Re: [RE-wrenches] Battery EQ question, Xantrex XW system (Dan Fink)
Dan, What Alan said. The most important client is the one you turn away. The fact that the previous installer fled and that the client refuses to use a generator makes an alarm go ah-OOO-gah! ah-OOO-gah! in the back of my head. I just walked away from a client after five years of repairing their boneheaded mistakes.* I should have seen them coming on the way in. Having repeatedly beaten their system into a quivering heap for years they are now disappointed with its performance and refused to pay my last invoice. I was there for them on short notice, on weekends, gave them sympathy discounts, the works. They think I'm a bad guy. Conclusion: There are some people who are too mechanically incompetent for off grid living. You cannot make them happy. Say, I'm sorry, but if you won't use a generator or pay for a maintenance contract, I can't help you. Really, walk away. Gorgeous and so close are the cheese in the trap. And yes, a psychology degree would serve any of us better than an EE degree 99% of the time. Good luck, Hilton * Client: The system wasn't holding a charge when we had three toasters and two coffee makers going, so I added four batteries on the end of the pack. Me: Um, your system is 48 volts - eight six-volt batteries. Adding four batteries makes it a 72 volt battery pack. Your system can't charge that high, so that's why it died. Client: But there are four more batteries. That's another 50%. Me: Remember how I've asked you to call me before you do stuff? Let's go through this again... -- Hilton Dier III Renewable Energy Design Partner, Solar Gain LLC 453 East Hill Rd. Middlesex, VT 05602 ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Battery EQ question, Xantrex XW system (Dan Fink)
Thanks for the advice Hilton, and everyone else. On the bright side, recently got a phone call from a client from way back in the day, barely remembered his name, we did an install there 14 years ago and never heard from him since, says his batteries are shot. I figured he had sold the place and moved away or something. Nope -- it's just that nothing has gone wrong needing a phone call in 14 years. All he's done is add battery water and watch the voltage, with an occasional EQ. We shall gladly set him up with some new batteries! (note - the batteries were forklift, semi-used (1 year use, 1 year storage) Best regards and thanks, everyone. Dan Fink, Executive Director; Otherpower Buckville Energy Consulting Buckville Publications LLC NABCEP / IREC accredited Continuing Education Providers 970.672.4342 On Mon, Mar 4, 2013 at 12:17 PM, Hilton Dier III hiltond...@gmail.com wrote: Dan, What Alan said. The most important client is the one you turn away. The fact that the previous installer fled and that the client refuses to use a generator makes an alarm go ah-OOO-gah! ah-OOO-gah! in the back of my head. I just walked away from a client after five years of repairing their boneheaded mistakes.* I should have seen them coming on the way in. Having repeatedly beaten their system into a quivering heap for years they are now disappointed with its performance and refused to pay my last invoice. I was there for them on short notice, on weekends, gave them sympathy discounts, the works. They think I'm a bad guy. Conclusion: There are some people who are too mechanically incompetent for off grid living. You cannot make them happy. Say, I'm sorry, but if you won't use a generator or pay for a maintenance contract, I can't help you. Really, walk away. Gorgeous and so close are the cheese in the trap. And yes, a psychology degree would serve any of us better than an EE degree 99% of the time. Good luck, Hilton * Client: The system wasn't holding a charge when we had three toasters and two coffee makers going, so I added four batteries on the end of the pack. Me: Um, your system is 48 volts - eight six-volt batteries. Adding four batteries makes it a 72 volt battery pack. Your system can't charge that high, so that's why it died. Client: But there are four more batteries. That's another 50%. Me: Remember how I've asked you to call me before you do stuff? Let's go through this again... -- Hilton Dier III Renewable Energy Design Partner, Solar Gain LLC 453 East Hill Rd. Middlesex, VT 05602 ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Battery EQ question, Xantrex XW system
Hi Dan, Indeed, sounds more a psychological issue than wrenching. Last time I took on a job like this it cost me nearly $100,000 for a job we didn't start and a client we never wanted. I won't do that again that's for sure. Some people can't be helped and walking away, quickly, is the best protection for ourselves. However if you do want to work with this client somehow and if the site had internet access, you could also do this EQ remotely. Connect the Xanbus USB Dongle, install the XWConfig software, set the computer up for remote access and you can control the MPPT remotely, including EQ charges. I have a few clients I do this for for similar reasons. re: Honda EU2000 - not compatible with XW. Too small, and you need 120/240. I was able to _just_ use a EU3000, via 240 step up, to charge using an XW4024 with all the AC input settings at minimum. Kevin -Original Message- From: re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org]On Behalf Of Dan Fink Sent: March 3, 2013 6:10 PM To: RE-wrenches Subject: [RE-wrenches] Battery EQ question, Xantrex XW system Esteemed Wrenches; We recently inherited a problem off-grid system from another local Wrench. We didn't steal, he fled and said have fun. It's all Xantrex, and impeccably installed, but we do not install Xantrex and are just learning the menus and such. This system gets hit pretty hard every night, and we want to do regular battery equalizations. Though the client is pretty good on adding battery water, we really don't like automatic equalization routines.bad timing can mess everything up. The client refuses to install a backup generator of any kind, so we need to EQ via solar on sunny days. My question...I had thought the Xanbuss system let everything talk to each each other and get along happily. The Equalize button on the inverter looked like a perfect solution. But according to the previous Wrench, a sinister passage in the XW user manual and a cryptic and disjointed phone call to tech support after over an hour on hold, XanBuss can't make this system equalize via the PV controllers? They *each* have to be manually set individually to do it. This is WAY over the head of our client. It scares me. And there has been lots of sticker shock for the client on getting everything working as well as it has (blew thru an undersized set of AGM batteries in a year) I don't think I can sell a battery maintenance contract. Raised eyebrows and a harrumph, I can just see it. So did I miss something here about a Xanbuss system being able to EQ via the dual PV controllers? Or do I really have to train this client to dig into BOTH the PV controller menus every 2-3 months and hopefully not mess anything else up? Or, should I just plan on bringing my Honda 2000i every couple months to EQ, or hope for a sunny day, and hope for tea and cookies, if not a maintenance contract? Thanks in advance. I'd be shocked if the Xanbuss system was so townie-oriented as to only easily equalize via AC mains. With an Outback Mate I can EQ from either or both. But I've been shocked before. And her tea was good, haven't tried the cookies yet. Dan Fink, Executive Director; Otherpower Buckville Energy Consulting Buckville Publications LLC NABCEP / IREC accredited Continuing Education Providers 970.672.4342 ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
