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groingo
Member
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# Posted: 13 Sep 2023 19:21 - Edited by: groingo
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Have the EPever Tracer 30 amp 12 volt charge controller but blew both 30 amp fuses, problem is these are not pin or blade fuses, have contacted EPever several times and they just play dumb, have tried harware, auto parts, Ebay, Amazon and nothing, problem is the PINS or BLADES are built into the circut board, anyone have any spares or sources, have gone back to my old PWM controller which is working surprisingly well especially with Lithium batteries, if I can find fuses great if not I will scrap it, Spoke to Renogy today and they too do not have replaceable fuses in their charge controllers, makes no sense to me.
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spencerin
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# Posted: 13 Sep 2023 21:42
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Do you know how to search for matching images in Google? I would upload that pic into Google and see what comes up.....
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groingo
Member
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# Posted: 13 Sep 2023 22:17 - Edited by: groingo
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Did it, the one it came up with had pins and was much smaller and just a lot of green stuff totally unrelated.
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travellerw
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# Posted: 13 Sep 2023 22:56 - Edited by: travellerw
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Ok.. Wait my Epevers had standard blade fuses (soldered in).. Without the blade contacts, how does that fuse even connect to the board?
Please show a pic of the top of that fuse...
I think that is a standard automotive blade fuse and you left the legs soldered to the board (yes they are soldered in). You require a good 40W iron to remove them (and some skill to not kill the board by lifting tracks). Also a solder sucker makes it easier, but not essential if you know how to unsolder things.
If you grabbed it with pliers and yanked it out, then the legs are still there in the board.
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FishHog
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# Posted: 14 Sep 2023 07:17
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My Epever40 blew fuses this summer. They are standard blade fuses and I'm betting your blades are still in the board as they are soldered in. I bought 2 40amp fuse holders with wires. Soldered those wires to the existing blades that are still in the board, and just routed them outside of the case. Had to trim a bit of plastic on the sides for the wires to come out of the case.
What your pic is showing is a standard blade fuse with the blades pulled out. They are still soldered into the board.
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toyota_mdt_tech
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# Posted: 14 Sep 2023 09:55
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Solder in a plug in set up on the board, make it easier to service next time. Chose a nice simple low cost, easy to obtain fuse size.
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gcrank1
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# Posted: 14 Sep 2023 10:00
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Before going to too much trouble....why did they blow?
You may want to do a simple jumper wire to new fuses set up to make sure the thing even functions?
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Brettny
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# Posted: 14 Sep 2023 16:32
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You dont use a external fuse on the charging side of the CC?
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ICC
Member
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# Posted: 14 Sep 2023 21:13 - Edited by: ICC
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I use external breakers on both the input and output sides of every charge controller. I have only had equipment failures or a charge controller breaker trip or fail because of lightning strikes.
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groingo
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# Posted: 30 Sep 2023 18:43
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I went back to my old PWM controller, never used it with Lithium batteries, set it up and working great, better that it ever did with floodeds...Epever has been retired!
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travellerw
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# Posted: 30 Sep 2023 19:05
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Never been a huge fan of Epever... but you are missing out with a PWM controller. MPPT is a serious upgrade.
You can't go wrong with Victron. Yup, costs a little more but they really are quality and do work well.
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ICC
Member
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# Posted: 30 Sep 2023 19:32
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@. travellerw 
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FishHog
Member
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# Posted: 1 Oct 2023 08:29
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I’ve got 2 epevers and while I admit they aren’t victron they are also 1/2 price. The fuse replacement in my epever wasn’t a hard job if you can solder
One thing I won’t ever do is go back to pwm
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gcrank1
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# Posted: 1 Oct 2023 20:06
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My understanding is that an MPPT is a PWM until the array starts kicking, then its well worthwhile. On small/limited scale the PWM may about as good?
I know this has been beat around over at diysolarforum.com
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Brettny
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# Posted: 2 Oct 2023 09:37
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My EPever has been going year round for about 2yrs now. All through snowy winters too. When I fully build a permanent system with 2x more pannels than l have now I'm just going to get a second EPever BN series. The one with only a external screen.
