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Cheap Harbor Freight charge controller/regulator
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- Опубліковано 9 чер 2022
- The THUNDERBOLT SOLAR 100 -Watt Solar Charge Regulator, is cheap and easy to use. It can be useful for small solar power projects. I will be showing how to connect and use this charge controller. this controller cost about $20.00 and comes from Harbor freight.
This solar charge regulator protects and regulates the charge from solar panels to a 12- volt storage battery. The solar charge regulator features three LED indicators (high voltage, low voltage, and charging) and three connections for the solar panel (keyed two-pin connector), battery (keyed two-pin connector) and 12v output (3 in. pigtail). The regulator provides overcharge protection at 14 volts and discharge protection at 10.5 volts.
Harbor freight seems to be stepping up their game nowdays
Thanks for your comment.
The Tech is improving and getting more awesome everyday.
Retired fixed-income over here & she thanks you for your time in this wonderful video - LEARNed SO much - blessings -
Thank you for your kind words and you are very welcome. Thanks for your comment.
@shoestringprep I purchased one hooked to battery it just says low voltage, is there not enough sun light maybe?
@jamesmorris7596 it's referring to the state of charge on the battery. My low voltage comes on when it's below 12
THANKS SHOESTRING…for making all of these wonderful videos…YOU MAKE IT EASY & SIMPLE ALWAYS!👍
I'm pleased you enjoyed the video. Thanks for your comment.
This is the video I was looking for. Simple, cheap and effective unit. Thank you 🙏
I'm pleased you enjoyed the video. Thanks for the comment.
I started out with a charge controller similar to this with a 60 watt solar kit from Harbor Freight and it worked. Nothing wrong with starting out very small. I kept upgrading till now i have a 60amp Li-Time controller, a Power Queen 100ah LiFePo4 charged by 1000 watts of panels.
Greetings from Jamaica.
Absolutely right. Thanks for your comment.
My harbor freight setup is absolute garbage. I had to look at a video to see if anyone else had success setting this up. Thanks for the video.
Thanks for your comment.
I've been using the 100W panel from Harbor Freight (not the full kit... just the single panel for $129.99) to keep my Jackery 500 going for a good while now. I full time in a larger camper and use it to run all my lights, fans, a USB ceiling fan, charge phones/tablets/laptops and occasionally heat things up with my Hot Logic thingamabobber.
I recently got a Jackery 1000, and this panel has been doing fine since I'm not using the bigger unit for anything more than what I was using it for before. It's just nice to be able to have the option to run my 700W microwave if I need to or run my parents' freezer if the power goes out. But I did get another panel today to be able to charge the thing over solar and be able to take advantage of it's higher capabilities more often.
I have the 100 watt panel as well. It works great. Thanks for your comment.
David my wife bought a Jackery then the 100 watt panel. She also bought this charge controller. How did you charge the jackery? Did you use the load wires? I wondering if this controller requires battery power to function. I connected the SAE solar panel connector to the charge controller then used the din plug to the jackery. Zero voltage output N2ZAD
@@TheFalconJetDriver I just got an adapter... SAE to... well... Jackery. I think it's SAE to 8MM barrel plug or something. It's been a while. But yeah, I just use that adapter to plug my Harbor Freight solar panels directly into the Jackery itself.
Still works great.
You don’t need a controller if you have a Jackery it’s built in
I purchased this particular regulator based on your video and it seemed to be working fine the only thing that I would prefer is if I had a better way to check my voltage as it's charging. I hooked it up to a new 12 volt lithium battery that I had ordered and I'm using my Harbor Freight suitcase 100 watt solar panels. Thanks...
I agree checking the voltage is a down side. Thanks for your comment.
@@shoestringprep you can get one of those inexpensive 12v auto accessory kits that show battery charge and add a couple of clips to the positive and negative wires on it to hook it on your battery
@@leonardchurch7675 yes, you can and I have one of those kits. Thanks for your comment.
My old Steca Solsum finally died the other and I just installed this last night. Hadn't had a chance to test it yet but this helps me feel a bit better. I was worried that at the price point it might not reliably regulate the power and end up setting our coop on fire. It seems to be a simple and effective unit. I hope that still holds true a year later.
Mine has worked for several years. Good luck. Thanks for your comment.
Thanks a lot, I've been looking for two days for this information and finally found this even though I'm subscribed to your channel I don't know why it wasn't showing to me. I just purchased a lithium battery and I also ordered a charge controller which after I got it says he would not work on lithium I also did not get a charger with my lithium so I am now going to purchase a Harbor Freight solar panel one of these charge controllers and see how it will bring up my battery again thanks a lot.
