The EPSolar EPEver Tracer A Series after Nine Months of Use - 12v Solar Shed

After nine months of using the EPEver Tracer A Series MPPT Solar Charge Controller I've a few frequently asked questions and niggles which need to be mentioned.
Original Review Video: • MPPT Charge Controller...
MT50 Review Video: • EPSolar MT50 Remote Me...
eBox Wifi Review Part 1: • EPEver eBox-Wifi-01 RS...
eBox Wifi Review Part 2: • Hacked EPEver Wifi to ...
Make your own communication cable for £1: • EPSolar Solar Station ...
Items used in this video:
❗️These links are affiliated and I may earn a small commission if you purchase❗️
EPEver Tracer A Series MPPT SCC: ebay.us/JmMI0W
EPEver MT50 Remote Meter: ebay.us/ABIEMq
EPEver eBox-Wifi-01: ebay.us/tdT1Qo
EPEver Solar Station Monitor Software (Rar File): admw.uk/jB
Or support me on Patreon! / adamwelch

[@eternitywithjesus777]

Wonderfully put together and very understandable for a beginner like me who bought this controller. Thank you!

[@peterkeppie1447]

Hi Adam, I just subscribed to your channel and would like to congratulate you and thank you for your great videos. I have been watching them for the last six months and have learnt a lot about solar panels, charging 18650s and many other tips and tricks. I have even gone ahead and built your battery pack and set up the solar charging system. It works like a treat. Thanks, again keep up the great work. I am looking forward to many more videos to come.

[@AdamWelchUK]

+Peter Keppie That is great to hear, thank you Peter. Really glad you've found them useful.

[@wolfwood7920]

your 1st video encourage me to buy this product. after using it for 2 months, i have the same observation on the battery status at the LCD display. thank you for the update. now i know that there is nothing wrong in my unit.

[@voneschenbachmusic]

Thanks - it's great to see the actual data.

[@javierpallalorden]

Nice follow-up video Adam, thanks!

[@AdamWelchUK]

+Javier Palla Lorden Glad you liked it. Not easy doing solar videos in February :-)

[@johndonhowe5050]

Another terrific, informative and entertaining review. Thanks for the update.

[@9k2uu]

Utter thanks Adam for the great & informative reviews. I'm going to order the 40 amp's version. I live in Kuwait and sunlight is abandoned here year round.

[@wopsterke]

You are the only one i found that explained the battery indicator. I thought mine was broken. Glad to hear its ok! Good vid. Cheers

[@AdamWelchUK]

It's a bit funny isn't it. Glad to have been of help.

[@seminolerick6845]

Am just getting started & amazed at how overwhelming all the details can get. I JUST got the 60A model... the “load” ports are gone ! Best info I can find is that you put the load directly on the battery... I have several home projects going on, so this is a low priority... i.e. I can glean others experience & hints on using the new 60A model to be cautious in hooking all up. Thanx for your vids !

[@simonsimple1398]

G,day mate! your review of this unit sold me on the extra control unit the info the MT50 provides ,is a must have as we are totally solar powered onboard our yacht we can see our power demand just by turning on the equipment ie radar 18amps TV 2.5amps fridge 4.5amps etc etc can't blame the kids anymore for watching to much TV thanks Simon SV Elcho Australia

[@AdamWelchUK]

+Simon simple Great to hear its working well for you. Thanks for letting me know. Cheers.

[@paulterry1921]

hi adam am a fellow englishman in perth Australia. I have been recently. .bigging you up ...as it were ...on a caravaning forum downunder ... so you will no doubt be inundated with questions from camping mad aussies. i have got the tracer a2210 and epever wifi in the van...keeping the wifi off the home network is a bonus for using it in the field...so far ....cheers from a lancastrian

[@SouthCoastMudlarks]

Hi Adam. Thanks for the great videos you fim. I enjoy your channel immensely. I've just bought this same controller thanks to your reviews and i'm going to run it with a 24v 250watt single panel on my motorhome.

[@AdamWelchUK]

Cheers - I hope it serves you well.

[@robbance7960]

Hi Adam I purchased a 30A version of this unit after seeing your original video. I have running a 250W 24v panel on the roof of my 7M motorhome (horizontal) across a 100ah agm deep cycle battery.This has proved adequate to power the Waeco 136L compressor fridg even when parked for several days with no engine charge. I observed the problem with the indicator early on but it does not worry me. My main criticism is that it interferes with the FM radio of the vehicle, proved by disabling the solar at the appropriate time. Incidentally I have seen a charge of 14A (on a low battery) in mid march in Tasmania just recently. Very happy! Thanks for the 2xgreat videos Rob

[@AdamWelchUK]

+Rob Bance Your welcome Rob and thanks for the feedback. I guess the mosfets are switching at a similar frequency to the FM bands you're listening to. Perhaps you could try some ferrite rings on the inputs and outputs to see if this improves things?

[@pioneerpete8170]

How’s the charge controller holding up?

[@Truckersvinet]

actully the best youtube tester on this EPEver!

[@ChrisDIYerOklahoma]

Excellent information...thank you for sharing this. Yes, I have noticed the same thing with these EPEver Tracers. In the AM (or on cloudy days)...it really holds the panel volts down. Compared to my Midnite Solar Classics...their MPPT PV volts stay high during similar light conditions. Not complaining tho...when the MPPT function does kick in on these Tracers, it does a great job. I need to buy one of those blue WIFI dongle deals.

