[RE-wrenches] Sol-Ark warranty team: "Guess you'll need to mount a new gutter box"

[Nick Lucchese]

Scot and any others considering EG4,

Strongly consider taking this migration choice of equipment to a
manufacturer that has supported us for decades, Midnite Solar/Power. The
AIO has been great for many of us and keeps getting better all the time. I
understand some of you are not bothered by the behemoth known as
EG4/Signature and their Outback ownership but as a group
of longtime Wrenches we need to acknowledge their efforts of undermining
the decades of systems we've installed meticulously on thousands of
important households across the continent. Sending rebuildable equipment to
e-waste is not and has never been acceptable nor is the argument that open
loop communications is prone to more problems than close loop. Think wisely
before you hand your future liabilities to a company that is undermining
your legacy. For well over 20 years Midnite Solar and everyone involved
with the company has never let many of us down and Midnite Power is
following in the footsteps.

I understand that manufacturers cannot indefinitely commit the resources to
keep a product alive. Not only can I no longer find most board replacements
for legacy VFX inverters but Showalter's handling of everything Outback
might be the most disrespectful things anyone in our industry has ever done
to our decades of work.

Nick


Howard Scot Arey via RE-wrenches
Feb 27, 2026, 5:38 PM (14 hours ago)
to *Howard*, Jerry, RE-wrenches
Good to know of the good support from EG4. Have never installed one before.
But I will.

*Howard "Scot" Arey*
*Owner, Solar CenTex*

NABCEP PV Installation Professional
TECL 29755
254-300-1228

On Fri, Feb 27, 2026 at 5:38 PM Howard Scot Arey via RE-wrenches <
re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:

> Good to know of the good support from EG4. Have never installed one
> before. But I will.
>
> *Howard "Scot" Arey*
> *Owner, Solar CenTex*
>
> NABCEP PV Installation Professional
> TECL 29755
> 254-300-1228
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* Jerry Shafer <jerrysgarage01 at gmail.com>
> *Sent:* Friday, February 27, 2026 6:47:51 PM
> *To:* RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
> *Cc:* scot.arey at solarcentex.com <scot.arey at solarcentex.com>
> *Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] Sol-Ark warranty team: "Guess you'll need to
> mount a new gutter box"
>
> Wrenches, Scot.
> When you say all the knockout were removed, or do you mean that "other"
> holes were punched in the bottom besides or in lew of the factory knock
> outs.
> Fun times
>
> On Fri, Feb 27, 2026, 2:21 PM scot.arey--- via RE-wrenches <
> re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
>
> COMPLETELY BLOWN AWAY.
>
> So I get my RMA Solar-Ark 15 warranty replacement and take it out of box
> at customer site and the front knockouts all taken out.
>
> Call tech support and the tier-1 can't help: "It's a refurbished unit."
> OK, but I should expect that there is new case so I can set my holes for
> conduit where they need to be from original installation.
>
> "I'll get you my supervisor."
>
> Supervisor George calls back, tells me he *used to work in the field* like
> me, and then says, "Do you expect us to ship you a new inverter?" Well, as
> this 15KW lasted one month it should have been an option but at very least
> I need an inverter enclosure with no knockouts punched else my existing
> gutter conduit will not work."
>
> "George - you told me you used to work in the field, what would you do if
> you go this from a manufacturer as a warranty replacement?" He tells me it
> seems like the gutter box replacement to fit the KO holes is my only option.
>
> Sol-Ark, I used to really love this product but when things get this tight
> and you're sloughing off refurbed units with KO holes and telling me to not
> only pay S/H in both directions but the materiel and labor for a new gutter
> box layout, we have real problems.
>
> Where is the Google Form to fill out on the Good/Bad/Ugly? Sol-Ark: you
> guys reading this forum?
>
> *Howard "Scot" Arey*
> *Owner, Solar CenTex*
>
> NABCEP PV Installation Professional
> TECL 29755
> 254-300-1228
>
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