jasonojordan
New Member
Flip side is the nail that sticks out gets hammered too lol
Terrible Signature Solar / EG4 18Kpv Experience - Returning and Replaced with Sol-Ark 15k
- Thread starter Watts Happening
- Start date
Flip side is the nail that sticks out gets hammered too lol
Watts Happening
I call it like I see it.
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I couldn't agree more.
It appears two new refunds totaling the $481 I mentioned earlier have been initiated. Not sure how that worked but money is money, and on that side of things we are square. I appreciate everyones contributions, I'd be lying if I said it didn't feel like it took a village to get results. I can however say my refund has been sent.
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And the op did get hammered.
You can Never have Everyone agree on an issue whether it’s right or wrong.
Oldtimmer69
Solar Enthusiast
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I send you a message so i didn't hijack this thread
KITROBASKIN
Solar Enthusiast
Not trying to assign fault. Some folks at Signature Solar spent a lot of brain time dealing with this problem. SS definitely took a hit financially. FilterGuy was involved in gaining understanding.
This diysolarforum is a special place to have this episode unfold before us, deference to the hassle Watts Happening went through.
This diysolarforum is a special place to have this episode unfold before us, deference to the hassle Watts Happening went through.
Absolutely. I had an issue with a 6500ex and their support was subpar and the way I managed to get them to pay their attention was to complain on the forum. They asked me to do so much troubleshooting of my connections for a system that had been running non-stop for months.
I'm also considered to them an international customer which complicated RMA a bit more with them, so in order to get my system up and running again I had to buy a new unit and then get e refund when I sent mine back. I'm lucky that this was actually a good option for me and I went with it, but not everyone might have new inverter cash just lying around. I also remembered they had told me they would verify if the unit was defective and or not and refund my shipping if it was, but they never did get back to me, so thanks to reading this thread I replied to the e-mail to check (my shipping it back was like $170 btw).
I did open the unit to see if I could spot the issue and I found that some chip that said 200A/58V on it, which I think handles charging the batteries, was burnt. This correlated with a smell of burning wiring I had in my house before the inverter failed. The issue after the burning smell was that the inverter would not read battery voltages and if I had the battery connected, even though it could get and pull power from it to turn the unit on and everything, would not allow my system to work because the other inverter could see the voltage and would shut down with some error code about mismatching battery voltages. How they thought I these symptoms could manifest overnight, after a burning smell, after its been running for 6 months no issues, and only affect 1 of 2 inverters, could be a moment where I plugged something in wrong and they could turn it into a teaching moment is bonkers. They were absolutely just running down their troubleshooting checklist without even worrying of how much downtime this was actually causing. Just in case you want to see how long it took to get my system back up and running, here's a screenshot of my consumption for the past year. I'm sure it's easy to tell from the battery discharge column when I had the problem and how long it took to get it resolved.
EDIT: Asked and this was the reply:
All that being said, I don't think they're a bad company and do intend to keep buying from them. I'm currently considering upgrading to an 18k and doubling my battery bank, but these 18k issues have me super concerned. I actually found this thread searching the forum trying to see what issues people have before committing. While I don't need to do peak shaving unlike OP, I do need to absolutely not export anything to the grid ever as they required. If there's no way to guarantee it doesn't backfeed to the grid like my 6500exs, then it's not much of an upgrade for me.
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Customers now the beta testers... sounds about right with some industries LOL. That includes workout equipment (e.g. nordictrack) and others.
Eddie_LuxPowerTek
Solar Enthusiast
Hi @Watts Happening and friends here
Just wanted to provide a quick follow-up on the matter.
So, obviously, it wasn't EG4's intention to mistakenly process a partial refund, but this incident serves as a valuable reminder to prevent such misunderstandings in the future.
Our team maintains regular communication with the EG4 team, and, overall, we are quite satisfied with their commitment to enhancing the pre- and after-service experience.
Just during these days, one of our engineers has been working at their lab, where they have been sharing their discoveries and suggestions related to in-house testing for critical features, such as the three-phase parallel function.
Thank you for your understanding and continued attention to LXP products.
Eddie_LuxPowerTek
Solar Enthusiast
It is true some how but that all features listed on the data sheet are indeed functional and compliant with the certifications and listings we possess, it's important to emphasize that the pursuit of improvement has no end. We greatly value our early users who purchase and use our products, and one fundamental principle guides us: ensuring our customers' satisfaction is our top priority.
Based on this principle, we believe that all distributors and dealers should have a no question return policy in place for a specified period, with the ultimate aim of consistently delivering a happy experience with our products.
Thank you
Watts Happening
I call it like I see it.
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That is a great philosophy and approach, and one I wish Signature Solar shared with you.
