-w-400amp-shunt-bluetooth-app/ Victron is a popular one as well amzn.to/3JkwJgB Cheers, Ray
*Related Links*
Previous BougeRV Product Reviews - www.loveyourrv.com/?s=bougeRV
LYRV Boondocking Power Systems Explained - www.loveyourrv.com/our-rv-boondocking-power-systems-current-state-of-things-2022/
BougeRV Website - shrsl.com/3k4qe Use Discount Code loveyourrv and get 10% off
Amazon - amzn.to/3tm4qWE 7%off code(Amazon): LYRMPPT7
Valid Period: June 5th to June 21st
Ray, I am seriously waiting for you to install the flux capacitor with 1.5 gigawatt output.
On a serious note; you represent the cutting edge of R.V. boondocking and power generating/ storage. ..So far ahead of where I am. You do this 24/7 & 365 days and as such are a great source of in the field testing & results.
Cheers!
haha, thanks. :)
You mentioned the temp sensor and something about not having to worry about it because you have lithium batteries. From my understanding, neither SLA or lithium should be charged below 32 degrees F. So the temp sensor is useful for any battery, unless your battery has built in low temp protection.
Yes, my Lion Energy lithium batteries have low temperature cutoff for charging and discharging. Most better quality lithium battereis have that. I don't believe that this controller will protect lithium batteries that don't have their own low temp protection.
I believe the temp sensor is only for adjusting voltage output higher for cold lead acid type not protecting lithium. So you would need a separate low temp cutoff device if the lithium battery BMS doesn't have it.
Maybe wrong but don't recall that feature. btw, people charge their lead acid automotive batteries all the time in temps well below 32F. SLA just need a higher charge voltage at low temps levels, thus the controller will output higher voltage to attain optimal charging amps when the lead acid battery is colder, sometimes as high as 15VDC.
www.solar-electric.com/lib/wind-sun/BSrts.pdf Cheers, Ray
"With out temperature
compensation charge voltage would be too low at low battery
temperatures leading to chronic under charging and battery
damage due to sulfation. At high battery temperatures charge
voltage would be too high leading to excessive water loss and
undue degradation of the positive plate. Both of these conditions
can impair battery performance and shorten battery life."
I bought one a few days back. Replacing my Renogy PWM. I could not get it to work / charge my lithium batteries. I checked numerous times over the next 2 days. checking connections and settings. I had it set to "lithium & 12v". I used the default settings for everything else. I could never get it to charge over 0.5 amps. My battery app was showing them at 46% SOC. In an attempt to diagnose, i used my ohm / Volt / Amp meter and verified that the connections were all good and the solar panels were functioning. I placed one battery on my bench charger and it charged for 5 hours at 10 amps. I then reconnected my PWM charger and hooked up the 2nd battery. It all worked fine & charged it right up. .I assume for some reason the BougeRV was still reading the batteries voltages and deciding they were already charged as if a L.A battery (?).. I ended up returning the Bouge controller. I'd sure like to know what, if anything I did wrong though...
Sounds like it must have been a defective controller. Even set to default lead acid, it will charge at a high rate into a 46% battery. I've been running mine this summer working well, hooked in tandem with an SRNE controller.
@@LoveYourRV THANK YOU ... that is what I thought as well. But since it didn't; maybe since it was reading at 13+ volts the Bouge was 'thinking' like a L A. and therefore it was fully charged?? I knew you were having no issues from your video, so assumed it was defective and returned it. I'll try again later; especially after I have proved my PWM works fine with the same set up. I was just thinking maybe I didn't do something correctly.
Looks great Ray. Love seeing your system evolve over the years.
Different topic, it's about those pesky mosquitoes, bugs, knats no see ums etc. that are such a nuisance in the RV, especially when trying to fall asleep. I have a 2015 Keystone and was wondering how they got in. I examined my screens and discovered large gaps ( almost 1/4 inch gap ) on the sides of my crank out window screens. The sides definitely do not rest flush to the window frame the way the top and bottom do. I made one inch tabs from aluminium strips and used the window frame screw to mount them so they pull the screen sides much closer. One about in the middle took care of it. Hopefully this will greatly cut down on these pesky invaders. Maybe you have a similar experience. Happy spring!
