[RE-wrenches] Issues with HomeGrid
Kent
kent at coveoregon.com
Fri Feb 14 12:46:18 PST 2025
Schneider's website is still there but it shows the Conext products as
being discontinued.
Word is that a couple well know online retail companies bought up almost
all the inventory except for some number of items that Schneider held
for warranty supply.
Kent Osterberg
Blue Mountain Solar
On 2/14/2025 10:55 AM, Jason Szumlanski via RE-wrenches wrote:
> This is the first time I'm hearing of that. The product line is still
> listed on their website.
>
> On Fri, Feb 14, 2025, 1:28 PM Michael Morningstar via RE-wrenches
> <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
>
> They discontinued the Conext line. Mo more XWs
>
> On Fri, Feb 14, 2025 at 9:45 AM Glenn via RE-wrenches
> <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
>
> Whoa, what did I miss?
> How is Schneider out of the picture?
>
> -Glenn
>
> On Feb 14, 2025 12:28, Michael Morningstar via RE-wrenches
> <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
>
> I think I have seen or heard of issues and failures with
> all of the Li batteries at this point. Even my favorite,
> Discover. So then, what is most important to me is good
> tech support and customer service. Discover has been
> awesome. Midnite has been great too. Discover is releasing
> a 16kwhr battery very soon. Most of my OG systems for
> several years have been Schneider/Discover. With Schneider
> out of the picture, I started using more Victron equipment
> with Discover batteries. Now there's the Midnite AIO and
> Powerlo16s. I've done several GTBB systems and like that
> combo for that application. Bill's post reminded me of the
> Rosie/Barcelona. I'm wondering what the pro's and cons are
> between the AIO and R/B for off-grid. Not many choices
> left these days
>
> On Thu, Feb 13, 2025 at 6:47 AM Jason Szumlanski via
> RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
>
> I didn't initially realize they have the Powerflo16
> outdoor wallmount battery. I see you can get that
> capacity with it now. It's disappointing that the
> stackable 5kWh Powerflo5 is limited to 80kWh (also 16
> units). Most of my clients build dedicated
> battery/inverter buildings and need massive capacities
> to run their properties. I am trying to wrap my head
> around how a multi-inverter Midnite AIO might be able
> to take advantage of multiple un-paralleled battery
> banks to get around this limitation. I'm waiting on a
> call from a Midnite rep to discuss this and other
> questions I have.
>
> 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 Thu, Feb 13, 2025 at 9:00 AM Amos Post via
> RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
>
> Hi Jason,
>
> It looks like the limit to Midnite PowerFlo is
> 257kwh. (16.076kwh/unit*16units in parallel).
>
> Best,
> Amos
>
>
> Amos Post
> Integrity Energy
> W 802.763.7023
> C 802.291.2188
> ienergyVT.com <http://www.ienergyvt.com>
> Facebook
> <https://www.facebook.com/integrityenergyllp?ref=hl>
>
> On Feb 12, 2025, at 5:22 PM, Jason Szumlanski
> via RE-wrenches
> <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
>
> Thanks for the feedback, Lou.
>
> Yep, they all seem to be borrowing the "delay
> and deny" tactic from the insurance industry.
> It's an epidemic. Solar module manufacturers
> are doing this, too (I'm looking at you, REC
> and Silfab, who have given me the D&D
> treatment on two clear-cut warranty issues
> recently). I will continue to give Enphase
> kudos for having readily available and mostly
> competent customer service reps and a
> refreshingly liberal warranty process,
> especially if you are experienced and know how
> to work the customer service reps correctly to
> lead them to the right answer.
>
> Regarding the firmware issues on inverters
> and batteries, I have high hopes for Midnite's
> AIO and MNPowerflo, given their claims that
> firmware updates are tested, simultaneous, and
> seamless. This is a far cry from Sol-Ark's new
> policy of refusing to do firmware updates
> unless a technician is standing by on-site. It
> sounds like Midnite is listening, and the rest
> are content with accepting mediocrity and
> pushing issues onto installers.