[@donaldsmith3048]

Wire your panels in series you will get much more from them. They will start charging sooner and the MPPT charger will start doing it's magic sooner! But it looks like it is filling your batteries fast enough.

[@toms4123]

Very informative, thank you (bought after watching your videos)

[@AdamWelchUK]

+Tom S Glad to be of help, cheers

[@Redsammeh]

I'd like to thank you for the videos! Very informative

[@0069yj]

I have look at the Epever spec. Its Mppt min Vbatt +2 Volt and Mppt max 72 V. And Voc max is 100v. Meaning if your have 12v batt connected to charger, The charger mppt window is 14 to 72 Volt. Than you have to look at your PV module specification, make sure your PV Vmax output voltage dont fall below 14V. Mppt min. Most PV module design has Vmax around 12-13volt and Voc around 18Volt For this particular PV module. The maximum number of modules connected in series per string is 4, giving the room for voltage variation due to the highest and lowest ambient at site that affecting PV cell working efficiency. Temperature inversely correlated with voltage. By doing this, the PV output voltage will never go below minimum MPPT even the temp go higher.

[@DarrenCharron]

Awesome thank you, you answered my question I am going to go ahead and buy one.

[@charlieoscar09]

Great video Adam....very well explained.I really like the monitoring software that you get for these.

[@billywhizzy]

www.epsolarpv.com/en/index.php/Technical/download

[@mikocadet9867]

double thumb up ! , excellent review . great way to monitor the efficiency of the whole setup

[@bill84345]

Great video!!!! As I understand you it is a very good controller for the money and with your displayed analysis if you were going to recommend a LITTLE BETTER VALUE what controller would you recommend?

[@digitalizations]

Love your videos Adam... Thank you

[@AdamWelchUK]

+digitalizations Thank you.

[@lars-sorensen]

Adam, thank you so much for this video and even more for your initial introduction to this solar charger. I bought it shortly after seeing the first video of it and I am liking it very much. I am quite sure that it is the best bang for the buck within solar chargers in this price range. The only thing I need now is for it being able to upload all the data available to an mqtt-service or the like - preferably via an arduino/esp8266 wifi solution. So if anyone out there know of such a solution, please come forward! 😃

[@AdamWelchUK]

I don't know much about MQTT - I'll have to read up. Cheers.

[@raisagorbachov]

Interesting as always. I did see another video in which a guy complained his epever went up in flames.

[@arieloxford6790]

Thank you for such a detailed and considered series of videos on this (plus the one on hacking the wifi unit!). As a result of your efforts here, I too have decided that the price-to-performance/features ratio makes it a good buy and have just ordered the 40A model after watching your videos. I think your approach is excellent and gave me the confidence to buy blind. Thanks.

[@AdamWelchUK]

Glad to hear it. I hope you read the description on the wifi unit video? The units being sold now aren't able to be modified. I'm a bit disappointed with EPSolar for changing that - the wifi unit seems so much less useful without that mod. I do plan to create a video soon however about alternatives.

[@arieloxford6790]

Adam Welch actually, I didn't read that bit before and have consequently received one that won't allow station mode to be enabled. I'm sure it is possible to root the unit as I'm guessing it's an embedded Linux system. No idea how to get in and open the necessary ports though... My biggest issue is how to configure the unit for my setup. I have 10 Alcad Nickel Cadmium cells in series and a panel that produces 35v. Each cell's charging voltage should be 1.5 - 1.6v/cell. So, 15 - 16v in total. Also, I really don't understand the Load output! Am I supposed to connect all loads to it, including inverter or doesn't it matter? At the moment, I'm just using the connections off the battery and the unit as a charger. If anyone can point me in the direction of where I can find all this out, I'd really appreciate it. X

[@AdamWelchUK]

+Ariel Oxford sorry to hear you didn’t know that before purchasing. Hopefully further down the line you can find a back door. You probably want to set your absorb voltage (which EPEver refer to as boost voltage) to 16v then your float to 15. Or you could try to be more conservative. And cut half a volt or more off those. As for the load no you aren’t forced to connect everything to it and when talking about inverters I’d say definitely don’t connect it. The load output is most often used for Lights - the output can be controlled by times after dusk and before dawn. There is also the advantage that you can set undervolt thresholds to prevent your battery from being discharged too much. But as long as you manage your battery well that shouldn’t be an issue.

[@alexandreesquenet3736]

I see the same at my side with the 40A tracer A, The panels has to provide more than 10W or so before the tracking starts.

[@timothy790110]

Glad I found your channel! I have the 4215bn with mt50, and whenever I connect my solar panels in series (2x100w), it will display the accumulated voltage for a few seconds (40w) under the pv icon, then it will go down to between 13-20v, immediately, even if the weather hasn't changed (no clouds and fulll sunlight). Does yours stay up at higher voltages for more than a few seconds?

