Side by Side Comparison of: WindyNation vs Renogy

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..

Really a necessity when building a Solar Array. I accidentally connected the wrong panels together while up on my roof. These tools made disconnecting very easy. I also had to make a couple of extender cables with MC4 connectors. These tools really made the job easy. Be sure to buy the crimp pliers too. You don't want to skimp here. Any connector problem will degrade system performance or might actually burn up.

I thought these would probabaly be a waste of money but they are not. Another tool you will probably hardley ever use but make things simple when you do use them

Cool product to make cable with MC4 connectors. I like this better than using wrench

You will appreciate this inexpensive tool if you want to disconnect cables connected with MC4 connectors.

I love this product for myself . Makes assembly and disassembly easy.It makes disconnecting the wire connectors much quicker. its the perfect tool to use. This tool is important for disconnecting MC4 solar panels without damaging the connectors. I plan to eventually upgrade my Solar Rig and run a dozen panels in Parallel and this tool is needed to disconnect them cables without risking breakage.

Very slick. One down, one up and pull. Pop. It took me a few to get it but super easy after I figured them out.

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.

next month this item will get a work out

Well built

Matches rest of solar equipment.

Working as expected.

Great tool to have around. Especially for the price

This tool is quite reasonably priced and easy to use to seperate MC4 connections without damaging them. Do not take the chance of damaging the connect with pliers, etc. Tool is light, tough and easy to use.

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

Ok, but a not up to the quality of most Renogy products.

Good for their connectors but don't fit some other brands.

Its good

In my opinion this tool isn't strong enough to be used for any serious work. I'll probably find one made of metal which should work better.

So far only fit Renogy parts. The kit needs to be more universal.

These are useful, but they are not really necessary to attach MC4 connectors to PV cable. You could easily use two adjustable wrenches for the same task. The only other use for them is to release the retaining clips that hold a male to a female connector. Again, I found I was able to do that task with my fingers, so the tools were not needed.

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.

These only work with the one brand of MC4 connectors. When I discovered they didn't work, I also discovered I didn't need them to work with the connectors; using my fingers, pliers, and a wrench were more than adequate. Another brand of MC4 connectors might not be so easy to work with, though.

this tool does not fit the gland of all the MC4 connectosr even i bought the connectors from amazon. should be a notation that only fit the gland of RENOGY MC4 connectors.

Work great on Renogy connectors. I don't own any Renogy connectors. They do however remove the clips on anyone else's connectors, which was my main reason for getting them. So as long as you know that, then yes, they sorta work. Better than pinching with your fingers as I don't do solar for a living, otherwise I'd get a real tool.

Only fits Renogy products. Also, if you have basic tools (and you're assembling a solar system so I assume you do) you don't need these at all. Waste of money really.

Only part of it was the right size it's to large to kit od of mc4 connectors was discovered a pointed with it tried it on 3 different brands of connectors so it wasn't them

I don't think you really need these to assemble a mc4 connector...at least I didn't use them.

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.

This ‘tool’ comes with connector packs, so this ended up being a waste of money. This tool really provides nothing to someone who is crimping their own connectors. It’s a single conductor cable, anyone can do it.

Still dont know what these are useful for, looks like a toy wrench you give to a third grader

The jaws of these things are rounded off plastic.I threw them in the garbage.You do not need these if you have strong hands, and if you do not have strong hands then use 2 pairs of vise grips.

Didn't use them. I couldn't buy them normally as they were some kind of tricky "add on" item, so by the time I got them the work was done. If you buy MC4s and $600 worth of panels Renogy needs to throw them in free.

Useless! The prongs would not engage the release catch on the conectors. The spanner does not grip the gland nut enough to make a tight fit. spanner

Didn't work with my MC connectors. An installer's tool (red in color) looked nearly identical in shape, however the 2 pins at the end and the 2 pins perpendicular to the main body of this are pointier than those on the red tool, and don't engage the release tabs on the connector.