Solar regulator help req'd

DITTO
However I would not have said it's a compromise, the Steca is a quality German made product that is not complicated and works as you expect it to.

I use them and I would have bought a PL20 if I could have been convinced it was superior in some way, after all it's Aussie made.

Check my "Members Profile" for some pics on their clarity of appearance.

think you're a bit out with your prices mate.

The 1515 is $225 and the 2020 $275 - you might get a 1010 for around the $170 mark. Still, looks a good unit. Will have to see which model.

Spot on Steve. Mine is a 1010 which I got for that price. Sorry to mislead you.

Cheers,

Matt.

Nice set up Mainey,

How have you wired up the volt amp metres?

Pete

Pete,
The Volt meter is wired (+) to (+) on first AGM DC battery and the (-) to the (-) on the other AGM DC battery, thus forming a complete circuit, the two AGM’s are wired in parallel with 32 mil sq battery cable.

The Amp meter is wired ‘in-line’ between the (+) terminal of one AGM and the (+) Power lug in the Steca Solar reg.
The Amp meter shows instantaneously all Amps going in (or) out of the AGM battery system via the Solar reg. (not alternator)

With this method, if the fridge is running, and vehicle is parked in an underground car park (Eg. no sun at all) the Amp gauge shows (-)8 or thereabouts is being drawn from the AGM battery system by the fridge, however if in full sun, the Amp gauge will show about +2 Amps is charging the ~13v AGM battery, with the fridge running, depending on the conditions, (assuming 10 Amps is being produced by the solar system, it will produce ~12 Amps laying horizontal in good conditions) as shown in one of the pics on the ‘home page’ that way it can be seen the battery is always receiving a charge from the Solar system during the day and only draining the fully charged battery system at night down to ~12.7v early in the morning before the sun starts to recharge the system again.

Thanks,

My system is a bit more rudimentary. I have 2 x 12V 36AH Gell cells in a home made wooden box with a PL20 controller. Let into the side of the box are a "solar in" socket, 2 merit and an anderson plug 12V outs, and a trailer socket for when we are bush camping in the Jayco.

We use 2 x 50W Solarex panels on heavy cable so we can leave the box near the fridge in the shade and move the panels around to catch the sun.

It works for us and gives us lights and the Waeco CF50 for about a week if the solar weather is OK. If it looks dodgey we top up with a pure sine wave genny through CTEK charger with the fridge on 240V.

The solar side was all done on the cheap with only the cable plugs and controller new. Battereis are ex Gofer (but load tested OK) $20 each. One panel from Ebay, one free from a mate. Total cost $450.

Even the fridge was second hand!

Cheers

Pete

Mike, do you know the jaycar model number ??
Does the Jaycar model have PWM charging ?

Yup. All is revealed here:
Site Link

Sorry, I'll try again.
Site Link

Mike,
it does look ok for the money.

The one that Mike gave the link for is the same one linked to in the original post. You can thus purchase it in Oz without postage problems and easy access for warranty.

You possibly will not be able to rely on the charge level read out on this controller - generally they do not make allowance for Peukert's constant.

PeterD

Peukert's constant? Blloody hell - I've heard of constant puking but I think I'm out of my depth here.

Sorry to lower the tone but back to the topic: I had also noticed the Steca and have been tempted. I can get this one posted for $109 but am quite happy to pay another $60 if the Steca is better. $320 for a PL20, I thought was a bit steep on top of all the other items on the wish list.

$109??? $170??? $109??? $170??? decisions decisions......

Steve, Do you have an ABN? If so get an Electus account (Jacar's wholesaler). You can buy the Jacar MP3129 for $89.57 + GST + postage.
http://www1.electusdistribution.com.au/index.asp

Marty.

If it's only money you want to save then Jaycar may suffice.

However if you really do want the best available solar technology
look at this link:Steca PR series Regulator

Wonder around their site and you will see they are specialists in quality solar technology, not making elcheapo copies of quality products using inferior technology :-)

The LCD screen is clear and concise and can be easily read from a distance of 3 Mtrs, it's not small, it contains all the information you will ever need to know about your Solar panel performance and also the battery performance too.

I think you may find it can use very thick cable too, some cheaper units are restricted to thin cable size.

thanks Marty. I'l give that a go.

Mainey: I can order a coffee, beer or cheese sandwich in fluent German but this techno stuff is a bit ambitious for me.

Mainey: thanks for that. Saved me a crash course in Deutch. Plenty of info on that site - reassuring and looks a nice unit. Might go for that after I've explored Marty's trade lead.

Steve - re followup 6

These regulators have a level of charge read out. One problem is that batteries need more charge current to recharge them than the amount of current you you have used. The big problem with doing the charge level calculations is that different types of battery need different extra levels of charge for recharging. This difference in the charge to discharge was quantified by a bloke by the name of Peukert in 1897. You can get a simple explanation of his law in this link or another explanation in this link

The cheaper regulators do not have provision for changing this constant for different battery constructions, so you can not rely the readout.

PeterD

Mainey, this discussion has probably come a bit late for me having bought a Steca 2020 but they need to be mounted indoors - like in a caravan or a separate box that provides space of 150mm all around them. Nothing compact about what they provide. I guess it means the Steca is in a secure place where a regulator on the back of a panel means an easy picking potentially. They have a limit of +50 degrees too for operating temperature which means you need to provide shelter as the back of a solar panel could get pretty warm. Some others have an operating temp up to +70 degrees.

John

For best regulation, the regulator should be close to the battery. The small resistance in the long leads does reduce the accuracy of the regulator (unless the regulator has provision for an extra pair of sense wires connected to the battery terminals and these wires are fitted - that is why the sense input terminals are on the regulator.) Also you need ALL of your load to be connected to the load terminal of the regulator if you wish to use the load metering readout.

PeterD

I'm going to the 4wd and camping show in Perth on the weekend so went into Jaycar this morning to look at this low cost alternative reg.

I will definately keep my Steca

Disco Peter, i have now mounted it inside the generator box less than half a metre from the battery with it's own dedicated anderson plug in and a switch before the batteries. I will have a plug to a load I can test occasionally, but really the sophistication of the battery monitoring is already built into the Karavan electronics. This is just additional. I will have a 4m lead in and an extension lead too for occasional use. That will then be good with Anderson plugs to supply things like compressors in future operations.