Renogy 50A Dual Input MPPT ongoing charging problem

[LunarPoweredTruck]

This is my first foray into anything electrical so excuse any ignorance.

I have a small system hooked up in my truck centered on the Renogy 50A Dual Input MPPT with a single 100W solar panel and a 100Wh LiFePo4 battery. The system worked flawlessly, keeping the battery full or near full for about a month and then stopped charging. The issue is that when the solar panel is receiving charge from the sun or if the alternator is running, the MPPT will read (bluetooth dongle) that the house battery is full and will never send more than 0.5A of charge to the house battery. Once neither source is sending power, the MPPT will read the correct charge on the house battery. The house battery will never charge and I end up having to top it off via the grid at an RV park or something.

Other thing is that I have brought the issue to Renogy on several occasions. They had me run through some troubleshooting steps and then asked me to send the device in for testing. They determined the unit was in fact faulty and they sent me a new one. This happened twice so now I am on my THIRD unit and am having the same issue. This has me wondering if I am doing anything wrong in my setup or is this Renogy equipment just garbage? Other folks online seem to love the unit. Planning to probably just switch to Victron but really just wish this system worked as advertised.

Any Ideas?

Thanks!

 

[mikefitz]

Any Ideas?

It would be useful the know the charge state of the battery and the voltage of the battery before charging starts. It seems unlikely 3 units would fail, so unless there are connection issues, ( low cost breakers can cause problems), the battery may have developed unbalanced cells that's causing BMS protection and shutting down the charge path.
Have you tried different charge voltages?

 

[LunarPoweredTruck]

Thanks for the response mikefitz

Yes this happens at all voltages, from low to full. No breakers just in line fuses. It seems as if when the MPPT is receiving charge from either the alternator or the solar panel, it must think the flow is coming from the house battery. I really don't know.

I guess second question: Is there any type of shop or business that would be likely willing to look at my setup in person and chat with me? Seems like large solar companies deal with much larger systems and might not want to look at a system so small and these "van life" businesses seem few and far between

 

[ScrotusGobbleBottom]

is this Renogy equipment just garbage

Simple answer: YES
Long answer: Yes, Biggly!

I would guess there is a design flaw.
Seems like you are saying that the charging circuits fight each other and what ever one is on first rules the day. Seems to be no isolation between charging sources.

 

[Stircrazy]

Simple answer: YES
Long answer: Yes, Biggly!

I would guess there is a design flaw.
Seems like you are saying that the charging circuits fight each other and what ever one is on first rules the day. Seems to be no isolation between charging sources.

I wouldn't necessarily call it garbage, is it as good as the blue, I don't think so, but I know about 30 people including myself using Renogy stuff and not one has had an issue, the only place I read about them being garbage or failing is on forums like this and I often wonder if people are getting kick backs from some companies to bash others.. . for my new build I am sticking with them also as they have never let me down yet.

it would be interesting to see how you have set it up. if they found it was defective I could understand that, but three in a row.. usually that is as mentioned a design flaw in which case we would have been hearing a lot more about it, or its something to do with how it is incorporated into the system that isn't compatible.

 

[ScrotusGobbleBottom]

they have never let me down yet.

I have been down the same road you have. For a time I was using Renogy batteries, Renogy inverter/charger, Renogy Core One, Renogy bluetooth adapters and Renogy Solar panels.

Lets see here.
The solar panels are great, Never had a failure or issue in 3 years and counting.

The inverter worked fine. The problem here is it was supposed to work with the Renogy Core One monitor. It didnt, I had it replaced as customer service suggested, 2nd one didnt work either. So poor communication between coding and marketing depts. IT WAS NOT SUPPORTED So I was stuck with the bluetooth adapter. Well, that prove to be the shittiest bluetooth experience I have ever had. Open the app, wait for connection, hit refresh, wait, hit refresh, wait, then it finally connects. I am not kidding you need to refresh it 3-5 times, every time you want to check SOC %. It takes about 2-3 minutes every time! Oh and sometimes I need to unplug and replug the blue tooth adapter to get it to work. Then it slowly loads the info. NOT in real time tho. Gotta go thru the entire process again! Oh and the bluetooth will not work without internet. It makes you log in and get fed ADDS. How wonderful! After you log in you are fine for about 2 months. They then kick you out and you better remember your login password or you are SOL and no SOC% for you!!

The batteries I have dont meet their spec and use the same bluetooth adapter. The battery app goes from 23% to 9% in mere minutes! It doesnt have a clue! ITS A NIGHTMARE
They dont give a voltage read of the second decimal point.
If you know anything about LifePo4 you know there is a lot of energy between 3.39 and 3.30. On the app it will only say 3.3v . How ridiculous. Do they even use this stuff?
The batteries are 15S instead of the industry standard of 16S So that locks me into a crappy 15S ecosystem with no hope of other manufacturers to choose from.
One of the batteries failed in the first year. Renogy customer service was absolutely BRAINNDEAD until I was obviously frustrated. They then sent me to someone that actually knew some things. Eventually the battery was replaced under warranty and they paid for all shipping,

That is my experience.
I should do a screen recording of what it takes to finally see the SOC on my battery. It makes me so damn angry. I am never angry.
Yeah, renogy is fine, until you find out how good things can be.

 

[fratermus]

The issue is that when the solar panel is receiving charge from the sun or if the alternator is running, the MPPT will read (bluetooth dongle) that the house battery is full and will never send more than 0.5A of charge to the house battery

Sounds almost like it's trying to maintain the starter batt off solar but the inputs/outputs are switched.

