Battery Tender 021-1162 Solar Panel Charger Controller

• Battery Tender quality
• Can be used with any solar charger
• Small and compact charge controller
• Reverse polarity and spark proof operation
• 3 year limited warranty

I've used it for 7 months now to charge alternately a 32AHr, 26AHR and 8Ahr deep cycle AGM batteries and it has done a great job. I have a 30 watt monocrystalline solar panel wired directly to it and connect it directly to my batteries using various quick disconnect connectors. I monitor the state of discharge (with a multimeter)and never let my batteries fall below 75% of rated capacity (as recommended by battery manufacturers for best practice and long life of battery.) The Battery Tender as described is a 3 stage charge controller and will put the most voltage out when the battery needs it and cuts back as it approaches full charge down to a trickle level. All the batteries quickly recharge even on partial sun days. Takes 3-6 hours of sun on the biggest battery less on the others. Keeping them topped off is easier (better for it), faster to recharge, and simple to rotate each bettery for its day or shared day of charging.

I've monitored its output to the various batteries and it does its job as described at manufacturers website.

Charge light lets you know when it is working and indicates what stage its at by color or flashing. Again just as described.

I use 12 volt DC LED lights and and connected to my inverter some AC CFL lights and charge all my phones and run my laptop a few hours EVERYDAY! If you have the right expectation of what wattage you planned to use and think about the set-up you can make a nice daily use (or emergency use) system with these components.

I am very pleased with the product to used for a small solar systems using a 45 watt panel or less. I plan to buy a few more and connect up lights, radios, in other rooms all over the house. My way of going green.

I also charge my AA, AAA rechargeable batteries with a DC connectable battery charger off my 32AHr battery too!

Saves me a lot of money on batteries and I use more battery operated devices now and the family enjoys the whole system. Use the Battery Tender only to charge batteries and do not try to run other things from it. That is not what is was designed for.

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1 YEAR LATER: Now Feb 2013 AND THIS PRODUCT IS STILL SERVING ME WELL AND AS DESCRIBED. GREAT FOR SMALL TARGET INSTALATIONS!

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1 APR 13 updated review-This controller does not work with 6v batteries; I made the same mistake and when I thought it said 5v to 45v (volt) and it is 5w to 45w (watt) as another reviewer stated. The charge light illuminates but it does not charge, it only appeared to. No damage was done to my battery as my solar panel output is max 9v. My search for a 6v controller continues.

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I use this device in conjunction with my solar battery charger to maintain my motor cycle battery during longer periods of storage. Works great and prevents overcharging.

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I have used these several times over the last year. They do fantastic even with a 5 watt panel. I imagine the two negative reviewers were confusing watts and volts.

Anyway this works as advertised. I have one wired to a Harbor Freight 45 watt panel kit and it does a fantastic job of keeping my battery bank charged.

I also have one on a 10 watt panel that I have installed on my kayak to keep my trolling motor battery charged. Great buy just like all Battery Tender products.

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I was hoping this would work with my 12VDC solar panels or my 12VDC wall power supply. I ordered it thinking it would but when I tried it it didn't work. I reviewed the documentation and it only said a max voltage of 36VDC but no mention of a minimum voltage.

I then proceeded to call the manufacture directly and they were very rude to say the least. The first person didn't even know what a current meter was (pointing out they didn't know anything technical) they blindly (not a graceful handover) forwarded me to some random extension where they didn't answer and I had to leave a message. They did however call me back a couple hours later but when I asked they fumbled with the technical terms and also were rude ... kind of replied with the 'are you stupid of course 12VDC will not work' type attitude.

In the end I got my answer but if they simply put the min voltage on the website they would have avoided this whole situation. Very disappointing in the product documentation AND customer support.

Happy Shopping!

UPDATE: I had a question about this review from another customer. They wanted my opinion if a 12v solar panel work. Well, kind of. The problem is that a 12V solar panel output varies from 8v to 14v (usable voltage). The problem is if the panel is outputting 12V this converter will NOT boost the voltage so the battery will only reach a max voltage charge of 12 ... BUT ... if the solar panel is outputting 13-14v then yes the battery will top off. Note that I have made some assumptions (because the company 'battery tender' could not help in answering the following); is there voltage regulation happening inside the circuit? if so what is the overheat (aka loss, inefficiency) as this would tell me the minimum voltage needed to achieve an output charge of 14v. But as I read in another review it seems this charger doesn't output greater then 12V so I assumed it did. I never got a chance to test it as I returned it for my money back.

Anywho, I wouldn't recommend this converter with a 12v solar panel or 12v power supply but it would work for a 24v solar panel (or two 12v solar panels in series). But in light of other reviews saying this charger doesn't output higher than 12v I wouldn't recommend this at all!