[RE-wrenches] Enohase tech support

Fri Mar 15 14:38:35 PDT 2024

Jay, I wlll contact you off list and give you my number. The rest below is for
your and everyone else's benefit.

My experience with Enphase has been wonderful, but I've been installing Enphase
since 2009 and I know all of the ins and outs and lingo. Customer service
doesn't have a chance against me usually. They do have many many great front
line CS reps and a great escalations team. You have to know the right things to
say to get the answers you need. You also need to know when to challenge them
when they give you nonsense, usually about potential wiring issues and most
famously for "noise" on the powerline that magically appears. The number one
service call we get is the Gateway is disconnected, and it's usually a Wi-Fi
issue.

With that said, it's unclear which "Envoy" now called a "Gateway" your client
has. The original one is the Envoy-R. It has a screen and it connected via
Ethernet or via a USB Wi-Fi dongle that is not longer available. These -R units
failed in droves and only has 1 or 2 year warranties. They will get stuck on
"Booting," or say device failure or have gibberish characters on the screen.
These all indicate failure and will require replacement.

The solution is to replace it with a Envoy S
[https://mailtrack.io/l/9b4cb649cee9a6ce07d093e98183390a51f253a2?url=https%3A%2F%2Fenphase.com%2Fstore%2Fcommunication%2Fenvoy-s-standard&u=1613865&signature=c41bf726d6602b80],
which is a 120V plug-in version of the hardwired version, the Envoy S Metered
[https://mailtrack.io/l/f363348ddf4bcbe95c2187c1ebaada3d07debe60?url=https%3A%2F%2Fenphase.com%2Fstore%2Fcommunication%2Fenvoy-s-metered&u=1613865&signature=f5c9f6526c9b1a5a],
which includes a production CT and the capability of doing consumption
monitoring. These are both available from the Enphase Store (links provided).
The Envoy S is far more reliable and has a 5 year warranty. It has integrated
WiFi and Ethernet. It can also use a cell modem (at a significant extra cost).

You can easily determine the type of Envoy the customer has now in the Enlighten
Manager or Enlighten consumer app. You can also call Enphase if you have the
serial number.

If the client has a Envoy S, Envoy S Metered, or IQ Gateway (previously called
the IQ Envoy), the issue may be as simple as reconnecting the device to the
client's WiFi. They can do that in their own app or you can do it with the
Installer Toolkit app.

DO NOT buy an Envoy-R on eBay or elsewhere. Many of them didn't receive security
updates because they were in a box and not web-connected, so they will not work
with the Enlighten web portal anymore. 

One more thing... Many times we find that Envoys/Gateways are connected via a
WiFi extender. These cheap consumer devices tend to fail. Sometimes
unplug/replug works.

Jason Szumlanski
Principal Solar Designer | Florida Solar Design Group
NABCEP Certified Solar Professional (PVIP)
Florida State Certified Solar Contractor CVC56956
Florida Certified Electrical Contractor EC13013208

On Fri, Mar 15, 2024 at 2:12 PM jay via RE-wrenches
<re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:

> Hi David.
> 
> 
> This one is a standard newer version Envoy S.  
> 
> 
> I’ve had this exact same issue of tech “support” numerous times.  I had to go
> to my neighbors to confirm that the panels were wired correctly, after they
> had been installed for years.  I’m not making this up.
> 
> 
> Seems to really depend on who you get on the phone if they will help you or
> not which isn’t good. 
> 
> 
> Thats why I”m looking for any help to find the right phone number or person
> who will/can help.
> 
> 
> I’m guessing its either the envoy needs to be rebooted or its broken. 
> 
> 
> thanks
> 
> 
> jay
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> > On Mar 15, 2024, at 11:49 AM, david quattro <david at quattrosolar.com
> > [david at quattrosolar.com]> wrote:
> > 
> > wow, your experience is worse than anything I've ever heard of from Enphase
> > tech support. My experience with them is this: they know their old Envoys
> > are garbage (the M-Series are failing left and right now). The executives
> > made the decision that they will no longer manufacture new M-Envoys. I don't
> > know their posture regarding S-Series, I haven't seen those fail yet. So
> > instead of selling you a good brand new M-Envoy, they try to connive you
> > into replacing 100% of your microinverters with IQ-Enphase - you know,
> > because they are such a great, responsible company.
> >   Actual options moving forward are to find a used M-Series Envoy that you
> > have tested in-house before you go on your 5 hour drive. I have one I can
> > sell you. Or you deliver the bad news to the customer and tell them the
> > truth - they are flying blind without a functioning Envoy.  Ground mounts
> > aren't that bad since you could teach the customer to walk up and verify PV
> > current on each module with a decent meter.  For me essentially all of my
> > Enphase fleet went onto residential rooftops where regular access is not an
> > option. What kills me about Enphase is that every step of the way over the
> > last 15 years - EVERY single time they changed their inverter architecture,
> > they promised that all the new stuff would be backward compatible with old
> > gear. And every single time, they were full of it.
> > 
> > On Fri, Mar 15, 2024 at 9:49 AM Jay via RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-
> > wrenches.org [re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org]> wrote:
> > 
> > 
> > > Hi all
> > > 
> > > Is there anyway to get tech support with remote coms?
> > > 
> > > I got a call just the other day from someone with an envoy. It’s stopped
> > > communicating to enohase. Enphase says they need the installer who’s now
> > > gone.
> > > They just won’t help the customer.
> > > It’s about a 5 hr round trip for me. Which is nuts as I’ll have to
> > > communicate with enohase anyway.
> > > 
> > > And I’ve heard rhis exact issue multiple times from numerous people. Envoy
> > > has lights but has stopped communicating. I’ve heard enohase tech say “the
> > > panels are wired wrong. “. You mean they magically changed after 10 years?
> > > 
> > > Does anyone have a person/number etc of who will help them?
> > > 
> > > Thanks
> > > Jay
> > > 
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