I have been waiting 1.5 weeks for an RMA from SS. Wrote a final email saying provide the warranty return or a chargeback is my only remedy.
As time goes on, my excitement around these value-priced inverters has diminished. For myself, I will be sticking with the higher-end inverters. Yes, it means I will pay more but as a friend once told me, when you buy quality, you only regret it when you pay. If you don't buy quality, you are likely to regret it over and over again.
The issues with the value-priced inverters can be lumped into a few categories:
1) Functional Design Flaws.
These are flaws where the inverter works exactly as intended but does not meet the need of the intended application.
Example: A design that does not allow the proper set-up of grounding and bonding of stacked inverters.
This type of flaw can usually be avoided and still have a value-priced inverter. To me, these are the worst because it shows the manufacturer does not understand (or does not care about) the needs of the customer.
2) Design Flaws.
These flaws are due to intentional or unintentional design choices that cause unintended errors in the operation of the unit. (Bugs in the firmware are examples of many of the design flaws that get into customers' hands). This can often be avoided and still have a value-priced inverter, but the designer is always pushed for the lowest cost design, not the best design. The lack of adequate testing before the model goes into production amplifies this because the flaws are not found.
3) Cheap component flaws.
The value manufacturer is always looking for the cheapest parts they can find..... this often results in the inverter being built with out-of-spec parts or parts with high failure rates. This will always be a potential problem with value-price inverters because the component costs are such a high proportion of the manufacturing costs. (note, some of the component decisions are made in the design phase and could (should?) be considered design flaws.)
4) Manufacturing flaws.
The value manufacturer will cut corners wherever possible.... this includes the extra costs of the processes and automation that can help ensure the units are built correctly. The lack of adequate Unit testing is one of the ways they reduce manufacturing process costs. This is particularly bad because this ensures the customer gets the problems.
5) Support flaws.
A whole lot of sins fall into this category. Poor documentation, poor technical support, and poor return policies are among them.
Ironically, because of all the other potential issues, support is more important with the value inverters.
I do believe that a conscientious manufacturer could deliver a value-priced inverter that has reasonable quality, but that is not what we see happening in the industry right now. Instead, most of the value-priced inverters are being designed and built by one manufacturer and then branded for sale under a different name. This puts the true manufacturer at arm's length from the customer and does not emphasize quality. It only emphasizes low cost. Furthermore, since all the brands are essentially the same, no one company will differentiate on quality and there is no competitive pressure to improve the quality.
