Not feeling the (Renogy) solar love...

[bcbullet]

A question for the brain trust here...

I spent the last couple of days building, painting and installing my van roof platform on which I am mounting solar, and for generally cargo carrying.After three days late delivery, I installed my basic 100 watt Renogy kit, only to find that it is dead in the water. A disappointment to say the least as we are supposed to be heading out for the Canadian long weekend for some camping and relaxing. Everything was wired as per instructions (I am a working hospital maintenance supervisor so it should have been simple enough), I remove the cardboard from the panel and...voila! Nothing!. The green battery light is fine, but the solar light is not lit on the charge controller. Hmmmm...full sun at noon and open voltage of only 10.05 volts. I phone Renogy and am told to test the diodes...voltage between terminal 1 and 2 and 2 and 3; one side good, one side not. They tell me they are sending a new diode, but this gets me to thinking...how do the diodes check out off the panel? A resistance test shows them as fine...would this describe a bad diode or a dead panel? I only had my cheapo meter which lacks a diode test function.

Not only did I waste a couple hours on hold, waiting for a call back and un-installing the panel, but now I suspect I will be without the much anticipated solar for the weekend. I will receive a new diode, install it and then have to go through the headache of un-installing the whole kit, wiring and all to ship back for a refund when the panel proves to be NFG. 

Any thoughts??

Sorry if this sounds "rantish" but time is precious and I feel like I have just wasted a pile of it...

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

Sorry you ran into this.  It's very natural to expect that when you buy something new, the damn thing is going to work when it comes.  If you want to run more tests,  check out this article:

http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/textbook/semiconductors/chpt-3/meter-check-of-a-diode/

Please don't take this next part as criticism.  I only offer it for the benefit of others who are going to come along later and read this thread.

I bought several panels on sale a couple of months ago. I haven't installed them yet cause I'm still looking for the right vehicle to install them on.

As SOON as they arrived, I unpacked them and set them out in the bright sun and verified with my meter that they were, in fact producing the open circuit voltage (Voc) the specs called for.  Probably a good idea for everyone to do that before they take all the trouble of installing one.

Hope this works out for you without too much more trouble . . .

Regards
John

 

[bcbullet]

Thanks OP...I did check in the shop under fluorescents and saw about 3.5 volts. I then shone a flashlight on the panel and noted a rise, so figured it was good to go. In hindsight, I should have checked it in the sun before going through all the installation, but...but....but, I didn't. Damn. I am hoping this is an isolated thing and Renogy will work with me to just replace the panel if it proves bad when the diode arrives. I really really dont wish to pull it all out to return it. Not that it is that big of deal, but time tends to add up.

 

[LeeRevell]

Rather than a bad panel, could this be a bad charge controller?  Or a bad cable?  Test/eliminate the cheaper stuff first.

 

[bcbullet]

Rather than a bad panel, could this be a bad charge controller?  Or a bad cable?  Test/eliminate the cheaper stuff first.

I wish, but the open voltage was read directly off the panel cables and again in the junction box on the panel.

 

[ZoNiE]

You can test the diode with just an ohmmeter. It will read open in one direction and short in the other. If it reads shorted in both directions, or open in both directions, it's bad.

One thing about testing panels when you buy them from Craigslist, Once you confirm they work, It's hard to negotiate a lower price! :dodgy:

I'd never heard of Renogy until I came to this site, so I have no opinion of them. I prefer name brands. Kyocera, Siemens, etc. Many of the no-name brands have dubious origins. It doesn't take much to print labels and put them on low quality panels bought by the container load from India or China.

If you have time to wait, you can always find name brand stuff on craigslist that are new old stock or extra's from a solar install that ended up having less roof space than panels ordered, etc. Many installers have them on CL to clear them out. I'd buy a used 5-10 year old name brand before a new no-name any day. My Kyoceras are 8 years old new in the box.

There are a lot of fly by night solar components out there.

For Solar, I stick to name brands. This goes for charge controllers too. Midnight, Magnum...

My 2 cents.

 

[akrvbob]

I'm confident Renogy will make it right, but that does you no good this weekend.

One thing I've noticed is whenever I read reviews on Amazon there are always about 10% 1 stars and when you read them it's because they got products dead on arrival. It happens to all the big name brands and not just the off-brands. I look for the percentage of 1 Star reviews and if it's more than 10% that's a bad sign.

Renogy is a good company, but it sounds like you are in the 10%.

That's why I always say there are two ways to go with solar, low end like Renogy and high end like Kyocera. I think Kyoceras percentage would be lower, but I'm sure it still happens with them. I don't consider the no-name brands an option.

I hope it works out as well as it can!
Bob

 

[Renogy]

Any thoughts??

