[RE-wrenches] mate issues AND MORE ISSUES

[CVSOLAR at aol.com]

Matt & Tom,
   Guess it's time to put in my two cents.  I have also had  the same random 
failures to start and/or stop the generator automatically from  the mate in 3 
installation.  Managed to boil dry 8 L 16's and run through  90 gallons of 
propane before we went back to the unattended second home over  three days after 
checking it out and found the generator had been running  since we left.  As 
you have noted, all tests checked out good at the  time.  We are looking into 
3rd party auto start modules as an alternative  or continue to tell all 
customers not to use auto start if unattended.  It  seems that all auto start 
problems occur when the customer is not home.  We  had one Trace SW4024 start a 
Kohler generator flawlessly for 3 years and when  they took their first extended 
stay from home, it failed.... Turned out it was a  bad spark plug but it 
shattered their faith in the system. We have also had  problems with The Xantrex SW 
Plus with similar problems.  We have also had  a problem with several Outback 
systems shutting down the generator prematurely  at about 70% charge even 
though we reset the mate and Inverter to factory  defaults. 
 
I still have trouble convincing the rich second home owners that the only  
reliable system is 2 generators with a person to run them.  We are  currently 
using a honda 2000i as our backup for our off grid home so our VFX3624  does 
just fine taking in the power. Love the low fuel consumption.  My  customer with 
the runaway Kohler used more fuel in one weekend than we have used  in a year. 
 
John  Blittersdorf
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer tm
Central Vermont Solar & Wind, LLC.
104 River  Street
Rutland, VT 05701

802-747-0577
802-773-0924  fax
802-770-8625 cell
_www.cvsolar.com_ (http://www.cvsolar.com/) 

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