Side by Side Comparison of: WindyNation vs Esky

Replaced a cheaper version that I bought. The old one seemed to have a mind of its own. Quality is very nice and it does what it is supposed to do. Would be nice if it had a back light on it as I use it indoors and a 30 second back light wouldn't have killed them to add. Connection points are large and well built. Easy to open port with screwdriver and then close port on end of wire. Very well made. I would buy again.

This thing is awesome. Been using it now for 6 months. I have 4 100 watt solar panels that charge 6 12 volt batteries. Love the display, it tells you everything you need to know at the push of a button. Shows the current coming from your panels in to you batteries, that reading is always in the window so you can walk up to it and immediately see the current going in to your batteries. If you want to see the other functions just push the menu button, but it always returns to the default window that shows the current going from you panels to your batteries.

I chose this particular low cost controller unit based on the high number of positive reviews it has received on amazon. I installed it about two weeks ago, and it seems to be functioning well. The manual is clear and well written. I am using one 12 volt 100 watt panel to charge two 6 volt golf cart batteries wired in series, which are hooked up to a larger older 2000 watt Heart Inverter in my remote shop. I have not tried all the functions yet, as I'm satisfied with the factory settings so far. It does seem simple to operate and program. The display is much more informative than just simple lights like some other controllers have. I have not used the 12v load/timer section, but could see where that is a nice option which I may use in the future. The terminal block seems somewhat flimsy for attaching 8 or 10gauge wire to it, and it takes a little care to get the screw terminals tight without breaking the terminal strip. I would also recommend securing all incoming wires to some sort of restraint to keep the tension off the terminal block To be fair, you must expect some weak points in a controller that costs only around 30 dollars I'm very happy with this unit!

i realy like it gives alot of information and charges great. back again for an update two years i haven't even paid it much mind it's still performing great.my system consists of 4 100 watt renogy panels,4 115 amphour batteries,one 3,000 watt bestec inverter.i run a 30 inch flat screen tv,three 25 watt light bulbs.a wii,a dvd player,and charge my cell phones off it at night.never out of power and can power more during the day and still charge my batteries.i look in on the contoller and see the voltage and the smiley face .good to go.

Bought to charge my RV batteries off a 100W panel. Easy to wire up and go. Love the digital display. Very useful to cycle through and see how many amps the PV is generating and the current voltage of the battery bank.

It works as advertised. I like the fact that I can see when it is actually charging the batteries. It also shows the voltage fromthe solar panels. When the light is low, you can see that it is no longer charging via the animated display. The unit is also programmable. I have not tried any of the user programmable changes since it works fine as is. With four 100 watt panels connected to it, the unit charges my 155 amp hour battery and does not get hot or anything. The connection points are large enough to handle a couple #10 wires and open up such that it is easy to insert properly stripped wires. This is part of my first solar power system and so far so good..

I purchased this controller to replace the dead controller on a Harbor Freight 45watt system. The panels were good, but the controller was never great. Since I was given the set I just used it until something failed. Given how well the panels were holding up, I figured it was worth the few bucks to buy one of these controllers. It's been great so far and installed easily. A nice feature is the voltage indicators for both sides of the charger so you can see what's coming in off your panels as well.

Worked great! After 3 orders of this apparently same unit LMS2430, three different names, MOHOO, Eddistor 20A and this Esky, I FINALLY got the better version/rev. difference: Backlight, Amps in and out, V in and battery. The other versions, no light and only battery Volts, weak. FYI they all had the same part number LMS2430. Thanks to all the others here that did verify this was what I wanted.

These little charge controllers are a great buy for the price, for a small solar system set-up. We live remote, and love the phone charger feature.Good quality, and gives you all the info. you need, and even equalizes your batteries.

Bought this for my RV. I hooked up 400 watts of solar panel to this and it has been working great. A very cheap and simple solution for a PWM solar charger. It displays the things that i need to know. Lightweight, small and it works. There is a timed backlight for convenience in poor lighting. The manual told me what i needed to know. It had the two usb charging ports that a lot of the others did not have. What more could you ask for for the price? Arrived quickly and packaged well.

I received this product in and had trouble making it work, returned it (twice) and wrote a negative review.I was wrong. These "new" type of solar charges need to be hooked to a battery to get them running. I was just checking the battery outputs with a volt meter. I thought I knew what I was doing because I had an older controller.I apologize to the manufacture. The manual could use a little clarity in that area.I hooked it up right and have it running. I like the USB ports on it. I have not been trying it for long, but felt the need to give it a different review.