[@ThroughOurLensPodcast]

Does the rated current apply to the load terminal as well, or just the PV/battery terminals

[@Jadinandrews]

Hi Adam, thanks for the video! I'm considering the 40a model to use in a PV water heater set up in my flat, with a 24v 900w element attached to the load terminals, in line with a thermostat to heat the water to around 65c during the day. It seems the only way to get 24v output from the load terminals is to attach a 24v battery set up to the system. I like the idea of being able to set the load to power on an hour or two before and after sunlight, and the charge controller should prevent the batteries from discharging to low levels. Your thoughts? PS: With regards to the pwm/mppt switching, I noticed on the datasheet that the mppt range is from +2v vbat on the panels to ~90v. I think that would explain why the different models appear to switch to mppt at different wattage's. Kind regards

[@teckrasun7948]

After watching your first review I just bought the 20 amp version although mine is called "Photonic Universe 20A MPPT solar charge controller" Just sticker change. My concern is the buzz from the first video saying how good the guts of this unit is and claiming it's a true MTTP, to now comparing it at times to a PWM makes me wonder have I wasted 100 pound?? it will arrive tomorrow and I was planning to put it on my boat and take a cheap china MTTP 30 amp controller off the boat and use that in my camper van project that I am working on now. Is this a decent MTTP unit or not?

[@djvaliro]

hello adam. thx for he video. its good to know more about his product. i have a 4210a also for more than six months now and can confirm that below 0.4A from the panels side the controller stays at 15V in mppt ... never saw pwm, even i have tryied to test. i assume a firmware bug or pwm is not even there. when i turn off the panels and back on the voltage goes up to arround 60V and conversion is more effecient therefore more current to the batteries -- if current is constant it will stay on, if not it will go back down to 15V. i have to mention that my panels are in shadow so getting power only from reflection .. during day i get almost 1A from 2x 240w mono. soon i have to move them. i too can say its not bad value for the money. im using the web interface and added more parameterrs like temperatures - this way its easy to troubleshoot. i hope this helps anyone. i can provide some trending also if necessary. Cheers.

[@ejbh3160]

Hi Adam, thanks for these videos they are very useful for setting up my own solar shed. I have a shed that has an East/West roof and I was wondering if it was necessary to get 2 of these at 20amps or if one at 40amps would be okay, as I want to put 2x260W panels up there - there's a couple of compact 100W on each side now but there's room for the 260Ws as well (which would be 720W total at 24v)... and I have no idea if there would be any issues to look out for if two charge controllers are being used (like needing a reverse current diode or some such)? Also see there's a new variety of MPPT charge controllers on eBay called the eSmart 3 series MPPT Solar charge controller and this claims to be 12/24/36/48v (auto recognising) and comes in 40 or 60amp versions and also has a wifi RS485 dongle add-on. Don't suppose you could review one or know of issues already?

[@wickedgqpatrol]

I have the rebranded version of this MPPT controller sold thru Jaycar as Powertech brand. I have had it for about 3 weeks and have found it to be excellent. Also wondered about the lower PV output charge rates. But under 10W wont harm me as I have a 230W array. A note that I think newer versions of the screen (or Australian version) are backlit. Though I find the display a little hard to read when looking from above the screen. But a great review and now Im going to order the WiFi controller. Thanks

[@richardwayne1990]

think I'm going to buy one of these have a PWM cheap China controller on 3 damaged 255watt solar panels so be nice to see what this can make out of it. compared to other ones the price these sell at you can't expect perfection, and the battery icon seems to be a common thing maybe it gets confused on a full 14.4v charging current if it was only set up to show 13.3v as full

[@StigNordlander]

Hi. Thanks for the interesting Videos, I'v just installed 400W solar panels on my RV and a Tracer 4210A. I'd like to save my data for a later day and I just wondered, did you ever create that data logger using an Arduino or a Raspberry you talked about in one of your videos? Cheers.

[@bangkokhomes]

Good video Adam.

[@DarrenCharron]

Awesome video I do have one question though Does the EPSolar mppt have firmware updates through the cat 5 cable or through wireless. They might be able to correct some of the on board issues.

[@AdamWelchUK]

+Darren Charron I'm afraid EPEver haven't publically released any firmware upgrades for this range to my knowledge. I'm not sure it could be done through the RS485 port even if they did though. The iTracer and eTracer products can be upgraded but I think that's via RS232 or USB - but I could be wrong. Cheers

[@DarrenCharron]

Thanks Adam I am just trying to figure out what is best for me I live in Manitoba Canada and we get some cold winters here and sometimes not a whole lot of sun in the winters. I think I might go with the system you have just going to do a little more research first.

[@Arnthorg]

I'm sure you could rig something up using that voltage source and a .1% or better resistor.

[@stevem3534]

Great videos would like to ask a question , want to use tracer as follows solar in , middle terminals to a battery to use on Cpap machine, and tracer load to motorhome system solar input , do you think this could be done? Thanks

[@TheAzimvs]

Hi Adam! Tnx for sharing this video and was really helpful for me to choose an mppt. I got one questhion if you can help. Can i fully charge a bosh silver calcium battery(s5)? if yes what setting can I use. tnx

[@paweldun]

in those Epever regulators I have noticed that the battery stripes indicator doesn´t show the real state of it. it is good to know that it is an issue of this gear and not a problem with my batteries :)

[@Roman4x4]

Thanks for the video Adam! I have a question - I have two 12V batteries in series, so 24V system. And 8 x 100W Monocrystalline panels, each max output 19.2V and 5,2A. I have connected solar panels in 4 pack in series. Each pack has 38,4V and 5,2A. I have 4 packs so 38,4V and 20,8A. It is all good in theory, but in winter the solar panels do not give much voltage, so my question is: will it help if I make a switch for winter and summer use. In summer 4 packs 38,4V and 20,8A and in winter 2 packs 76,8V and 10,4A. Theoretically it should be more voltage in winter from panels and the charger can work in MPPT mode and not in PWM mode. What you think about it? Thanks!

