Renogy Wanderer Li 30A 12V PWM Negative Ground Charge Controller Compatible with Lithium, Sealed, Gel, and Flooded batteries and Renogy Bluetooth Module

I had one in a previous van but was advised a Victron is far superior so bought one. Not a good move. This is easier to read(not via Bluetooth app), install and for a very reasonable price. The difference in performance is not great enough for the 5x price difference and as often happens, simple versus complicated, hype versus useability means paying over the odds.

This feels like a decent quality controller and works well. I didn't read the pdf user manual before ordering, but I think it should be clearer in the listing that the Voc (max voltage from the PV panel) which the unit can handle is 25V. My panel is 34Voc so this unit is not suitable.

I knew PWM controllers were supposed to be less efficient than true MPPT controllers, but I didn't realize how poor they were. I thought the difference was only a few percent. With PWM chargers, when the solar panel voltage is higher than the battery charging voltage, it turns out that it effectively chops off the excess. So if your solar panel outputs 20 volts and your battery charges at 14 volts, it's only 14/20 = 70% efficient at max. A true MPPT charger would be about 95% efficient.So it only makes sense to buy this if your solar panel voltage is very close to your battery voltage.I do appreciate that it has built-in USB output, which the more expensive chargers lack.If it was upfront about the efficiency limitation, I would be less annoyed.I'm sending it back.

Fitted to engine start battery's, looks easy to set for my lipo4 if my mppt controller fails,😀.

Very well built with above average heatsink. Confident using it with my solar array. Love the simplicity and I cab trust it just to work. Also, great value!

Switched from steca controller. The LCD display is very useful and the USB ports are just genius for charging . Haven’t tried the RS232 port yet.

Chose a reputable brand and it has proven to very good. Used to charge 24v battery from a single large solar panel. Performs well and easy to wire up.

It could be very good but... The controller comes with fixed settings which are not compatible with most batteries. I tried to fit in a sealed battery. The setting for boosting charging is 16V! (and not 14.4V). I had a BT unit to change the setting using the renogy app but it does not allow this on the Wanderer. A bit disappointing really otherwise it could be very good charger for half of the price of a mppt. The seller was not very helpful in returning the item but eventually they refunded me.