WindyNation Waterproof 10A 12V Solar Charge Controller w/ LED Charging and Load Indicators

First impression, disappointment. But, I purchased a cheap controller.Waterproof? Maybe. I see that the potting compound does not adhere to the silicone wires. I do not see how that can be waterproof. My suggestion is if you are using this where it may get wet, mount with wires pointing down and put drip loops in any wires that go up.Can not comment yet on how well the controller works, only installed one day. When installing I was surprised to find that positive is common and switching happens in the negative side. This caused me some issues as I am replacing another controller in a small camper. All power in the camper, including solar panels, was common negative. I had to re-route the solar wiring and not use the load wires.Another surprise that does not make any sense to me is the Dusk to Dawn "feature." How annoying to not be able to use 12V power during the daylight! Instructions even say the power may turn off due to lights on your solar panels at night. Really? Nobody charges their phone, uses a computer, fan, or other 12V device during the day? It appears this "feature" can not be turned off. Workaround is to not use the load wires and connect directly to the battery. Of course, that eliminates the low battery protection of the controller.LED lights are far too bright and never turn off. Controller will need to be covered as it would be quite annoying at night in our small camper. Our system is only occasionally used (camping) and our battery is small, 35Ah. Bright LEDs are taking at least 10mA. That is 7.2Ah after a month sitting idle (.01A X 24Hours X 30Days = 7.2Ah), a significant drain on the battery. No way to turn off other than disconnecting the controller.Hope the controller works better than my experience so far.Edit after a few months use:Controller appears to be working just fine. I do not use the load wires, load is attached directly to my battery. I gave the review an extra star. Still do not like the bright LEDs and have never seen them actually work as the instructions say, but a volt meter on my battery confirms that the controller works well. I have a switch to disconnect the controller from battery when not in use so it does not use electricity when not charging.

I use it to keep the battery on my pontoon boat topped off. I have a small solar panel (100 watts) mounted on the back of my pontoon which keeps my battery fully charged even when we are on the lake all day running the stereo which includes 2 - 400 watt amplifiers. I was worried I would drain the battery and be stuck when the boat wouldn't start. That is not an issue now. I got this one because it is waterproof and I was using it on a boat. It's very limited but works great for a very small system.

This unit appears well built, incorporates a large heat sink, comes with decent instructions, and looks waterproof as promised. On paper, at least, has all the functionality you'd expect. For some applications, it is likely to be a nice little controller.Unfortunately, it also incorporates a "dawn to dusk timer" that shuts off power to the load during daylight hours, which was not mentioned in the description at the time I purchased it. This function can't be overridden, and for my application it was a deal breaker. If this is a feature you want (or can at least tolerate) add a star. Add another star if you really want heavy (12 AWG) wire with MC4 connectors going to your solar panel; otherwise, there is some cutting and splicing in your future. Not a big deal, but not something competitive products require you to do, either.

Bought this to use as the charge controller for a solar powered wildlife camera. Connected to a 12V lead-acid and a raspberry pi with camera and a 20W panel. Been working perfectly for several weeks. Unlike some designed for security light use, the load on this is always on. It seems to cycle the voltage on the battery properly, and both it and the sealed lead-acid battery have been working properly at temperatures down to -4F. Great purchase!

This is a perfect solution for me with a 100w solar panel or smaller. I used this charger to power an IR game spotlight at night. The power lines activate only when the solar panels are not receiving power so the charger acts like a daylight sensor. I have the solar panel using this charger to power a 50 amp sealed battery. The mc4 connectors make setup fast too.

Does exactly what they said. I put it on the back of the solar panel. It was rained on and still going. As a solar charger you should have time to wait. Two days 10.4 volts. I have time. Thank you 😊.

didn't do what I needed it to do ,only turns on load at night.

Used these to install sign for lake entrance and we are delighted with the results.