[@rvprepperwayne]

How does this one compare to the black and yellow china one you replaced this one for? I have the black and yellow CC and am thinking of upgrading to the epever 20a one. Maybe a video comparing the 2?

[@AdamWelchUK]

+rvprepperwayne Efficiency wise I couldn't split the two. There tracking of the Eco-Worthy might be a bit faster. It's the comm port which make the tracer better value for me. Being able to monitor, log and adjust parameters remotely is excellent. I wouldn't go back now.

[@jimconnelly8759]

just waiting on mine now

[@carloscorrea8118]

Hi Adam! I've one 320Wp solar panel with a 230 Ah battery, but is in a remote place, without phone service and even electrical grid in Mexico. So I want to "monitor" the system by tracking the generation and load charge during a period. Do you know if there's a way to do this? maybe with the solarMT50? Thank you so much for your videos!

[@michaelputz4694]

I realize this is an old post but just wanted to comment that the EPEVER brand (that also made the Outback model) used to compare was a lesser model? The Outback used an EPEVER Tracer 4215BN 150 VOC model & the EPEVER used a Tracer 4210AN 100 VOC model. So basically you were comparing a Tracer 4215BN vs a Tracer 4210AN, two different models. Had you used the same models for comparison you'd fine the EPEVER a much better performer & value. I'm very happy with the EPEVER products having used 6 of them for various projects now and the Customer support was responsive to my email requests. Aside from that appreciate the your tests and look forward to watching others. :-)

[@CriftinsCampers]

Adam I have been monitoring my 3210 for some time and I am now convinced it does not actually charge batteries fully. The manufacturers PDF says it has three stage charging but I see no evidence of that happening with mine. Have you been able to monitor what it actually does over a period of time? Have you seen any evidence it is providing the bulk and absorption stages, essential to fully charge a battery? It seems to do nothing more than use the crude Boost setting which is set to a user determined voltage and time frame, default being 2 hours it then seem to switch to Float irrespective of SOC. Or am I missing something?

[@kokwahtan200]

Hi Adam, I have 5 solar panels each at 100 watts (18 volt). I am going to connect them all in parallel to charge my 12 volt battery banks (4 x 165 ah). I have purchase two unit Epever Tracer 4210 AN (40A). My question here is can I use 2 units Tracer AN to charge my battery bank together with the 1st Tracer AN will be connect to 2 x 100w solar panels and the 2nd Tracer An will be connected to 3 X 100w solar panels. I feel using both to charge might keep the Tracer to operate at a lower amp and thereby cooler and they might last longer. What your view. Much appreciated.

[@garyenwards1608]

i have a 4210A and i know that by default its programmed to equalize the battery's on the 28th of each month. Is there a way to deactivate this?

[@jeroneguinn707]

hello adam. Based on your reviews I purchased the epever mppt controller. It is 30 amp model. I installed it and it appeared to work, however, the PV voltage registered 14.0v. I disconnected the pv and measured it at 18.3 volts. i have it connected to a 4 unit bank of pV'S. EACH IS 90 watts for total of 360 watts. The battery registered 12.9 volts and charge current of 13.2 amps. this is almost exactly what the pwm unit I replaced it with was doing. I am in central texas and it is a 99 degree day. i INSTALLED it and took measurements at about 2 pm. The measurements were made about 3 minutes after hooking it up. I came in and found this video and ceased to panic as much.You mentioned it would take a while for the mppt to kick in. What do you think the while should be. The small manual doesn't give hints and the website was of no help. Thanks in advance for your comments.

[@mirriulahwaterdog]

Gday mate... I'm still finding my feet with my off grid solar system. I have this controller (40amp) and recently was gifted 12 x 175w x 24v panels. Can you tell me how to calculate how many panels this controller will handle. Currently I'm running 3 x 85ah x 12v batteries in parallel off 3 x 185w panels and victron 15amp controller.

[@roycewoodhouse4028]

How do I raise the voltage output level to suit lithium which need up to 14.9 volts

[@hazal199]

hi, :) what cable do you use with em? we have 20m 4mm2 mc4 cables but it says we need to use 16mm2 on the manual? theres 4mm2 cables coming out of the solar and we also bought triple Y MC4 4mm2 cables to connect our three panels in parallel, so which bit needs to be 16mm2? also, does this have an automatic low voltage cut off? TIA

[@greekbluealexandris]

which solar charger to choose, pwm or mppt for my 12 volt battery with 2 solar panels of 180w each?

[@HelderNevesHelderNeves]

Is it worth it to get an MPPT on a solar panel 40W (max output 2,6amp)? Small setup I know, but I have 4 batteries (300+ amp) charging from a PWM and I dont have space for more panels, so I am considering upgrading the charge controller to a MPPT. Makes sense?

[@BenMitro]

I've got three panels @ 975W (325W each) - do you think I can use 3 of these controllers charging the same 210AH 12V AGM battery Adam, or is there a better, more cost effective solution?

[@HC4L666]

Adam, ive bought the 2210 version, and the cc-usb-rs485-150u cable, but it doenst work... what software have you installed ? and where i get it ? Kind Regarts

[@Beako157]

Have heard about the Epever UPower Series -Inverter/charger? Looking for someone who has reviewed them. I enjoy watching your reviews, maybe someday you can look into these.

