TLDR: Does anyone know of or have a recommendation for someone that will go out my father’s house in Blouberg to either take a look at his Muti’s fan which seems to need replacing or take it for a repair?
My father phoned me saying his Victron MultiPlus (bought in 2015) is shutting down due to overheating when charging after loadshedding. (Used as backup only with lead acids without PV). He walked to where it was and heard the fans not sounding all that well.
He reached out to the company that he bought it from and who installed it for help, but they want him to disconnect it, take it off the wall and take it in to them to analyze. They don’t send anyone out to do that. He’s 65 and not touching anything connected to AC or DC let alone trying to get it off the wall into his car. He reached out to another installer from the Victron list who replied that they do not assist with repairs.
The product is already out of warranty (see 2015). I presume it isn’t unreasonable to expect him to either pay someone to come collect it, to take it in himself.
To the OP, I’ve never opened up one of these units myself, but my understanding is that the fan inside is just a normal 120mm computer fan. So your father could probably just get an electrician out to come replace it for him at the electrician’s hourly rate?
Even within warranty, the process is to call your Victron approved installer, who will take the unit in for repairs. Very few (if any) suppliers will do on site repairs. I think Dell (the computer supplier) is probably the only one I know of… and also only for the first year or so, after that it is “next business day” at best.
Outside warranty there will be a quote, then obtaining the spares, and then repairing it. Expect that to take a few days.
The best bet will indeed be a local electronics guru/sparky who can solder another fan onto the connector and replace it. It will be cheaper too.
In this case it’s definitely not a complaint against Victron, but the original installer expecting him to disconnect it, take it off the wall and take it in instead of coming out, taking a look and collecting it (which is something against the installer itself and not a Victron thing).
Since I mentioned it here (I’m in Johannesburg so don’t know anyone that I could quickly phone up like around here) I received a lot of names of people & companies that will go out, disconnect it and take it in to have it looked at. So definitely good support especially if I think about the case of a friend who had an issue with another brand and was stuck with a paper weight against the wall for weeks.
On some of the equipment, like some of the MPPT’s and inverter models. You get 5, and you buy 5 more years for a nominal fee extra, specifically ordered via Victron themselves, last time I checked.
You do it at purchase time. I also only heard about it very recently. And I assume it is done in the usual manner, essentially the extra money you pay buys an insurance policy that covers the next 5 years. Exactly like when you buy the extra warranty at the furniture/appliance place
@Mustang must say, Victron is one of the best companies to deal with ito warranty/repairs.
Two main things to ponder on:
If your installer cannot resolve the issue, any Victron dealer anywhere can sort your product warranty. You are not tied to anyone bar Victron themselves if you want.
If you buy/or sell a 2nd hand Victron part and after checking it is <5 years old, then it still has the remaining period warranty irrespective that you are the 2nd/3rd 10th owner/seller. Again, Victron backs it, not the dealer/supplier.
No one offers point two anywhere that I am aware of.
Just my 2 cents.
The context of this thread ito service/support is nowhere related to the above two points. The inverter must go in … that is the question, who can remove it off the wall for the client.
He’s not willing to be without the inverter during loadshedding and it sounds like there’s no changeover installed back then which makes removing it a bit more of a mission.
For now he runs it with an external fan to help the charging temperature issue. He’s cautiously optimistic that there will be some reprieve in April (when there’s money for diesel) where there will be a gap to have it taken in for a repair.
My suggestion would be for him to anyways get an electrician to install a changeover, and then sommer solder a new fan on. If the external fan solves the problem, then presumably it just requires a new fan inside. Get a good Noctua one. @plonkster, is this a PWM fan? (3pin or 4pin? And voltage 5/12/24?)
A great service would have been to have loan units installed whilst repairs are effected/waiting for a warranty replacement. But that would be silly expensive.
Unless warranty replacement units could be repaired at below cost/next to nothing like pillaging other warranty replaced units for parts, the units that cannot enter the market again because their serial numbers still reflect <5 years, and use them as an interim measure, tie one over.
Not my idea … maybe I could be speaking out of some experience.
Thought that once the loan units are >5 years old, sell them into the 2nd hand market again, to recoup the costs.
That is my idea.
Also, having had the “joy” of taking down a unit to send in, has made me seriously consider how to install the inverter “plug and play” … disconnect the wires quickly, lift the 32kg off the bracket safely, put the new 32kg one in, connect all the wires quick.
Versus the mess to open up all the trunking, then getting it all back in as neat as it was before after one had to lift 32kg back up without dropping it … falling off the ladder.
. This does not look good for someone still considering options…
which makes removing it a bit more of a mission.
