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<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>Todd,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>Excellent points to which I'd add
I've been wondering just how well-designed these off-grid homes are that need
generators to be running when the home is unoccupied for long periods of
time. A home that uses that much power with no one in it is simply badly
designed.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>Tom</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=toddcory@finestplanet.com
href="mailto:toddcory@finestplanet.com">Todd Cory</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org
href="mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org">RE-wrenches</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, December 23, 2008 7:52
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [RE-wrenches] mate issues
AND MORE ISSUES</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><FONT size=+1><FONT face=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></FONT></FONT><BR><A
class=moz-txt-link-abbreviated
href="mailto:CVSOLAR@aol.com">CVSOLAR@aol.com</A> wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE cite=midc15.2f7c34d0.3681bd22@aol.com type="cite">
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<DIV><FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>Matt &
Tom,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>
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.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000
size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>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. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000
size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2><FONT lang=0
face=Arial size=2 ptsize="10" family="SANSSERIF">John Blittersdorf<BR>NABCEP
Certified Solar PV Installer <FONT size=1>tm</FONT><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></FONT></FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE>
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