>
> And don't get me started about HomeGrid's
> pathetic app and registration process... That
> little Gen 3 WiFi antenna gives you such high
> hopes, only to end in huge disappointment. The
> app doesn't even seem to work.
>
> 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 Wed, Feb 12, 2025 at 1:08 AM Lou Russo via
> RE-wrenches
> <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
>
> The current trend of manufacturers
> resisting issuing RMAs is concerning. The
> amount of work they want us to do to
> confirm their problem is staggering
> (Looking at you SolarEdge). With that
> said, we only have 7 systems with HomeGrid
> batteries. We have had only one issue with
> them and it was firmware related.
> Unfortunately their firmware upgrade
> process is a total kludge so much so that
> like Jason, I just let them take over my
> laptop and let them handle it. It really
> made me appreciate Discover's software and
> firmware update process. We have a lot of
> Discover batteries out there and like
> the EG4s you can just shut off the bad
> battery and move on. In addition, if you
> have a battery module that is "dark start
> low" you can actually "charge" it (it's
> more like spilling electricity) from a
> good battery in the stack by turning off
> all the loads and charging sources (i.e.
> the inverter) and all the battery modules
> except one good one and the bad one. After
> you get the low one to a decent state of
> charge you can fire everything up and
> put a good balance charge on the entire
> stack. I have found their support to be
> great as well. They also just took
> their remote battery monitoring out of
> beta so now you can see battery info
> directly online. Which is nice. I am a big
> fan of having redundant monitoring so we
> can "trust but verify" the data being
> reported by the various components. I am
> still bummed they ended production of
> the 42-48-6650, the build quality was
> ridiculously good. I am little leary of
> their replacement, the 48-48-5120, but it
> seems to be doing fine in our installs. It
> has only been a year or so, so the jury is
> still out. But all the same features I
> described above apply.
>
> Aloha,
>
> Lou Russo
> Owner
> lou at spreesolarsystems.com
> Office - 808 345 6762
> Spree Solar Systems LLC
> CT-34322
>
>
>
> On Tue, Feb 11, 2025 at 4:18 PM Jason
> Szumlanski via RE-wrenches
> <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
>
> For what it's worth, they haven't said
> anything about internet connectivity
> on these two systems I'm dealing with
> right now, and they are both Gen 3.
>
> One site has a bunch of firmware
> discrepancies, and this is the site
> with one module that has all cells low
> voltage. Not sure if it's even
> recoverable. It's sitting at 39V.
>
> The other site has all the same
> firmware. This is the one I went to
> today. One of 16 modules (2 full
> stacks) has one of 15 cells internally
> that is low voltage. To me, that's a
> clear warranty swap situation, but
> customer service wasn't having it.
> Disassemble the battery and charge it?
> That's not a solution. It has been
> escalated. We will see what happens.
>
> Clearly we should be able to take
> these back to the shop for diagnostics
> at a minimum and get them RMA'd.
> Requiring the purchase of a Windows
> laptop and a battery charger is not
> ideal for sure.
>
> The only good thing I can say is
> customer service took over my PC today
> remotely and ran diagnostics after
> installing the required software
> (which isn't a fast process). I was
> expecting them to say, "yep it's toast
> and we're sending you a new one,
> valued customer."
>
> No such luck.
>
> Jason
>
>
> On Tue, Feb 11, 2025, 6:48 PM Tyrone
> Houck via RE-wrenches
> <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
>
> Yep. And the 10 year warranty is
> only good if connected to the
> internet. Firmware update of every
> module is crucial or else there
> will likely be imbalances. You may
> be able to address it as 1 and
> shut of the others and charge it
> through the bus but if it's cell
> voltage is too low it may be an
> rma situation. I have had similar
> issues especially with gen 2. Zero
> issues yet with any gen 3 modules
> but the internet thing really
> struck a nerve as they only just
> recently got their internet
> monitoring functional.. having to
> go back to every site is a serious
> pain just to ensure what should be
> a basic warranty. Best of luck and
> feel free to contact me offsite if
> you have any other questions I
> might be able to help with.