You are welcome. Thanks for the comment.
what ever stops you living in the stone age is all good this so called hobby stuff as some call it could be the difference of life and death for some
I agree. Thanks for your comment.
I have had great success with these! Thanks for the info!
Welcome and thanks for your comment.
another thing people tend to forget that an item from a local shop is faster to get a replacement in a pinch then if you have to order from the internet here in the uk i would not even know where to go local but then they are charge controllers up and down every ware there in car alternators
True. Thanks for your comment.
Great content, one question when the battery is fully charged is there a built in shut off so that it won't charge anymore or does it just indicate that it's fully charged?
The controller stops charging when the battery is full. Thanks for your comment.
I was just about to ask that question. Thanks.
Great info thanks
Welcome and thanks for your comment.
Love love your videos
Thanks for your kind words and comment.
Great job! Great info. Thanks for sharing.
I am pleased you enjoyed the video. Thanks for your comment.
Thanks for your comment.
🙂
in a push one could wire the load of the controller to a relay from a car and then connected to a battery this would shut off power if the battery got low and one was not around to shut off loads
Nice tip. Thanks for the comment.
I have a coleman 7.5 Amp charge controller, 100 Watt solar panel and two deep cycle marine batteries connected in parallel connected to a 1500Watt pure sine inverter. The charge controller will shine green to indicate the batteries are fully charged but the gauge on my power inverter says the batteries are only 50% charged. I think the latter is true because when I turn on the inverter to run a 300W appliance, the inverter says there's insufficient voltage. Is my charge controller faulty? Will the Harbour freight controller work for my setup? Thank you.
Your charge controller may not be working. The harbor freight charge controller should work for your system. Thanks for your comment.
I bought this controller and the 100 watt panel. Will this regulator keep the batteries ( 2 6 volt) from overcharging or do I need to watch for the green light and disconnect at that point? I have the regulator tucked into my battery box and can't see it without opening the box. Hoping to just leave the battery clips in place and plug the panel in each morning.
The charge controller will stop charging when the battery is full. Thanks for your comment.
@@shoestringprep That's what I thought. Thank you for the reply, Shoestring
Thank you thank you thank you
Your welcome and thanks for your comment.
Can i use a Schumacher battery charger to charge a 12v thunderbolt battery
If the battery charger has a SLA or AGM setting it will. Thanks for your comment
Hi. What are your charge times, per/ 10 Amp hours. Full sun.
Small scale is cool but how can you add more ?
Small
+
Small
+
Small
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A personal grid system?
Do a weekly video on expanding your small scale, please???????☀️
Yes, you can add more. Good suggestion. Thanks for your comment.
Good review. Thanks
Welcome. Thanks for your comment.
what does it mean when the red lite is on with the yellow did I mix it up? The small 12v is from the batterie back up for my computer. the battery was 6v charged.
I would also like to see you do a video of you with higher solar power out put with Harbor freight kit like say🤔 powering 120volts?
I will put that on my video list. Thanks for your comment.
I'm still unclear if these protect from overcharging? Do they have a heat sink, or what take the "power" generated from the solar panel once the max voltage is met on the battery?
These controller keep my battery from overcharging. They stop anymore voltage from entering the battery after the limit has been reached. For this controller that point is around 13.5. Thanks for your comment
ty that was very good show :)
Thanks for your comment.
thanks, I'm about to buy
Good luck and thanks for your comment.
Thank you i will try it
Let us know how it works. Thanks for your comment.
Do you know why the yellow light would flash when plugged in?
Does it turn on and off automatically?
It will stop charging when the battery is full. Thanks for your comment.
I bought these, may I use this as my battery? Tenergy NiMH Battery Pack 12V 2000mAh High Capacity Rechargeable Battery w/Bare Leads Replacement Battery Pack for DIY, Medical Equipments, LED Light Kit, RC Models, Portable 12V DC Devices and More
As far as I know you can. Don't use more than 100 watts of input. Thanks for your comment.
Have you noticed that there is polarity inconsistencies between the panel and controler
I have tried this control a few times and I never was able to make them work at all
I have not noticed that. Thanks for letting us know.
@@shoestringprep I'm going to get another one and check the polarity on the inlets and outlets to see if that was my problem
@@fabioforni5722 let us know what you find out. Thanks for your comment.
