RenogyWanderer Li 30A 12V PWM Negative Ground Solar Charge Controller Solar Panel Regulator w/ Temp Sensor Function Fit for Lithium, Sealed, Gel, and Flooded Batteries, Wanderer Li 30A

If you bought one of the cheap $10 blue solar panel controllers, and you had a whole lot of trouble getting hands on a gauge of wire small enough to fit in their tiny connectors, and stripped wires 3 times at lease, just to have it all fall out, then THIS IS WHAT YOU NEED.I screwed each wire in, within 10 minutes, no frustrating do-overs or readjustments, or experimenting with duct tapes! I set the battery type manually and was done, as satisfied as can be.Not having a USB or light connections like the cheap blue ones, (I think the brand is Flying Lion btw)... is a bummer, but at this point, I am happy my setup works again! And I can even get a larger gauge wire in there if i wanted! Even the screw was bigger, and required a bigger phillips screw driver (cross size). It clamps down on the cords soooo well!

The instructions are very good. They emphasize the look of the connector when "open" and "closed" which is very important to make sure your wires connected properly. I connected the unit to a power supply with a 13.6 power source and then used a small 12V battery to test out the system. The readout of the controller said 3 amps charge current and the power supply also read 3amps. The battery started to charge. Then I connected it to a solar panel and it read 5.5 amps and the battery charged. The unit reads out your source voltage and current and the battery voltage and current, if you connect a load to the battery, which I did not use. Price was good and it worked as advertised. Highly recommend.

4 stars explainedPros-charging algorithm voltage values are correct as measured with DVM (only flooded, agm and LiFePo4 tested)-LiFePO4 charge voltages can be set by user from 14.2 default to most common values depending on battery manufacturer spec. I use 14.6 volts (new). 2018 version default was 14.4 volts-Completely sealed against elements-When equipped with Temp sensor, will include battery temp on the display rotation (new). Previous version required manually toggling the display-shows input Panel voltage (new).Cons-Battery voltage readings can be inaccurate for all battery types and worsen with temp sensor attached (but solar panel voltage readings OK).-Exchange to get a controller that read accurately resulted in an improvement, but attaching temp sensor again introduced .2v to .4v error.-Battery type selected does not display by default (previous versions did, i.e. Gel, Wet, LiFePo4, AGM) Have to push buttons on new version to go into Select Batt Type menu.-Battery type selection button often unresponsive.-Selecting LiFePo4 charge voltage values sometimes not responsive; if desired value is passed up in scrolling, could not scroll back; had to scroll through full range and couldn't get a response for each push of the button.-Panel and battery connection LEDs no longer present. Loss of an EZ visual status observation, possibly an energy saver. Must wait for status to scroll automatically or must scroll manually through display to see status.--Auto scroll interval too long to see 5 parameters. Two secs per parameter should do it.-Hard reset process discussed with Renogy to clear possible errors not described in manual and might or might not work. (later determined attaching temp sensor caused the incorrect readings)In a nutshell, some of the improvements in this version are welcome and some of the old features are missed. But that isn't the problem.This newer version had inexplicable battery voltage reading errors not present in in 2018 versions I own. Amazon and Renogy were great in trying to get a working replacement, but in the end, decided to abandon that effort in favor of a refund for now.LiFePo4 does not use temp compensated charging as lead acid batteries do. So, when the LiFePO4 battery voltage read spot on, backtracked to see what was different. The difference turned out to be the temperature sensor. I used the sensor for flooded and AGM, but disconnected it for LiFePo4. Attaching it caused a substantial voltage reading error for all battery types that made it impossible to accurately determine battery state of charge. Charge algorithms didn't seem to be affected when measured with an external DVM. Neither of the 2018 versions I own are affected by attaching the temp sensor.One other thing to remember about LiFePo4 batteries is they do not like to "float" at much above 13.6 volts after reaching full charge. This isn't much of a concern in solar charging because charging ceases in the absence of solar energy. Thus there is no real need to have a voltage limited float stage setting after the battery is fully charged and balanced.This is the very first time I've given 4 stars to an item I've been dissatisfied with, but this controller, even with the battery voltage reading issue still offers useful functionality once set up. Use an external monitor if you want accurate voltage readings to monitor state of charge when using with the temperature sensor. Otherwise, I especially like the user defined charging voltages for LiFePO4 as values can vary among LiFePO4 manufacturers. It's important to use the right setting.The temperature sensor addition should only cause the controller to do its job of reducing charging voltages above 77 deg F and increasing charging voltages below 77 deg F where temp compensated charging is necessary. It should NOT affect the accuracy of reading battery voltage. An otherwise 5 star controller gets a "pushed" 4 stars. It does all things well except show acceptable values for temperature compensated flooded and AGM battery voltage. Both the original and the replacement returned to Amazon citing the Renogy case number. If the accuracy of the resting voltage is of utmost importance, then 3 stars.

Works great and the price is right.My old charge controller on my travel trailer (self installed solar cell and controller) had only a tiny light to show charging or fault.Installed a LiTime 100A lithium battery and needed a controller that will charge it to 100%.This did the trick and easily shows all the info I can use.

I'm not an electrical engineer. I barely understand the difference between PWM and MPPT charge controllers. What I do know is that this controller was easy to install, is easy to use and set up, keeps my car battery topped up whatever I'm doing and has lasted 3 years while being completely exposed to the elements. So far its collected/transferred over 20KWHrs (indicated) of power from my small, roof-mounted PV setup. Well worth the small amount of money I spent.