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DieselDan
8th February 2018, 05:20 PM
Been looking at solar blankets, but cringe at the price of the 'decent' redarc and such brands.
4wdsupacentre have a 120w blanket and Anderson extension lead combo for less than $300.
Now I won't begin to compare it to the redarc, but it seems to be similar to the ridge ryder blanket available in supercheap or autobarn but about 100 bucks less.
Anyone got any experience of the supacentre one??

trout1105
8th February 2018, 07:07 PM
Been looking at solar blankets, but cringe at the price of the 'decent' redarc and such brands.
4wdsupacentre have a 120w blanket and Anderson extension lead combo for less than $300.
Now I won't begin to compare it to the redarc, but it seems to be similar to the ridge ryder blanket available in supercheap or autobarn but about 100 bucks less.
Anyone got any experience of the supacentre one??

I haven't bought one of these solar blankets But I have bought quite a bit of kit from 4WDSupercentre and most of it is a couple of years old now with plenty of use and I haven't had any problems with any of their gear so far.
How much is the 120w blanket?

weeds
8th February 2018, 08:23 PM
Have a mate that brought one a blanket from super cheap auto, he replaced/upgraded the regular and is happy with overall performance.

Robmacca
8th February 2018, 08:27 PM
Been looking at solar blankets, but cringe at the price of the 'decent' redarc and such brands.
4wdsupacentre have a 120w blanket and Anderson extension lead combo for less than $300.
Now I won't begin to compare it to the redarc, but it seems to be similar to the ridge ryder blanket available in supercheap or autobarn but about 100 bucks less.
Anyone got any experience of the supacentre one??

My cousin recently bought one for his mid-size motorhome/campervan and even though he's only had it for a short time, he says it has performed well to date... no complaints

DieselDan
9th February 2018, 07:32 AM
I haven't bought one of these solar blankets But I have bought quite a bit of kit from 4WDSupercentre and most of it is a couple of years old now with plenty of use and I haven't had any problems with any of their gear so far.
How much is the 120w blanket?

Depending on what their deal of the day/freight charges are, the 120w blanket is usually about $270.

DieselDan
9th February 2018, 07:34 AM
Have a mate that brought one a blanket from super cheap auto, he replaced/upgraded the regular and is happy with overall performance.Yeah I've read that the general wisdom is to replace the regulator with an MPPT one.
Funnily enough 4wdsupacentre sell one of those too....!!

DiscoMick
9th February 2018, 09:50 AM
You don't need an MPPT for normal usage. All the regulator does is to limit the maximum current, probably to 10 amps, to prevent overcharging as batteries have a limit to how fast they can be charged.
I'm just using the supplied regulators on three panels for the Defender and camper and they work fine.
I suggest you just try out what is supplied and see how it goes.

trout1105
9th February 2018, 12:36 PM
You don't need an MPPT for normal usage. All the regulator does is to limit the maximum current, probably to 10 amps, to prevent overcharging as batteries have a limit to how fast they can be charged.
I'm just using the supplied regulators on three panels for the Defender and camper and they work fine.
I suggest you just try out what is supplied and see how it goes.

+1
I have been using a 120w and a 160w set of panels with the supplied regulators for the last few years without Any problems.
They haven't overcharged any of my batteries nor have they caused any damage to the various electronics I recharge with them including my laptop, phones and camera.
If you have a Permanent solar supply AND charge off your alternator at the same time ( I don't) I imagine that a MPPT regulator is a great idea but for these fold out panels I don't think it is necessary.

DiscoMick
9th February 2018, 02:17 PM
+1
I have been using a 120w and a 160w set of panels with the supplied regulators for the last few years without Any problems.
They haven't overcharged any of my batteries nor have they caused any damage to the various electronics I recharge with them including my laptop, phones and camera.
If you have a Permanent solar supply AND charge off your alternator at the same time ( I don't) I imagine that a MPPT regulator is a great idea but for these fold out panels I don't think it is necessary.Yes, I agree.
Slow charging achieves a higher state of charge than fast charging. That's why multi-stage chargers start to step down the amount of charge once the battery hits around 80%.
Incidentally, my starting battery gets charge from both the alternator and solar panel on the roof when I am driving in sunlight, but so far it hasn't been an issue. The regulator limits the solar charge to 10 amps anyway, so it's not a massive addition to what comes from the alternator.

bee utey
9th February 2018, 03:12 PM
Yes, I agree.
Slow charging achieves a higher state of charge than fast charging. That's why multi-stage chargers start to step down the amount of charge once the battery hits around 80%.
Incidentally, my starting battery gets charge from both the alternator and solar panel on the roof when I am driving in sunlight, but so far it hasn't been an issue. The regulator limits the solar charge to 10 amps anyway, so it's not a massive addition to what comes from the alternator.

