Water fountain pump

[ScottRanch]

Mohoo 20A Charge Controller Solar Charge Regulator Intelligent USB Port Display 12V-24

[ScottRanch]

BTW, this is the CC. https://www.amazon.com/Controller-Re.../dp/B018ICLC3K

[ScottRanch]

it's very odd that this used to work fine and now I am having these issues. The sun is out today, so I disconnected it and connected battery, panel then load and within 2 min, the pump stopped. I had been running it through CC without the panel connected all day yesterday. Not great output. So after it didn't work today when I disconnected and reconnected, I bypassed the CC and battery and connected the panel to the pump. GREAT output! So this tells me I am losing power with the CC also. My battery is at about 12.2 now. Should I forget all this and trench a power line? I hate to give up! This has to be able to work. I have a big enough set up it should be able to keep up and run my pump 24x7 and keep the water clear. HELP!

[Logan005]

If you are using the load terminals on the CC, It could be a street lamp CC that only turns the load on when the sun goes down. Your CC could have timers set. Or your battery is in a discharged state and your CC has disconnected the load terminals to protect your battery. Also keep in mind, these Cheap Chinese Controllers, may not handle much of a load, a few amps is ok, but CC will likely cut out if any more than that. I use a separate LVD with my setups.

[SunEagle]

SunEagle , the CC has connection slots marked for panel, battery and load. Logan005, any thoughts as to why my load would just "disappear" from the screen as if it wasn't connected?

It might be due to the CC programming which will turn off the "load" or the "load" doesn't meet the CC conditions of what it is.

[ScottRanch]

SunEagle , the CC has connection slots marked for panel, battery and load. Logan005, any thoughts as to why my load would just "disappear" from the screen as if it wasn't connected?

[SunEagle]

Are you connecting the pump to the battery or the CC "load terminals"? Some CC have to be programmed to run the "load".

[Logan005]

in this order connect the battery to the CC, then the solar panel. then the load.

[ScottRanch]

I charged my battery fully and hooked up my controller. less than 5 min later, the display on the Mohoo 20A controller doesn't show the "load" symbol any longer, like it wouldn't if it weren't plugged in. I ungplug everything and connect again and it shows up, but same thing. If I disconnect it all again and only connect the battery and pump, it runs fine. Now that I know it can't be because of a low battery, what could the issue be? Why would it just stop recognizing that the pump is connected after a few minutes? Is there a specific order I should be connecting that is causing this issue? Seems it's one thing after another with this set up. UGH

[Mike90250]

My wife wanted the same thing, a little solar power fountain pump. I found one on fleabay for a couple bucks. When it arrived, it was in a box about the size of a pack of gum.
What a joke it was, we both got a laugh out of it, if you take a photo of something really small, zoom in on it, and scale it to fit a computer screen, it looks huge. It can move enough water to drown 3 ants (if you stun them first)
But for any garden effect, you will need a regular power cord to an outlet, or a very large solar setup.

[ScottRanch]

Mike90250, I am realizing that now about needing larger panels. Would hate to think I need more panels and a battery bank to just run a little water pump. Would look pretty ridiculous to have all that equipment for one little pump

[Mike90250]

with solar, you often need much larger panels to recharge batteries because you only have a few solar hours to accomplish the recharge

[Logan005]

for something this small I would run 24 to 30 volts on 12 or 14 AWG wire in shallow trench, easy to do with Sod. use a 24 volt pump or a sealed step down converter for the optimal power of 12 to 14 volts, or for the water flow you desire. will cost much less than any solar battery system. and it's a neat low voltage project. totally safe and cheap, no unsightly panels or wires.

[SunEagle]

SunEagle, what if I set the CC to be 12hr, not 24hr. will I be ok then with what I have?

If you are using the charge controller Load terminals to run that pump I believe you can set it for a time period.

Again you do not need 2 x 100 watt panels to run that pump but you need about 10 amps to charge that 105Ah battery. You could get away with a 50Ah battery and 1 x 100 watt panel as well as maybe being able to run the pump for more than 12 hours a day. If you do not get enough sun for 2 days you run the risk of dropping even that 50Ah battery to below 50% which will shorten its life. Otherwise you should be ok if you get a few hours of sunlight every day.

[ScottRanch]

SunEagle, what if I set the CC to be 12hr, not 24hr. will I be ok then with what I have?