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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Verdana><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:blue'>Walt Ratterman here.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Verdana><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:blue'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Verdana><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:blue'>All of my work is done overseas, but I
gave up on automatic generator starting years ago. I now make extensive use of
the relays for alarms, and load shedding, but not automatic generator
starting. I am a firm believer that this needs to remain a people-thing for
operations, maintenance, and buy-in. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Verdana><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:blue'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Verdana><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:blue'>I felt that this opinion only had merit
in the developing world. Maybe it applies more broadly…</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Verdana><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:blue'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Verdana><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:blue'>Take care,</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Verdana><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:blue'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Verdana><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:blue'>Walt Ratterman</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Verdana><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:blue'>SunEnergy Power International</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Verdana><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:blue'><a href="http://www.sunepi.org/">www.sunepi.org</a></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Verdana><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:blue'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Verdana><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:blue'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 color=black
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;color:windowtext'>-----Original
Message-----<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>From:</span></b>
re-wrenches-bounces@lists.re-wrenches.org
[mailto:re-wrenches-bounces@lists.re-wrenches.org] <b><span style='font-weight:
bold'>On Behalf Of </span></b>Todd Cory<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Tuesday, December 23, 2008
9:52 AM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> RE-wrenches<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> Re: [RE-wrenches] mate
issues AND MORE ISSUES</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color="#006600"
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=4 color="#006600"
face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'>I know this is not
the topic, but I <u>never</u> set up auto genny starts and this thread only
confirms the correctness of that decision. Having a machine automatically
start/stop while unattended is IMO a recipe for, at best damage to gear and, at
worst a fire that could destroy the entire homestead. <br>
If people are too mindless to know how to fly their off-grid system by looking
at the weather forecast and battery SOC meter, then they should move to a
on-grid home. I tell my customers when they are away from their off-grid homes,
to shut the inverter's DC breaker off and leave the PV charging sources on.
There is no chance for failure with this setup.<br>
<br>
Murphy will get you every time you try to automate what should be done
manually.<br>
<br>
Todd<br>
<br>
</span></font><br>
<a href="mailto:CVSOLAR@aol.com">CVSOLAR@aol.com</a> wrote: </p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 color=black
face=Arial id="role_document"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'>Matt & Tom,</span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 color=black
face=Arial id="role_document"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'> Guess it's time to put in my two cents. I have
also had the same random failures to start and/or stop the generator
automatically from the mate in 3 installation. Managed to boil dry 8 L
16's and run through 90 gallons of propane before we went back to the
unattended second home over three days after checking it out and found the
generator had been running since we left. As you have noted, all tests
checked out good at the time. We are looking into 3rd party auto start
modules as an alternative or continue to tell all customers not to use auto
start if unattended. It seems that all auto start problems occur when the
customer is not home. We had one Trace SW4024 start a Kohler generator flawlessly
for 3 years and when they took their first extended stay from home, it
failed.... Turned out it was a bad spark plug but it shattered their faith in
the system. We have also had problems with The Xantrex SW Plus with similar
problems. We have also had a problem with several Outback systems
shutting down the generator prematurely at about 70% charge even though we
reset the mate and Inverter to factory defaults. </span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 color=black
face=Arial id="role_document"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'> </span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 color=black
face=Arial id="role_document"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'>I still have trouble convincing the rich second home owners that
the only reliable system is 2 generators with a person to run them. We
are currently using a honda 2000i as our backup for our off grid home so our
VFX3624 does just fine taking in the power. Love the low fuel
consumption. My customer with the runaway Kohler used more fuel in one
weekend than we have used in a year. </span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 color=black
face=Arial id="role_document"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'> </span></font></p>
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<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 color=black
face=Arial id="role_document"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'>John Blittersdorf<br>
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer </span></font><font size=1 color=black
face=Arial><span style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>tm</span></font><font
size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'><br>
Central Vermont Solar & Wind, LLC.<br>
104 River Street<br>
Rutland, VT 05701<br>
<br>
802-747-0577<br>
802-773-0924 fax<br>
802-770-8625 cell<br>
<a href="http://www.cvsolar.com/">www.cvsolar.com</a></span></font></p>
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face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><br>
<br>
</span></font></p>
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<u1:p></u1:p>
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face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><br>
<br>
__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature
database 3714 (20081223) __________<br>
<br>
The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.eset.com">http://www.eset.com</a></span></font></p>
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