NEW BougeRV 40A MPPT Solar Charge Controller w/ChargePro App: In-Depth Review

[@RR-wd1do]

Going to get this one have been binge watching solar setups on what I jokingly call KZbin University. Going to us your discount code and waiting for Prime day on the 12th.Thank u Sr. For the work u put into these videos.

[@gc599]

I just set mine up yesterday and it also reads .1VDC high on the battery voltage. I verified this with a few different batteries (lead acid and a different Lithium) and all read .1VDC high. I have a tech request email in and so we will see what BougeRV says. Like you said voltage is so flat on these LiFePo4 batteries that it would be nice if it could read it accurately. On the plus side it seems like a really well built unit and for the money it can handle way more power than a Victron when comparing Amps/Dollars. As an added bonus, it sure looks nice hanging in my RV bay. I put it through some paces today and so far so good. I am hooked up to 600 watts of panels. And my battery BMS amps matched pretty close to what the controller said. I saw 26 amps max before my batteries hit 100% and stopped taking the juice. I also have the exact same inverter as you, lol. I like it and it has been solid unit. I just wish I could adjust the voltage out as it makes 111 VAC with no load on it and will drop to 107-108 with a 1k to 1.5k load on it.

[@ReeWrayOutdoors]

Nice setup! ;-) I'm curious what they say about the 0.1V differential too. It's not a dealbreaker for me...just seemed odd. And I appreciate your observations as a reality check to mine! At least now I can be certain it's not just my multimeter!

[@gc599]

@@ReeWrayOutdoors So BougeRV got back to me in a timely manner and basically said that the voltage displayed is not adjustable and that .1 VDC error is in line with industry standards for accuracy. Like you said, not a deal breaker so I won't be taking them up on the refund they offered. So far I am impressed by the nice looking "Gold Brick" I was able to connect to it yesterday from 80 ft. away, very impressive considering I was in my house at the time!

[@ReeWrayOutdoors]

@@gc599 thanks for the follow-up on that! I've noticed that I seem to need to be fairly close to the controller to initiate the App connection, but once it's connected, it maintains a connection at a pretty good distance. Is that your observation as well?

[@gc599]

@@ReeWrayOutdoors I have been able to 100% connect from 20 feet and easily from inside the RV, Which is way more than I can say about my old Victron. And agreed that once your connected it stays connected even from a good distance. But like I mentioned I hooked up last night from 80 feet yesterday, which was a mind blower!

[@beldre1]

in my experience they show slightly higher voltage because they have to be slightly higher to charge the battery hooked to it.

[@wjess3569]

Thanks for the video. I'm trying to compare this with the Victron controller. Looking at $$ vs value. Note.. looking at your battery.. I just bought a pair of these from Amazon.. at least I think they are the same battery.. however, mine say LiTime vs Ampere Time. The logos look exactly the same. Unfortunately, the descriptions in the Amazon ad did not give complete information. I wrote the company AFTER the purchase only to find out they are 0.2 or C/2 rated vs 1C batteries.. that's a HUGE difference and won't work well in my van build situation.

[@davidmalik1051]

Excellent video! Your input helped me conclude that this is reasonable unit to purchase. Now my question: How did you connect the ground? Did you do just a chasis ground with the inverter? I will be using it off-grid, but in my backyard shed. Do you have an opinion on creating an earth ground and connecting to the that?

[@ReeWrayOutdoors]

Thanks for the kind words! I didn't bother with ground in this small demo kit, but if you were doing this in a mobile application, you'd want to ground to the vehicle chassis, ideally. In your case, you could just pick-up a cheap ($20) grounding rod off Amazon and stake it outside the shed and just bring the ground wire in with your solar cables and tie all your grounds to that.

[@troyyarbrough]

The FLD setting is for lead acid batteries.

[@alflores4220]

Old fashioned flooded batteries, ah those were the days (bad) constantly having to check the battery to make sure it had a full tank of distilled water. But then again, those expensive Trojans are still very popular for some reason.

[@alflores4220]

I want to insert a breaker switch between to two 200 watt solar panels and the BougeRV 40 amp charge controller, I think that would be a quick and easy way to shut off the panels if you are in a hurry. So what size in amps would you reccomend? I am already using a 50 amp one between the charge controller and the 200Ah LiFePO4 battery.

