What is the deal with Watsun trackers? I am curious if anyone else has problems with these? I have two of the older style single axis units that have worked flawlessly once the out of balance sensor conditions got resolved.

I have a customer with a Wattsun model SX60-10 dual axis tracker. It was purchased in June of 1997. It is configured for 12 volt operation and run's off a cable fed from the battery bank, not array direct. The operation track record of this unit has been extremely poor.  In the 2 ½ years since I installed this unit it has been out of service 6 times!  This is embarrassing to me and the customer is very frustrated.

Here's a detail of this unit's repairs:

6-97   installed unit delivered with broken motor / drive mount, unit non functional
8-8-97   replaced drive motor assembly, unit operational
10-98   East limit switch failure, unit nonfunctional
11-24-98  limit switch replaced, unit operational
1-99   limit switch loose connection, re-soldered, unit operational
9-8-99   East limit switch failure, replaced with spare, unit functional
9-29-99  motor binding, unit nonfunctional
10-99   replacement motor and gear assembly installed, limit switch activating too
soon as gears incorrectly assembled at factory, repaired on site, unit operational
11-99  E / W sensors unbalanced, unit not tracking, noticed gear drive mentioned above has
bad gear that needs replacing due to incorrect assembly at factory, unit nonfunctional
12-13-99  sensors replaced, unit operational

and now 1-25-00, customer called to report unit non functional again... sigh

While replacement parts have always been provided at no cost, this situation has been
expensive and very frustrating for the customer. I am curious what "luck" others have had with these trackers, and what if anything other wrenches might suggest to get this unit working consistently without repair every few months. I know some dealers (photocomm, aka golden genesis, aka kyocera international) will not carry them due to these problems.

Help!

Todd Cory
--
Todd Cory
KE6SXS
toddcory@jps.net
Bald Mountain Solar
P.O. Box 689
Mt. Shasta, Ca. 96067
(530) 926-1079

The privilege of a lifetime is to be yourself.

Joseph Campbell