<div dir="ltr">Here at Solar & Wind FX 95% of our installs are poles or DAT's. We changed over to MT I believe 3 seasons ago. I've got several of their 16 and 15 module racks out there. I did have a 15 module rack rotate on me this past fall. It was a two pole system but only one rotated about 10 degrees. No damage, no worries. The rack was at a winter tilt angle but not 90 degrees. I use a 3/4 drive ratchet to tighten. While the through bolt you are considering using is a thought, all our poles are schedule 80 8" pipe and would be a real bitch to drill through especially at ladder height. Might I suggest your backing plate which has the locking/engaging bolts have a couple of pointed edges that would dig into the pole when tightened. Perhaps even the bolts them selves have a point in them? With the DAT's we use a 3/8" roll pin to keep them from rotating on top of the large bolts that hold it in place. Now for our units in the higher elevations and heavier snow falls we do in fact leave them @ 90 degrees for obvious reasons.<div>Keep up the great work and I intend to keep buying from you.</div><div><br></div><div>Christopher Schaefer,</div><div><p style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:10pt;color:rgb(31,73,125)"><font face="Arial, sans-serif">Chris Schaefer’s<br></font></span><a href="http://www.solarandwindfx.com/" target="_blank" style="font-size:12.8px"><img src="http://www.solarandwindfx.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Solar-Wind-FX-Logo.png" width="200" height="40" style="color: rgb(31, 73, 125); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"></a><br><i><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)"><span style="font-size:9pt">Tel/Fax 585-229-2083 or Cell 585-748-1870 </span><span style="font-size:12px"><br></span></span></i><i style="font-size:12.8px"><span style="font-size:10pt"><font color="#1f497d"><font face="Arial, sans-serif">5115 South Hill Road ~ Canandaigua New York 14424<br></font></font></span></i><i style="font-size:12.8px"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)"><a href="http://www.solarandwindfx.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">www.solarandwindfx.com</span></a> ~ E-mail: <span style="color:blue"><a href="mailto:chris@solarandwindfx.com" target="_blank">chris@solarandwindfx.com</a></span></span></i></p><p style="text-align:center"><i><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)"><img src="http://solarandwindfx.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/certs.jpg" width="200" height="56"><br></span></i></p><p style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;color:black">Thomas Jefferson, the author of our great Constitution, once said, "democracy" will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."</span></p></div><div><br></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Jan 23, 2017 at 4:33 PM, Howie Michaelson <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:howie@suncatchervt.com" target="_blank">howie@suncatchervt.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="auto"><div>I whole heartedly agree with Gary! </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Having been on the site (but not responsible for the install) I looked at the carnage with an eye toward either installation error or equipment shortfall. I could see nothing that indicated either and was amazed at the failure. There were no trees down, no visible other wind damage, just trashed equipment from clearly a very powerful, likely narrow, wind burst. I've never seen IronRidge fail before like this either, having used it now for several years. I've only used MT a couple of times, but have been impressed with the smart and robust design. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Thank you Travis for supporting Eric in specific and Wrenches in general!<br><br><div data-smartmail="gmail_signature" dir="auto">Howie<br>Howie Michaelson<br>NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer™<br><br>Sun Catcher<br>Renewable Energy Systems Sales and Service<br>VT Solar Electric Incentive Partner<br><a href="tel:(802)%20272-0004" value="+18022720004" target="_blank">802-272-0004</a></div><div><div class="h5"><div class="gmail_extra" dir="auto"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Jan 23, 2017 4:14 PM, "Gary Willett" <<a href="mailto:Gary@icarussolarservices.com" target="_blank">Gary@icarussolarservices.com</a>> wrote:<br type="attribution"><blockquote class="m_5623994393297933923quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<p>TRAVIS:</p>
<p>I have nothing technical to add.</p>
<p>However, I am very impressed that your company stood up, took
ownership of the issue, responsibility for the solution, and the
good sense and humility to ask for advice. That is so rare in
today's world!</p>
<p>Best regards to you and your company!</p>
Gary Willett PE<br>
Icarus Engineering LLC<br>
Irving TX<div class="m_5623994393297933923elided-text"><br>
<br>
<div class="m_5623994393297933923m_-1638697214024360763moz-cite-prefix">On 1/23/17 12:26 PM, Travis Jordan
wrote:<br>
</div>
</div><blockquote type="cite"><div class="m_5623994393297933923elided-text">
<div dir="ltr">One of our customers installed 3 of our MT Solar
TOP15 pole mounts for his off-grid customer in Vermont this last
fall. During a recent severe wind storm 4 modules blew off of
the middle array. Two of the mounts also turned on their poles.
