Chad Heiser Posted August 25, 2016 Report Share Posted August 25, 2016 I was recently made aware that Magnum Energy had come out with a solar charger controller. It is the PT-100. I currently have all Magnum products in my 5th wheel and will have all Magnum products in my soon to be new 5th wheel as well. I am very intrigued by this controller. It is made to integrate with other Magnum components and can be controlled from the same ME-ARC remote control that I use to control my inverter and other components. Here is some basic information I pulled from the web about it: "Magnum-Dimensions has been well known for their power inverters for years. They have just released a new solar charge controller that is the first 100 amp (A) charge controller in the industry. The PT100 can be used with 12, 24, or 48 volt (V) DC battery systems with automatic detection of system voltage. Because the 100A rating of the charge controller is for both the input and the output, you need to calculate what the current out will be to determine what size solar array you can put in. For example, for a 24V battery bank, 100A output would allow you to put as much as 2400 watts (W) into the charge controller. For a 12V battery bank, you can put up to 1200W in. Its High Efficiency provides higher than 99% conversion efficiency and uses less than two watts of power in nighttime mode. It’s got a lot of safety features built in, including GFDI, which is an Integrated PV Ground-Fault Detection and Interruption/Indication. It also has AFCI: An integrated PV Arc-Fault Circuit Interrupter that detects, indicates, and extinguishes series arcs. It has Extensive Electronic Protection including Over-temperature protection, power derating when temperature is high, PV short circuit and high PV input shutdown, output overcurrent protection and night-time back-feed (reverse current) protection. The optional ME-ARC50 Remote works with internal data-logging functionality that keeps energy harvest information and battery Amp-Hour and Watt-Hour data for up to 255 days." I was wondering if anyone was familiar with this new controller or if anyone had any experience with it. I am seriously considering using this controller on my new 5th wheel with about 1000 watts of solar. Does anyone see any issues or have any feedback about going down this road? 2009 Volvo 670 with dinette/workstation sleeper - Walter 2017 DRV Mobile Suite 40KSSB4 with factory mods, dealer mods and personal mods - now in the RV graveyard 2022 DRV Full House MX450 with customized floor plan 2018 Polaris RZR Turbo S (fits in the garage) 2016 Smart Car (fits in the garage or gets flat towed behind the DRV when the RZR is in the garage) My First Solar Install Thread My Second Solar Install Thread & Photos and Documents Related to the build My MX450's solar, battery and inverter system - my biggest system yet! chadheiser.com West Coast HDT Rally Website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Mayer Posted August 25, 2016 Report Share Posted August 25, 2016 I've had some second hand experience with it. But not enough to give you any detailed "inside" info. And I have not personally installed one. If I was building a Magnum-based system today that is what I would use. It will easily handle your 1000 watts. There are advantages to having the combined system, since it manages multiple charge sources. I don't know of any big issues with it. So as I said, I'd use it if I was going Magnum. My next "personal" system will likely be Victron-based, though. Jack & Danielle Mayer #60376 Lifetime Member Living on the road since 2000PLEASE no PM's. Email me. jackdanmayer AT gmail 2016 DRV Houston 44' 5er (we still have it) 2022 New Horizons 43' 5er 2016 Itasca 27N 28' motorhome 2019 Volvo 860, D13 455/1850, 236" wb, I-Shift, battery-based APU No truck at the moment - we use one of our demo units 2016 smart Passion, piggyback on the truck -------------------------------------------------------------------------See our website for info on New Horizons 5th wheels, HDTs as tow vehicles, communications on the road, and use of solar powerwww.jackdanmayer.com Principal in RVH Lifestyles. RVH-Lifestyles.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Heiser Posted August 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2016 My next "personal" system will likely be Victron-based, though. I would love to do a Victron based system as well and if I ever go to a full custom trailer like a New Horizon, I probably will. For right now though, my new DRV I am ordering is all Magnum components (MHS3012, ME-ARC, ME-BMK, ME-AGN-S, etc) so I figured this would go nicely with that. 2009 Volvo 670 with dinette/workstation sleeper - Walter 2017 DRV Mobile Suite 40KSSB4 with factory mods, dealer mods and personal mods - now in the RV graveyard 2022 DRV Full House MX450 with customized floor plan 2018 Polaris RZR Turbo S (fits in the garage) 2016 Smart Car (fits in the garage or gets flat towed behind the DRV when the RZR is in the garage) My First Solar Install Thread My Second Solar Install Thread & Photos and Documents Related to the build My MX450's solar, battery and inverter system - my biggest system yet! chadheiser.com West Coast HDT Rally Website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Itinerant1 Posted August 27, 2016 Report Share Posted August 27, 2016 We had Starlight Solar install our solar in the spring. 