[@adrahc]

Hi Adam,all new to this,thinking of putting a 100w panel on my 814 truck and wondered is it worth putting an mppt controller over a pwm on the system,probably going for a 115 ah max battery...it's mainly for lights and might get an inverter [there's another minefield] for powering the odd smallish watt power tool..never seen so much to choose from..head spinning lol!

[@AdamWelchUK]

The million dollar question! With no straight answer I'm afraid. In my situation I tend to use my power at night with lights and experiments in the shed of an evening. My batteries are full by the time I get home and that's great. I use an MPPT solar charge controller but to be honest my midweek use I could just use a PWM. It would take a little longer in the mornings to charge up my battery bank but I wouldn't care because I'd be at work. On a weekend however I can use my power more in the day. If I turn my inverter on that starts to put a decent load on my battery bank. It's at this point where getting the few extra watts is helpful - and MPPT will kick in and get the most it can from the panels. Finally as we see in this video MPPT can be of little advantage in the dark winter days. Inverter wise I'd probably be looking at pure sine wave if you're looking to run power tools (unless it's to charge their batteries). Modified sine wave is less efficient and generally works best on things that have DC converters in them. Minefield or exciting competitive market? You choose!

[@dh2rl]

Hi Adam, your videos are great! I'm running a offgrid system with 3 epever 20 Amps. Do you know, it is possible to connect all the data of the 3 controller on one software Application? Best regards Hans

[@AdamWelchUK]

You could have all three setup in Solar Station monitor but I believe it only monitors one at a time. To monitor more you might need to look at other control software that uses the MODBUS protocol. There are quite a few ones - many open source and therefore free, but I don't have any experience with any of them I'm afraid.

[@williambrooks7658]

hi adam thanks for video did you test the chinese circuit breaicer thank you

[@donaldsmith3048]

You need to rewire your panels to get higher voltage to the controller! The best part about the MPPT controller is that it will take the higher voltage. Most of them will take 100 volts in. You have a MPPT controller but you are wiring it like a PWM! Rewire your panels to get 30 something volts at peek and on bad days you should still have enough volts to charge the battery some!

[@RaviKumar-uy8ss]

How many wattage solar panel we can connect on this and does it support current up to 40 amps or 30 amps..?? kindly reply my thanks is already reserved for you

[@melanciaacrobatica5928]

also you can set the backlight time etc etc etc..

[@davidtomlinson1428]

Hey Adam, Lexpee says his 30 Amp model switches from PWM to MPPT around 24W, while your 20 Amp does it around 10W -- so I wonder if the 10 Amp model switches at a lower value? I've only got a 100W panel, so I'd like it to go to MPPT as low as possible...

[@AdamWelchUK]

Could do I guess. Sadly I haven't one to test and show you.

[@hutchy9114]

Have you had any issues with your e-box-wifi disconnecting from your network?

[@melanciaacrobatica5928]

the battery icon info: its just about voltages confs you can do with the data cable wifi btooth cable... if you set its as low voltage as 10.5 or 11, recover ar 12.5 12.8 12.5 it changes it.. at least on mine... ( if you set maximum at 15v.. then it will have this issues)

[@kostyantynpivnenko4188]

Very informative series of videos Adam, thank you for that! I'm looking into upgrading my off-grid system and a new controller (40A for 4x140W panels) would come in handy. I just got slightly confused by the Voltage values you have mentioned, it looks like you are charging a 12v battery, but your PV voltage is around 35 V. How is that possible?

[@kostyantynpivnenko4188]

Just realised there is a DC-DC converstion in this charge controller. This is an incredible feature, as I can wire my panels in series producing some 80 (open circuit) voltage. This reduces voltage drop and cable size substantially. Just ordered one. Looking forward!

[@AdamWelchUK]

Glad you worked it out - yes that is one of the key features of a MPPT solar charge controller, the fact that your solar panel voltage can be quite a distance away from your battery voltage. The DC2DC conversion seems pretty efficient on the EPEver units. I hope you enjoy your purchase! :-)

[@Stoffe46]

Thanks I look at that.

[@itoffice]

Question: Could the few bars, despite it being fully charged, actually being an indication of SOH, alias state of health, of the battery?....

[@fishhuntadventure]

What I think is funny is I’ve been running one of these for a few months now and I always check battery voltage but I never noticed the ‘battery full’ meter LOL

[@Farmer2492]

Hi Great video would you recommend the EPever, i can buy a EPever tracer solar controller with the MT50 its just on brand new he wants $170 we are in Australia, what i have is a 300 watt fixed solar panel and 2 x 100ah AGM batteries would a 30amp or 40 amp be better as the one for sale is a 40 amp thank you

[@immrnoidall]

mine seems to be using 5 watts and 0.2 amps when nothing is on and no solar input. is this normal? by morning ,I've lost volts.

[@jregamey]

I got the 40amp unit. Into 24 volts. Input is just over 70 volts. 4 panels 310 watts 2 groups. It charges for a bit then stops. Sometimes it comes back working sometimes not. Having it replaced with different unit

[@mellee3436]

Hi Adam. Do you know if there is a way of remotely ( ie away from home) monitoring the performance of the controller/ebox01 combination by linking the ebox 01 in with your home wifi ?

[@NoName-sx4cz]

you could remote desktop into the computer connected to the controller. Basically controlling/viewing the computer from a remote connection.