For the money , this controller is the best deal. It will regulate your deep charge batteries. I have 6 , 215 amp hour batteries linked in a series - parallel configuration. They are supplied with amps from panels from harbor freight 9 panels. that only develop about 90-120 watt. It will keep the batteries up to 13+volts by directing all of the supplied amps to the batteries.This controller can handle a lot more amps that my panels supply. This charger is maintaining my batteries well above 90%. A word of caution if you have to charge during a cloudy period of time with a grid powered charger make sure that the unit is protected by a fuse(s) .If you are a hobbyist just starting out just learning about solar power. I think this is an excellent charger without getting into the big bucks ($) .

works as advertised, good price

Worked as it should, delivered on time.You must always have it hooked to a battery before hook to solar panels.

This is a pretty good solar charge controller. It can handle the large gauge wires needed on higher amperage systems and the display is very informative.

It is just what I needed for my solar charge box on the go....The only thing I wish it had is a panel backlight...but heyit does the job.

Works with my 100W panel and 40 AH battery to keep some lights and a PC going. The current metering seems to be somewhat non linear at currents under 2A, but works well enough for my needs.

i have two of these hooked up at remote cabins, they seem to work well and are a good design. The internal ammeter is not very accurate as they say they are charging more then they actually are and cannot be field adjusted, costumer service is very good at answering questions.

I gotta tell you, this little unit exceeds my expectations. Using it to control power to a screen house lighting system (7 LED lights) and LED landscape lighting (5 more LED fixtures) near screen house and another 150 ft into a ravine/woods. Using a simple 45 watt solar panel fed into barn. Screen house 100 ft from barn. Using 12 gauge wire for feeds I have some voltage loss at the farthest point 250 ft from my battery bank, but WAY less than the voltage drop calculators say. The voltage loss calculators all said I couldn't do this 250 foot run with 325 feet of total wire, but NO PROBLEM with LED lighting. LED lights are really efficient in handling voltage from 10-12 volts and my voltage loss even at the farthest point (350 ft from source) is only down to 10.5v. Plenty to run that last LED fixture. I wanted a solar controller that would handle more amps than my old one. Old one rated at 10 amp, but it's output limited to 4 amps!!. My total draw is about 7+ amps or around 80-85 watts. I also wanted the controller to handle more load right from the controller so I could 1) read the total AMP draw from all connected loads 2) have the battery bank cut out should my batteries drop to 11.5 volts 3) take a cumulative read of the power used (in KWh). Oh, I also have 2 more powerful LED lights in my barn near the controller. They illuminate the interior of my barn just fine. I'm not using much power, but it keeps my new batteries topped off well.Now this has just been installed this week, so time will tell if it holds up. Given my low current draw well below spec's of unit, I think it should. If it doesn't I will come back and edit this review. I would give it 5 stars for its amazing value, but the documentation is horrible. The greatest feature of this unit is the user ability to adjusts it's functions. Particularly the light control and timing features. It's REALLY difficult to figure out, but it's there. The "step by step" instructions in the manual must be translated from Chinese, and something lost in the translation so to speak. I have the light control and timing sorta figured out. If anyone wants to know how, lemmeknow.

Don't depend on the instructions if you need to change any of the default parameters (I left my settings at default). Seems to work as advertised. I don't use the "load" out terminals. I go directly off the batteries. The display is nice for checking the battery voltage, Charge current, and Solar Panel voltage. I would recommend it.

It is working, seems to work well, and has solved our problem. But the instructions! Seriously? I can't believe someone proof read the instructions and said "that should be good".REVISION TO REVIEW:The seller reached out to me to try to compensate me for any frustration incurred due to the pitiful instruction manual. I told the seller that there was no need because the new product does work well. I am impressed by the customer service of this seller and have bumped up the rating to 4 stars due to good customer service.

As usual for items from China the instructions that come with it are less then clear and need more detailed step by step instructions for set up. Other than that mechanically and electrically it's a good regulator/controller.

This system works perfectly as intended. My only issue with it, is the area where you put in your wires doesn't support any wire larger then 6AWG and I wanted to run 2AWG due to the distance. I didn't research that as a possibility when I looked at buying this so I can't even say if there are other that have larger areas for wire.All of that being said, it works great and is easy to hook up. It only took me a few minutes to get it all installed.

