EcoFlow Delta Pro - FIVE Units Down. Something's awry here...

[scottwstevenson]

I would be shocked if they sent you another unit. This is the point where most companies Pro Rate the ownership time and offer you a refund on the purchase price. I honestly think that this is a problem on your end, it might just be something in the loads that these Inverters don't tolerate well.
Overall If these Inverters where that unreliable the company would have been out of business ages ago.

Gosh I wish I knew what it was on my end. I've never put a continuous demand on a unit more than 1800 W.

(I would be ecstatic to get a refund on the purchase of it all... It was a kickstarter purchase, so I'm probably SOL.)

And, yes, I can't believe a company could stay in business with product functioning like this, but it matches my customer service experience, TBH, which I can barely believe. (At one point, they actually managed to send a broken unit BACK to me at the same time I was to be receiving a new unit in exchange for another than had gone bad. In the mayhem, the integration with Fed Ex failed (I suspect) and one of the units I returned got hung up in transit. (They didn't seem to care when I mentioned it to them.)

---------------------------

Of note, these units have gone down in at least 2 out of 5 occasions when doing nothing, under slightly different circumstances.

1.) Sitting at home inside in an AC cooled office, plugged in but under no load, it actually blew the breaker on my house (I heard it pop). The battery was full, so it "shouldn't" have been drawing power.

2.) I was at a campground (another state... LOL), with my RV plugged in directly to the campground power (pulling less than 500W - it was a cool morning in TN). There was *no output* on the inverter of either of the units I had (both fully charged but plugged in). The one that went down gave me the magic smoke - I smelled it from the other side of the RV...

[I was told that the error 105 I've been getting was fixed by firmware. I can't even attempt to upgrade firmware on this unit b/c it just shuts itself down in 3-4s when you turn it on. (I was up to date as far as I can know, as I did so a month or two back when I got it.)]

-S

 

[robby]

Yep I hear you. I have no idea based on you descriptions why this is happening. I only have one other theory based on a one off experience I had with a Company that sold Satellite receivers in the 1990's.
The new units typically worked perfectly but we did have a few cases where they would burn out for one reason or the other.
I remember sending one back and getting a refurb unit about two weeks later. The refurb died about a week after we finished setting it up at the customers house. Ok bad luck so I sent it back and the next unit that came had some weird issues that made it unusable so it had to go back.

Before a fourth unit was sent out I demanded a new one and that came and worked just fine.

A few months later we had another customers unit burn out and it went up for warranty service and they sent back a refurbished unit and sure enough that had an issue. I called the company and got the CEO on the line (I had met him several times before) and explained what was happening. He told me to send back the unit and he would intercept the next refurbished unit before it was shipped out and have it checked out.

I got a call from him about a week later and he said when they ran a check on the refurbished unit and it failed. They did an investigation and found out that their repair tech was basically a lazy SOB as he was just replacing power supply boards and the plugging the units in and if they turned on he would "Pass" them and then box them up and shelve them as fixed. He never investigated why the Power supply had burned out or even checked to see if there were other issues with the receivers. Heck he never even put a signal into them.

Anyway the CEO thanked me and said that they had several dozen problems like this over the months but he had never gotten around to an investigation until I had contacted him.

 

[scottwstevenson]

Yep I hear you. I have no idea based on you descriptions why this is happening. I only have one other theory based on a one off experience I had with a Company that sold Satellite receivers in the 1990's.
The new units typically worked perfectly but we did have a few cases where they would burn out for one reason or the other.
I remember sending one back and getting a refurb unit about two weeks later. The refurb died about a week after we finished setting it up at the customers house. Ok bad luck so I sent it back and the next unit that came had some weird issues that made it unusable so it had to go back.

Before a fourth unit was sent out I demanded a new one and that came and worked just fine.

A few months later we had another customers unit burn out and it went up for warranty service and they sent back a refurbished unit and sure enough that had an issue. I called the company and got the CEO on the line (I had met him several times before) and explained what was happening. He told me to send back the unit and he would intercept the next refurbished unit before it was shipped out and have it checked out.