Thanks Ray. Appreciate all your testing and honest opinions
Hello there I remember watching your video almost 2 years ago or so and you sold me on the original PMTT controller the one that you just removed in fact I am still using it I don’t plan to change it anytime soon so yeah thank you for the review I am glad that I bought it. maybe in the future I end up getting the new model but right now I am extremely happy with this one that I have.. thank you for the review
You're welcome. :)
What are your opinions of it after having it for several months now? Has it held up and performed well over time?
I looked and didn't see a follow-up video yet so thought I'd ask here. Nice initial video.
So far, it's worked well enough. I used it on my primary system for 4 months but now have it charging a truck box battery system I built for keeping my dash cams charged. My main system has three SRNE controllers now including a DC-DC converter model. ua-cam.com/video/lswPHZ-sRXY/v-deo.html Overall I think I like the SRNE ones a little better. The display is easier to read with more info and a better app. Btw, I found out who makes the BougeRV one. A company called www.helios-ne.com/products/mppt-solar-charge-controller-ms4830n-touch-screen.html Cheers, Ray
Seem like it might be a good controller. Yes, those green LEDs 😎. I'd be sticking a piece of electrical tape over them. (I expect they are bright enough to shine thru, attenuated.)
exactly what I am looking for so I can put 6x100w panels in series so I need 150v IP voltage and that should give me 40amps no problem.
This would be a great charge controller to start with a small system and expand your system as needed without having to buy another controller.
Have you observed how well it tracks in poor solar conditions (variable or overcast)? Some low cost MPPT algorithms get confused and stuck at artificially-low outputs.
Seems to do a decent job. I'm currently using it to keep a 100Ah battery charged with a 100W panel for my dashcam parking mode. I don't notice getting stuck at low output. Before I had it side by side with a SRNE MPPT 40A solar charger and it was comparable.
I have this controller. The only thing I don't like is the aluminum case around the terminal inputs. Cable insulation needs to be trimmed exactly to length. Wasn't paying attention and connected mine a little long. Got a little spark. Should be plastic around that area.
Good point. I have actually cut out the three center metal dividers so I could use larger cables. Makes it easier to get the insulated coating in far enough. Cheers, Ray
Timely test for me. I’m in the process of replacing charge controller. I’ve been using Renogy products but you may have converted me. Will anxiously await the next video. What gages of wire or cable were you using on the first test ? (The one with all the panels in the field)
It was mostly made up of 10 gauge. btw I did some research and think I found the manufacturer of the solar controller. BougeRV is mostly a distributor as far as I can tell and buys wholesale and rebrands stuff under their name. Renogy does much the same with many of its products. Several BougeRV and Renogy controllers look like they are made by SRNE. www.srnesolar.com/product-category/off-grid-household-solar-charge-controller
I found this page from a company called Helios by searching for the model number listed on the new BougeRV controller - www.helios-ne.com/products/mppt-solar-charge-controller-ms4830n-negative-grounded-model-touch-screen-operation.html Looks identical except for the color. Cheers, Ray
@@LoveYourRV thank you. You have also confirmed my suspicions about “ rebranding “. I am finding this very common out there on numerous products. I’m using 10 as well but mine looked bigger and is a bit cumbersome as I “ chase the sun”. We’ll keep up the good works, I really appreciate it and am continually learning.
Hi Ray... great video. Not quite sure where to start.. id like to start with a simple system where I can boondock for 4 or 5 days but have a system which could be expanded for future longer endeavors . Would 1 lithium battery with a controller such as this fit the bill ?
Hard to say as everyone's power needs can be so different. 1 lithium is equal to about 2 lead-acid types since you can more deeply discharge them and they charge faster. I think if you could get 2 lithium that would be great.
600w max when input when using a 12v solar panel or using a 12v battery system? I have (2) 230w/48v panels and a single 200ah 12.8v LFP battery. Want to add another panel in the future, but will this controller handle it if all panels are wired in parallel?
Its got to do with the battery system voltage. Max charging rate is 40 amps so that decides the max solar wattage at different battery voltages. Max Solar Input Power: 600W/12V ; 1200W/24V 1800W/36V ; 2400W/48V
Looks good. Plenty of knowledge gained watching your videos. I completed my PV installation and recently tested it on a 10 day trip through the Black Hills. I have 480W of PC and 210ah of LION batteries and a 40A Renogy MPPT charge controller. I have two questions for you after seeing how my system worked on rainy or overcast days. First, do you get enough energy into your system to keep the batteries up when you are parked in the trees with intermittent sun or rain? Does enough solar trickle in that the batteries are recharged during the day? Or do you just have so much battery that you could run dark for several days? Second, I notice that this solar controller does not have a method to hookup, control and monitor the load. Do you miss that? How do you compensate? I worry that if I go without power for too long that the batteries will go dead and there is nothing to stop it. Thank you for your reviews.
