[RE-wrenches] Outback in general

[jay]

HI Howie,

Does the AIO communicate with other brands of batteries?

I concure about using batteries/inverters from same OEM, its my preference.  

Jay

> On Jul 20, 2024, at 6:37 PM, Howie Michaelson via RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
> 
> I have been testing a pre-production model of Midnite's AIO (All in One) inverter/charge controller in my off-grid house (replaced a dual stacked VFX3648, Midnite Classic200 and an AC coupled SunnyBoy), and while I haven't put it through any serious tests yet, I am impressed with its functions and spec's.  I also have a couple of 5kWh LiFePO4 batteries with their BMS that I just added to the system (replacing a 1300 ah 2-volt Lead-Acid battery bank), and the integration was seamless (really plug and play, compared to an often more complicated pairing between other all-in-ones I've been installing (Sol-Ark, Fortress). I've gotten a sneak peak at their monitoring site which is still under intensive development, and what I've seen looks pretty good. I was not a fan of the all-in-ones when they started to flood the market (Sonnen, Pika/Generac, etc.) especially ones with the batteries integrated.  But I have converted over to them almost exclusively as they are much simpler for my clients to understand - their programming and operation as well as their communications are much better integrated and cleaner in my opinion. They of course have had power issues and firmware headaches, which is why I am sticking to inverters and batteries from the same manufacturer. I will keep you all up to date on my experience with the production model of the Midnite AIO as I install them and with the Midnite LiFePO4 batteries as they become available.
> 
> Howie Michaelson
> 
> 
> On Sat, Jul 20, 2024 at 7:26 PM Dan Fink via RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org <mailto:re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>> wrote:
> James Showalter from Signature Solar and Eric Lundgren from Big Battery purchased Outback Solar. I have had terrible tech support experiences from both of those outfits, they tend to conveniently "forget" your engineering and NEC code compliance support requests when the answer is just simply "no, not yet UL listed" or "we don't know if that feature works or not." I'm not sure how these prolific suppliers of cheap crap products with terrible QC and NIB failure rates intend to compete, but my guess is that they have control of the big crap overseas product pipeline nozzle and intend to steer the huge stream of sewage in our direction. Sol-Ark just imports Deye products and retrofits them with their own upgrades and firmware. Magnum has vanished, much to my dismay as my own system is Magnum as are dozens of my customers.
> 
> Us off-grid folks still have a couple guys named boB and Robin at Midnite that still manufacture, sell and support good products. Maybe Morningstar will up their game into larger inverters. Why are all these shady import companies based in Texas? Inquiring minds want to know! BTW, I hate all-in-ones, never had a single good experience, just endless firmware and comms updates and such simple issues resulting in multiple truck rolls.
> 
> I miss Lones Tuss of Outback calling me back on a Friday evening at 7PM and remotely diagnosing my client's VFX / Mate 3S issues whilst doing his laundry at home, after I submitted a ticket earlier that day. The client seriously thought I was pulling a practical joke on him until I put Lones on speaker.
> 
> Strange new world for us off-grid folks. I'll have to stick with the very few companies left that I trust. Yes, yes, Schneider, but their tech support is almost impenetrable. 
> 
> Our strange new off-grid world seems to be destined as crap from Alibaba and Amazon, and it all smells rather off to me, like the "fresh fish" at a run-down Safeway in eastern Kansas....
> 
> Dan Fink
> Owner, Buckville Energy Consulting LLC
> IREC Certified Instructor for PV and Small Wind Installation
> NABCEP Certified PV System Inspector
> NABCEP PV Associate
> d <mailto:dan.fink at greendustrialtraining.com>anbob88 at gmail.com <mailto:anbob88 at gmail.com>
> 970-672-4342
> 
>  
> 
> 
> On Sat, Jul 20, 2024 at 3:22 PM Jay via RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org <mailto:re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>> wrote:
> I just checked the OB forums page and there is nothing current. 
> 
> One thing I found says that the new president of OB is the CEO of Big Battery. I don’t know that to be a fact. 
> Which is also somehow related to signature solar/ EG4. 
> 
> My guess is that if/when OB resurfaces it won’t have the same products. It’ll just be an old name selling new products and they won’t be dealing with old legacy products, warranty or MX or tech support. 
> 
> I could be way wrong. 
> 
> But anyone trying to keep a product line going wouldn’t just stop all communication for a few months. 
> 
> Maybe someone who has been an OB distributor might know more about what’s up?  I no longer have any of those contacts. 
> 
> New world, fellow wrenches. 
> 
> Jay
> 
> 
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