I got a call from him about a week later and he said when they ran a check on the refurbished unit and it failed. They did an investigation and found out that their repair tech was basically a lazy SOB as he was just replacing power supply boards and the plugging the units in and if they turned on he would "Pass" them and then box them up and shelve them as fixed. He never investigated why the Power supply had burned out or even checked to see if there were other issues with the receivers. Heck he never even put a signal into them.

Anyway the CEO thanked me and said that they had several dozen problems like this over the months but he had never gotten around to an investigation until I had contacted him.

Thanks, for that, Robby!

Yes, this pattern totally makes sense to me. Maybe as a kickstarter, I'm treated differently?...

There definitely is evidence they're recycling (returned) units back to me, perhaps after having done nothing other than updating the firmware. (The unit that I'd sent back that was then sent back to me was just as dysfunctional when I got it the second time, however.)

Aside from a slight language barrier, their online support seems to be generally out to lunch. One person's behavior was so crazy that I thought she was screwing with me... LOL Typical exchanges where you ask 3 questions and get a response to one are par for the course. At one point, I was sent a set of 2 Fed Ex shipping labels from her, so I asked which should go with which unit. She responded specifying a label with a tracking number that I'd not been sent. It took several emails for her to figure out what was going on.

I'll continue to update as the saga drags on. LOL

-S

 

[watchdoc]

The statistical chances of 5 units going bad in such a short period of time are incredibly small.

 

[schmism]

at current prices you have $15,000 worth of ecoflow products...
What would I do after 5 failures? sell it all and build my own system. Use server rack batteries and AIO unit intergrated into some sort of cooler/handtruck setup for portability.

 

[scottwstevenson]

The statistical chances of 5 units going bad in such a short period of time are incredibly small.

at current prices you have $15,000 worth of ecoflow products...
What would I do after 5 failures? sell it all and build my own system. Use server rack batteries and AIO unit intergrated into some sort of cooler/handtruck setup for portability.

Watchdoc,

I totally agree! I've attempted to troubleshoot anything I could have been doing here, on the FB group and with support. (You can see the summary of the conditions of the breakdown above.)

I banked on this company (was a statistically good shot, I thought) and as far as I've found, I'm the only one with this kind of bad luck, so to speak. MANY others have had error 105 issues. One suggestion above is that they have perhaps sent me reconditioned a/o early units, which I suspect could have been the case at least once, as one unit arrived scuffed up with scuff marks that did not match the damage to the packaging. (That box looked like it had be dropped out of any airplane... LOL)

The only solution they'd given me mostly was to keep the firmware updated, which I've always done. In my last exchange with Ecoflow, they suggested that the power supply distribution board needed replacing (which I'd never heard before). I'm not going that route, as I'm getting a return (see below).

Several exchanges with customer support tells me at some level they are not at all on the ball. A few examples:
• They managed to send a returned unit back to me (when I was waiting on a new unit), and in the mixup with shipping labels, another unit I was sent back is / was lost in the Fed Ex system.
• I was once sent two return labels and when I asked which should go with which machine, I was told to use a THIRD label tracking # for (for a label I didn't have) to return one of the units.
• One customer service person suggested that Ecoflow has consistently violated their return policy by sending me new units before receiving the old ones. This has happened only once (with the 4th unit). This same person also offered me a solution which suggested I had three delta pros in my possession, which I do not. (Only only bought two and have never had an "extra."). They don't seem to know which way is up just in terms of my basic issue, i.e., what's broken, what's working, what I have in my possession, etc.

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Schmism,

YES, that's exactly what I've done! I've already got anew system (from watts247) and will be installing that ASAP. It will be smaller, with less bells n' whistles and not portable, but I will be able to rely upon it. (And will have Ian at watts247 as support.)

They finally conceded with a return. The issue, as will the majority of my exchanges, is that they just can't get their sh¶& together.