Normally If the sun shines and I can get my ground panels into it I'm good with enough solar but after several days of cloudy weather I need to run my gas generator a few hours a day if the sun doesn't return. We are pretty heavy users of power both run computers lots, a portable fridge/freezer, and right now we have the Starlink dish on quite a bit and it draws a constant 70-100W.
I've seen a ton of RV solar system installations and I can't say I've seen anyone use load terminals to power the RVs DC load circuits. Most aren't using controllers that even have load terminals since they don't use them. Doing as you say might be practical for small vans or truck campers systems. But, most larger RVs like have, 30 foot trailer, use a 60 amp circuit to power the various DC loads other than the inverter. Things like slides, awnings, landing jack motors, etc can draw a lot of juice. You don't want to be running that through the solar controller load terminals. You want that feed straight off the battery bank.
Most solar controller's load outputs are max 20 amps, not enough to run DC motors in a typical RV. I can't even imagine the cost of a solar controller that has a 60 amp max load output.
RVers usually have a battery monitor (Example: amzn.to/3H5f9uf )that alarms if the battery voltage get too low or install a Battery protect switch if worried about it (Example: Victron BatteryProtect 12/24V-100A amzn.to/3aBDSKk ) Also, nowadays most RV off grid systems are using lithium LiFEPO4 type batteries (Example: lionenergy.com/products/lion-safari-ut-1300 ) and they have their own BMS (Battery Management System) It automatically shuts off discharging if cell voltages get to low.
Finally, most RV OEMs install a 45-70 amp converter charger on the DC line from the batteries to the DC distribution panel for the RV. If you use the solar controller load output to power that DC feed. The next time they plug into shore power that AC to DC charger will be trying to feed power backwards into the solar controller load terminals. so now the batteries won't charge. Cheers, Ray
plastic heat sinks??? i would prefer aluminuim heat sink but it looks good
They are metal. In the update video, I open up the controller and take a look inside - ua-cam.com/video/KDokbxwWXPM/v-deo.html
I keep getting E02 when lipo4 batteries come up daily on factory preset li settings? Any reccomendations adjustments? Thank you!
I've used the controller with a few different lithium battery brands and haven't encountered an error. E02 in the manual states battery over-voltage. Make sure there isn't another charger hooked up that outputs too high of voltage. You could also try using the custom settings versus the preset see if that works better. Cheers, Ray
This charge controller cannot charge the battery to 100%. Even if it says so, I can still use my wall charge to charge lot more into it. Have you had this issue and how do you solve it? Or do you know any other charge controller can do 100% charge to the LiFePo4 battery?
Are you sure you have it set for lithium batteries and not lead acid? I've tested on several different brands of lithium batteries and it charges them 100%
@@LoveYourRV Yes, I'm pretty sure. It says it charged to full. But you can then connect to a wall charger and you can charge a lot more into it. The voltage is not accurate of indicator of SOC, which I think where the problem is.
@@stevedxu Oh, I see what you're saying. Yeah, ignore the solar controller's battery percent voltage gauge. They are useless, especially with lithium having a higher resting voltage and a narrow range between full and empty. But don't worry even if the gauge says 100% the solar controller will keep charging if set for 14.2V lithium voltage.
You can never trust the % readout on solar controllers. They are just guessing based on battery voltage, which isn't reliable because it could be charging or discharging at the time. To get an accurate percentage, you need a battery monitor that uses a shunt to measure amps in and out. Then the total amp-hours used and remaining can be calculated. Something like this www.loveyourrv.com/new-test-gadget-koolertron-battery-monitor-w-400amp-shunt-bluetooth-app/
Victron is a popular one as well amzn.to/3JkwJgB Cheers, Ray
@@LoveYourRV This is exactly the information that I was looking for. You've earned yourself a subscriber. :) Thank you.
Hi Ray, is it programmable?
Yes, in the app there is a battery setting called USE that allows customization of all the different charging parameters.