Oooh. I'm getting the popcorn out right now. This should be awesome! 😂 In all seriousness, it's great that we have forums where we can express honest manufacturer grievances among true professionals (not in a Facebook rant style). Aside from being useful information for installers, manufacturers have the opportunity to listen and react.
Jason Szumlanski Principal Solar Designer | Florida Solar Design Group NABCEP Certified Solar Professional (PVIP) Florida State Certified Solar Contractor CVC56956 Florida Certified Electrical Contractor EC13013208 On Thu, Feb 26, 2026, 3:09 PM Michael Morningstar via RE-wrenches < [email protected]> wrote: > Yes Please!!! A Good, Bad and Ugly list > > On Thu, Feb 26, 2026 at 11:41 AM Ray Walters via RE-wrenches < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> Hi Laura; >> >> You didn't state how old the batteries were. If its an "out of the box" >> problem, then I don't even consider that a warranty issue. The company >> has an initial obligation to sell you a functioning product, not a big >> hunk of junk. That's part of the initial sale; you bought a battery, >> you should get a battery. Speaking of Rolls, that's why I quit selling >> their batteries; they sent me a battery that was wired internally >> backwards, so it had no voltage. This was a simple quality control >> issue they should have caught at the factory, but instead they insisted >> on charging a serious freight charge to correct it. Never sold their >> series 5000 stuff again (sorry Steve) so they might have controlled >> costs, but they lost about a train load worth of sales with me over the >> years, so I think their internal business calculus was flawed. >> >> I went on to sell HUP batteries (now gone, RIP) and they had what I >> thought was a very fair warranty policy. For the first year they paid >> parts, labor, and freight. For years 2 through 7, they gave full >> credit, but the dealer paid freight and labor, and years 8 through 10 >> were prorated, so you got a little credit, but definitely were going to >> be paying some. Overall, we rarely used the warranty, but it was fair. >> I also recently had a minor issue with Midnite, and they sent a new unit >> out, at their cost, and I put the old unit in the box and sent it back >> to them. Magnum used to be that way too, for "out of the box" or DOA >> products. >> >> The other issue, is that you quickly quit selling products you have >> trouble with. I'm considering posting a Good, Bad, and the Ugly list of >> my experiences with all manus..... >> >> Ray Walters >> Remote Solar >> >> >> On 2/26/2026 8:59 AM, Laura Conchelos via RE-wrenches wrote: >> > Hi all, >> > I need to replace a Discover rack-mounted battery under warranty. When >> > I started the RMA process, I was told I'd have to pay shipping costs >> > for the replacement battery, which I found appalling. That, of course, >> > is on top of the fact that they will not pay any cost for my labor or >> > for the disposal of the battery. I'm in a rural area, so disposal is >> > difficult. If anyone knows of a place to dispose of lithium batteries >> > in Denver, please let me know. I can haul it up with me next time I go! >> > >> > I'm not as surprised that Discover is not paying for my labor. though >> > that sucks. It's a fight to get Solaredge to pay for my labor for >> > inverter replacements and I've never been reimbursed for >> > module replacement. But the shipping really surprised me. I've never >> > had to pay shipping for an RMA before. >> > >> > So I'm wondering what costs y'all are having to absorb when RMA-ing >> > equipment these days? A guy at Discover told me that Sol Ark was now >> > charging shipping for replacement products? >> > >> > It feels very bad to have to pass these costs onto the consumer when >> > the equipment they purchased fails, so I guess these are costs I'm >> > going to have to build into the initial install going forward. Thoughts? >> > >> > Laura Conchelos >> > Sandhill Solar LLC >> > Monte Vista CO >> > >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance >> > >> > Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org >> > >> > List Address: [email protected] >> > >> > Change listserver email address & settings: >> > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >> > >> > There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try >> the other: >> > https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ >> > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >> > >> > List rules & etiquette: >> > http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm >> > >> > Check out or update participant bios: >> > http://www.members.re-wrenches.org >> > >> _______________________________________________ >> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance >> >> Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org >> >> List Address: [email protected] >> >> Change listserver email address & settings: >> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >> >> There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try the >> other: >> https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ >> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >> >> List rules & etiquette: >> http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm >> >> Check out or update participant bios: >> http://www.members.re-wrenches.org >> >> > > -- > > Michael Morningstar > > > Morningstar Electric Inc > > PO Box 1494 > > Mount Shasta, CA 96067 > > 530-921-0560 > > CSLB 1116835 > > [email protected] > > > _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org > > List Address: [email protected] > > Change listserver email address & settings: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > There are two list archives for searching. 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