My experience was, lets say, "not quite that".
Solar Guppy
Red Cobra Guppy
We use to have a thing call Beta programs with metrics that were expected to be meet before products were generally available. I managed more than one of these and without a doubt is part of the reason there is tier one products ( paying customers are not expected to do testing that should have been done before release )
Watts Happening
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So long as that is communicated with transparency before purchase, I see nothing wrong with it. Saving money and knowing it's going to be a development process, great for many people. However when something is marketed as the next great thing and is ready to solve all of your problems, you set expectations accordingly. This goes for any manufacturer/retailer.
that count for everybody? I installed a 6kw one for a client, it's idle consumption is over twice what it was supposed to be and every 3-4 months it's scc fails to wake up and charge the batteries(which the client usually doesnt realize til midnite on day 2 when he has to crawl out of bed to start his generator. I've called sig multiple times about it, but the only solution offered was "maybe" a firmware update could fix it, but if it went wrong it could brick the unit. this unit is primary power in an offgrid install. without having a backup unit to install this seemed foolhardy.
Solar Guppy
Red Cobra Guppy
Beta programs provide the product as compensation for the data collection and working through issues as well as an NDA so you won't flood forums like this.
If you paid for a product, it either meets the published feature set, or if it doesn't you are not getting what you paid for. Some techie types might not be bothered but my professional experience would indicate otherwise.
Watts Happening
I call it like I see it.
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Totally agree, a free product for testing is a totally different thing. I'm under NDA for multiple companies, the fortunate thing there is a much tighter integration between parties.
sunshine_eggo
Happy Breffast!
And you saw the solution as cheap low end Chinese hardware with notoriously inconsistent distributor support and ZERO manufacturer support?
I agree with the bolded portion but in a different way... IMHO, anyone installing these things commercially is asking to have an unhappy customer base and THAT is what seems foolhardy.
when I installed it there where multiple positive reviews an both the seller and the product, and virtually no negative reviews (that I saw anyways) they where touting their US BASED customer service and US Based warranty. multiple "reputable" product reviewers on youtube where singing their praises of both signature and growatt, I already had multiple years (positive) experience with mppsolar's products, and these where reviewed and touted as at least equivalent. I did inform the customer that these where what I considered "tier 2" products, not Tier 1 (Schneider outback SMA) and where priced accordingly. The client was a friend on a budget and we took a risk. needless to say I have not been impressed with the after sale service.
Eddie_LuxPowerTek
Solar Enthusiast
I understand the concerns you're trying to express here, but I can't fully endorse these accusations.
Consider the facts: many customers are still using our inverter with the old firmware last year. As for our new product, based on what we put in the datasheet, I don't see any differences from the real using experience. Take the EG4 18KPv, for instance; it's been on sale since May 2023, and the returns and defects have been less than 1% (I know you might find this hard to believe, but that's the reality). But I really agree we still have a lot room to improve.
Yes, the improvement is an ongoing process. The first Tesla Model S was sold in 2012, and it continues to receive updates every 1-3 months. I understand we're not at Tesla's level, being a small company, but I hope you can still see our commitment to improving product performance.
So far, we've been encouraged by most of the positive feedback and motivated by some criticisms and suggestions. If you have specific concerns that suggest we've cheated users, please feel free to point them out.
In the past 1~2 months, I and other distributors have spent a lot of time visiting installers and homeowners. Their feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, along with valuable suggestions for us to improve.
Regarding @Watts Happening 's experience, we regret it but are also relieved that they received a full refund promptly the day after raising the issue. If you have any more insights to share or areas where we can improve, please let us know. We can encourage EG4 to handle similar issues more effectively in the future.
Watts Happening
I call it like I see it.
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It’s a shame you didn’t visit my house so we could solve the issues first hand. I understand that’s ultimately not the most realistic scenario but I wish it had been the case.
Happy to provide extensive feedback if you’re so inclined.
Also the more I read that response, the more at a loss I am as to you're point.
I advised my client that I would not provide any warranty beyond what the distributor provided for a tier 2 product. Are you saying I should only install systems that are tier one even if most of the people around me are not in an income bracket that would allow them to purchase tier 1 systems? Or that a should not be surprised that signaturesolar.com doesn't stand behind the products they sell and claim to warranty? Is it that I installed what someone could afford or that I have the gall to bitch when signature won't stand behind their warranty?
He'll I installed a crappy rv system last week that I will be shocked if lasts 2 years. It was overpriced junk. Why did I install it... well because they had already bought it and called me for help. my first question was how much did you pay for this my second was can you return it. When the answer was no we can't, I wired it in for them, let them know it wouldn't do what they wanted it to and suggested they call me before upgrading.
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