Yes, absolutely.

We always encourage folks to work with their installer, since product issues are often system issues that need to be diagnosed by someone familiar with the installation. Having said that...our warranty is
to the end user. We provide support to both end users and installers. At your option and discretion we will support you directly (pre and post sales support).

We also have a Xantrex Certified Dealer program. If you choose to work with a Certified Dealer you can be sure that the installer has the necessary experience to do the work.

http://www.xantrex.com/cd/default.asp

There are also many other high quality installers who haven't joined our program yet. Outside of selecting a Certified Dealer make sure you ask for references.

Regards,

Lloyd

DJ, coming back to the whole point you started this topic. Let me ask you something....did the support options I provided help? Just to review;

--------------------
To obtain support there are multiple options:

Toll Free:
1-800-670-0707
1-800-446-6180

Email: customerservice@xantrex.com

Forum: www.xantrex.com/forum
* The forum is band new, but we watch it and will respond.

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

Just curious.

Lloyd

Is this the you bought on ebay and is 10 years old ?

Exactly, even the best companies in any industry have issues and folks that will say negative things about them. In North America, Xantrex has the highest quantity of fielded inverter (and related BOS) products to support. As such, we require a significant customer service infrastructure. This is purely to do with quantity, not quality as some may suggest. Practically speaking...EVERYTHING will break one day and will require support. There is no question we have made mistakes, failed to respond to some folks etc. I have seen and heard negative feedback. I have also seen alot of kudos for the support we provide. I must say, I dislike it when people generalize.

Thanks.

Lloyd

Loyd i have a sw plus 2524 installed in a off grid application and have a problem. Actually the problem is fixed but i would like your support techs to tell me how to fix it? the problem is this when the c35 gets to the bulk setting of 29.2 recommended by your book. and starts dropping the amperage during the absorption stage the sw plus will keep coming in and out of search mode like it is sensing a ac load. sometimes staying on for seconds sometimes minutes up to like 5 minutes then back to search then on off so on so fourth. and will continue doing this through the float stage till sun goes down. now i emailed your support for weeks and they finally told me this" the c series charge controller is kinda wierd and causes some wierd problems" and they then recomended just to not worry about it seings the sun is out if the inverter isnt searching you arent really wasting power. well turns out one day we where talking to outback about a remote start generator and guess what my problem is solved??? 5 minutes with outback 3 weeks with xantrex go figure. but i still want a xantrex engineer to tell me the problem lets make shure outback was right. dont get me wrong i love the trace/xantrex products we use the dr series almost daily in camp installs. and have very good luck with sw series stuff and use usually 2 t240's in each system one one well pump and one on generator to balance the generator. have the engineer email me if he needs more info please.
michellenryan@yahoo.com

Lloyd:
DJ, coming back to the whole point you started this topic. Let me ask you something....did the support options I provided help? Just to review;

DJ:
Well, like I said, the people I know were going through the local intermediary, the "authorized Xantrex dealer". Are you saying it would be better/faster/easier not to?
Professionally, with my Millwright/Equipment Specialist hat on, that is, point in fact, what I do. I don't give a rat's ass who sold it, when it's broken, I want to talk to the guys who made it.
Which segway's nicely into another nice question:

Lloyd:
We also have a Xantrex Certified Dealer program. If you choose to work with a Certified Dealer you can be sure that the installer has the necessary experience to do the work.

I've been looking into this, actually. I've heard of Randy out in Lanark. I've heard he's not bad (and yes, it's Lanark, not Lamark .
Now, what makes a Xantrex Certified Dealer actually certified? Fer instance, what would *I* have to do to become a Xantrex Certified Dealer? I've seen two week courses, seminars, night classes... Point in fact, none of those make ME, personally, any more qualified to "...install, maintain, and modify all power generation and transmission equipment" than my Millwright Licence does at this very second (and yes, that's a very small quote right from the syllabus of The Millwright Council of Canada). Not that I wouldn't learn anything, of course, but all the North American countries recognize my Journeyman's licence. What's yours worth?
As I was telling CanSIA the other day, you want to be REAL careful using the "C" word. In the Trades, "Certified" means a whole lot more, legally, than I think you think it does, and once the Trades finally realize that there's money to be made in renewables, you may well find your little certifications crushed like bugs . Remember Microsoft and the MCSE, when the E used to stand for Engineer? Well, in Canada, the Professional Engineers of Ontario and Quebec sued Microsoft for using that word inappropriately, and WON. Now E stands for Expert or some such nonsense .

