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Wrenches,<br>
I had a very interesting phone conversation a couple of days ago
with the southwest regional sales manager for Grundfos. I had called
with a troubleshooting question that he addressed competently. But
then he told me that a couple of years ago Grundfos decided to get
completely out of internet sales and distribute their pumps
exclusively through existing groundwater (i.e. conventional pump)
distributors. He said they would also discourage as strongly as
possible any internet-based sales, even through such established
groundwater distributors. He said that Grundfos knew that this would
result in a drop in sales, but that it would increase long-term
satisfaction and support for the products.<br>
<br>
He said that the internet marketing resulted in RE distributor sales
reps selling pumps to anyone, resulting in poorly performing
installations and over dependence on Grundfos to provide technical
support. He was speaking specifically about the RE market. (Sound
familiar? "Sorry, but we won't work on your PV system that you
bought for a really good price on the internet...")<br>
<br>
I told him that this was some of the better news I had heard in
quite awhile related to Grundfos, and I supported that approach.
Indeed, Grundfos has a poor reputation for support for their pumps
in the RE industry (this list especially) and distribution through
more established channels, with more control and guidance, can only
help to improve this situation. In this area, we have very
knowledgeable and reputable support from our AC groundwater
distributor (T.P. Pump in Albuquerque); we just pay a bit more for
the products - a fair trade. I suspect that most regions of the U.S.
have similar established distributors, some better and some worse.<br>
<br>
So time will tell. We have had almost no trouble with Grundfos
products - just lucky, I guess - but I have feared that we someday
would, and would have to get manufacturer's support, based on
numerous past posts on this list. Things just may be improving.<br>
Allan<br>
<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span class="il"><b style="">Allan</b></span><b
style=""> Sindelar</b><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br>
<a href="mailto:Allan@positiveenergysolar.com"
target="_blank"><span class="il">Allan</span>@positiveenergysolar.com</a><br>
NABCEP Certified Photovoltaic Installer<br>
EE98J Journeyman Electrician<br>
<b style="">Positive Energy, Inc.</b><br>
3201 Calle Marie<br>
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507<br>
<b style="">505 424-1112</b><br>
<a href="http://www.positiveenergysolar.com/"
target="_blank">www.positiveenergysolar.com</a></span></p>
</div>
</div>
<br>
On 11/8/2010 6:28 PM, Phil Undercuffler wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:AANLkTi=YcZTBh78OKONnsuzGYoofPw-zk2kXpWLZ507G@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite"><font size="2"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">I
believe the F3 error code was the known communication issue
with the CU200 controller. Basically, it loses communication
with the pump and so throws the error code. I saw a bunch of
CU200 controller issues in my previous job; GF acknowledged
they had a bad batch, and were pretty good about swapping them
out. </font></font>
<div>
<font size="2"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">The good
news is, the CU200 controller is not required for the pump
to run. </font></font></div>
<div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, helvetica,
sans-serif"><br>
</font></div>
<div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, helvetica,
sans-serif">The important thing to remember with the CU200 is
that it doesn't actually "do" anything to the power going to
the pump. If the float switch signal circuit closes, the
controller doesn't interrupt power like a traditional switch.
Instead, it sends an electronic "stop" signal to the pump,
which turns itself off. The conductors down the hole are
always energized whenever the sun is shining (assuming it's a
PV array powering the pump). Similarly, the controller
doesn't actually "measure" the wattage flowing for its display
-- it just reports what the pump tells it that it is drawing.
</font><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:
arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">I believe the F3 error comes up
whenever the controller loses communication with the pump.
Take the controller out of the circuit, and if there's enough
PV power to overcome the lift the pump should run.</span></div>
<div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, helvetica,
sans-serif"><br>
</font></div>
<div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, helvetica,
sans-serif">In fact, I believe one of the greatest saving
graces of the SQ-Flex pump is the ease of troubleshooting. Go
out into the field with a small 1,000 watt or larger generator
or inverter. Connect 120V AC directly up to the wires going
down the hole, and if you get water, the problem isn't with
the pump, so you can focus your attention to the array. Add a
CU200 into the circuit, and measure the gallons per minute
produced (still running from 120v source). Compare the
gallons per minute and the wattage consumed by the pump as
shown on the CU200's display, against the flow and energy
charts for the designed lift in the SQ-Flex service manual.
If the flow is lower or wattage is higher, either the water
table has dropped (increasing lift), or the pump is beginning
to bind (increased friction). </font></div>
<div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, helvetica,
sans-serif"><br>
</font></div>
<div>
<div>
<div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, helvetica,
sans-serif">BTW, for those of you using the Flex in a
pressurizing system, it's important to remember that the
CU200 doesn't directly control the pump -- if there's a
loss of communication, the pump will continue to run,
causing a potentially damaging over-pressure event. </font><span
class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:
arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">I use a SQ-Flex running off
120v inverter power at my home in New Mexico. I have a
CU200 in the circuit so that I can keep track of the water
level/pump friction/energy consumption, but I use a
standard pressure switch to control when the pump runs. </span></div>
<div><font size="2"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br
clear="all">
</font></font>Phil Undercuffler
<div><br>
</div>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Nov 8, 2010 at 4:47 PM,
Gary Gordon at SYV Solar <span dir="ltr"><<a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:gary@syvsolar.com">gary@syvsolar.com</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt
0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);
padding-left: 1ex;">
<div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font size="2"
face="Arial">Wrenches,</font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span></span> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font size="2"
face="Arial">More details on the Grundfos
failures:</font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font size="2"
face="Arial"> 1st failure 11 SQF-2 w/ 204ft
TDH </font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span></span><span><font
size="2" face="Arial"> 2nd failure 6 SQF-2 w/
220ft. TDH </font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span></span><span><font
size="2" face="Arial"> 3rd failure 6 SQF-2 w/
253ft. TDH </font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span></span> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font size="2"
face="Arial">All controllers were displaying F3
failures, there was voltage at the well head.
Only one replaced so far and seems to work fine.</font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span></span> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font size="2"
face="Arial">Any ideas or similar problems?</font></span></div>
<div class="im">
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span></span> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span>
<div align="left"><font size="2" face="Arial">Gary
Gordon</font></div>
<div align="left"><font size="2" face="Arial">Santa
Ynez Valley Solar</font></div>
<div align="left"><font size="2" face="Arial">P.
O. Box 688</font></div>
<div align="left"><font size="2" face="Arial">Santa
Ynez, CA 93460</font></div>
<div align="left"><font size="2" face="Arial">805
688-1213</font></div>
<div align="left"><font size="2" face="Arial"><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:Gary@SYVSolar.com">Gary@SYVSolar.com</a></font></div>
</span><br>
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