I have packaged everything up and itemized what I have to return (what is in which box). (Even with this list in hand the customer service person couldn't count how many Delta Pros I have.)
I was sent 12 mailing labels with the wrong phone number for me and no indication of which label goes with which package (or if it didn't matter somehow - the boxes range from 100lb DP and extra batteries to boxes of extra covers that weigh a few pound with entirely different dimension. I don't think Fed Ex will pick up and ship packages with mis-matched weight / dimensions.)

They also haven't indicated what my refund will be given everything is in working order. (The good thing is that I barely was able to put anything to use, given the delta pro's would typically only last month or two. I don't think I ever actually had one under anything above a baseline load of a fridge and a couple lights for more than 24hr or so. Loads were never about ~1800-1900W with the 30A outlet.)

So, in a few days (I'm actually guessing more like weeks, to be honest) I should be able to ship everything back.

-S

P.S. This is a PITA reporting back here on this, but feel I should just do it for those who might have similar issues.

 

[Bubba Chump]

I would do a simple test on both sides of incoming and outgoing sine wave with an oscilloscope. Just connect your leads to your hub and turn on your power keeping the leads from touching each other. Verify your sine wave is 60 hz signal Like the attached. Next do the same test on one of your outlets and check for dirty power. You might need an line conditioner to smooth out your signal to make a pure sine wave. Good luck and message me I can assist if needed

 

[scottwstevenson]

I would do a simple test on both sides of incoming and outgoing sine wave with an oscilloscope. Just connect your leads to your hub and turn on your power keeping the leads from touching each other. Verify your sine wave is 60 hz signal Like the attached. Next do the same test on one of your outlets and check for dirty power. You might need an line conditioner to smooth out your signal to make a pure sine wave. Good luck and message me I can assist if needed

Hey Bubba,
Thank you for that. I guess it's possible that my I had dirty power at both my house as well as at the campground. I should probably pick up an oscilloscope, though. (Model you recommend, as well as an inline conditioner?...)

Regardless, I've returned everything I bought, except for the portable solar panels, some accessories and one of the Delta Pro units (as a backup, and b/c I didn't have a box, given the box for one of my replacement units looked like it had been air dropped)...

(Long, concluding post coming when I get some time. The saga has been a long one.)

-S

 

[Fecn]

I found this thread because my Delta Pro failed after 2 months and I think I have an idea what might have killed it that's worth sharing.
The inverter board in the Delta Pro is dual-function and both converts 48V DC Battery voltage to AC, and also converts AC to DC to charge the battery. It's a very clever design, but the way that this works means that whenever you're charging the battery the AC output is connected directly to the mains. When the mains fails, the inverter board is quickly started up to supply AC output within about 30ms.

I'm using my Delta Pro to do 'peak-shaving', charing it up overnight on cheap-rate electricity and then running my home office throughout the day. A few days into owning the unit I discovered that the fuse in my PC Speakers had blown and replaced it. By the time I replaced the third fuse I moved the PC-Speakers back to being powered from the mains instead. The fuses always seemed to blow at around the time that the cheap-rate electricity ended. This got me wondering if there was something curious happening when the Delta Pro switches from mains to inverter output.

Two weeks ago today, my Delta Pro died.. Magic smoke escaped. Error 107 when you turn the AC output on, or 105 when attempting to charge the unit.

At the time my unit died, I was running a heat-pump to warm my office up. The cheap-rate electricity ended, my Delta pro got disconnected from the mains, attempted to start delivering power and failed spectacularly.

I think the issue with the Delta Pro is around inductive loads. Specifically things with large wire-wound transformers, compressors, refrigeration, aircon, large motors etc. All of these inductive loads absorb electricity and convert it into magnetic flux. Inductors like to pull a constant current, so if the power to an inductor gets suddenly disconnected the inductor will increase the voltage in an attempt to keep the current flowing (just like the point/coil in an old fashioned car ignition system - the points openening and breaking the circuit cause the spark at the spark plugs).

In my case, the failure happened at exactly the time when mains was disconnected from the Delta Pro. My aircon would have stored up magnetic flux and in the 30ms before the AC board started up, the voltage will have started to rise. The Delta Pro then begins outputting AC power with no guarantee that it is in-phase with the mains supply. This will have caused a massive spike in the output which I'm guessing blew up the output transistors.