[@ReeWrayOutdoors]

I think something like this would be perfect for that: amzn.to/40JefwI it's what I'm using as a disconnect for my 800W series connected array.

[@alflores4220]

@@ReeWrayOutdoors How many amps is that?

[@desmondmair9768]

Great review. I bought it. I have 6 x 100W/12v PV solar panels. What would be the best panel setup to connect to this solar charger controller?

[@ReeWrayOutdoors]

I'd say if you don't have to worry about shading on the panels, just keep it simple and connect them up in series and call it a day!

[@kaulsofthewild3083]

Very informative video. I'm currently evaluating 40A MPPT chargers for a new system for my camper trailer. Since my controller will be in my storage area and we boondock quite often it is imperative that the bluetooth app work without an internet connection. Can you confirm if this app does perform without an internet connection? Thanks.

[@ReeWrayOutdoors]

Just tested it. I can confirm that the Charge Pro app does NOT require an internet connection to connect to the charge controller. Hope that helps.

[@kaulsofthewild3083]

@@ReeWrayOutdoors Thanks for confirming that for me.

[@The40th370Z]

Wish there was a way to change the temperature to F in the app.

[@clinteastwood4090]

I have this exact same controller and I put a 100 watt panel on top and I have 3 12 volt batteries in series.. can you help me out with it? Confusing about the charging situation.. seems like it won't fully charge them or it cuts out at a certain point or stops the charging. Obviously I don't hav more power coming to the batteries than the batteries

[@ReeWrayOutdoors]

Yeah, that's the issue...with just a single 100W panel trying to feed a 36v system (3 12 volt batteries in series) that's going to be an issue since its Max Power Vmp is almost certainly

[@andycanfixit]

Question, have you checked the amperage of the battery charging vs what the app says? I did on mine and it appears to be way off, I had 1 amp coming in from panels at 60 volts, yet it claimed it was delivering 4 amps or 193 watts to my batteries, however using a clamp meter on that wire to the batteries showed it was actually only delivering only 1.2 amps to the batteries, with my battery bank at 53 volts. And there doesn't seem to be a calibration section to possibly zero it. So the amperage it's delivering to the batteries appears to be wrong. Perhaps it's correct at a lower system voltage, not sure. Compared to my Victron's those are nearly identical to my amp meter in comparison. Curious what you find. It is well built, but in addition to the voltage being slightly off, it seems like the amperage and thus it's watt hour count is also off at least on mine.

[@ReeWrayOutdoors]

I've not seen that on mine. I did use my clamp several times at the battery lead to compare with what the app was showing and those seemed to line up pretty well for me. I'll have to set it up and check it again to see if it remains consistent...been slowly recovering from covid this week so might be a bit yet before I feel up to it.

[@beldre1]

were you using four batteries or one battery. If you where using for batteries the amps would 1 in your case since its sending 1 amp to each battery.

[@andycanfixit]

@@beldre1 one battery.

[@beldre1]

@@andycanfixit got ya the way you stated battery bank I thought you had more than one battery. I just got one in the mail today today. I will mess around with it cheers

[@jamiecrownover5224]

I have one, no problems that I know of. But it was flashing 87% then 95% often yesterday, why does it flash 2 different SOC ?

[@ReeWrayOutdoors]

One possible reason is that in mixed sun conditions, the battery is alternating states of being charged and not being charged. And the voltage reading whe. It's actively being charged is always a higher voltage than when not...of I'd guess that the SOC value will read higher when actively charging vs not. Just my guess...

[@robwinkler4668]

Thanks for your review, good information. It's close to thanksgiving and BougeRV is offering a discount on this 40A charge controller. I need to know though if it will work to charge my 48v golf cart. I have six 8v batteries of course in series. I believe it will work but I would like confirmation. I asked BougeRV support this question 4 days ago and haven't heard back from them. Would you know if I can charge my golf cart with this charge controller?

[@ReeWrayOutdoors]

Yeah, I think that should work fine - you'd just need to ensure you have the correct battery type (chemistry) selected so it is using the appropriate charging profile.