Hey bcbullet,

In the industry, defective items can occur. When a panel isn’t testing as normal, we take it very seriously. Open circuit, panels should be around 22V and if you were seeing half that voltage, that usually means that one of the two diodes went bad within the junction box of the panel. We would rather have you replace the one component of the panel to try and keep the whole thing working versus have you send us back the panel when the situation could be rectified with an easy diode swap. If you replace the diode and still find the panel to be defective, just please give our tech support a call, and they will be happy to get you a replacement as soon as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you.

All the best,
The Renogy Team

 

[bcbullet]

Hey bcbullet,

In the industry, defective items can occur. When a panel isn’t testing as normal, we take it very seriously. Open circuit, panels should be around 22V and if you were seeing half that voltage, that usually means that one of the two diodes went bad within the junction box of the panel. We would rather have you replace the one component of the panel to try and keep the whole thing working versus have you send us back the panel when the situation could be rectified with an easy diode swap. If you replace the diode and still find the panel to be defective, just please give our tech support a call, and they will be happy to get you a replacement as soon as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you.

All the best,
The Renogy Team

We are getting closer...both diodes tested fine, but subsequent hunting finds one of the soldering jobs on the terminal strip was NFG...my middle aged eyes did not spot it yesterday but one of your tech guys suggested it happens and to have a close look. Lo and behold...! Now the panel is at home and soldered up but the diodes are at work! I should have a chance to re-install and get some voltage readings first thing in the morning. Hopefully this puts a close to it. I will post up the results when I find out.

 

[Renogy]

We are getting closer...both diodes tested fine, but subsequent hunting finds one of the soldering jobs on the terminal strip was NFG...my middle aged eyes did not spot it yesterday but one of your tech guys suggested it happens and to have a close look. Lo and behold...! Now the panel is at home and soldered up but the diodes are at work! I should have a chance to re-install and get some voltage readings first thing in the morning. Hopefully this puts a close to it. I will post up the results when I find out.

That's good to hear. We hope everything goes well. Please keep us posted, thank you.

All the best,
The Renogy Team

 

[bcbullet]

That's good to hear. We hope everything goes well. Please keep us posted, thank you.

All the best,
The Renogy Team

Well, it's all up and running now. Seems like a good setup now that it finally works! Maybe not quite the deal it should have been if I factored in my normal wages but.....

 

[bcbullet]

Well, it's all up and running now. Seems like a good setup now that it finally works! Maybe not quite the deal it should have been if I factored in my normal wages but.....

I have to admit...I am a little disappointed here...I had to fix your quality control issue and no response? I was hoping to parlay this into some free z brackets for the next panel or something; at least a response.

 

[corky52]

Field QC, welcome to modern corporate cost saving plans.  One unit bad every so often doesn't lose you many customers if it saves enough money.


Corky

 

[ZoNiE]

I agree that Field QA seems to be the norm these days, and don't agree with that practice, but it makes sense. This seemed to start with Commodore Computers in the 80's :dodgy:

However, Id have given Renogy till monday afternoon to respond. They probably haven't seen either of your posts yet if they are on the east coast.

Nice to see a vendor respond in a public forum.

 

[Renogy]

I have to admit...I am a little disappointed here...I had to fix your quality control issue and no response? I was hoping to parlay this into some free z brackets for the next panel or something; at least a response.

Hi bcbullet,

We apologize for the delay in response. We recently moved to a new building and were closed early on Friday as well as over the weekend due to phone and internet setups. As far as your panel issue, we do apologize for this. However in this industry, there will be some panels or products that may be defective, which is why we offer such a great warranty. Please let us know if you have any other questions. Thank you.

All the best,
The Renogy Team

 

[bcbullet]

Hi bcbullet,

We apologize for the delay in response. We recently moved to a new building and were closed early on Friday as well as over the weekend due to phone and internet setups. As far as your panel issue, we do apologize for this. However in this industry, there will be some panels or products that may be defective, which is why we offer such a great warranty. Please let us know if you have any other questions. Thank you.

All the best,
The Renogy Team

Honestly, I have the feeling that you rely on your warranty vs. the initial quality. I had a problem and you suggested how to fix it and you offer nothing in return. I spent hours troubleshooting and on the phone and nothing for me doing my own repairs. Your website is full of " the charge controller was a POS, but they quickly sent another. Renogy is great!" Not a lot of love right out of the gate to be honest....it seems like you have a serious quality control issue. Rather than deal with my own suspected controller issue after the initial runaround, I have ordered a new one from another company. Thoughts on this??????????

 

[ccbreder]

What happened to GotSmart? Should be on this thread.

 

[highdesertranger]

yeah what happened to gotsmart? highdesertranger

 

[Renogy]

bcbullet,

If you have an issue with any products, please call technical support at (800) 330-8678 so we can examine your entire system and assist you in real time.

Thank you,

The Renogy Team

 

[ZoNiE]

Funny thing, I just realized that when I needed Z brackets and bought them on Amazon, they came from Renogy! LOL