Some know enough to be dangerous

[Skypower]

A friend asked me to drop by and have a look at his system because he’s having some problems. The guy is highly intelligent so I’m ASS-U-ME-ing that he knows what he’s doing. Well, upon entering his equipment room I was so taken aback that it must have shown on my face because he looked at me and said; “What?” Now I’m scrambling for words as to not hurt his feelings but I can’t sugarcoat it. I said I see some issues, I lied. There weren’t some, there were lots. First thing I see is the puny battery cables with vice squeezed lugs (I refuse to call it crimp). He says that he can’t power his coffee maker and microwave because the power drops out. I said the cable is too small and he responded that it’s a #2, to which I said that the book says 2/0, there’s a difference. There’s way too much more to mention here. I didn’t touch a thing because it truly just needed to be ripped out and redone and I don’t want liability. I got enough projects of my own. I did mention to get fuses and breakers and a phone number for an off grid familiar electrician. The guy is smart, just not in the electrical department.

 

[crossy]

Yup. This t-shirt I have.

Not necessarily with solar but way undersized battery cables seem to be very popular "that kettle is fine on 1.5mm2 from the 220V, why is it not ok on the 12V inverter input".

All good fun, except when someone's RV/Camper/caravan etc. goes up in smoke

 

[Tomthumb62]

I think a very wise move to turn down working on it and good on ya to pass on a phone number of someone who can fix it who isn't his friend.

 

[Skypower]

I think a very wise move to turn down working on it and good on ya to pass on a phone number of someone who can fix it who isn't his friend.

The thing is, he can afford anything he wants, he’s just cheap. But there’s a time when that gets expensive.

 

[Tomthumb62]

The thing is, he can afford anything he wants, he’s just cheap. But there’s a time when that gets expensive.

Those are the worst kind of people to work for and even worse that he's your friend so he would probably want it even cheaper/free and then blame you if anything went wrong with it. Good trades people, who are not only excellent at their trade, but know how to deal with different types of people including guys like your friend there can handle such a situation with ease...set a clear precedent and yet putting out fires before they start. Hard to do if you're friends with the person unless you're the kind of friends who can tell each other to F-off and it doesn't change the nature of your friendship or offend each other.

 

[crossy]

"Know when to walk away
And know when to run"
<The Gambler - Kenny Rogers>

I think @Skypower was on the money with his response, although I tend to be rather more direct (amazingly it's not cost me any real friends).

 

[Skypower]

Nah. He didn’t outright ask, but he was probably hoping I’d volunteer. He wasn’t putout when I didn’t, we went on to talk about other things. I’m not a licensed contractor so I’m just taking care of #1.

 

[Skypower]

Those are the worst kind of people to work for and even worse that he's your friend so he would probably want it even cheaper/free and then blame you if anything went wrong with it. Good trades people, who are not only excellent at their trade, but know how to deal with different types of people including guys like your friend there can handle such a situation with ease...set a clear precedent and yet putting out fires before they start. Hard to do if you're friends with the person unless you're the kind of friends who can tell each other to F-off and it doesn't change the nature of your friendship or offend each other.

What I’m hoping for him, is for him to realize that due to our age, time is short (people younger than us are gone) and you can’t take it with you. He could hire a guy like engineer775 and get a system that I could only dream about. He sure has the land for it.