<html><body><span style="font-family:Verdana; color:#000000; font-size:10pt;"><div>Comment on manuals in general -</div><div>If you need to read the manual, it's just not designed friendly enough.</div>
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Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Instruction manual / User interface rant<br>
From: "Jason Szumlanski" <<a href="mailto:Jason@fafcosolar.com">Jason@fafcosolar.com</a>><br>
Date: Tue, October 18, 2011 7:58 am<br>
To: "RE-wrenches" <<a href="mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org">re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org</a>><br>
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</style><div class="WordSection1"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">I second your rant. The charge control setting has been an issue for me, too. It’s especially hard to diagnose remotely when there is solar charging the batteries and the voltage is coming up. You may make the false assumption that the generator is charging the batteries. The MATE 3 is a bit nicer, because you can see charging kW at a glance, but even that is not foolproof. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">I wouldn’t care about the manual so much if the interface was easy to understand. Did you read the manual for your iPhone? Of course not… not necessary…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Jason Szumlanski<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Fafco Solar<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div><div style="border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12pt;"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif""> <a href="mailto:re-wrenches-bounces@lists.re-wrenches.org">re-wrenches-bounces@lists.re-wrenches.org</a> [<a href="mailto:re-wrenches-bounces@lists.re-wrenches.org">mailto:re-wrenches-bounces@lists.re-wrenches.org</a>] <b>On Behalf Of </b>William Miller<br><b>Sent:</b> Monday, October 17, 2011 7:49 PM<br><b>To:</b> RE-wrenches<br><b>Subject:</b> [RE-wrenches] Instruction manual / User interface rant<o:p></o:p></span></div></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12pt;">Friends:<br><br>I just returned home from a long drive to troubleshoot a problem with an Outback FX system. I found that the customer, in the process of using a remote Mate to start the generator, had inadvertently turned the global charge control setting to "off". This causes a problem that is very serious but hard to detect: The generator will run but it will not charge the batteries. No one can know how long ago this was done, but in the meantime the customers batteries were chronically undercharged.<br><br>Just a month ago I found another Outback system where the customer (or someone from another "solar" company) had selected the "drop" setting from the "use" menu. Similar results to the previous case, but in this situation the customer had to use the bypass breakers to get power to the house while the batteries did not charge.<br><br>To my mind, this is one of the big problems with all manufacturers of technical equipment: Poor user interface. Who, in their right mind, would put controls to disable critical functions in the same menu tree as the control to do a common place, frequently used function such as starting a generator remotely? And the screens are all almost identical. This is extremely poor design.<br><br>On a similar subject, all off-grid inverter manuals are written very poorly. For example, why put the installation instructions in the front of the manual? You install a system once, but you operate it every day. The installation instructions should be in the back and the operating instructions in the front (or better yet, in separate books). Why are we trying to use the same manual for the installer as for the user? A majority of users need a 4 page manual that includes: 1. how to turn the system on and off, 2. how to read and interpret a few critical meter functions, 3. how (and why) to equalize batteries and 4. what to do when your power goes out. That's it. For the few users that want to know more, they can wade through the installation / technical manual.<br><br>We provide our own checklists to all of our customers to perform the limited functions described above. For a sample, see: <a target="_blank" href="file:///D:\William\Web\Dreamweaver\Miller%2520Solar\MillerSolar\Services\Support\_support.htmll">file:///D:/William/Web/Dreamweaver/Miller%20Solar/MillerSolar/Services/Support/_support.htmll</a><br><br>We provide these instruction sets to our install clients and sell them to others, including other installers (off list, if you are interested).<br><br>I am volunteering to be on a peer review panel to critique users manuals for off-grid inverter manufacturer's. Maybe if a few of us grey beards look over these manuals before they are printed, we can get them straightened out. Anyone else on board?<br><br>Rant off.<br><br>William Miller<br><br>PS: Any manual not pre-punched for a three hole binder is not worth the paper it is printed on.<br><br>Wm<br><br><br><o:p></o:p></div><div>William Miller <br>Miller Solar<br>Voice :805-438-5600<br>email: <a href="mailto:william@millersolar.com">william@millersolar.com</a><br><a target="_blank" href="http://millersolar.com/">http://millersolar.com<br></a>License No. C-10-773985<o:p></o:p></div></div><hr>_______________________________________________<br>
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