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whats a good inexpensive solar charge controller?


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#1 hpcbmw

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Posted 04 June 2013 - 04:47 AM

I'm going to have an 80 watt and two 15 watt solar panels on my 30' 5th wheel. The RV is boondocked and I only use it on weekends. I've got two 6v deep cycle batteries hooked up together to make one 12v battery ( I can't recall - is that called series or parallel?). Those batteries are getting kind of weak, so I might be replacing them with one 12v deep cycle battery if they don't hold a charge this summer. 

 

What is a good charge controller? All I need is something that will charge the batteries when I'm away all week, without overcharging the batteries. I want something inexpensive, but safe and reliable, since the RV sits empty for weeks at a time. 

 

I got the 80w panel with a used camper I bought, and the two 15w panels are part of a Harbor Freight 45w set. I'm using the third HF 15w panel to keep the single 12v battery maintained on my rarely used FWC. 

 

Is this Sunforce 60031 10a controller a good buy at $33? 

http://www.amazon.co...arge controller

 

 

Thanks for any help!


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1997 4 wheel Camper Granby model on 2000 F250 extended cab 4x4 diesel.

 


#2 ntsqd

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Posted 04 June 2013 - 02:35 PM

Can't keep on the solar stuff (other than to suggest looking up the HandyBob blog and the refs to it here), but the way that I keep it straight is "Series" is one after the other and "parallel" is side by side. So series adds voltage without changing capacity and parallel adds capacity without changing voltage.


Edited by ntsqd, 04 June 2013 - 02:36 PM.

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Thom

Where does that road go?




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