@@shoestringprep thanks for the response
I bought another controller and a solar connector kit the leads I had that went to the battery were Indeed reversed the leads from the kit were in polarity. I hooked up a small 7watt panel to it late in the day I'm only getting MV out but that could be the panel is only making about 7 volts I getting 12 volts from the load wires on the controllerI will check the output tomorrow when the sun is out again.
Does it flash between yellow and green. Is it ok or am I having an issue
Mine dishes sometimes as well. Let it finish charging the battery. Thanks for your comment.
Once it’s fully charged (green light) will it stop the charging process?
Yes it will. Thanks for your comment.
Had to bring mines back today. Yesterday bought with the 100 watt solar panel and attached negative terminal first then positive next to 12v amg battery from this regulator. Results… nothing. I went to harbor freight to attach my same regulator to harbor freight’s new battery. Results… nothing. After attaching 2 or 3 regulators to the new battery. Seemed like none worked. I had to do this because no one knew instructions. Who worked there. The manager said thunderbolt sends the product so go look on UA-cam to find the answers. I didn’t want to return the solar panel because I saved $20 from a coupon. But I returned both because i couldn’t find problem solving or it was to difficult to dig deep and spend to much time to find information and it still may not work.
I understand your difficulties. Sometimes these components don't work and you have to return or exchange the product. Good luck.
Ur right 👍. Not hobby.
Thanks for your comment.
What does it mean when the low voltage light is flashing?
It means the battery is low. Thanks for your comment.
Plenty worthwhile info. but a little hard to follow being a novice. Switching back and forth from controller to battery to rant and back to controller made it hard to maintain focus on controller info without flipping back and fort to pick up the thread. Seems to me it would have been helpful if you presented all the controller info as a continuous thread and the battery caveats separately, and the utilitarian uses anecdotes separately. Thanks for the info.
Thank you for the constructive criticism. These comment help my channel.
I'm using in power port for charging. The red light does not flicker when I put it into the power port. The yellow light does not come on when I connect it to the solar panel. Is the unit not good?
Is it charging the battery?
with the regulator could you leave it hooked up with long periods of time with out taking it off sow it keep charging it when you using the battery on a trailer
Yes. You may leave the controller hooked up. I would check it occasional. Thanks for your comment
I got similar, but made by DAIDA, 30w panal , so I take it the black box is max 30w, now what about out put, is that 30w,
The charge controller will handle up to 100 watts. Thanks for your comment.
Why does the red light stay on
The red light on normally means you don't have a good connection to the battery. Thanks for your comment
I have the 1.5 Watt Thunderbolt solar battery charger that comes with its own solar panel. I recently purchased a 12V DC mini heater. If I connect this to the "load" wiring on the solar regulator, will it run my heater?
I don't know how many watts the mini heater uses. But I don't think that small 1.5 watts will do the job. Thanks for your comment
I have been using one of these charge regulators w/100w solar panel to charge my battery for the last 9 months without issue. Recently, however, I have started having a problem where when I hook up the panel to the charge regulator the green and yellow lights both start blinking very rapidly at the same time. What does that mean? Is the charge regulator bad? Thinking that might be the case, I bought a new charge regulator and it did that the first time I hooked it up....
Occasionally both my lights will blink when the battery is actually charged so I would suggest when the light start blinking check the battery and see if it's charged. If it's not charged then there may actually be something wrong with the charge controller. Thanks for your comment.
Most people do not have lead acids, most have Lithium Ions now or LiFeP04 chemistry batteries and have for a while, you're 5 years behind (at the time of this video)
My experience is that most folks still have wet lead acid batteries.
Thank you for your comment.
I have both. Lead for daytime and Lithium for night
I don't know much about these panels but I have two together on the tag it says 53watts 3.5 amp -3.05 class c 21.7 volts --- 17.4 volts 5 amp My question is do I time's this by 2 because there are two panels and if so looks like I would be at 106 watt would this controller work for me??
This controller is only rated for 100 watts. So I would not use it. Thanks for your comment.
My green and yellow light are flashing when hooking it up. What does that mean?
It's charged
When you use the cigarette adapter does it charge the battery thats connected to car through that adapter
You can use a solar panel through a charge controller through a cigarette lighter to charge your vehicle battery.
Thank you for your comment.
So I just bought one hooked it up and no lights flash I have two solar panels hooked to it
Connect the battery first then the solar panels. Once it's connected correctly the yellow light in the center should come on and show that the battery is charging. Thanks for your comment.