Interestingly, I see you have no "Certified Installers" in Quebec. And I know why . If anyone does apply from La Belle Province, you'd be wise to ask for their RBQ licence number first and make sure they are Subspecialty 4092, ELECTRIC GENERATING WORKS CONTRACTOR . I know for a fact that I'm the only one in a hundred mile Quebec radius that is getting one.

Gup:
Is this the you bought on ebay and is 10 years old ?

DJ
Yessum. And if it is Xantrex's official position that ten year old electronic equipment is not worth repair, I'd like to see them say it in writing somewhere. Seriously. This is something people need to hear, and need to be told when they're pricing systems.
Mine is dead because I f*cked up. That I don't contest. What I find distasteful is what I had to do to get ANY help from Xantrex. You've seen the posts, obviously.
I wasn't looking for warranty repair. Just repair. SOME form of help for the Xantrex Authorized Repair Depot I sent it to. The depot itself tried, but eventually gave up, charging me nothing, but stating that they have decided NOT to attempt further repair of non-warranty inverters again.
Interestingly, Inverterrepair.com still repairs Trace and Heart inverters...

Lloyd:
EVERYTHING will break one day and will require support. There is no question we have made mistakes, failed to respond to some folks etc. I have seen and heard negative feedback. I have also seen alot of kudos for the support we provide. I must say, I dislike it when people generalize.

DJ:
Lloyd, I am doing an install with a large Ontario installer Monday, actually. While planning strategy with him yesterday, I asked him about Xantrex, and he said that in the past few years, he's seen about a 15-20% failure rate of the DR series inverter. Is this normal?

Yeah, stuff breaks eventually. Millwrights are the highest paid tradesmen in the game for a very good reason . But we don't want to just "leave a message" and wait. We want a FedEx'd replacement or a little box of parts coming in from UPS the next day, not six months from now.

DJ

DJ:
Well, like I said, the people I know were going through the local intermediary, the "authorized Xantrex dealer". Are you saying it would be better/faster/easier not to?
Professionally, with my Millwright/Equipment Specialist hat on, that is, point in fact, what I do. I don't give a rat's ass who sold it, when it's broken, I want to talk to the guys who made it.
Which segway's nicely into another nice question:

Lloyd: No…I am not saying that. As I have said in previous posts, you can get support directly from Xantrex using the alternatives I provided. It's your option.

DJ: Now, what makes a Xantrex Certified Dealer actually certified? Fer instance, what would *I* have to do to become a Xantrex Certified Dealer?

Lloyd: You have to be an established renewable energy dealer/installer. Customer references are required as well as passing an exam. The requirements/benefits are here…
http://www.xantrex.com/dealer/indexpage ... id=421&p=5

DJ
The depot itself tried, but eventually gave up, charging me nothing, but stating that they have decided NOT to attempt further repair of non-warranty inverters again.

Lloyd: If you want this followed up, please give us (Xantrex) more details. DJ, please post your details to www.xantrex.com/forum . If you are looking to bounce ideas off like minded folks about RE equipment, then this forum is great. If you have a specific Xantrex support issue, then our forum makes more sense to post to.

DJ:
Lloyd, I am doing an install with a large Ontario installer Monday, actually. While planning strategy with him yesterday, I asked him about Xantrex, and he said that in the past few years, he's seen about a 15-20% failure rate of the DR series inverter. Is this normal?

Lloyd: I actually took the time to check this out. Our system tracks product returns in detail. We are running <1% return rate on the DR series (46 units returned year to date). In addition, I looked at the 46 return transactions…some look like distributor stock rotations, not failures.

Loyd did you get my post to your engineers? or should i post a copy on xantrex's forum? really like to find out what i need to do or if did the right thing?

Yes, I am looking into it. Give me a little bit.

Lloyd

Hi. Based on the info you provided, this is a little puzzling. To my knowledge a charge controller can't bring an SW+ out of search mode…the DC side has no bearing on the AC side search mode. I had a couple of our guys test the scenario you wrote about and we couldn't duplicate the issue. However, you mentioned often using a T240…interaction with a T240 can bring an SW out of search. This is a well know issue that can easily be solved by dialling up the search sensitivity.

At any rate, our Tech Services manager would like to contact you to get more info. Should he use the email you provided?

Thanks.

Lloyd