Ah yes, the dreaded F3.
Loss of communication between the Cu200 controller and the pump.
Grundfos has had this problem on and off for several years now and I
wish they would
correct it once and for all. We've had 9 systems with the F3 fault
and 8 were bad CU200s
and only one was the pump. In all cases, it was a bad modem.
Other than the F3 troubles, we've had no problems with the SQflex
pump line.
I too am interested in feedback on the Lorentz pump line. We had a
ton of trouble with
them when they were the Regreta pump systems but hopefully they have
improved.
I'm more than ready to try a pump line from a company that's
responsive to factory defects
and feedback from the field. Everything that Grundfos is not.
Grundfos....are you listening? Hello.....?
Roy Butler
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®
NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer
PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer
Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
8902 Route 46
Arkport, NY 14807
607-324-9747
www.four-winds-energy.com
Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message,
a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
On 11/8/2010 7:47 PM, Gary Gordon at SYV Solar wrote:
Wrenches,
More details on the Grundfos failures:
1st failure 11 SQF-2 w/ 204ft TDH
2nd
failure 6 SQF-2 w/ 220ft. TDH
3rd
failure 6 SQF-2 w/ 253ft. TDH
All controllers were displaying F3
failures, there was voltage at the well head. Only one
replaced so far and seems to work fine.
Any ideas or similar problems?
Gary Gordon
Santa Ynez
Valley Solar
P. O. Box 688
Santa Ynez, CA
93460
805 688-1213
Doug,
Thanks for the feedback. I have to install the monoflo,
because it was purchased 2 summers ago, but the customer didn't
have the site work done to install the pump. This summer the
site work was finished and now the customer is ready to have the
system installed, so wish me luck!
DC Power is getting out of the pumping biz, so is Wholesale
solar up north, hopefully Solar Depot will remain in it. Our
only other option is to go through the plumbing supply houses.
I hear the bugs are being worked out of the Lorentz pump
line, anyone have any experience with them?
Mike Nelson
MD Electric & Solar
Gualala, Ca.
On Sat, Nov 6, 2010 at 7:45 AM, Doug
Pratt <dmpr...@sbcglobal.net>
wrote:
Mike, from another Mendo native,
don’t do the Monoflo. DC Power is getting out of the
pumping biz, and we’re the only Monoflo distributor in
the US. Our experience with Monoflo hasn’t been good.
We’ve seen a number of pump failures recently, support
from the manufacturer is pretty thin, and
troubleshooting in the field is poorly developed and
documented. Basically it’s… pump not working? Try
plugging in a new controller. Still not working? Plug
in a new pump. Dealers don’t keep expensive pumps on
the shelf in case of breakdowns, so repairs usually
end up taking weeks. Not good for dealer/customer
relations!
DC Power is getting out of water
pumping because we just don’t have the technical
bandwidth anymore. We’re being pressed so hard by the
rapidly-expanding grid-tie market that our tech
support crew is getting loved to death. There’s no
time. I’m sorry to see it go, I found water pumping
projects challenging and interesting, but the tech
cloning project has hit some snags.
From a sales perspective, the
Grundfos SQ Flex was the best of the lot. We heard the
fewest problems from them, and those problems were
usually on the surface (the CU200 control).
Doug Pratt
DC Power Systems
I have also installed several
Grundfos SQ Flex submersible well pumps, and had
trouble with them, primarily with the control systems,
the low water shut off sensor has failed on several
pumps, and the CU200 control boxes have failed. The
pumps themselves have held up so far, and seem to be
very efficient. I wish there were more solar direct
well pump options, I've tried the ETA pumps, the
Sunpumps (which are great for low head, low flow) and
am about to try a Monoflow. Any other thoughts?
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