[@mbsbusiness1]

Thanks for the great work. After watching the tracer information I bought tracer a 30 amp model quite happy with it. I have installed this on my caravan coupled with 250w panel with 2 x 100 amp gel battery. My biggest questions is formally before the install I was manually charging with a 240v dc charger. Or it was charging via car when it was hooked up to the car via trailer cable. Do I need to disconnect the solar system when the caravan is connected to the car as it will supply 12v to a system that is already being charged with solar. Double charging? Is it safe and possible?

[@AdamWelchUK]

It's fine to leave it connected. It may add some charge to the system, but it will be controlled by the battery voltage. The charge controller can handle a 24 volt battery system remember. If your car is charging the battery to say 14 volts the solar charge controller wont be harmed. If the car is charging the battery higher than the soalr charge would normally it will just stop charging the battery from solar. So nothing to worry about. Cheers

[@mbsbusiness1]

Adam Welch thanks for the reply. Awesome I was a bit worried

[@kennethbannockburn1129]

I've been using the 40A unit all winter, It's connected to 600W of panels wired in series for 90V+ for transmission. I've found it's worked really well. It does take some time to "settle down" when if first gets sun in the morning. On cold winter days with snow on the ground, i'm hitting well over 90% efficiency of the panel max rating. Very very impressed. My only gripe is when I apply a large load say (1500W electric heater), It hunts like crazy and then voltage drops to near nothing and it reboots. This may be my lead acid's on the way out though.

[@AdamWelchUK]

Are you pulling that load directly from the battery? I had one comment in the past suggesting they were having issues with an inverter connected straight to the load output of the epever. For me, the load output is for 'light' loads - in both senses of the word. My tracer has definitely not rebooted once. If you know it's quirks it works well. Cheers

[@baricdondarion6228]

I have used the Tracer RN, A and BN series and all of the tracer do the crazy hunt and reboot when sudden huge load is applied on the battery. The A tracer seem handle it better though. In all I find the tracer to be a bit slow when it comes to tracking MPPT especially at early morn

[@kennethbannockburn1129]

Charge controller is wired to the batteries. The inverter is wired "straight" from the battery to the AC panel. Have a maxwell super caps set (16V nominal) wired in parallel to the battery to help with startup load. Inverter is an xantrex 3000Watt unit. I've found with loads at 300W or under, it's completely fine. It's just odd as my old pwm setup never behaved this way with the same loads.

[@matthyson]

Great video Adam. Just wondering if you've run longer term test on the 'cheap' MPPT Controllers that you initially busted as only doing PWM. Given this Tracer clearly does MPPT, but the graphs show it's slower to track at lower voltage, is it possible some of the cheap ones had the same issues and only switched to MPPT at much higher voltages than you were testing at the time?

[@AdamWelchUK]

Good question. I've been running the first version of the UEIUA CPY-2410 on a small lead acid battery and a 50 watt panel for a few months. However if you've been following along, it's being sold with a very different circuit board inside which doesn't work nearly as well. I've also run the CPT-LA10 for a while with decent results. But both of those I confirmed were MPPT. I'm pretty sure the ones I have said weren't MPPT truly aren't MPPT, but no, I haven't put them through longer length tests in case they suddenly spring into MPPT. But there is a chance I guess.

[@matthyson]

Really appreciate the quick response. I have been following along and saw the UEIUA ones where they changed out the circuit boards. I guess the one I was most interested in was the IP68 rated one that you tested and it appeared to only do PWM. I've been looking high and low for an IP65 or higher rated MPPT Controller for use on a boat but haven't had much luck finding one. There are a couple of cheap Chinese versions like you tested, but now I'm quite skeptical. If you've come across any water resistant MPPT Controllers in your solar adventures; I'd love if you could share/recommend one!

[@Ohm7111]

Any ideas why this controller will not charge if battery is below 10.7V? I set all low voltage values to 9V, but still will not charge under 10.7V. If battery voltage is lower I have to connect external charger and charge it little bit. When battery voltage is above 10.7V epever starts charging from solar. I am using 3S lithium battery.

[@TheAzimvs]

Hi Adam! Could you please make a video regarding charging lithium ion batteries with epever mppt charge controller. And please test 3s and 4s battery configuration with proper bms and is it making any difference by using 24 or 12 volt configuration. I really like your videos, it's clear speach and understandable. Tnx

[@ClickinChicken]

It works my wiring.

[@mimic58]

is it normal for the unit to stop charging if the battery disconnects then reconnects ? if i switch my batteries off & back on again charging doesn't restart automatically, i have to totally disconnect the controller from the PV & batteries , then reconnect batteries first , then pv second , but if i just disconnect the PV its happy to resume charging

[@opera5714]

This confirms my suspicion that many MPPT controllers suck. I see a lot of strange things happen at low light levels. I had to build a circuit that disconnects the panel when the voltage drops way down. After this automatic circuit reconnects the panel, the panel voltage goes up to a normal MPPT value and watts increase 40%. With a scope, I don't see any attempts to track. Everyone has their sunny day videos and they don't (or can't) show what happens going in and out of clouds. I suspect the actual efficiency of MPPT controllers is far worse than people imagine.

[@donaldsmith3048]

Is your panels connected in series? With 2 or 3 solar panels in series you can get the voltage up with less sun light to start charging with less light. But must make sure that the voltage at higher output doesn't go higher than the voltage that is the controller can take.