You mention that you were running refigeration with your systems, so I'm suspecting that this might be the same issue that youv'e been hitting too.

Seems like a design flaw to me... but now I have to work out whether to use my Delta Pro only for non-inductive loads, or let it blow up a few more times and then try to seek a refund.

 

[lscotte]

I believe I had a similar issue with my Delta MAX, which fried itself with "50hz/overload" on the display the day after I got it (I'm in the US with 60hz grid).

My plan was to use the MAX as a battery/buffer during outages, running critical loads with it while charging via DC from solar and/or AC from either a small gas generator or my SMA grid tied inverter in SPS mode as available or needed. My generator will charge the MAX at 1100W, but won't start the fridge, and SPS output is going to be variable based on weather conditions. So, this seemed like a great idea where I could keep my critical loads running, and simultaneously charge from whatever source is available.

While testing, with just my standalone freezer plugged in to the MAX, I plugged the unit into the wall to see what EPS mode would do, and that was the end of the MAX.

I will say EcoFlow support was excellent and replaced my unit without any issue, but this does change my emergency backup plans, as I'm never going to charge the unit from AC while running AC loads after this experience. I will charge with DC solar, when I can, but if I need to charge with AC, my loads will be disconnected first.

 

[scottwstevenson]

Thanks for your posts and input, Fence and lscotte!!!

Feen, I suspect you are correct in diagnosing what was going on with your unit. That may have been the downfall of one or more of the Delta Pros I had. OTOH, (at least) two of my units went down (one with the magic smoke) without supporting any load whatsoever, so there might have been multiple issues in play for me.

The first was here at home in my office. The unit was long since fully charged, but popped a circuit breaker on my home panel, which I heard from the other side of the house. It was running no load and shouldn't have been even drawing anything substantially the 20Amp wall outlet.

Another unit was plugged in at an RV park, under otherwise identical circumstances like the unit above (was a nice cool day as well) and I smelled the magic smoke.

---------------------
I've been meaning to do a follow up post here on the current state of affairs.

FIRSTLY, HUGE KUDOS to Gloria Yang who can be found on Facebook in association with the EcoFlow FB group. Were it not for her, I might have been in a very different situation.

Customer service otherwise (via email) with EcoFlow was atrocious, I suspect very possibly b/c they have employed very young / incapable / incompetent, albeit VERY NICE individuals in this customer service role... (I got the impression I was interacting with a very young woman during the multiple exchanges. There was a bit of a language barrier, too, but mostly I think she just lacked life experience / knowledge of the logistics of what was actually going on. She was very thankful, for instance, when I explained to her that putting the country code "1" at the start of the phone number field for the Fed Ex labels was not only not necessary, but meant that my area code comes through as "152" (not even an an area code) and that any attempt to make a domestic call to my number would fall flat because the 1 was taking up space for the final (missing) digit of my phone number.

Anyhoo, as a final crescendo, after returning 11 boxes (600lb of stuff - 1 Delta Pro, 4 extra batteries, etc.) worth of goods (with return labels provided by EcoFlow after deciding upon an explicit refund amount), and being told it would take "5-7 business days" to refund my money, I was told when the refund didn't arrive that EcoFlow would need to evaluate my return to "know the specific reasons for the refund." Thank goodness for Gloria, as I did eventually get my refund in 16 business days and after I noted they had charged me, without advanced notice, a $400+ fee (via PayPal), she sent me a 400W portable panel as compensation.

I decided to keep on DP unit, for back-up and the utility of charging via and EV charging station (I have a Zero DSR electric motorcycle, so I have the accounts, etc. and it could make sense with my form factor), as well as the 400W portable panels (now I have 3). If / when this Delta Pro goes down, I at least know I have Gloria to help out. (I has a born on date of June 2022, and I've updated the firmware, so I'm thinking it's not a refurbished unit and hopefully is up to it's intended tasks.)

