Beware Chinese charge controllers

[windtrader]

Just put a 2000 cfm fan 12 volt (88 bucks)on my genset radiator (in front) for heat issues and it's drawing 15 amps and will blow you down. Clear that bus out in a second or two.

Yo, just make sure your fans don't draw more than the genny puts out. LOL

[J_E]

Some CPU fans are unidirectional. That surprised me but I've got some that are and some that aren't.

The multi charge controllers were to supply batteries for different uses. One was to have run my CPU fans. The other was to charge a DIY power bank I was going to build to recharge USB devices such as phone, tablet etc.

Ideally both sets of solar cells will be linked but linking will have to wait until winter when it's safe to get under the bus again. I've already been bitten by one black widow under there this summer.


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I guess some of the more modern fans that allow the computer to determine fan rpm might be more prone to being polarity sensitive.  A cheap wally world digital multimeter would be a good way to verify swapped polarities.  We may use $500 Flukes at work, but my $20 Radioshack meter is nearly bullet proof for anything I would typically do at home and it's at least 15 years old.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007Z6TCJ2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1  Talstar Pro, this stuff is for real. It says that it is a termiticide, but it doesn't care whether the bug are termites or not.  Black Widows and Brown Recluses will just be a bad memory after you use this stuff. 1 oz per gallon, this stuff will last you quite a while.  Two applications a couple of weeks apart were all it took for about a year's worth of protection.

Two independent controllers for independent cells makes much more sense.  If you wire the solar panels into one circuit, I don't know if you could run two controllers in parallel for two different loads.  I wonder if you could put the controllers in a series.  Wire the cpu fan system normally, but wire the input for the second controller to the output of the first controller.  Basically the cpu fans and the second controller would be in a parallel circuit.  Then you should be able to set the second controller to only charge your power bank after the cpu fan batteries are fully charged and you have sunlight, i.e. give yourself a relatively high minimum voltage before it will charge the power bank.  That should be able to keep you from draining your ventilation batteries to charge the power bank batteries.

Also, you should be able to source used car batteries from the junk yard for pretty cheap.  Also you can usually get one for a good price from someone parting out a car since they don't have a need and not everyone knows where to take it to be recycled.  The last time I bought a car battery, the core charge was only $10, so if someone would have offered me a $20 bill I would have said yes without hesitation.  I'm mentioning this because it would be an inexpensive way to add capacity to your battery bank.  Battery might not start a car anymore, but it will still spin the crap out of a computer fan or bilge blower.  We used a "dead" car battery, car radio and a couple of old door speakers for a garage "sound system" for years. We built it from junk stacked up on shelves and would periodically charge the battery, but never had a complaint except about the channels that were sometimes picked.

[muldoonman]

Yo, just make sure your fans don't draw more than the genny puts out. LOL

15 amps is the fan draw.  My gen set is a 15 KW Wrico powered by a 4 cylinder Diesel Kubota.. Got it covered. 

[Zephod]

I guess some of the more modern fans that allow the computer to determine fan rpm might be more prone to being polarity sensitive.  A cheap wally world digital multimeter would be a good way to verify swapped polarities.  We may use $500 Flukes at work, but my $20 Radioshack meter is nearly bullet proof for anything I would typically do at home and it's at least 15 years old.

I just never thought to check polarity. I followed the + is red, - is black and black to black, red to red wiring system.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007Z6TCJ2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1  Talstar Pro, this stuff is for real. It says that it is a termiticide, but it doesn't care whether the bug are termites or not.  Black Widows and Brown Recluses will just be a bad memory after you use this stuff. 1 oz per gallon, this stuff will last you quite a while.  Two applications a couple of weeks apart were all it took for about a year's worth of protection.

That only gets those in the vicinity right then. I'm parked on sandy soil close to trees and waste ground. I can see 5 species of ant including crazy ants, fire ants, the big red and black ants etc. I have everything here including squirrel and feral cats.

Two independent controllers for independent cells makes much more sense.  If you wire the solar panels into one circuit, I don't know if you could run two controllers in parallel for two different loads.  I wonder if you could put the controllers in a series.  Wire the cpu fan system normally, but wire the input for the second controller to the output of the first controller.  Basically the cpu fans and the second controller would be in a parallel circuit.  Then you should be able to set the second controller to only charge your power bank after the cpu fan batteries are fully charged and you have sunlight, i.e. give yourself a relatively high minimum voltage before it will charge the power bank.  That should be able to keep you from draining your ventilation batteries to charge the power bank batteries.

I was finding they were interfering with each other. I cut down to just one controller per circuit. I cut out my intended USB power bank. At the moment I'm going simple.

Also, you should be able to source used car batteries from the junk yard for pretty cheap.  Also you can usually get one for a good price from someone parting out a car since they don't have a need and not everyone knows where to take it to be recycled.  The last time I bought a car battery, the core charge was only $10, so if someone would have offered me a $20 bill I would have said yes without hesitation.  I'm mentioning this because it would be an inexpensive way to add capacity to your battery bank.  Battery might not start a car anymore, but it will still spin the crap out of a computer fan or bilge blower.  We used a "dead" car battery, car radio and a couple of old door speakers for a garage "sound system" for years. We built it from junk stacked up on shelves and would periodically charge the battery, but never had a complaint except about the channels that were sometimes picked.

I have a Harbor Freight 35AH battery on standby. I'll just have to measure between the C section ribs to make a frame to bolt to the C section ribs. I'll build a skeleton housing for it and once the connections are attached I'll simply spray insulation over the contacts - no need for any special compartment.


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