Multimode inverter [RE-wrenches]

[Doug Pratt]

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If a long-term satisfied customer is your goal, then the Outback is your
best choice. I've never heard of an MM that didn't let the smoke out sooner
or later. The three years you got is better than average. They really
weren't ready for prime time when they were released. The SW would solve the
problem, but it'll be a lot noisier than the MM or the Outback. The Sunny
Island won't pull excess power off the battery to feed the grid. That's not
a solution if you've got any PV input going to the battery. 
Cheers,
Doug Pratt

-----Original Message-----
From: William Korthof [mailto:wkorthof at earthlink.net] 
Sent: Wednesday, March 30, 2005 5:24 PM
To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
Subject: Multimode inverter [RE-wrenches]


I have a customer from back in 2002 whose MM5000 inverter just bit
the black, gooey, smokey, smoldering....dust. Luckily the inverter was
installed outside, so the toxic black cloud of inverter companies gone
south only engulfed the yard and not the garage/kitchen/living room.

Luckily, this is our last customer with a MM...and our third MM to go
bad on us. This one definitely sizzled more the others, with that deep
putrid black residue totally encrusting the interior power section.
There are no hints to the cause of failure---three years working, now
failure. We did not take up Beacon's "upgrade" trade-in offer, but I'm
not convinced that would have been a good deal... any other dealers
with MM products still in the field? Is this fiery failure mode common?

This customer has a 4.3 kW array (36 KC 120) and a 19

We happen to have one remaining, old but operative MM inverter.
So for this customer, we have a few choices:
1) swap in our remaining orphan MM inverter
2) replace with a Trace SW5548 inverter (we have one on our shelves)
3) replace with an Outback inverter
4) replace with a Sunny Island

The replacement will basically be at our expen$e, but we want to
make sure this customer can remain satisfied. Any suggestions?


William Korthof
Energy Efficiency Solar

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