 

[Stircrazy]

I have been down the same road you have. For a time I was using Renogy batteries, Renogy inverter/charger, Renogy Core One, Renogy bluetooth adapters and Renogy Solar panels.

Lets see here.
The solar panels are great, Never had a failure or issue in 3 years and counting.

The inverter worked fine. The problem here is it was supposed to work with the Renogy Core One monitor. It didnt, I had it replaced as customer service suggested, 2nd one didnt work either. So poor communication between coding and marketing depts. IT WAS NOT SUPPORTED So I was stuck with the bluetooth adapter. Well, that prove to be the shittiest bluetooth experience I have ever had. Open the app, wait for connection, hit refresh, wait, hit refresh, wait, then it finally connects. I am not kidding you need to refresh it 3-5 times, every time you want to check SOC %. It takes about 2-3 minutes every time! Oh and sometimes I need to unplug and replug the blue tooth adapter to get it to work. Then it slowly loads the info. NOT in real time tho. Gotta go thru the entire process again! Oh and the bluetooth will not work without internet. It makes you log in and get fed ADDS. How wonderful! After you log in you are fine for about 2 months. They then kick you out and you better remember your login password or you are SOL and no SOC% for you!!

The batteries I have dont meet their spec and use the same bluetooth adapter. The battery app goes from 23% to 9% in mere minutes! It doesnt have a clue! ITS A NIGHTMARE
They dont give a voltage read of the second decimal point.
If you know anything about LifePo4 you know there is a lot of energy between 3.39 and 3.30. On the app it will only say 3.3v . How ridiculous. Do they even use this stuff?
The batteries are 15S instead of the industry standard of 16S So that locks me into a crappy 15S ecosystem with no hope of other manufacturers to choose from.
One of the batteries failed in the first year. Renogy customer service was absolutely BRAINNDEAD until I was obviously frustrated. They then sent me to someone that actually knew some things. Eventually the battery was replaced under warranty and they paid for all shipping,

That is my experience.
I should do a screen recording of what it takes to finally see the SOC on my battery. It makes me so damn angry. I am never angry.
Yeah, renogy is fine, until you find out how good things can be.

weird, the Bluetooth on mine loads up in like 2 seconds once I hit the connect button, but to tell you the truth its more of a novelty, I only use it to change my battery charge settings and when I'm showing people what it can do in that regards. I would never look at their batteries my self, but I was looking at the core one as it acts as a level indicator also which would be handy for the camper haha, but I will have to check into the compatibility issue, thanks for the heads up, what inverter was that? my only problem with Victron is the pricing ( anywhere from 2 to 5X the price of other options) and how they have split up so many components into multiple parts to encourage you to buy more.

 

[ScrotusGobbleBottom]

This was the inverter. https://www.renogy.com/48v-3500w-solar-inverter-charger/
I imagine that they fixed that issue. I bought the Core on preorder. They explicitly said the inverter was supported.

I use Victron shunts and PV controllers. I think their batteries are outdated and WAY overpriced. They have zero 48v native batteries.
Any way, now since I bought renogy batteries that are 15S, and since I loathe the software.. I now am a happy advocate of DIY battery packs.
I guess that is one good point of my renogy experience. I learned how to make my own 15s batteries!

 

[Dave in AZ]

This was the inverter. https://www.renogy.com/48v-3500w-solar-inverter-charger/
I imagine that they fixed that issue. I bought the Core on preorder. They explicitly said the inverter was supported.

I use Victron shunts and PV controllers. I think their batteries are outdated and WAY overpriced. They have zero 48v native batteries.
Any way, now since I bought renogy batteries that are 15S, and since I loathe the software.. I now am a happy advocate of DIY battery packs.
I guess that is one good point of my renogy experience. I learned how to make my own 15s batteries!

Whats a 15s battery? I've read 15000 posts here and watched all Wills videos, you're the only person I've ever seen mention it, and you're talking like it's the most important number there is, no one else even says it and its ont on the spec sheets on any battery I have looked at. Why do you think it's a big thing? Thx

 

[ScrotusGobbleBottom]

Whats a 15s battery? I've read 15000 posts here and watched all Wills videos, you're the only person I've ever seen mention it, and you're talking like it's the most important number there is, no one else even says it and its ont on the spec sheets on any battery I have looked at. Why do you think it's a big thing? Thx

It is a battery with 15 internal cells instead of 16. It has a charge voltage of 54.75v instead of 58.4,
Almost every voltage chart I read is irrelevant because of this.
Almost every battery is 16s so I cant put them in parallel with mine.
Cant use any preset on anything. Need to make sure everything is customizable.
Cant use the AC charger on my AIMS 6000 watt inverter because its not configurable.
Must ensure that a BMS will work with 15s
16S batteries would have more capacity in almost the same space.

Advantages? NONE
No one else even talks about it because they dont use them, never heard of them, and wouldnt consider them if they knew. Thanks Renogy!

 

[Dave in AZ]

It is a battery with 15 internal cells instead of 16. It has a charge voltage of 54.75v instead of 58.4,
Almost every voltage chart I read is irrelevant because of this.
Almost every battery is 16s so I cant put them in parallel with mine.
Cant use any preset on anything. Need to make sure everything is customizable.
Cant use the AC charger on my AIMS 6000 watt inverter because its not configurable.
Must ensure that a BMS will work with 15s
16S batteries would have more capacity in almost the same space.

Advantages? NONE
No one else even talks about it because they dont use them, never heard of them, and wouldnt consider them if they knew. Thanks Renogy!

I see now, thx! Farking Renogy!