[@thunderhand66]

my epever shows no input from solar panel , even in bright direct sunlight?? a different controller with leds shows its getting input from solar panel... some setting on the epever is not correct i assume... any advice ??/

[@bardlarsendevik6940]

Hi Adam. Thx for good reviews and learnings videos. Do you know if you can connect two Epever (40A) in parallel, to a 24v battery pack? I have a 1000w solar system, but I wanna expand to 2000w.

[@AdamWelchUK]

Yes this is possible. Ensure they’re both on the same settings and it should work well. They want synchronise, but they should work well in tandem.

[@bardlarsendevik6940]

Thanks. I'll tell you how it works, when i have innstalled it. :-)

[@jamesthomas7928]

Just recently fitted one with an MT50 controller which came as standard. Hooked it up to new Chin's lithium batteries and I keep the MT50 permanently hooked to the main controller. My big beef is that the solar panel and battery terminals on the MPPT are too small and limit considerably the wire size I would like to use to the feed the batteries. The new MP50 comes with a lithium pre-set into the system which makes the farce of digging through the USER setting unnecessary. I am a sailor and so I set-up and forget my solar system which is frankly the way it should work. Nice video for nerds though

[@craigsudlow787]

Cheers adam

[@perthshortstays6075]

Thanks Adam. Love your videos. I have this MPPT CC too and I'm also a stats geek, but I can't download any data. When I go to download the data after selecting a date range all I get is a CSV file with column headers but no data. Also when I go to just read the data file nothing happens. Seems like no data is being stored. Any ideas here?? I just upgraded from V1.8 to V1.91 but same deal. Thanks again

[@AdamWelchUK]

Hi Gavin and thanks for the kind comments. The Tracer A series does not store any historical data (except for some accumulated stats - total energy generated for example) the data I showed in this video were screen shots taken on the day when those events happened. I had the solar station monitor running 24/7 for a number of weeks to gather that data. Now you can grab an eLog01 which plugs into the comms port (but still allows you to plug your pc in or an MT50) I’ve done two videos on that. It’s only about £10 or $14 on eBay so if you’re into your stats that might be the way to go. Alternatively there are other ways to log and display the data (not to give too much away but I plan to do a video on this soon) but they all get a bit more involved and take a bit of setting up. Some of the other charge controllers do have memory built in which is why you can see the option in the software. Hope that helps.

[@perthshortstays6075]

Excellent, thanks very much Adam. I have just ordered an eLog01 and was very happy to see that you can piggy back another device off it as I just received today my [USR-WIFI232-604] RS485 WIFI Converter/ Serial to WIFI adapter after recently seeing your post on that (but they didn't include any instructions grrr)

[@badkeene]

Great video , I do have a question : how do you recommand connecting a (150watts) inverter , straight to the battery or hook it up on the Charge controller ?

[@AdamWelchUK]

+steven keene I'd always recommend connecting to the battery directly with as short a leads as possible - even on little inverters.

[@badkeene]

thanks , i will hook it up straight to the battery then :)

[@vueport99]

Hi Adam Thanks for sharing your insights! Would you say it's necessary to add a Capacity Controller to this MPPT when using 18650 battery bank? In your other video with PWM controller you noted the charger doesn't turn off once battery voltage is achieved. Thanks again.

[@AdamWelchUK]

I'd suggest you generally need a battery management system (BMS) on most lithium packs. The capacity controller is surprisingly good - but it can only really cope with small packs. I use it to keep all the different cell groups in balance with each other to ensure none of them charge or discharge unevenly. Yes the Tracer A can handle lithium packs quite well - you can do what I've done with my PWM charge controller and simply set it to Gel Battery mode - or you can fiddle with all the charging parameters to suit your needs. Now the reason why I think these lead acid charge controllers work so well with lithium is because I charge during the day and discharge at night. If you're drawing from your batteries in the day time regularly then it might not work as well as the float charge cycle will come into play. Doing this every so often probably wont make much difference though. Check out Colin Hickeys channel for the exact setup you are looking at - tracer A MPPT and a 7S lithium pack. It was running very well until he had trouble with cold weather and poor sun level.

[@vueport99]

Thanks for your reply Adam. I was all set to get the PWM setup you had until I looked at your MPPT video and decided hey, why waste all that power? But then I also liked your idea of using the Capacity Controller to shut down the packs at full charge rather than trickle charge the lithium to death. Thanks for pointing me to Colin's setup. His capacity charger appears to be for checking only and not connected to the 7s as you had done in your other video. I guess it appears I will need the CC in order to avoid trickle charge then? Keep up the great work!

[@AdamWelchUK]

Sorry I think my comments (and possibly the video) has confused things a little. The capacity controller ensures that the groups of cells stay in balance. It places a resister over the highest group of cells to bring it back down to somewhere close to the average. The undervoltage protection is done by the charge controller. Both the PWM and MPPT charge controllers will shut off the load output if the voltage of the battery as a whole drops to a dangerous level. The capacity checker does help with the trickle charge - it uses up some of the energy and will reduce the charge going into the battery as a whole. However the lead acid charge controllers have a three stage cycle. Bulk, absorb and float. Bulk is like a typical constant current lithium charging cycle, and absorb is like a typical lithium constant voltage cycle. Float is the trickle which many people (including me) like to avoid on lithium batteries. Now the float voltage level is always set lower than the absorb. The voltage of lead acid batteries naturally falls back a little when they are taken off charge - the float charge is set somewhere between the absorb level and it's normal resting voltage. Lithium cells don't fall back like lead acid do - or at least not to the same sort of level, so the float charge never kicks in - the batteries don't fall to that level. That's why I think the lead acid charge controllers work better than the ones sold as lithium chargers (or at least the cheap ones) because they float or trickle at a much higher level. So the combination of a capacity controller to keep the groups even, the under voltage protection of the charge controller and the fact that a lead acid charge controller uses a three stage charging cycle rather than a two stage makes the whole system work. Or at least it does for me! Cheers

[@vueport99]

As I'm progressing in my build .. it dawned on me that you're using multiple panels. To test the water so to speak, I'm starting with only 1 x 100W panel. Will the MPPT step up voltage for use in a 7s Lithium setup or will I need to get another panel? Thanks so much for your help!