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travellerw
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# Posted: 2 Oct 2023 18:25 - Edited by: travellerw
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Quoting: Brettny My EPever has been going year round for about 2yrs now. All through snowy winters too. When I fully build a permanent system with 2x more pannels than l have now I'm just going to get a second EPever BN series. The one with only a external screen.
I've post in the past about the poor performance of the EPEVER algorithm. You can google it. There is actually a good video by an Australian bloke where he shows the issue (I posted it here before). The issue has been verified in the latest firmwares. Essentially the controller gets lost and goes into hunt mode searching for the MPP, while doing that its essentially acting as a PWN controller. Its really painful on cloudy days where the controller is constantly adjusting based on shade.
Even more than theory, I have spreadsheet from the 5 years on my boat (2 with EPEVER and 3 with Victron). You can literally see when I switched and how much more energy I captured in matching months (i.e. August with EPEVER, then August with Victron.
Of course, you can always throw more panels to overcome it. Might actually be a wash in costs if its a big system. Not really an option on a boat with limited space
Quoting: gcrank1 My understanding is that an MPPT is a PWM until the array starts kicking, then its well worthwhile. On small/limited scale the PWM may about as good?
This is kinda true. If you have a small system with old 12-16V panels and are charging a 12V battery bank, then yup no real advantage to MPPT. Even if you have modern panels, but a small system, then it may not make sense. Even on PWM your panels could be producing more than you can use (why spend more money when you don't need to).
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Brettny
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# Posted: 2 Oct 2023 19:07
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Quoting: travellerw Of course, you can always throw more panels to overcome it. Might actually be a wash in costs if its a big system. Not really an option on a boat with limited space
I paid 32c a watt for pannels and can buy 2x epever CC for the cost of one victron. I have plenty of roof space, pannels are cheap and we are doing good with just 700w of shaded pannels now. I plan to double the pannels and add 1 more CC.
I can wee wanting the best of the best when space is limited but on a weekend cabin with ample roof space I just dont see the payback.
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travellerw
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# Posted: 2 Oct 2023 23:33
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Quoting: Brettny I can wee wanting the best of the best when space is limited but on a weekend cabin with ample roof space I just dont see the payback.
Yup.. %100.. If you have unlimited space and buying panels cheap it probably doesn't make sense..
However, I have been trying another "off-brand" unit this last year. It was actually cheaper than EPEVER, and seems to be performing very close to a Victron. It was a made in India unit. I will see if I can dig up the details. Someone might want to try it and see if they get similar results.
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gcrank1
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# Posted: 3 Oct 2023 09:27
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Im interested, Trav 
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travellerw
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# Posted: 3 Oct 2023 19:15
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Do a search for Solafans on Amazon. The big advantage (other than performance) is they do 12, 24,36 and 48V in the same device (it autosenses)
The bad.. Its big and ugly. Also the interface is clunky and poorly documented.
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Steve_S
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# Posted: 4 Oct 2023 05:13
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Solafans is interesting. Made in Guangzhou China.
https://www.amazon.ca/stores/page/936FA454-1921-4D20-A093-6F062E40BAF3
They have a mix of SCC's, some with autosense, others not and even some high voltage ones. Nothing indicated for any form of compliance certifications.
Personally... I wouldn't spend on them, they are an unknown. Who knows, they may be good.
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travellerw
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# Posted: 4 Oct 2023 19:34
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Quoting: Steve_S Personally... I wouldn't spend on them, they are an unknown. Who knows, they may be good.
Mine had a "Made in India" sticker on it. Maybe they were first done in China and some in India.
Personally, I would rather spend less on a more capable unit that may work, then more on a unit proven to be crap.
Of course if I didn't want to mess around and only "cry once" I would just buy a Victron. But since its land based and not my income source anymore, I'm ok messing around.
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groingo
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# Posted: 9 Nov 2023 19:47
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Well, my PWM replacement for the EPEVER on my small 600 watt system has continually been out performing the EPEVER mainly when it comes to sundown, parasitic draw on the EPEVER can reduce full charge by 1/3 overnight where the PWM has shown zero charge loss.