All in all, I placed my order on Kickstarter in Sept, 2021, started receiving various pieces Dec 2021 (I think) and finally received my refund (after 5 broken units) on Dec. 1, 2022. I'm very glad the whirlwind has subsided.

-Scott

 

[trdstarlet]

Scott, thank you for sharing your experience I am nearly on the same boat! Just one replacement shy from your experience.
I really want this system to work out... but I don't believe it’s completely ready with all its quirks.
Patiently waiting for a reply from the help desk.

-Dan

 

[scottwstevenson]

Scott, thank you for sharing your experience I am nearly on the same boat! Just one replacement shy from your experience.
I really want this system to work out... but I don't believe it’s completely ready with all its quirks.
Patiently waiting for a reply from the help desk.

-Dan

Hey Dan,

You're welcome!

Wow - you're the first I've heard from who's had so many Delta Pro's go down. (I have an uncle in law who is a master electrician. We chatted at Thanksgiving and when I mentioned EcoFlow he immediately said, "Won't touch it..." meaning that his impression is that integrating anything from them into a home / business is a bad idea.)

I asked Gloria Yang (mentioned above) if I could refer folks to her and she said it would be OK. If you get the run around / can't find her, let me know.

I dealt mainly with Ashley and Cassie (and Roly among others). Those first two were very nice, but disturbingly unable to get things done.

I ended up just BCC'ing Gloria in on my emails with Ashley. When things were not accomplished as promised, I could turn to Gloria each time to get them done. This happened 4-5 times, I think and she was on it every time.

-Scott

 

[trdstarlet]

Scott I appreciate that! I'll let you know where this goes.

-Dan

 

[scottwstevenson]

Scott I appreciate that! I'll let you know where this goes.

-Dan

Absolutely! Fingers crossed for you!

-Scott

 

[400bird]

I have a Zero DSR electric motorcycle

Very nice

All in all, I placed my order on Kickstarter in Sept, 2021, started receiving various pieces Dec 2022 (I think) and finally received my refund (after 5 broken units) on Dec. 1, 2022.

I'm sad to read how poorly these performed and glad you were able to get it straightened out. I think you might have the first highlighted date wrong

 

[scottwstevenson]

Very nice

I'm sad to read how poorly these performed and glad you were able to get it straightened out. I think you might have the first highlighted date wrong

Yes, that was a typo! Thanks! (Changed it to 2021 in my original post.)

All in all just very happy to have gotten my money back!

-Scott

 

[trdstarlet]

I'm still trying to work with the techs at EcoFlow. Replies from them are usually 24hr turnaround time (SMH).
Just an observation I made... The fault/error codes are almost non existent for Smart Home Panel and the Delta pro.
Does any one have a lead on these codes?

 

[scottwstevenson]

I'm still trying to work with the techs at EcoFlow. Replies from them are usually 24hr turnaround time (SMH).
Just an observation I made... The fault/error codes are almost non existent for Smart Home Panel and the Delta pro.
Does any one have a lead on these codes?

I would join the Facebook EcoFlow group. Lots of info. on codes there.

Error 105 is one that is not fixable, from everything I've learned. You'll have to got through a return.

I would just email them and provide all the info. they ask for right off the bat (first email), including a video of the error in action. Otherwise you waste an exchange or two with them asking for things.

Full Name:
Shipping Address:
City:
Zip Code:
Country:
Phone Number:
Serial Number:
Sales Channel:
Order Number:
Date of Purchase:

<ATTACH VIDEO> and include description.

-S

 

[bob374]

I am new here. Any help would be much appreciated. I have 4 EcoFlow Delta Pro"s having the same issue. EcoFlow has been very slow and not had much if any good responses. The latest firmaware update will not install in any of the units. Firmware upgrade 0.3.06. When I press the firmware button to upgrade it they connect but the upgrade sits at zero percent for hours and disconnects from the internet. I have unlinked all units, deleted the app and reinstalled it. I have used a different tablet and different phone and nothing seems to work. Sorry to jump into a different discussion. The people in this chat seem to know what they are talking about. Thanks