[@zeeman9145]

so, this solar charger can automatically select battery voltage? say if 2 x 12Volt batteries in are connected in series then it will charge 24 v, if 4 batteries are connected in series then it will charge 48 Volts? I am guessing that total solar panel voltage output should be somewhat greater than the voltage of battery bank?

[@zeeman9145]

is battery bank voltage automatically recognized? If so then as soon as charge controller is connected to battery bank charge controller with automatically switch between 12, 24, 36, and 48volts? If this assumption is correct then solar panel voltage should be recognized in same manner. please clarify this for me. thanks!

[@JonOffgrid]

I wish I could get the app to work

[@DobleWhiteAndStabley]

Im a little annoyed. Bought mine recently, and it gets less than half the wattage as my old "perfect suiter" pwm controller per panels. 600 watts are more like 280 watts with this controller under peak sun hours. Not exactly sure why. Pwm controller pumps out WAY more wattage.

[@ReeWrayOutdoors]

Yeah definitely something amiss there. The MPPT should be doing way better than your PWM.

[@adandridsr]

Can this charge controller be configured for 48 volt lithium batteries?

[@ReeWrayOutdoors]

Yes. It supports 12/24/36/48V configurations.

[@stevedxu]

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?

[@warkenney65]

Make sure you have on the correct battery setting. I don’t have any problems charging my 100ah Chins lithium batteries.

[@beldre1]

set you upper volatage limit in the app it will stop where you tell it to refer to your battery for the type of lifepo your using

[@hssga7444]

Would it be compatible for induction stove?

[@ReeWrayOutdoors]

You'll not want to try and run loads directly off the charge controller...that's the inverter's job. The watt draw on a portable induction stove can vary from around 600W to about 2000W, so you'd want to ensure that your AC inverter choice supports a bit more than your stove is going to draw.

[@hssga7444]

@ReeWrayOutdoors 3000W inverter would be recommended ryt ?

[@taylorbrad111]

Can you change amps to 10?

[@beldre1]

200watts of solar at around 20 volts will be 10 amps

[@beldre1]

ie a 200 watt panell or two 100 watt panels

[@taylorbrad111]

@@beldre1 200

[@Don-lf5dx]

Does anyone know what BST means as a charge stage? Best?

[@beldre1]

boost normally for lead acid you overcharge them for a bit

[@edmallon2851]

if the charge controller doesn't appear on the website....guess who isn't buying it???

[@ReeWrayOutdoors]

Looks like they're updating their website and have managed to screw it up! I was able to find it though by navigating to the Solar Panels page which then had a link to the original solar power page. Anyway, here's a link if you're interested: www.bougerv.com/collections/solar-controller

[@jege41]

@@ReeWrayOutdoors hahaha this contrroller wont caherge your battery to 100%, best it'll do is 91% probably due to safety/warranty concerns. I 'm sure there is a way to reverse engineer it but figuring out the key strokes is anybody's guess

[@stevedxu]

@@jege41 Is there any way to charge the battery to 100% or if any other charge controller can do that?

[@jege41]

@@stevedxu yes this controller is compatible with most different types of batteries, providing you set it up correctly.

[@stevedxu]

@@jege41 I believe all the settings are correct. Have you done a test that using a wall charger to charge the battery after the charge controller claimed full charge on the battery?

[@JC-ip5vv]

I bought the Ampere Time 12V 100Ah battery. But I have no idea what all the settings I should be entering in. Can you do a video on that battery? I bought the battery because I watch your other portable power station for HAM radio videos. CN you do a complete detailed video on how you programmed this Charge controller? The tech support is horrible and the phone number doesn’t work for tech support.

[@ReeWrayOutdoors]

Really, if you're using a LiFePO4 battery like the AmpereTime 12v 100Ah battery, you REALLY only need to set the Battery Type to LI in the Charge Controller App and the presets for that Type are all just fine, and probably MUCH safer than trying to make minor tweaks in the advanced settings which is more likely to just cause you problems. That's basically what I did.

[@jege41]

@@ReeWrayOutdoors like he said but the best your going to get is a 91% charge, which IMO sucks

[@beldre1]

charge it 13.4 volts that is 99 percent

[@melvin5818]

its kind of useless if its calibrated for lead acid battery and a deal breaker for me.