[RE-wrenches] sol ark reliability question
Jay
jay.peltz at gmail.com
Tue Oct 4 17:37:04 PDT 2022
Here is what it looks like
> On Oct 4, 2022, at 6:16 PM, Michael Morningstar via RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
>
>
> Honest Question, what is an MCU board and how to tell what version it is?
>
>
>> On Tue, Oct 4, 2022 at 4:51 PM Jay via RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
>> Hi Chris
>>
>> The 1.1 MCU issue might have been known but they did a horrible job with my buddy.
>>
>> 7 x MCU 1.1 boards
>> 1 replacement inverter to fix a failed inverter turned out to be a warranty unit that wasnt fixed and of course didn’t work.
>> And again this system was designed with their approval, and the loads are exactly as he told them and web connected
>>
>> After months they finally coped to the issue with 1.1 and got him 2 new units with 1.2 boards after trying 1.2 boards in the older units which didn’t work probably due to other damage.
>>
>> They are still trying to get him to pay $1500 for the inverter failure which was under warranty, it’s been 2 months and still not resolved.
>>
>> Total time of the project and issues 6+ months.
>> Number of field trips 15+
>> Hours per trip 5+
>> Payment for those trips 0
>>
>> While it’s been good to hear all the positive reviews here, what my buddy has gone through gives me huge concern to give them my money.
>>
>> Jay
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>>> On Oct 4, 2022, at 5:05 PM, Chris Sparadeo via RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
>>>>
>>>
>>
>>> Hi Jay,
>>>
>>> We have 50+ Sol Ark’s deployed and have just recently RMA’d our first unit for a failed grid input relay. Only failure so far and tech support was awesome throughout the process.
>>>
>>> I have been very impressed with the 15K unit. We have dropped some serious inductive motor loads on it with no issue.
>>>
>>> My understanding is that the MCU glitch with paralleled units was a known issue with the 12K, and has since been resolved.
>>>
>>> Kindly,
>>>
>>> Chris
>>>
>>>> On Fri, Sep 30, 2022 at 12:10 PM Jerry Shafer via RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
>>>> Ray. Understand but loose connections can be any product and troubleshooting loose intermittent issues are the hardest to correct
>>>> J
>>>> Funtimes
>>>>
>>>>> On Fri, Sep 30, 2022, 9:03 AM Ray Walters via RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
>>>>> One thing I can say: trouble shooting problems over the phone has its limitations. I had a customer issue with a system we hadn't installed that was quite vexing. Turned out to be a loose main DC connection to the inverter. Bizarre behavior as the connection heated up and the resistance varied.
>>>>>
>>>>> Ray Walters
>>>>>
>>>>>> On 9/30/2022 6:57 AM, Jay via RE-wrenches wrote:
>>>>>> Hi all and thanks for the input.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I guess he’s just been unlucky with the problems ( firmware upgrade switching to 50hz) and possibly just some random bad hardware.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> In regards to your thoughts of a install issue, he has spent a lot of time with sol ark reviewing everything. Loads, wiring, they have been monitoring all the data, photos, video etc with everything coming up correctly installed, wired, and loads.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> this system is an upgrade for an older XW ( 6kw units) system which worked fine. The customer wanted better monitoring, more kw, expansion capabilities and newer tech.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Weird
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Sep 29, 2022, at 9:50 PM, pieter offgridenterprises.org via RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> We have dozens of Solark based installs and have had excellent results. All of our system have multiple parallel Solark inverters and have operated with out issues. On the rare occasion that we had commissioning questions our experience with Solark technical support has been outstanding, they have by far the best technical support in the industry. Although Solark helped design the system in question I suspect that there must be some finer points that were not shared with Solark, a load side wiring problem or perhaps an installation error that is causing the repeated failures. I suggest that your friend gets a fresh set of eyes on the system and look for that oversite we have all made and just can’t seem to see it on our own.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Pieter Huebner
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Off Grid Enterprises
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> From: RE-wrenches <re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org> On Behalf Of Jerry Shafer via RE-wrenches
>>>>>>> Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2022 10:25 AM
>>>>>>> To: RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
>>>>>>> Cc: Jerry Shafer <jerrysgarage01 at gmail.com>
>>>>>>> Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] sol ark reliability question
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Wrenches
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Solark issues, I have them living off grid, 3 phase and grid tied back up, both AC and DC coupled with only one intermittent comms issue, does not seem to have any more issues than OB and less than Schnieder, all are connected to Fortress 18.5's or Blue Planet BMS interface seems hardy,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Would be good to know what issues he is having to accurately help
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Jerry
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Thu, Sep 29, 2022 at 7:01 AM jay via RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Hi All,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I’ve got a question about how many folks are having issues with sol-ark products?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> the reason i ask is that i’ve got a friend, a good competent installer ( well versed in OB, Schneider, magnum) who’s had continuing nightmares with them.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> he’s got 2 systems each on is a stacked pair of 12kw units, both offgrid.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> each system was designed by sol-ark, meaning the design was approved by them for the loads/solar etc.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> He’s been through 7 MCU swaps.
>>>>>>> He’s been through a field call required because the over the air firmware update caused the inverters to go into 50hz and for some reason that isn’t fixable via the web.
>>>>>>> He had an inverter that didn’t work correctly out of the box. They charged him $2500 deposit for a replacement.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Then they charged him $1500 to fix the inverter he sent back under warranty. Thats right $1500 to fix a warranty which they agreed was a warranty issue.
>>>>>>> Hes not going to pay but this $1500 has been going on a while.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The inverter they sent to replace the broken one had a older MCU firmware so wouldn’t stack and it took tech support way to long to figure that out then they had to send him a new MCU…...
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> And the list goes on.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> But Im asking, is this poor guy just an anomaly or will anyone else chime in about issues?,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Because at this point I have no desire to install one given his experiences
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Jay
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> --
>>> Chris Sparadeo
>>>
>>>
>>> C_802-369-4458
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> --
> Michael Morningstar
>
> Morningstar Electric
> PO Box 1494
> Mount Shasta, CA 96067
> 530-921-0560
> mjmorningstar at gmail.com
>
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