William, I have followed your posts over the years and appreciate the efforts you have made in developing and then your willingness to share them with the list. Thank you.
If DP&W had wire management products available, it never reached my radar, although admittedly I never asked them either. We would definitely consider passing more for that added value. I too appreciate the robustness of their TPM product, especially compared to the old Unirac TPM that we started out with and watched get blown apart more than once. However, I think we would benefit from a more competitive market, which would hopefully help drive better product to installers and thereby customers. Howie Michaelson NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer™ Catamount Solar Renewable Energy Systems Sales and Service VT Solar Electric Incentive Partner http://www.CatamountSolar.com 802-272-0004 On Oct 8, 2015 3:13 AM, "William Miller" <will...@millersolar.com> wrote: > Howie: > > > > At one time I shared your dream: that if only the manufacturer’s would > build wire management and shielding systems, consumers would flock to buy > them. I asked DPW to help me develop some wire shielding hardware and > Steve Schumacher was willing to give it a try. See this link > <http://www.millersolar.com/MillerSolar/practices/PV_wiring/Wire_shielding/_Wire%20Shielding_history.html> > for some pictures of the system Schu helped us develop. Unfortunately, I > was one of the few people that ever asked for this product, and there was > no reason for DPW to put any more energy into the idea. > > > > Over time I came to realize that what is hindering the development of > better wire management and wire shielding systems is not the lack of > manufacturers building the systems-- it is due to the lack of demand for > them in the market. Wire management and shielding systems will add to the > cost of any installation. If installers can get away without using these > systems, why should they bother? > > > > They get by without them because building officials are all too often > ignorant and lazy. I have tried and tried to convince the officials in the > county in which I live to read the black and white of the current NEC but > they refuse. Most of the inspections of my work by building officials last > less than 2 minutes. When I ask inspectors and plan checkers questions > about codes and practices I usually get quizzical stares. > > > > The engineers at DPW know what the code requires for wire shielding: they > can read and I have highlighted the requirements many times. DPW was > willing to experiment, but apparently no one asked to buy these systems so > there was no reason to put them in the catalog. > > > > I have had my problems with the DPW painted parts for years. It is not a > new problem. Hopefully with the attention they are getting this will be > resolved. I have also waited way too long for even the most minor parts > orders. This needs to improve. How hard can it be to put a few dozen > bolts in a box? Why should it take almost two weeks? They need to fix the > paint and get parts and assemblies out the door in a reasonable time. > > > > I must say, however, that DPW has provided a very consistently good range > of products over the years and they have been more responsive than 99% of > the manufacturers out there. I am still a fan of DPW. > > > > Sincerely, > > > > William Miller > > > > > > [image: Gradient Cap_mini] > Lic 773985 > millersolar.com <http://www.millersolar.com/> > 805-438-5600 > > > > *From:* RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] *On > Behalf Of *Howie Michaelson > *Sent:* Wednesday, October 07, 2015 6:15 PM > *To:* RE-wrenches > *Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] DPW Rack Problems > > > > Thanks Michael for the communication conduit. > > While I appreciate DP&W's effort to address the issues raised, I don't > feel their response really speaks to the issues - for us, these are long > standing problems, although they appear to possibly be getting worse more > recently. > > More importantly, for me this is one of the most valuable aspects of this > list - the power of the group to garner a manufacturer's attention in order > to address a problem (think warranty replacement issues, or equipment > failure rates) or make an improvement. > > For instance, if a ground mount racking manufacturer developed a > functional, code compliant wire management system, I would expect to hear > about it first on this list, get highly useful evaluations of the > innovation, and then watch the sales of that system take off due to the > "viral" nature of information shared on this list. If there are any racking > manu reps that still read this list, perhaps they could take the ball and > run with it. One can dream... > > Howie > > Howie Michaelson > NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer™ > > Catamount Solar > Renewable Energy Systems Sales and Service > VT Solar Electric Incentive Partner > http://www.CatamountSolar.com > 802-272-0004 > > On Oct 7, 2015 7:51 PM, "Michael Welch" <michael.we...@re-wrenches.org> > wrote: > > I have had off-list contact with DPW, and I've been asked to post the > following for them. If you have questions about my posting this on their > behalf, contact me off list. > > Thanks. > > Thank you for alerting us to the problems you recently encountered with > the paint used in our TPMs. It is our intent to respond to customers' > concerns to maintain your trust and support. We recently had a problem > when a supplier discontinued a paint we've used since the inception of our > TPM product line. After testing multiple formulations over the course of > several weeks we were able to source a silver paint comparable to the > original and now have that paint problem resolved. As to lead time issues > we are working with our distributor partners to move orders more quickly > through their internal processes. We extend our apologies for the > inconvenience this paint problem has caused. Please contact me personally > with any questions or concerns. I may be reached at > schumach...@directpower.com or at 505-889-3585. Steve Schumacher, DPW > Solar, National Sales Manager > > _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org > > Change listserver email address & settings: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List-Archive: > http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html > > List rules & etiquette: > www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out or update participant bios: > www.members.re-wrenches.org > > _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org > > Change listserver email address & settings: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List-Archive: > http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html > > List rules & etiquette: > www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out or update participant bios: > www.members.re-wrenches.org > > >
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