Why will only "dumb" vehicle devices work with my setup?

[chrisdem]

I got the harbor freight special (100 watt solar kit "Thunderbolt Magnum Solar- Item#63585") to power the well pump for my garden, now growing seasons over and I want to use it for other things.
Things like the 12v pump I use for my well, beach toy inflatable fillers and cheap usb car chargers will work just fine.
If I try to plug things like vehicle inverters or a higher end laptop charger for cars they refuse to turn on, one of my inverters has a fault led and that will light for a moment before it shuts off.

It would seem these devices detect something with my setup that makes them unhappy, why will they not work?? I have tried it through the charge controller and crocodile clipped right too the battery with the same result.

I attempted too link too the battery and kit I use but these forums will not post my messages if I do. this is very annoying because this is the third time I typed this. If you search ebay for Neptune/Upg 12V 12Ah F2 SEALED LEAD ACID AGM DEEP-CYCLE RECHARGEABLE BATTERY you will find the battery I am using its simmalar too ones used in toy scooters and UPSes

[Mike90250]

New users posts with links, are held for review to help reduce spam.

if you have a volt meter, and can give some readings of the state of things, that goes a long way to figuring stuff out.

[chrisdem]

it will typically top out somewhere around 13.8v when fully charged and will stay around there with some use in full sun. I use it lightly at night sometimes and ive never seen it drop below 12v

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With my engine off I have tried the same devices on my car with the battery readout indicating a lower voltage than 13.8 and they still work fine.

There is no noticeable voltage drop when I plug these things into my solar kit. I never got too the point of actually trying to power a device with things like the laptop charger or the inverters so the current draw should not be very high.

[Mike90250]

Your battery is a TINY 12ah battery and can not do much.
Almost any inverter connected to it, would be expected to instantly trip offline from undervoltage caused by internal battery resistance
Why other loads won't work, I don't know.

[littleharbor]

Are your other loads connected directly to the battery, or to the load connection on the controller?

[jflorey2]

I got the harbor freight special (100 watt solar kit "Thunderbolt Magnum Solar- Item#63585") to power the well pump for my garden, now growing seasons over and I want to use it for other things.
Things like the 12v pump I use for my well, beach toy inflatable fillers and cheap usb car chargers will work just fine.
If I try to plug things like vehicle inverters or a higher end laptop charger for cars they refuse to turn on

Your battery is too small and/or your wiring allows too much voltage drop. The higher-load devices cause a drop below the undervoltage limit for that device, and they disconnect to protect the vehicle battery.

[Sunking]

Pretty simple, you have a small toy not capable of doing much of anything. A 12 volt 12 AH battery can only support at most a 20 watt load device for 3 hours. That is not enough to even run a laptop for any length of time. Everything you have is too small including the wiring which is robbing you blind and loosing voltage.

[chrisdem]

I don't expect much out of it of course and I have already replaced the wireing. When the sun is shining the battery dose not typically lose any charge for what I use it for. My c720 Chromebook generally will last on its internal battery for about 6 hours and its charger cannot produce more than 65 Watts I am fairly certain the panels are enough too charge it. Similar too a car battery if the car is running the headlights don't drain it.

I will try adding a second battery in parallel and see how that works thanks for the replys everyone.
I do have an old ups that uses those same batterys so I may pull its inverter for the small appiance needs

to answer mr harbor's question I usually exclusively run any load through the controller and only do from battery for testing

[littleharbor]

to answer mr harbor's question I usually exclusively run any load through the controller and only do from battery for testing

The load control output on the cheap controllers is mostly for controlling a light circuit. On at dusk, run for the desired amount of hours then off. All your loads should come directly off your battery. unless you are controlling a low power light requiring a timer..

[chrisdem]

okay thanks for the tip

[chrisdem]

follow up question, the max volts/amps the solar controller that comes with my kit dose not seem to be listed anywhere, do any of you have the information?

[littleharbor]

If your controller is a Harbor Freight/Thunderbolt brand It could be a 12 only controller. They aren't worth much more than the packaging they come in. Do yourself a favor and buy another controller. IF you don't plan on expanding your system then a 10 amp controller is fine.

[chrisdem]

I don't think this kit is really as bad as some of you think IK its harbor freight but not everything they sell is junk. The 4 pannels are 18v "25 watt" (1.4amp) so ts defiantly not just 12v and they sell a connection kit meant to combine 4 of these kits so you would think it could support at least 22 amps though maybe maybe not.

I have used it for over a year. I purchased it on sale and I had a coupon so I payed $100 for the whole kit, it charges the battery correctly and has decent over/under volt protection for the battery and a overload/short circuit breaker for the output so you don't have too replace a fuse for a minor mistake. I used the output from the controller too power a 11 amp motor for 4 to 6 hours every sunday and it never showed any signs of being unhappy about it. I think $100 for a reasonably decent 100 watt solar kit from a brick of mortar is pretty good and you nay sayers are just making assumptions

[SunEagle]

I don't think this kit is really as bad as some of you think IK its harbor freight but not everything they sell is junk. The 4 pannels are 18v "25 watt" (1.4amp) so ts defiantly not just 12v and they sell a connection kit meant to combine 4 of these kits so you would think it could support at least 22 amps though maybe maybe not.

I have used it for over a year. I purchased it on sale and I had a coupon so I payed $100 for the whole kit, it charges the battery correctly and has decent over/under volt protection for the battery and a overload/short circuit breaker for the output so you don't have too replace a fuse for a minor mistake. I used the output from the controller too power a 11 amp motor for 4 to 6 hours every sunday and it never showed any signs of being unhappy about it. I think $100 for a reasonably decent 100 watt solar kit from a brick of mortar is pretty good and you nay sayers are just making assumptions

The problem with HF solar sets was they were originally being sold for over $200 and were only 45 watts. To stay somewhat competitive they lowered their price (still over $100 without a coupon) and increased the panel wattage.

But when you look at the cost per watt and the lifespan of those panels you will find out you paid way too much for a cheap "practice" system.

[bcroe]

Don't forget, HF includes about everything you need to get going, except a battery. Mine had a couple 12V
light bulbs and the control with readout and interfaces to several things. A fun experimenters kit, educational
but not a really serious set. Bruce Roe