Thanks James

> I've been using these size of charge controller and batteries for
> about 15 years for various tasks.
Good to know.
>
> The batteries generally fail (one cell loss, high voltage on test
> charge), within one or two years, but that's probably the ambient
> temperatures combined with lack of temperature compensation in the
> controllers.
>
> The most predictive behavioural impact on battery life in my
> applications is depth of discharge.  One mistake and the battery
> switches from a nominal 5 year life to a six month remaining life.
Thanks. I will definitely keep an eye on depth of discharge then.
>
> Jim, the two products you linked to don't have temperature
> compensation as far as I can see from the datasheets;
>
> http://sunforceproducts.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Model-68012_Manual=
..pdf
> http://www.samlexamerica.com/documents/manuals/11007-SCC-1208L-0414%20Lre=
z.pdf
Yes I believe you are correct. I guess for the price I can't expect much=20
more :)
>
> You said you wanted it to be fairly portable.  Both controllers
> require panels to be disconnected before the battery is disconnected.
> Not impossible to make that portable, but a bit of an irritation.
I didn't realize the panels needed to be disconnected before the=20
battery. Thanks for the heads up on that.
>
> For batteries not exposed to outdoor temperatures, I'm switching
> slowly to nominal 12V LiFePO4 with built-in BMS.  Much higher cost,
> but look at it as cost of lifetime discharge watts, and the bother of
> having to replace 12V AGM batteries.
Thanks for turning me on to this idea. I will see what is available.=20
This may be a good way for me to go as well.

Cheers,
Jim
>

--=20
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