[RE-wrenches] Generac EcoGen Failure.

Sun Nov 15 19:46:55 PST 2015

Wrenches
We have only purchased Cummins gen sets and out rep said that the general
issues have been very good for there business which I thought was very
interesting
Just sayin
Jerry
On Nov 15, 2015 5:32 PM, "John Blittersdorf" <john.blittersdorf at gmail.com>
wrote:

> 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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