500AH GBS LFMPPT-100 controllerMagnum Hybrid 3000W inverter (MSH3012H), ME-ARC8 panels, CTI 160 (1,280 watts) It has been running quite nicely. Amazing that you can be sitting in the middle of nowhere and still have all the conveniences of being plugged in. 2016 F350 DRW Supercab XLT 4x4 6.7 3:73LS 2010 Carriage Cameo 34CK3 1,280 watt solar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hemsteadc Posted August 27, 2016 Report Share Posted August 27, 2016 Excellent choice. And if you go series it will handle lots of voltage. I have a 48v battery bank with 835w PV array @ 100vdc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Heiser Posted August 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2016 We had Starlight Solar install our solar in the spring. 500AH GBS LFMP PT-100 controller Magnum Hybrid 3000W inverter (MSH3012H), ME-ARC 8 panels, CTI 160 (1,280 watts) It has been running quite nicely. Amazing that you can be sitting in the middle of nowhere and still have all the conveniences of being plugged in. Nice set up. I will have very similar components in my new set up, but I will have AGM batteries instead of lithium, 1040 amp hours total. Glad to hear you are happy with the PT-100. 2009 Volvo 670 with dinette/workstation sleeper - Walter 2017 DRV Mobile Suite 40KSSB4 with factory mods, dealer mods and personal mods - now in the RV graveyard 2022 DRV Full House MX450 with customized floor plan 2018 Polaris RZR Turbo S (fits in the garage) 2016 Smart Car (fits in the garage or gets flat towed behind the DRV when the RZR is in the garage) My First Solar Install Thread My Second Solar Install Thread & Photos and Documents Related to the build My MX450's solar, battery and inverter system - my biggest system yet! chadheiser.com West Coast HDT Rally Website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smitty77_7 Posted August 29, 2016 Report Share Posted August 29, 2016 We missed the MSH3000 by about 4-5 months, came out just after we bought and installed our MS2812 system. If the PT-100 controller had been available then, yes, I would have gone with it too. We run with the MidNite Classic 150, which we like and it performs well. I've added the WhzBngJr to the MidNite too. My primary reason for having wanted the PT-100, is now we have two SOC readings. And as true quite often in cases when two different measurements are available - they do not always match each other:)! Sometimes they can be as far as 5% off. Best to all, Smitty Be safe, have fun, Smitty 04 CC Allure "RooII" - Our "E" ride for life! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Heiser Posted August 30, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2016 Thanks for the input. As I figured it would be, it seems to be a "no brainer" to go with the PT-100 when all my other components are also from Magnum. 2009 Volvo 670 with dinette/workstation sleeper - Walter 2017 DRV Mobile Suite 40KSSB4 with factory mods, dealer mods and personal mods - now in the RV graveyard 2022 DRV Full House MX450 with customized floor plan 2018 Polaris RZR Turbo S (fits in the garage) 2016 Smart Car (fits in the garage or gets flat towed behind the DRV when the RZR is in the garage) My First Solar Install Thread My Second Solar Install Thread & Photos and Documents Related to the build My MX450's solar, battery and inverter system - my biggest system yet! chadheiser.com West Coast HDT Rally Website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Mayer Posted August 30, 2016 Report Share Posted August 30, 2016 Thanks for the input. As I figured it would be, it seems to be a "no brainer" to go with the PT-100 when all my other components are also from Magnum. Yup. Jack & Danielle Mayer #60376 Lifetime Member Living on the road since 2000PLEASE no PM's. Email me. jackdanmayer AT gmail 2016 DRV Houston 44' 5er (we still have it) 2022 New Horizons 43' 5er 2016 Itasca 27N 28' motorhome 2019 Volvo 860, D13 455/1850, 236" wb, I-Shift, battery-based APU No truck at the moment - we use one of our demo units 2016 smart Passion, piggyback on the truck -------------------------------------------------------------------------See our website for info on New Horizons 5th wheels, HDTs as tow vehicles, communications on the road, and use of solar powerwww.jackdanmayer.com Principal in RVH Lifestyles. RVH-Lifestyles.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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