As the manufacturer of the pole mount we have identified several
issues but we are looking for feedback and any
information/recommendations from other installers to future
proof our design. This thread dovetails with the recent thread
about the back-mount module failure, but in this case the
modules didn't fail, the bolts just pulled out of the rail! I am
assuming that we had greatly in excess of the normal wind speeds
at the site, but we have no way of determining what they
actually were. Our many other pole mounts installed in Vermont
were not affected by the storm.
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Here is the situation. The site has 3 independent pole
mounts with (15) SW285's on each mount and the mounts are
separated by roughly 20'. The home owner took the liberty of
cranking the mounts all the way to 90 degree tilt for winter
to eliminate snow build up. The modules that blew out were not
all adjacent to each other. The top two on the left and then
two in the middle are the ones that blew out, and they were
all on the middle array. The end clamps were still in position
and did not fail. Both the end array and the middle array
turned on the pole, but the other end array neither moved nor
showed any adverse affects at all. The modules that blew off
ended up 20' BEHIND the middle array (to the North), and the
installer determined that the array did NOT turn clear around
since the wires were not pulled out. We are not sure how the
modules got behind the array... </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Regarding the rail failure: </div>
<div>The pictures show the rails were not bent but the T bolts
had pulled clear out of the top slot of the Iron Ridge rail.
Iron Ridge only specifies data for up to 45 degree tilt (not
90 degree), so we assumed responsibility for the rail failure
and paid for the 12 modules that were scratched or damaged
including the 4 that blew out, but now we are looking for a
long term solution. We are changing our manuals to say max 60
degree tilt (is that acceptable to you installers?), and we
are looking for a different rail manufacturer than Iron Ridge.
We are considering switching to S-Flex so we can get away from
the T bolt concept, but we are open to other suggestions? Has
anyone else had issues with Iron Ridge clamps failing?</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Regarding the pole mount turning:</div>
<div>The engineers specified two set bolts, and we already had
three for a margin of safety. To determine where we are
starting from we mounted the pole cap on a jig in the shop
press and applied 10,000 ft/lbs of rotational force before the
pole cap turned. After changing the back plate design we were
able to get that to 15,000 ft/lbs. Adding a 3/8" bolt clear
through the pole adds an additional 5,000 ft/lbs of capacity
so we are adding a hole in the pole cap for that as well. This
puts us at double of what we had, but we are reaching out to
see if anyone has more actual data from the field to add to
the mix since we are already above and beyond engineering
data. We are also re-visiting the topic with another
engineering firm to determine if they have any additional
data. We have also agreed to compensate the installer for his
time to repair the system, whatever he chooses to invoice us
for. As soon as this issue is resolved we plan to provide a
kit to modify all of our 15 module and bigger mounts that are
already installed to insure this does not happen again!</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Eric, if you have any additional info or corrections to add
as the installer please chime in!</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Looking forward to any questions, comments, or feedback any
of you have! </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Thanks in advance,<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Travis Jordan</div>
<div><a href="mailto:travis@jordansolar.net" target="_blank">travis@jordansolar.net</a></div>
<div><a href="mailto:travis@mtsolar.us" target="_blank">travis@mtsolar.us</a></div>
<div>Direct: <a href="tel:(406)%20206-5105" value="+14062065105" target="_blank">406-206-5105</a></div>
<div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
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<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><p style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:10pt;color:rgb(31,73,125)"><font face="Arial, sans-serif">Chris Schaefer’s<br></font></span><a href="http:www.solarandwindfx.com" style="font-size:12.8px" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.solarandwindfx.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Solar-Wind-FX-Logo.png" width="200" height="40" style="color:rgb(31,73,125);font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt"></a><br><i><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)"><span style="font-size:9pt">Tel/Fax
585-229-2083 or Cell 585-748-1870 </span><span style="font-size:12px"><br></span></span></i><i style="font-size:12.8px"><span style="font-size:10pt"><font color="#1f497d"><font face="Arial, sans-serif">5115
South Hill Road ~ Canandaigua New York 14424<br></font></font></span></i><i style="font-size:12.8px"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><a href="http://www.solarandwindfx.com" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">www.solarandwindfx.com</span></a> ~ E-mail: <span style="color:blue"><a href="mailto:chris@solarandwindfx.com" target="_blank">chris@solarandwindfx.com</a></span></span></i></p><p style="text-align:center"><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><img src="http://solarandwindfx.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/certs.jpg" width="200" height="56"><br></span></i></p>
<p style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">Thomas Jefferson,
the author of our great Constitution, once said, "democracy" will
cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give
to those who would not."</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div>
</div>