Zamp battery controller still used with the Xantrex XC Pro?

[Jairon]

I noticed a Xantrex monitoring panel and a Zamp charge controller installed in a 2020 Elite II. The Freedom XC Pro 2/3000 supports battery charging so I was curious if the Zamp controller is installed when opting for the XC Pro units and if so, does anyone know why?

[mossemi]

The Zamp Charge Controller is located between the solar panels and the batteries and controls the charge current from the solar panels on its way to the batteries.

The Xantrex XC2000/3000 is an inverter with a built in charger.  The charger portion would charge the batteries after AC shore power had been converted to DC.  This is a different circuit than the Zamp product.

So they are 2 different systems.  
 

And I hope I didn’t make it any more complicated than necessary.

Mossey

[SeaDawg]

The solar controller is much like a regulator, insuring that your batteries are never getting too much "raw" power from the panels that will overcharge your batteries. It sends only the power you need, from your solar panels, to charge your battery bank.

Like a charger, a solar controller will decrease power coming in, as necessary, and continue  to step down as you leave bulk mode, accommodating other stages. Likewise, when it's dark or cloudy, your controller won't send power back to the panels. (Though modern panels have diodes to prevent this discharge, as well.)

A solar charger is a necessary device between your solar panels and their fluctuating voltage input, and your batteries.

Both our boat and our trailer have a solar controller, plus a charger for the rare times that we actually plug into shore power/ac current. That's where the charge controller  steps in, doing a similar function, but from ac power, converting to dc to charge the batteries.

Or, very simply, it's all electron magic...😀

Edited November 2, 2020 by SeaDawg
Typos

[Jairon]

Thanks Mossey and SeaDawg! That makes sense to me 😁 I'm getting close to my configuration deadline so I've been digging into the solar setup a little too much.

[SeaDawg]

Jaron, never too much! 

It's always best (and least expensive) to ask lots of questions first, and make good decisions. 

[Ray and Susan Huff]

16 hours ago, mossemi said:

The Zamp Charge Controller is located between the solar panels and the batteries and controls the charge current from the solar panels on its way to the batteries.

The Xantrex XC2000/3000 is an inverter with a built in charger.  The charger portion would charge the batteries after AC shore power had been converted to DC.  This is a different circuit than the Zamp product.

So they are 2 different systems.  
 

And I hope I didn’t make it any more complicated than necessary.

Mossey

That makes perfect sense to me; I've been wondering how this works.

One question: when batteries are charging through the inverter/charger (connected to shore power) are they, at the same time, receiving a charge from the solar controller?  Or does one over-ride the other?