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Old 05-07-2017, 06:50   #1
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Wind & Solar Charge Controller - Does anyone use this one (VWG2008)

The boat I just bought came with a 300w wind turbine and 2x80w solar panels both routed to a VWG2008 wind & solar hybrid charge controller. It has set points for voltage to turn off the charging, amps to engage the wind turbine brake, and on/off voltage for a user (none currently connected). It all seems to work fine, but the values for all the set points keep lowering themselves automatically. I leave the boat at 13.8v charge off setting, and come back 2 days later to find the voltage has lowered to 11.8V and my batteries haven't been charging.

I am trying to figure out if my unit is faulty and needs to be replaced, and, if so, what is the best unit to replace it with... Maybe there is reason why it is doing this and a way to stop it...? Any ideas?
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Old 05-07-2017, 06:59   #2
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Re: Wind & Solar Charge Controller - Does anyone use this one (VWG2008)

maybe you have something running and the charger just cant keep up with the usage ?

ie your fridge draws 2 amps and your charging system only supplies 1 amp your batteries will drain

if you take all the equipment off (put the battery switch to off) how high is the voltage from the regulator with both sun and wind ?
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Old 05-07-2017, 07:11   #3
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Re: Wind & Solar Charge Controller - Does anyone use this one (VWG2008)

The only thing turned on is the bilge pump when I am off the vessel... Once I set the charge off back to 13.8V when I come on the vessel in the morning by mid day the voltage is back up where it should be. Both solar panels have shade so I think most my power comes from the turbine, although I haven't had a chance to reverse engineer the system yet.
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Old 05-07-2017, 07:30   #4
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Re: Wind & Solar Charge Controller - Does anyone use this one (VWG2008)

It can be the batteries (old, worn). Or it can be the charger (not charging). Or it can be the power sources (solars, wind, and their connectors).

You know how to find which part of the system fails?

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Old 05-07-2017, 08:08   #5
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Re: Wind & Solar Charge Controller - Does anyone use this one (VWG2008)

That controller appears to have been a ShenZhen Special out of China:
https://www.alibaba.com/product-deta...270578486.html

There are manuals for two similar (newer?) models online, but neither indicates any way to contact a manufacturer, or any warranty terms, which is generally a question mark about product quality and performance.

The manuals are very clear about what to do with a battery not charging, replace it. [sic]

If the supplier on Alibaba can be contacted, and can get you some information about the charger, great. Otherwise, replacement might be the best solution. (Faster, less pain, less risk of killing batteries or other collateral damage.)
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Old 05-07-2017, 14:00   #6
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Re: Wind & Solar Charge Controller - Does anyone use this one (VWG2008)

Get a charge controller that has MPPT as a minimum feature . If it's Chinese, get two, one for backup. Make sure it can handle double your total amps cuz when the sun pops out from behind a cloud you can get a mighty power surge for a minute.Always check your specific Gravity and add distilled water when needed. If you have a deficit charging problem then add more panels or reduce your power consumption. Cheers.
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Old 05-07-2017, 14:11   #7
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Re: Wind & Solar Charge Controller - Does anyone use this one (VWG2008)

This looks like the controller that came with my Silentwind wind gen. Has the same basic controlls as you describe, and will accept up ro 400 watts of solar.

I learned it is a good controller for wind, but a terrible one for solar. Regardless, mine has never exhibited the kind of problems you report. I've never seen it change the voltage cut off point itself. Sounds like a faulty controller to me.
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Old 05-07-2017, 14:24   #8
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Re: Wind & Solar Charge Controller - Does anyone use this one (VWG2008)

"Get a charge controller that has MPPT as a minimum feature"

The OP is using his controller for wind power, AFAIK you cannot use a MPPT controller for wind since there is no maximum power point.
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Old 07-07-2017, 15:09   #9
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Re: Wind & Solar Charge Controller - Does anyone use this one (VWG2008)

We have the exact same controller that was supplied with our Silentwind wind generator which was purchased and installed in 2015. We do not have our solar panels running thru it as the controller is not MPPT technology. It works very well for our wind generator. We have had no problems with the control settings changing without our input. We purchased the wind generator with controller from eMarine Systems. You might contact them for guidance with the controller.
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Old 11-07-2017, 15:26   #10
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Re: Wind & Solar Charge Controller - Does anyone use this one (VWG2008)

Thanks everyone for the replies. I found on old manual in the depths of the nav station and found the manufacturer of the system who replied very quickly. Looks like I need a new charge controller...

Does anyone know of a way to combine wind and MPPT solar charge controllers into a single control interface that isn't super expensive? I like the idea of embedding the controllers in a closet but being able to control them from the nav station (ideally with one interface). I haven't found one company that makes both wind and solar controllers.
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Old 11-07-2017, 16:43   #11
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Re: Wind & Solar Charge Controller - Does anyone use this one (VWG2008)

There might be such a controller; the electronic brainiacs will have to answer. I can say I have a Victron mppt side by side with the same controller you already have. The mppt manages the solar, and the other one manages our wind gen. Would be nice to combine them, but really no big deal having two.
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Old 11-07-2017, 19:58   #12
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Re: Wind & Solar Charge Controller - Does anyone use this one (VWG2008)

Like Mike said. Keep em separate. Redundacy.
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Old 11-07-2017, 21:05   #13
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Re: Wind & Solar Charge Controller - Does anyone use this one (VWG2008)

I only use the wind as a supplement back up when my MPPT can't handle keeping up like at night time.That's why i recommend you keep them separate.
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Old 12-07-2017, 11:10   #14
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Re: Wind & Solar Charge Controller - Does anyone use this one (VWG2008)

Rnglr-
The idea of "one ring to rule them all" is all well and good, but possibly just not technically possible.
You'd need a way to combine and integrate the different voltage/current levels from the two devices, and then adjust that to whatever the batteries needed. (Bulk charge, float, etc.) The problem is that a traditional wind generator is a generator, which produces higher voltage at higher speeds and needs a "dump" regulator. As opposed to a solar panel that can simply be disconnected when not needed. So the integration "should" be possible but there's no cheap and elegant way to do it. Even more complicated when you figure some wind generators have speed brakes, some don't. And some are alternators, so they don't work with dump regulators. Too many variations.
As opposed to just having two controllers, and being aware that anytime the batteries are not very hungry, the voltages from each source may conflict, so a human intelligence that decides when to shut which one, may be the simplest solution. And of course, give you the extra value of redundancy.
Turn the windgen on at night, turn it off after daylight. Turn it on in the daytime, if the batteries are low enough to take the output from both. Or, you need that dump load to make hot water.(G)
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Old 13-07-2017, 10:35   #15
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Re: Wind & Solar Charge Controller - Does anyone use this one (VWG2008)

You can buy those same controllers on amazon under a different name for about 1/3 the price of what the solar and wind guys want to charge you. There is a newer version that is 600 watts and has a remote panel.
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