Just remember it has to be set to only charge 12 hrs if you want to not drain battery back down does not have auto off for night time

Gives volts of bats. All the rest are icons. I want to know how many amps are being produced and charged. You would think that is the most important thing.

the 20 amp system does not have the same features as the 30 amp, which is disappointing. in particular, it does not have a current measurement, only voltage.I was surprised to see that when at one point I cut both solar and battery input to the 20a unit, it came back online thinking I was using a 24 volt setup.that may be because in the morning my 65 watt panel was outputting a lot of voltage - I measured it at 20 plus volts with a multimeter. I was disappointed that the controller doesn't display Vin, it seems to show its own Vout instead - which seemed to be 13 volts or less despite the high Vin from the panel. it did get charge to the battery, and the layout of the setup isn't complete yet.

Not a high end charge controller but its programmable, easy to use, and the LCD display makes it preferable to the ones included in solar starter kits. Look up the specs for your batteries and set the output voltage to the mfg recommendations which are likely yo be much higher than the factory default on most charge controllers.

Works ok, but not very efficient Charge controller.

This charge controller uses 2 stage charging. It turns off at max voltage. 3 stage is full charge, taper and hold at max charge and then float charge at liwer voltage after set time. 2 stage charging over time will not keep batteries fully charged. Great price but not a great charging setup for long term battery life.

It will not stay on the setting you select. and reverts back to default. So i use a multi meter to see how my systems is working

This controller was purchased as a backup / spare for an existing 30 amp 12 volt solar controller. Sad to say, this unit will not accept an 8 gauge wire. My present controller accepts an 8 ga wire very easily. The Esky is not design for 8 ga. The smaller 10 gauge sized wire would work. I read the product sales copy here on Amazon and it does not state that this is limited to a 10 gauge wire. If you look at the attached photo then you can see the Esky controller on top of my existing controller. The openings for the wires are bigger on the lower controller and very small on the Esky. This is not a problem for small solar systems unless you want to get maximum charge in as little time as possible. Small wires cannot handle larger current flows.

Owners manual is atrocious. It was written by someone with no comprehension of the english language. A us third grader could do better. The product works.

So far so good but still trying to figure it all out with the solar panel and solar battery the charge controller does work but im trying to find out why my panel isn't charging my battery

I purchased this Solar Power controller to charge two12 volt batteries that control two LED lights in my shed. The previous solar power controller I had cost $15 worked great except it would literally go up in smoke if you short circuited the system in any way. This solar power charge controller has short circuit protection which has been great if a connection gets bumped or accidentally broken somehow. But the user interface is obnoxious and it seems to drain power if you leave the charger in 24hr power supply mode even though the both of the lights are switched off. To prevent the batteries from draining you have to switch them off and turn the controller power supply off which isn't simple. Wish it just supplied constant power and didn't drain the batteries.

The first one I bought did not work. The replacement is OK but the output for lighting is modulated, and the lights flicker if used while it is charging.Seems to charge the batteries fine. The flicker on the output is a minor issue for me.

Being returned. Worked well on 2 boon docking trips and quit on the third. I may order again.

Stopped working 3 months after put into service...

Works great for a year then it failed completely.

Worked great for 3 weeks then burnt up at the start of week 4. Had two 115 watt panels hooked up to it, very little amps so I'm not sure why it burnt up...maybe my panels put out too many volts for this thing?? Couldn't find a parameter for that anywhere in the very poorly produced manual. Was a great little controller while it worked.

Purchased this item on April 25, 2017, received it on the 29th. It was intended to be used in a power supply circuit for radios that operate on a battery bank 24/7. Upon careful examination of the electrical properties of the device, I discovered that it is a "Positive Common" controller. This means that it performs all control switching by manipulating the negative connections. Since most electronic equipment (especially radios) needs to be protected from ESD; Lightning, etc. by grounding, it means sharing a common ground. Since almost all such equipment uses ground for its negative power source, (common) the negative side cannot be removed from ground without rendering the device unsafe.In order to use this controller, everything would have to be isolated from ground. This is not only impractical, in the case of my system it's useless. All the negatives would be attached to ground, all the positives would be constantly connected to both the battery bank and the charger panels, hence nothing would ever be switched.Since the internal electronics of the controller are powered by the battery, it cannot be isolated from the load, and therefore is in danger of damage by an unwanted ground loop. I suspect that is the reason for the mysterious failures sighted in other reviews.Although the controller probably works fine in an isolated system, I cannot recommend it because almost all recharge systems CANNOT BE SAFELY ISOLATED FROM GROUND.NOTE: THIS IS A POSITIVE COMMON DEVICE!