> Tyrone Houck
> Oregon Solarworks LLC
> CCB #204937 LRT #076
> 541-787-1366
> tyrone at oregonsolarworks.com
>
>
> On Tue, Feb 11, 2025, 3:36 PM
> Jason Szumlanski via RE-wrenches
> <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
> wrote:
>
> Hi Wrenches,
>
> I am regretting some HomeGrid
> Stack'd off-grid installations
> right now. There is a major
> flaw in the way these function
> in an error state. For those
> of you that don't know, these
> 48V batteries are stacked with
> a single BMS on top, covering
> up to 8 batteries below. Each
> battery module has a circuit
> breaker and dip switches to
> identify the battery
> communication number and
> location in the stack. Each
> BMS can be paralleled to
> additional stacks with
> communication cabling.
>
> The issue is when one battery
> module goes into an error
> state. What will happen is
> that battery stack's BMS will
> recognize the error, and then
> shut down the whole stack.
> This cascades to the other
> stacks and the system shuts
> down - fails to deliver 48V at
> the output terminals on the
> BMS of any stack.
>
> That is annoying, but what's
> even more problematic is you
> can't just shut off the
> offending battery to bypass
> it. You need to physically
> change all of the dip switches
> to bypass it and then
> reprogram the BMS to
> re-recognize the new module
> count (after taking it out of
> parallel). This is all very
> time consuming and requires
> the inverter system to be shut
> down. Even if a battery is not
> in an error state, you can't
> just turn it off. The whole
> system goes haywire.
> Once you have it bypassed, you
> can hook up a RS-232 cable
> (Mac users need not apply) and
> use their software to gather
> diagnostics. Customer service
> will then want to do
> additional diagnostics with
> the battery in the stock, but
> that is not reasonable in and
> off-grid system where uptime
> is critical. One of the faulty
> modules I am dealing with was
> diagnosed as one of 15 cells
> with low voltage. The
> "solution" is to take it out
> of the stack and charge it to
> 100% with an external charger.
>
> By the time I'm done with all
> of the diagnostic nonsense, I
> can almost pay for a new
> battery with the lost labor.
> Isn't the whole idea for this
> not to happen with balancing
> done automatically? It was
> suggested to me that it didn't
> get charged to 100% often
> enough, and that is why it
> happened. That isn't an
> acceptable reason for failure
> in an off-grid system.
>
> I hate to say this, but EG4
> has a far better 5kWh solution
> in this respect. Each module
> has it's own BMS. When one
> fails, you can simply turn off
> the circuit breaker and
> everything else continues to
> work. In fact, a fault in one
> BMS doesn't take out the whole
> stack or stacks of battery
> modules.
>
> Back to HomeGrid. When this
> happens, in my mind this is an
> automatic RMA. They should be
> replacing these, no questions
> asked. Especially at almost
> twice the price of EG4. They
> actually want me to
> disassemble the case of the
> battery and charge it with an
> external charger (which I
> don't have) directly from the
> terminals that are internal to
> the battery case. Totally
> unacceptable. Whatever is
> inside that case is their
> problem in my opinion.
>
> I am not selling anymore
> HomeGrid until I get
> satisfactory resolution to
> these issues. EG4 isn't
> perfect, but I have actually
> had pretty good success
> installing some that I sold
> and quite a few that consumers
> purchased directly. And at
> almost half the price, it's
> easier to eat the cost of a
> battery here and there for
> customer satisfaction.
>
> Anyone have similar issues
> with HomeGrid?
>
> Jason Szumlanski
> Florida Solar Design Group
> _______________________________________________
>
>
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