[RE-wrenches] XW Pro failures

Sat Oct 14 09:32:39 PDT 2023

Eric has been great! You may have to remind him in a follow-up as he has 
a very busy schedule.

I know he appreciates the people who show-up for the training webinars. 
I must say that I hardly ever see anyone from the list here in the live 
webinars. Maybe they watch the replays?

I also am amazed that an installer would need to call tech-support to do 
a first install. Why would someone pay you to learn on their power 
system?

If you really feel you have been wronged by Schneider inside the 10 year 
XWpro warranty, get me your case number and I will follow up with the 
other side of your argument. There always are 2 sides. 😉

https://solar.se.com/us/en/xw-pro-commissioning-guide/

Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar
"we go where powerlines don't"
    [2]https://offgridsolar1.com/ [3]  [2]
e-mail  offgridsolar at sti.net
text 209 813 0060

On 2023-10-13 9:47 pm, Kevin Pegg via RE-wrenches wrote:

> Hi Wallace,
> 
> Interesting. Eric has in the past been responsive to my queries. I 
> emailed him over 1 week ago about my most recently failed XWPro and 
> have not heard back. I see he is replying fairly rapidly to your query. 
> I shall bug him more next week.
> 
> Kevin
> 
> From: RE-wrenches <re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org> On Behalf 
> Of Wallace Stahle via RE-wrenches
> Sent: Friday, October 13, 2023 5:05 PM
> To: RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
> Cc: Wallace Stahle <wstahle at pacific.net>
> Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] XW Pro failures
> 
> Hey bleeding edgers,
> 
> So being alarmed at what I was reading and halfway through purchasing a 
> dual stack XW Pro package I emailed Eric Benson with my concerns and 
> pasted your  four descriptive posts with it  and  my plans to 
> reconsider my choice before committing to problems some have had and I 
> dont need. I pointed out the many solid installs some have had and that 
> this appears to be a new problem in the unit, not the installation or 
> older production runs.
> 
> Here is his initial response including reaching out to him if tech help 
> is uh, unresponsive.
> 
>> Begin forwarded message:
>> 
>> From: Eric Bentsen <Eric.Bentsen at se.com>
>> 
>> Subject: Re: XW Pro problems
>> 
>> Date: October 13, 2023 at 4:09:44 PM PDT
>> 
>> To: Wallace Stahle <future at pacific.net>
>> 
>> Hi Wallace,
>> 
>> It sounds like someone loaded the wrong firmware, or they attempted 
>> calibration without reading the guide. We have thousands of 
>> successfully installed XW Pro units in single and multi-unit systems. 
>> If anyone on wrenches needs assistance and is unable to reach tech 
>> support, they can reach out to me directly. Most issues installers 
>> face in the field related to loud buzzing are because they don't 
>> follow the commissioning guide on the website, which includes 
>> upgrading firmware in InsightLocal first, then upgrade XW Pro unit(s), 
>> then restore each XW Pro to ALL factory defaults, finally apply region 
>> code. These steps are necessary, in the correct order, to have a 
>> smooth commissioning experience.
>> 
>> Let me know how I can help.
>> 
>> Eric
>> 
>> Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G, an AT&T 5G smartphone
>> Get Outlook for Android [1]
>> 
>> Internal
>> 
>> -------------------------
>> 
>> From: Wallace Stahle <future at pacific.net>
>> Sent: Friday, October 13, 2023 3:12:47 PM
>> To: Eric Bentsen <Eric.Bentsen at se.com>
>> Subject: XW Pro problems
>> 
>> [External email: Use caution with links and attachments]
>> 
>> -------------------------
>> 
>> Hello Eric,
>> 
>> So I just ordered a pair of MPPT 600/100 controllers and PDP for two 
>> inverters ahead of the 2 XW Pros that will go in later and I read some 
>> posts from experienced installers and realize I can not proceed with 
>> the install given these reports from four Re-Wrenches.  See pasted 
>> comments below.
>> 
>> The customers need for reliable power supply is critical.
>> 
>> I can not afford the time, trips, on hold phone time and frustration 
>> involved with remedies for these problems even if covered under 
>> warranty. Tech help generally presumes installer error when problems 
>> arise and getting them/you to acknowledge faulty product is an uphill 
>> rock rolling experience.
>> 
>> Your thoughts?
>> 
>> Wallace Stahle
>> 
>> Future Electric Energy Co
>> 
>> PO Box 236
>> 
>> Willits, CA 95490
>> 
>> 707-459-0474
>> 
>> Lic.#C10-762093
>> 
>> future at pacific.net
>> 
>> Hello Wrenches,
>> 
>> Curious if anyone else is dealing with failed Schnieder XW PRO6848's 
>> this year? In recent months I've had 2 DOA (one producing 180/360VAC; 
>> one charger had this nasty building THD and ugly noise until it 
>> tripped out), and 2 fail after few weeks in service. One charger just 
>> failed, and another have yet to take the long drive to figure out but 
>> it's gone dark.
>> 
>> I've sold, serviced, and installed 100's of XW's starting with Beta 
>> 001 and can't think of any that just failed like of recent. Unplanned 
>> return service calls are costly as we all know. Tech support has been 
>> wildly inconsistent and presently unresponsive.
>> 
>> Thanks,
>> 
>> Funny you should say that. One that I just installed is acting weird 
>> and sounds horrible. Waited an hour on the phone for tech support to 
>> no avail. Will be a really long drive back to sort things out. Never 
>> had an XW with issues before.
>> 
>> I have a buddy that has had two different  stacked pairs with issues.
>> 
>> It took months of back and forth on the one which they did replace 
>> them however one of the inverters sent from Schneider was a euro 
>> 230/50hz. Taking another trip and more delay.
>> 
>> And same guy, another project with monitoring etc they refused to do 
>> anything and the client had the money to just replace them with 
>> another brand, and it's been working fine ever since.
>> 
>> Not a good situation
>> 
>> I've only installed one and it is an ongoing nightmare.  Almost burned 
>> the customers house down with exploding batteries.
>> 
>> Voltages all set properly but the unit ignored all settings and went 
>> up to 67 volts while I watched and who knows how high it would have 
>> gone if I had not shut the system down. Luckily the owner of the spart 
>> time home has been there when it needed to be shut down.
>> 
>> A grid tie system that has been off line most of its 10 year life.  
>> First time Schneider tech support said it must be wrong settings.  I 
>> had gone over them many times and with another tech with me and there 
>> were no incorrect settings.  After more than a year, they admitted 
>> that the firmware was bad.  Wasted another whole day getting the 
>> firmware upgraded and it worked for awhile and then did the same 
>> thing.  Worked OK the last two years after replacing the batteries for 
>> the second time and then suddenly it started using lots of water and 
>> is doing it again.  Not to mention the AGS module not working with the 
>> firmware. A New module still has same problem.  All wiring tested. I 
>> have seen XW's (not my install) making loud noises and seeming to have 
>> issues but I wasn't going to touch them  Told them to get the original 
>> installing company to check it out.
>> 
>> I'm about to rip my problem child off the wall and put in a Radian. 
>> I've installed dozens with only 2 needing any attention with power 
>> supply board and a power module, all quick fixes.
> 
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Links:
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[2] http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/
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