More Inverter Woes

[ColdEH]

Just thought I would share this .

Was installing my Victron Phoenix 2500 inverter and as I was putting the cover on I broke off the power switch , I thought no problem I was going to use the remote panel any way. Guess what,, the inverter has to be turned on before you can use the remote power switch .

Sent it to the local Victron dealer , looks like Im out of luck there as well.

I bought it a few years before I installed it, in the mean time the the model went obsolete, so guess what, no support ! No Parts , Can't be fixed . It's a boat anchor .

They of course offered me a a new inverter , the upgraded 3000 Phoenix.

I wonder if I bought it, if I could get it in before it went out of production.

Regards

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by typhoon

Just thought I would share this .

Was installing my Victron Phoenix 2500 inverter and as I was putting the cover on I broke off the power switch , I thought no problem I was going to use the remote panel any way. Guess what,, the inverter has to be turned on before you can use the remote power switch .

Sent it to the local Victron dealer , looks like Im out of luck there as well.

I bought it a few years before I installed it, in the mean time the the model went obsolete, so guess what, no support ! No Parts , Can't be fixed . It's a boat anchor .

They of course offered me a a new inverter , the upgraded 3000 Phoenix.

I wonder if I bought it, if I could get it in before it went out of production.

Regards

Boat anchor because of one broken switch? Nonsense - just take it to any decent electronics guy and he'll figure something out.

I'm also really surprised the dealer wouldn't help you. I've had lots of frustrating problems with all my Victron gear, but the dealer (ES in the UK) has always been excellent, going beyond the call on different occasions.

[Island Time O25]

Why couldn't you rig up a replacement switch from Radio Shack?

[ColdEH]

Sorry just to add to my rant !

Can't somebody built an inverter and warranty it for 10 years ? I have no problem paying for something that won't break ! $5000 / 6000 .

How about Outback inverters , they make them user repairable , they even stock the boards that constantly fail . Im not an electronic technician , but really , they know what breaks, why not just build it so it won't and charge accordingly , I think most of us in far off reaches of the oceans would pay for the peace of mind .

Ok feel better now , thanks

Regards

[ColdEH]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Boat anchor because of one broken switch? Nonsense - just take it to any decent electronics guy and he'll figure something out.

I'm also really surprised the dealer wouldn't help you. I've had lots of frustrating problems with all my Victron gear, but the dealer (ES in the UK) has always been excellent, going beyond the call on different occasions.

The dealer was good about it , and sympathetic, but the good and the bad is , they don't do board repairs and they don't have boards for my model .

Regards

[ColdEH]

Originally Posted by Island Time O25

Why couldn't you rig up a replacement switch from Radio Shack?

Thats pretty much what a remote panel is , but the unit has to be powered up for it to work.

Catch 22

Regards

[nimblemotors]

To get better reliability, you can just buy two of them and then you have a spare. All electronics go obsolete pretty quickly, so not realistic to depend on replacement parts for them. Since you didn't buy two of them, you just buy the second newer one now instead.
Replacing the switch shouldn't be any problem, is it not just a simple switch?

[ColdEH]

Originally Posted by nimblemotors

To get better reliability, you can just buy two of them and then you have a spare. All electronics go obsolete pretty quickly, so not realistic to depend on replacement parts for them. Since you didn't buy two of them, you just buy the second newer one now instead.
Replacing the switch shouldn't be any problem, is it not just a simple switch?

Certainly looks like a simple switch , they soldered it back on for me and it was still an anchor . I never had the unit work . They said the operating system chip was probably done, are they that sensitive ?

regards

[Island Time O25]

Originally Posted by typhoon

Certainly looks like a simple switch , they soldered it back on for me and it was still an anchor . I never had the unit work . They said the operating system chip was probably done, are they that sensitive ?

regards

If you direct connect swtich wires bypassing the switch would it still not turn on?

[ColdEH]

Originally Posted by Island Time O25

If you direct connect swtich wires bypassing the switch would it still not turn on?

They tried that to , no luck , Im was thinking the actual act of breaking the switch off , or when i powered the unit up something was touching that shouldn't have been touched .

Or the unit was dead out of the box

Grrrr

[Island Time O25]

Originally Posted by typhoon

They tried that to , no luck , Im was thinking the actual act of breaking the switch off , or when i powered the unit up something was touching that shouldn't have been touched .

Or the unit was dead out of the box

Grrrr

Sounds like it.

If they fail to upgrade you to the current model, with a little charge for the cost difference, if any, I'd write a letter to one of the sailing mags such as Practical Sailor for example. They're pretty good at dealing with such issues on consumers' behalf. Can't imagine the dealer/manufacturer not wanting to keep a customer happy over a freaking switch, especially considering that they can't provide a replacement part. And considering the competition in this product niche.

[Therapy]

That truly is an inverter "Wow"!

Sorry to hear that story.

[hellosailor]

Like Dockhead said...Or you could go Steampunk and put in a really big knife switch mounted on a wall plate.(G)


I had a similar problem with a Ryobi drill once. The "trigger" switch broke, the plastic has a casting flaw. No problem, spring loaded two-way dual contact switches are a standard part. Right? Wrong. Ryobi made their own special switches in China, no standard switch could fit to replace it, and Ryobi had NO PARTS NETWORK. Sorry Sir, you'll have to buy a new drill again. Ergh, no, management finally got the point and we worked something out, but that was the last Ryobi anything I've bought. Better than Horror Freight, sure. But still disposable tools. (Well, it turns out the average consumer grade power drill is actually only run for a couple or three hours, total time. Who'd figure?)

[DeepFrz]

Certainly looks like a simple switch , they soldered it back on for me and it was still an anchor . I never had the unit work . They said the operating system chip was probably done, are they that sensitive ?

Tell us a little more about how you broke the switch right off of the board. Please.

[CharlzO]

Just to play the other guy, since there's no telling if it really WAS doa, or if it was something in the act of breaking the switch, it's really not the mfr's responsibility to replace at little to no cost, a unit that was purchased years ago, regardless of when it was installed. From their standpoint, the unit was physically damaged, which is not covered under most warranties.

That said, I feel for the OP that they were unable to get any replacement parts being "only" a few years old. With the cost of these things, you would think they would at least have some stock for a while to go, instead of just saying "hey, after three years, you're SOL, and will never fix what went bad." There are plenty of companies that stock replacement parts well beyond a model's expected service life, I would've thought that they would've had a way around it.

I'm not saying the mfr should just completely walk away either, but I can certainly see from their point of view, where they may have their hands tied. I know people will say "yeah but for good customer service, they should just eat the cost and replace it" but if everyone that ever had something broke either on it's own, or through their own fault, got everything free/reduced for 'customer service issues', companies would be going under in a heartbeat.

To the point of designing and building things that last much longer, I think it comes at a cost/return deal. The number of people willing to spend that much for a more indestructible product is probably quite small compared to the overall number of people that purchase the lesser-built model as they are, but are able to go relatively trouble-free (on the whole picture, that is)

I dunno, just my thoughts. They mean little these days.