That paragraph shows that you still lack the essential knowledge of how lead acid batteries charge and how regulators work. No matter how many chargers you connect to a battery, the voltage at the terminals of the batteries can't rise above that of the highest regulator voltage setting. Once a single device has brought up the terminal voltage to the maximum allowable, the current into the battery can't increase no matter how many devices you connect.

For example, lets say you have an old truck with a 35 amp alternator, regulated to a maximum 13.8V. Your alternator is flat out pushing 35 amps into a half flat battery and the terminal voltage rises to 12.8V. In this scenario the 10A from a solar panel would indeed add charge, but only until the battery reaches 13.8V or above. Then both the alternator and solar regualtor will reduce the current to stop the voltage climbing any further.

Now take a modern truck with a 130A alternator, regulated to a maximum 14.5V. If your engine is running at a decent speed no matter what the state of charge of the battery is, there will be enough amps flowing into the battery to hit a terminal voltage of 14.5V without fuss. Any other charging device will just shut down and stop delivering current.

DiscoMick
24th April 2018, 01:47 PM
Thanks, I did know that having the solar on the roof wouldn't increase what the alternator was doing when driving, particularly since my Defender's alternator isn't 'smart', but just operates at a fixed rate. However, I didn't say it well. Your explanation did explain it much better than I could have, so thanks for clarifying it.

Robmacca
24th April 2018, 04:25 PM
Re: The Difference between a MPPT and PWM

I might be wrong here but I thought the main difference between the 2 is efficiency. The MPPT is more efficient than the PWM and therefore u would get more out of your solar Panels..... The MPPT is usually more expensive but it may pay for itself over time too through time saved in charging your systems up.....

There is some useful reading here: MPPT vs PWM Solar Controllers (http://www.enerdrive.com.au/mppt-vs-pwm-solar-controllers/)

or this one:
Which solar charge controller: PWM or MPPT? (https://www.victronenergy.com/blog/2014/07/21/which-solar-charge-controller-pwm-or-mppt/)

DiscoMick
24th April 2018, 05:25 PM
I'm not convinced that MPPT controllers have enough advantages to justify the extra cost. My PWM controllers do everything I need.

bee utey
24th April 2018, 06:50 PM
Re: The Difference between a MPPT and PWM

I might be wrong here but I thought the main difference between the 2 is efficiency. The MPPT is more efficient than the PWM and therefore u would get more out of your solar Panels..... The MPPT is usually more expensive but it may pay for itself over time too through time saved in charging your systems up.....

There is some useful reading here: MPPT vs PWM Solar Controllers (http://www.enerdrive.com.au/mppt-vs-pwm-solar-controllers/)

or this one:
Which solar charge controller: PWM or MPPT? (https://www.victronenergy.com/blog/2014/07/21/which-solar-charge-controller-pwm-or-mppt/)

The big difference between the two regulator types is what happens to the input voltage to the regulator. A MPPT controller will allow the panel voltage to climb well above battery voltage, then use a DC-DC converter to take the slightly lower amps and much higher voltage and produce higher amps at the battery charging voltage. This means you can efficiently use 24V panel sets to charge both 12V and 24V batteries as the regular adjusts everything automatically. You can use lighter cabling with two series panels than a parallel pair and lose less power.

PWM regulators are simply wasteful of potential charging power by limiting regulator input voltage to battery voltage plus regulator voltage loss, which is much lower than the rated max power output voltage of the panel.

But if your set up does what you need, it's fine. Wait for a MPPT regulator to turn up on special if you want a few more amps without carrying more panels. [smilebigeye]