The other thing that has greatly improved the power production overall is the Lithium batteries which can pull in a lot more charge from the panels in a fraction of the time, this has been the biggest eye opener.
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Nobadays
Member
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# Posted: 9 Nov 2023 21:53
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I guess I wasn't aware that charge controllers would have a parasitic draw. I also use an Epever on my shop system, I thought my overnight drop was attributed to the inverter, maybe both?
I recently took my Chinese 2000watt inverter out and installed a Victron 1200. I know the Victron has way less parasitic draw. My main reason was that now I can adjust the inverter shutdown/reconnect voltages.
Might be an argument to go ahead and get the Victron SCC I have my eye on!
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travellerw
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# Posted: 9 Nov 2023 22:40
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Quoting: Nobadays I also use an Epever on my shop system, I thought my overnight drop was attributed to the inverter, maybe both?
The Epever has other issues too. Its algorithm struggles with anything but perfect conditions. Just very slow to find the MPPT.
In really challenging conditions (i.e. lots of fluffy clouds) it really falls down. Some times rebooting and not putting power in for like 2-3 minutes, then struggling to find MPPT and putting just a little in after the reboot.
You will be shocked at how much more power you have if you do switch to a Victron (or other quality unit).
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Nobadays
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# Posted: 10 Nov 2023 09:32
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I'm convinced! And since Victron just lowered prices I was able to get the 150/35 off Amazon for $184.00, regularly $300.00.
I'm hoping these changes, Victron inverter and SCC, will help keep my shop system up and running all winter.... this will keep Starlink up and give me access to my security camera. I know snow will block the panels now and again but as long as the inverter wakes up when power is restored I should be fine. My testing of the inverter.... drawing the batteries down until the inverter shut off, then charging back up. It shut off at my set voltage then woke up when it reached the voltage I set for wake up. Did this 3 times and was not disappointed. Pretty impressed with Victron equipment!
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Steve_S
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# Posted: 10 Nov 2023 09:56
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You will see a heck of a lot more generation from the Victron MPPT than most any other. They have MPPT nailed down really well.
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Brettny
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# Posted: 10 Nov 2023 10:10
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Quoting: Nobadays I'm convinced! And since Victron just lowered prices I was able to get the 150/35 off Amazon for $184.00, regularly $300.00. I'm hoping these changes, Victron inverter and SCC, will help keep my shop system up and running all winter.... this will keep Starlink up and give me access to my security camera. I know snow will block the panels now and again but as long as the inverter wakes up when power is restored I should be fine. My testing of the inverter.... drawing the batteries down until the inverter shut off, then charging back up. It shut off at my set voltage then woke up when it reached the voltage I set for wake up. Did this 3 times and was not disappointed. Pretty impressed with Victron equipment
Do you have any vertical pannels for when theres snow?
My EPever CC has kept my system fully charged all winter, I have one 235w vertical pannel. The other two would be covered in snow. Although I dont have a draw on the system when I'm not there. Maybe you need to re aim your pannels first before throwing money at a CC?
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Nobadays
Member
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# Posted: 10 Nov 2023 11:12 - Edited by: Nobadays
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Quoting: Steve_S You will see a heck of a lot more generation from the Victron MPPT than most any other. They have MPPT nailed down really well.
Sweet! The Epever has seemed to been an "OK" SCC for the price, but has limited programming capabilities. The inability to set it exactly as I'd like has always bothered me. I'm pretty sure I will see even better power generation and I love the fact Victron equipment is pretty much infinitely programmable!
Quoting: Brettny Maybe you need to re aim your pannels first before throwing money at a CC?
I'm not quite sure why you feel buying quality equipment is "throwing money"?? I see it as an upgrade to the cheap Chinese equipment I've been using for three years.
Travellerw has pointed out some downfalls to the Epever charge controllers.... without even mentioning the fact that programming it is not possible without also purchasing the MT50 remote display, and then you are very limited to what you can adjust.
I'm glad you are happy with yours, I'm not.
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Brettny
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# Posted: 10 Nov 2023 17:25
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Because your trying to fix a specific problem. Upgrading to a victron CC isnt going to make the snow covered pannels produce power. Unless I'm missing something.
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