[RE-wrenches] Generac EcoGen Failure.

Sun Nov 15 19:32:04 PST 2015

Luke,
   Just saw your post and ditto about Generac's lack of technical support.
I simply want to ask about an error message that is not mentioned the
troubleshooting section of their "installation manual".  I was thinking of
taking their training but didn't realize it was $2k.  I have sold 14
Ecogens to date over the last two and a half years and have had problems
with 4 of them. When I consider all the time I have spent trying to get
information and activation from them, I haven't made $2000 on the whole
lot. I like the Ecogen  I have one EcoGen 6kw on a mountaintop transmitter
site that has run flawlessly for over 2000 hours in a year and a half.  I
monitor it with OpticsRE and after practically living on that mountaintop
nursing a 3000 hour Kohler, I kind of miss the mountaintop.  It has been so
flawless that the owner of the site just does the 500 hour oil changes when
they are up working on their transmitters. But being a sales dealer and
being kept in the dark about servicing is not good.  I currently have one
that is showing an error message of low output voltage and won't stay
running after firing up.  I have called every Generac authorized service
company within 100 miles (7 of them) and cannot get any of them to provide
service in a timely manner.  They say 2 weeks or don't offer to come at all
and some will only service the ones they sell because they are just too
stretched out.  Understandable but doesn't help.

 I found when I couldn't activate one of the units, waiting two hours on
hold, and trying online only to have it reject a proper physical address or
email address, that calling the sales department did get some internal
communications going.  I am going to try that tomorrow when they open.
Leaving customers hanging with warranty issues is problem for their sales
people as well. They DO answer the phone.

I may have to contact Mac or Chris or if there are any other wrenches with
some ideas.   Since I can't get a tech, I will have to go back there again
for the third time to do some troubleshooting myself.  Ironically, this
customer previously had
a Generac Guardian purchased at Home Depot that actually lasted 3000 hours,
much to my surprise.

John Blittersdorf
Central Vermont Solar & Wind

On Mon, Nov 2, 2015 at 12:19 PM, Luke Christy <sgsrenewables at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hello Wrenches,
>
> I've installed quite a few of the small 6 kW Generac EcoGen units for my
> off-grid customers and have been pretty pleased with them…up to now. The
> 15kW EcoGen unit recently became available and I commissioned one last week
> for a nearby off-grid site. The generator ran fine the first day, then the
> very next day I got a call from the customer saying that the genny auto
> started, ran for less than an hour, then started sounding funny and shut
> off with an error alarm. I made a site visit to check out the problem, and
> found that it would not start. Some further investigation suggests that
> there is some electronic control issue keeping it from running. The error
> code suggests a component failure.
>
> This is a brand new generator with less than 3 hrs of run time.
>
> The real issue I'm facing is that despite the fact that I am a Generac
> "Dealer", Generac refuses to give me access to Tech support or to help me
> with any troubleshooting over the phone. I can't get access to any service
> manuals or, really, anything unless I pay them ~$2k to become a Service
> dealer by attending some Tech training classes and buying a  bunch of spare
> parts I will likely never need. In general I'm not opposed to doing this as
> I work on generators all the time and it would be a good niche for my area,
> however it wouldn't help in this case, and I'm not exactly eager to pay
> Generac for training after the brushoff I got when I talked to Customer
> Support about this issue.
>
> Generac says my only option to get any kind of help or service on this
> generator is to contact a Service dealer. As I am based in rural Southern
> CO, the closest Service dealer is 3-1/2 hrs away. Of course this leaves me
> in a lousy position and makes it nearly impossible for me to help my
> customer in a timely manner, as it might take a week to get someone out
> here and then I'll likely have to pay for the drive time because the
> warranty won't cover anything over 100 miles round trip.
>
> I have to say I'm pretty much appalled at this lack of support for an
> obvious warranty issue with a  brand new product.
>
> I know we've had some Generac discussions on here before. Seems like we
> may even have a couple of Generac Service folks on this list. Any advice on
> how I could get some troubleshooting help without bringing someone in from
> halfway across the state? Or does anyone know of a good Generac forum where
> I might be able to get some help?
>
> Thanks as always. I appreciate this list.
>
> -Luke
>
> NABCEP Certified PV Installation Professional™: Certification #031409-25
> NABCEP Certified Solar Heating Installer™: Certification #ST032611-03
>
> Solar Gain Services, LLC
> PO Box 531
> Monte Vista, CO. 81144
> SGSRenewables at Gmail.com
> 719.588.3044
> www.sgsrenewables.com
>
>
>
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