calling china for warranties or support???

[doublegregg]

hi yall

i've got an epever controller and a dokio set of portable panels. i got them, but felt since both companies were based in china, that phone support might be hard to come by. so i nhave never tried - i am not even sure how to call china....

just wondering if people have had positive support in terms of customer support from chinese companies, and if so, how? 

and has anyone had positive warranty experience with chinese companies...  if you buy from an american stix and brix supplier, such as a reputable solar company, do they provide direct customer support? i bought mine from amazon, and i wouldn't expect much help from them, of course, no technical help at all...

i think my next purchases i'll do with a reputable solar place, like i guess san tan? or northern AZ wind, provided they will warranty products directly, rather than me trying to contact china. or buy american products...

thank you.. i'm not trying to be anti-china, but i feel the west and east have been at odds for centuries........

 

[gizmotron]

Well, as a mater of fact they made contact with me from China, by phone and then by email, just after I purchased the Ampere Time monster lifepo4 12 volt 200ah Plus 200 amp BMS battery for my 4 by 100 watt panels. It recommends 600 watts for a 5 hour charge. I have tilt mounts so that's sort of like having a fifth panel. I'm backing my system up with a Honda 2200i generator and charger made for generators anyway. They went out of the way to make it easy to do anything from then on.  You can tell for now that they want the business and are willing to earn it.

 

[[email protected]]

Doublegregg, I recently bought a basic solar controller from Amazon when my Renology unit died and they (Renology) were no help. The China built controller fried itself immediately, I filed a defective form with Amazon and they immediately sent a replacement at no charge, it also failed, I then ordered a renology the same as my original. Both of the defective controllers were handled promptly by Amazon with no problems. I reordered another Renology simply because I could understand their instructions. My purchases were so inexpensive that if I had to just write them off I wouldn't be out much. I suggest if you purchase from Amazon make certain that the goods are ordered from and shipped by Amazon.

 

[gizmotron]

Don't want to come off sounding like an expert, because I'm anything but that. If you plug in the solar panels to your charger before you connect the battery to it then more than likely you will fry the charger. I got that from an expert. It was never mentioned in the instructions.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Most solar charge controllers can survive a reversed hook-up sequence...but that does not mean they will operate.

The ones I have seen (in person) will throw an error code. Blinking red LED, ERR on display, or some such indication that you goofed.

I've never actually seen (or heard or read direct proof of) a controller being 'fried'...but I suppose it can happen.

 

[gizmotron]

I'll look at the video again. It's for basic newbies. It's from that guy that a lot of people recommend.

[video=youtube]

I can't find it. This guy makes a big point about damaging the charger.

 

[doublegregg]

that seems like a good basic video. he's the guy, isn't he, who buys all sorts of batteries on the super cheap from china and puts them together somehow... 

glad you got your issues resolved with good support from a chinese company. sorry - don't mean to be anti-chinese. it's just that their products are so cheap, and with the language issues, etc,, just leery about it.

my original question remains open to others --- principally about buying chinese components vs american, and strictly with warranties and tech support.  or --- should one rely on the stix and brix solar supplier to stand behind foreign products..   and i guess amazon will stand behind products, but i'd assume for a pretty small window. like, something is truly busted, and pretty soon...................

 

[doublegregg]

Doublegregg, I recently bought a basic solar controller from Amazon when my Renology unit died and they (Renology) were no help. The China built controller fried itself immediately, I filed a defective form with Amazon and they immediately sent a replacement at no charge, it also failed, I then ordered a renology the same as my original. Both of the defective controllers were handled promptly by Amazon with no problems. I reordered another Renology simply because I could understand their instructions. My purchases were so inexpensive that if I had to just write them off I wouldn't be out much. I suggest if you purchase from Amazon make certain that the goods are ordered from and shipped by Amazon.

glad it worked out for you, jbent. i kind of wonder how many other people just write off the cost of product if support seems so far away and maybe hard to get...  wow - and you went back to renogy, after they were no help....

 

[[email protected]]

glad it worked out for you, jbent. i kind of wonder how many other people just write off the cost of product if support seems so far away and maybe hard to get...  wow - and you went back to renogy, after they were no help.... 

I went back to them because their instructions were clear on how to hook up the panels. I was using them as portables and just plugging them into the controller and then the batteries. This is what caused them to smoke the controller. The battery must be connected to the controller before the panels are!!! The tech service didnt give me that information. I found it in the fine print in the instructions.
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[doublegregg]

that reeks........ it should be in BIG PRINT.  their instructions don't sound very clear.  if it makes you feel any better, i hooked my battery up backwards to my epever controller, of course by accident. but before i even corrected that, i remembered that their manual said there was protection against reversed polarity. IT WORKED! thank god....

 

[DLTooley]

If anyone has direct experience with both the Epever and the Victron Controllers it would be great to see a head to head comparison. Support on the Victron's is good. I believe those are the two main choices in the current market.

FWIW, I think that battery first thing may be dated. What happens when a battery is full and the controller stops charging? That is the same situation, no? As a matter of practice I still follow the practice, but I am skeptical.

 

[doublegregg]

If anyone has direct experience with both the Epever and the Victron Controllers it would be great to see a head to head comparison.  Support on the Victron's is good.  I believe those are the two main choices in the current market.

FWIW, I think that battery first thing may be dated.  What happens when a battery is full and the controller stops charging?  That is the same situation, no?  As a matter of practice I still follow the practice, but I am skeptical

as i recall, will prowse thought the epever terminals were nice and beefy, but the victron was cheesy... i maybe be wrong on my recollection of what he said about the victron, but i think that's right...  i'll continue to follow the practice of connecting battery first. a battery that is full is not the same as... well, no battery at all.

 

[MotorVation]

My controller wants to be connected to the batteries first and the solar next. There may be other reasons but I believe that's how the controller determines the correct voltage. My panels are connected in parallel but they're still 32-36 volts. I don't remember the exact voltage