Save your money and don't buy China crap!! Never gave an accurate reading on voltage and amperage input or output. I threw two in the trash before I purchased one from my local electrical supply house that actually works. Midnite Solar, decent price for a real product.

I returned this unit. I really could not understand the Owner's Manuel and the Function of this piece.

This has the positive (+) tied together (common) between solar input, battery output, and load output.And regulated though the negative (-) side.This could have complications in some applications where a typical common negative is used.This important detail is NOT disclosed in the listing.There are no wiring diagrams in the manual.It has an equalization mode, but per the manual it decides when to operate it, and doesn't appear to have a way to prevent it. That could be a problem with AGM and gel batteries.

This was working well for about six months, then quit regulating voltage and destroyed a expensive battery by going to high in voltage.

I have used many charge controllers from different manufacturers, and after one of the more expensive ones failed (after 6 years) I decided to give a cheaper one a try. Cheaper is the word for this. although it 'worked' the output from this controller is far less then a decent unit and far less then I expected. I kept it in service on a relatively unimportant system (powering a well pump), and after about 16 months, it failed... period...just stopped working. The warranty is a mere 1 year which is very low for the industry and likely due to the expectation of failure.I recommend that you invest a bit more money and get a better made controller with a stronger warranty. In the end it will save you money. Buying 3 of these in the same period as 1 of the others actually turns out to be more expensive

I am an electrican. Don't buy it! You get what you pay for! Opt for the morning star!

Broke in a week.

Bought controller to work with a 100W panel and a 37AH AGM battery, have a 15W LED light connected to the load terminals, with the controller set to turn the light on for 3 hours after dark. Everything worked well for 2 days, yesterday AM found the light on, controller was still set for 3 hours. Now the lights turn on and off randomly during the day, controller shows 4.1A coming from the panel, 1.2A going to the load (which was on at the time) so connections are sound. Will be returning for replacement.

After less than a year, this charge controller for no apparent reason has stopped charging the battery. I checked and tested all components of my solar power setup with a multimeter and such and everything except this charge controller checked out fine. my solar panel itself checked out fine. the open circuit voltage and everything on the panel were at it's normal spec level. I checked and double checked that all connections were properly connected and secured. I even tested the same solar panel and battery with my older charge controller that I had been using before I upgraded to this one. The battery was charging fine with the old charge controller. I guess it looks I wasted about $50 with this one. It looks like I have to use my older controller for now until I can eventually get another better one. with that all said, I think you can guess what brand I am going to be avoiding now, at least as far as charge controllers go. I know Wendynation also makes solar panels and other related peripherals, but given my experience with the failure of this item I think I'll be steering clear of that brand altogether. Overall I am quite disappointed with this charge controller.I would most definitely not recommend this junk to anyone.

It is not fully working. The usb outlets do not charge...I wish I knew this earlier and I would have returned it. So I am unhappy with it!

Failed 10 minutes after being connected to a 100 watt flexible panel. I am using a Mohoo 20 amp controller on another panel on my boat and decided to try the Esky because it displays charge current but it didn't work out. The Mohoo is regulating the other panel fine, btw.

As many of the previous reviews indicate, the documentation for this product is lousy! It tells you about the different settings, but fails to describe which of the settings if appropriate for a specific application. So, if you are not already and expert, which I am not, it is difficult if not impossible to determine the proper setting choice. I have a solar panel on my RV that I wanted to help charge my batteries when parked. Couldn't figure out which of the settings was the best for that application. And to say the customer/technical service was lousy is an understatement. It is almost non-existent! Do not buy this product unless you are already familiar with your particular situation and already know how a charge controller is to be set up. Otherwise you will be scratching your head and wondering if you have configured the controller properly.

I could not read the panel, too dim. I tied to contact customer support and I could not get help. I am dissatisfied and would not have purchases it had I know this..

This product stopped working a month after I used it

Stop working after 2 weeks.