Mine worked but I had to un hook it to run the wires now it won’t work any ideas?
Not really. I unhook and rewire mine and it still works
Thanks for your comment
@@shoestringprep I think I may have hooked it up backwards
i am charging a 12v./7.5 ah sealed battery do you think that regulator would work for me?
Yes, I think it would work fine
Thanks for your comment
@@shoestringprep thanx shoesstring from a newbe
Can I use a 100 watt controller with a 25 panel
Yes, you sure can. Thanks for your comment.
I'm running my swamp cooler on this
Sounds great. Thanks for your comment.
Yeah shoe string I've got the solar charge regulator and I also have the charge controller and the solar panels hook to the charge controller so do I still hook the solar panels to the regulator or do I hook the regulator to the charge controller any information you have would be helpful
You can connect the solar panels to either the solar regulator or the solar charge controller either one will work perfectly fine. Thanks for your comment.
After it turns green, can you leave it and let it and let it maintain charged for months?
I do and it works fine. Thanks for your comment.
I just plug mine and the yellow light and the green are flashing , any thoughts , thank you
I have never seen or heard of the controller doing that. I will look into it. Thanks for your comment.
do i have to set it because im looking for 1 that i dont have to set because i dont understand?
This charge controller does not have to be programed just plug and play. Thanks for your comment.
The green light on my regulator it don't blink it don't come on , not sure why. It's stills charges my battery.
I won't have no load coming out of my regulator and green light still won't come on or blink , got another battery still the same result.
The green light comes on after the battery is fully charged. Thanks for the comment.
@@shoestringprep Thank you for your reply back.
@@shoestringprep hello new subscriber to your channel. I have a question on the green high voltage light, when it turn light on,do you have to unplug unit from battery or is it okay to just leave it alone. It's not going to blow up battery or anything? Is it
@@artistbihart1202 welcome new subscriber. You can leave the controller hooked up the green light means it has stopped charging. Thanks for your comment.
Why would the directions say to "immediately disconnect solar panel from charge regulator" if the over-charge protection light comes on, when battery is fully charged? That defeats the purpose of keeping the battery charged. And now I'm concerned it is causing overvoltage on the Load wires with the solar panel charging the battery...? Any insight would be much appreciated. Subscribing
After is charged you disconnected the charge controller
I do, but it is not necessary to diconnect it. Thanks for your comment.
Do I have to disconnect regulator after charged
No, you don't have to disconnect it. Thanks for your comment.
Thanks Shoestring awesome so I can leave it overnight too
So I can leave it overnight too
@@artgarcia3531 yes you can. Thanks for your comment.
Yeah if you would have you need to show us our own meter on the batteries and let us know that it's charging properly yeah you could have showed us with an old meter instead of a battery gauge to let us know if the system is working properly
Thanks for the tip and the comment.
How much product s. Thanks.
It cost about $76 here is a link : www.harborfreight.com/30-amp-solar-charge-controller-68738.html. Thanks for your comment.
The regulator is about $20 here is the link: www.harborfreight.com/7-amp-solar-charge-regulator-96728.html
How long does it take to charge a 12v?
The answer to your question depends on one the size of the battery you're trying to charge and to how many watts solar panel is putting into the battery. Thanks for your comment.
What was the third wire out the regulator for?
The third wire will run a load directly from the charge controller. I don't use this function. Thanks for your comment.
Is there a reason you don’t use the third load wire? My father tried to connect it to a bulb and it was smoking so we disconnected.
Are the harbor freight 35ah solar batteries any good?
The batteries have worked very well. Thanks for your comment.
Yes!! They are great and work very well!
I have 10 of them!
shoestring how many amps is it charging the battery with???
Good question. I should find that out
Thanks for your comment
@@shoestringprep it would make a video you think
@@moosiem60 I agree. Thanks for your comment.
I believe it's 6.5A
If panel puts out 100 watts, divide by the charging volts, depending on amount of sunlight, equals charging amps. Mine puts out 5 to 6 amps at mid day max.
Simple but doesn’t work on my 6v battery
No, it will not. You would need at least a 12v. Thanks for your comment.
I love their solar panels but not a big fan of those chargers.
They are cheap, that is true. Thanks for your comment.
Thank you sir for doing all the research and spending your money🤑 for us to learn something here today 🫡👍🤙
Thanks for your comment.
Thank you, useful info.
Welcome, thanks for your comment.