HQRP Solar Charge Controller
The great thing about learning practical skills are that you will learn a lot and the HQRP solar charge controller is not any different. This is a neat little package that so far has handled the job. The interesting thing is that there is a big difference between book knowledge and applied knowledge that I have mentioned before. There is no difference with solar power and a charge controller.
One of the things that I was looking for when checking the HQRP solar charge controller out was the what exactly the LED lights were for. There was a little brochure included that showed what the lights were for, but I could not put my hands on it. I did the next logical thing and googled for it. Imagine my dismay when I could not find anything for it.
I then tried to chat with the manufacturer to see if they could assist me. That was a mistake as they are so scared of having their technology stolen that they would not point me to where the diagram is or the manual is available on line. That is a sad state of affairs when that trumps a paying customer.
In an effort to save other paying customers some pain when they can not find their manual I will share the following information.
The first LED located directly under the H in the above picture is ON when the solar panel is charging the battery. If you see a blinking green light that means you over the voltage.
The second LED you want to see the green again as that means you are in the right range. A slow blinking green means your batteries are full. Yellow means your battery is low and a red means your load has been cut off.
The third LED is if you have more load than the rated current. A slow flashing means that it is overloaded. If you see a quick red flash it means your load has entered a short circuit.
I hope that may save you some time if you purchased one of these HQRP solar charge controllers. The reality is that I fully expect the manufacturer to take offense to this posting. Hopefully this will help others overcome a quick oversight.