[@AdamWelchUK]

+Joseph Choy You'll probably need another panel - it depends on the panels output voltage. This MPPT controller (as with nearly every other one) needs the panel voltage to be higher than the battery voltage.

[@0069yj]

Most likely due Solar module Vmax and Vmmpt max mismatch... Module output voltage outside Mppt voltage range cannot be converted to power.

[@michaelb2388]

12.9v after the sun's gone down isn't necessarily fully charged because there may be quite a bit of surface charge on the battery plates (assuming they're not gel, AGM, etc). If you put a small load on the batteries after charging for 5 mins and then switch the load off you'll get a better idea of SoC from the voltage

[@grantlindley2145]

Hi Adam I’ve watched all you reviews on the MPPT controllers. I’m in the middle of purchasing everything for solar for my caravan. I’m wondering want is your recommendation out of them all you’ve tested? Not bothered about been able to get graphs or anything.

[@AdamWelchUK]

I’m guessing you’re happy to spend a bit of money to get it right because you’ll be living off grid for periods of time? If so the lowest I would recommend is the EPEver Tracer A series. I tend to review the cheapest out there and the tracer is probably the most expensive one I’ve bought, but I’ve used it for over a year now with no issues other than the ones mentioned here. Victron energy might be another option, but I haven’t used their kit personally.

[@grantlindley2145]

Adam Welch thank you adam. I thought this. Am I ok to order from China and safe a few quid or is the uk models any different? I’m guessing they all get made there.

[@fazimabdool6437]

@@AdamWelchUK great videos , they are very informative ..I have an issue that others have mentioned also , it's the tracer 4215 bn , I live in a sunny country and almost everyday it's sunny early in the morning with my panels facing the direction of the sun , the tracer only of recent started to keep it's input voltage almost at battery voltage and would climb slowly for hours , as soon as I disconnect and reconnect the panels it jumps all the way to 40v and does it's job correctly , I have 400 watts of panels in series .. btw this is not an everyday issue but I hate having to disconnect for it to do the job it's supposed to do , any advise on how to fix this ? As I said I never did this till now and I've had it four months with the same weather and sunlight ..

[@saileshchand9521]

my gel battery shows full bars when its charging, but as soon as the sun goes off, my epever shows only 3 bars and 12.8v. Why it doesnt stay at 5 bars?

[@davide3464]

hi! Thanks for your videos! I need a controller that at dusk turns on the lights of my driveway automatically. Does this controller have this feature? I used an epsolar tracer but now it does not work anymore and I have to change it.

[@AdamWelchUK]

Yes it can come on after dark for a set amount of hours.

[@dimmaz88]

Hi Adam, I wonder if you could help? I have one of these for my campervan, the 40 amp model. The problem I've noticed, is that it supplies whatever voltage it's charging at to the appliances. Yesterday it was doing an equalize charge at about 16v, surely that's not good to be supplying 12v appliances? I'm not sure how to solve this. thanks, Scott

[@AdamWelchUK]

+dimmaz88 Most automobile electronics have quite a wide tolerance for voltages. They can typically be used between 11.5 and 14.6 volts as the starter motor starts the engine and then the alternator charges the battery back up. The charge controller shouldn't be taking your battery up to 16 volts though. The standard equalisation charge is normally 14.4 or 14.6 volts. There are two possibilities other then it is faulty. Either your charge controller has had its parameters set via an external device to allow a equalisation charge or the charge controller has been slow to react to a change in the power coming into the system and this has briefly allowed the battery to go that high.

[@dimmaz88]

Adam Welch thanks Adam, I've set the equalize voltage as per the battery data sheet, they're Trojan T105s. I suppose I just need to check the max voltage my appliances can handle ☺

[@okolepuka808]

So the WIFI will connect with the PC software, not just Android? Have you used the Bluetooth version, and will that work similarly? Also, I will be using just a 30w PV panel to start, will this unit's MPPT function/DC to DC efficiency be OK, or is the wattage too low to track properly? Thanks for the videos!

[@AdamWelchUK]

The eBox wifi can be used with the PC software or the android app - but only one at a time. Sadly the hack I found has been written out of the software in the latest devices. You have to connect to the eBox like you do an access point - but obviously it doesn't provide internet access so you get cut off from the outside world while you are monitoring your charge controller. I haven't used the bluetooth version but to be honest I now think that version is more useful because you can be connected to it, and your normal wifi connection at the same time. The controller will probably track reasonably well but the losses in conversion and the extra power it takes to run the controller compared to a very basic and low energy PWM solar charge controller probably diminish the advantage of MPPT on such a small panel.

[@okolepuka808]

Thanks for your reply and videos.