Fixing Common Issues With The Eco-worthy Solar Tracker

One Year with our solar tracker, Is fixing problems worth it. Many folks said it would blow over or fail, They were right.....Kind Of.
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[@odahithedubious]

Another thing that may help with the durability of your system is to use cable ties to keep the cables from swinging in the breeze. That's hard on the connections. They sell special UV-resistant ties, but even just plain black ones will be better than the white ones. They won't last forever, but you can keep an eye on them and make sure your cables don't droop. All the best to you and Jen, and the pups too.

[@paulpuckerinGM]

Nice job, Jay. 👏 and I'm glad you got the solar panel sorted out. 👍

[@garydavis786]

Good Job Jay. I agree that mounting the actuator is better "upside down" so water can't get inside as easily and freeze and lock the actuator.

[@cue881-yo7kz]

Great to see that fixed and working again. From what I have seen on KZbin, the actuators are the weak link in the chain. Save that old one, as most problems with them seem to come from the gears in the lower housing wearing out. Glad you are having great weather

[@UndernetSystems]

You should also flip the other actuator.

[@scotthenderson4376]

If you take it apart the motor is corroded inside it has no seals on the actual motor cylinder it has seals on the outer ends of the of motor casing. I cleaned mine out with sand paper re-lubed the gears and then sealed the motor tube with nail polish (enamel paint) It was installed with the motor end up to help keep weather out just FYI

[@OffgridwithJayandJen]

Very nice.....I'm doing that next time around. Thanks

[@cassusfett1983]

rap some pool noodles around them should help keep them from freezing in winter

[@Adrayven]

The issue isn’t the actuator. I have 2of these trackers. The issue is the mounting the top mounting bracket is letting the panels go to far west and it doesn’t have the torque to pull it back. Flip the top mounting bracket around so the panels don’t extend as far west and this stops the panels from getting stuck. I have 8 200w panels and has to do this because of the weight of them.

[@OffgridwithJayandJen]

In my case it was the actuator....it was frozen over the winter.

[@suezaple4950]

Congratulations, You fixed the solar back in business now that's great Jay . Now onto the next .

[@brendahogue5487]

Love your videos and enjoy watching them. May the lord bless and protect you and Jen and working on the homestead solar panels

[@OffgridwithJayandJen]

Thank you! You too!

[@BobbyElliottav]

The more moving parts you have, the more problems you have. I’m in the middle of building my off grid cabin and paying as I go. It’s tough to do unless you have a pile of money to start (I don’t), that’s why I love your channel! Nothing is perfect, it’s just real!

[@OffgridwithJayandJen]

So glad you get it my friend.....and glad to have you here. 😁

[@kristingrounds4163]

Glad you got it fixed!! easy peasy!

[@OffgridwithJayandJen]

😉👍

[@Home-11]

👍 one more task done, one thing less to worry about! 🐾🐶🐶😁

[@OffgridwithJayandJen]

Oh ya

[@ineverhadthemoney7857]

I put a big plastic baggy over the arm and motor with duck tape //keeps the water out

[@lorettaandjasonoffgrid]

Awesome! Glad you got that fixed. Nice to check things off the list eh? 👍

[@OffgridwithJayandJen]

You bet

[@lcook0825]

Although I have never met you and Jen I absolutely consider you friends for sure.

[@OffgridwithJayandJen]

For sure buddy.....I'm glad to say the same. 😁

[@lcook0825]

@@OffgridwithJayandJen thanks.

[@db.mc2]

Thanks Jay and Jen 👊🏻👍🏻 God Bless 🙏🏻 Appreciate you my friends!

[@OffgridwithJayandJen]

You as well my friend

[@justiceleague1146]

Thanks for sharing!

[@danielmcneely1579]

I have two of these now. If you set your sun sensor to a lower voltage it should make it more sensitive. If it’s very dark and cloudy it won’t work, but you’ll be surprised at how much it will track. I’ve found that more panels will help with cloudy days, and that’s why I got the second tracker. The next panels will probably be vertical.

[@brettmitton7839]

What parameter is that. When mine tracks the sun, the angle of the set up isn't where it should be

[@OffgridwithJayandJen]

@brettmitton7839 maybe the sensor isn't rotated the right way? I know the manual had the east and west wires backwards too.

[@danielmcneely1579]

@@brettmitton7839 I went out and looked at mine and it’s V3: sunshine limit. Yeah, the sun sensor has to be on the NE corner and it has to be oriented the right way.

[@brettmitton7839]

@@danielmcneely1579 it's set in the right ordination. What do you have v1 and v3 set at?

[@danielmcneely1579]

@@brettmitton7839 I haven’t adjusted V1. Honestly I left everything other than the E/W and N/S settings in the defaults. I wanted to see how it reacted to my local conditions. I’ve never adjust the wind sensitivity because it seemed be good where it was. I tried turning the V3 down to see if I could get the panels to kick on earlier in the morning. On cloudy days when the light is patchy it would bounce around all day using up the battery, so I turned it back to default at 1.8V.

[@janinnesmith7226]

I had to swap all the wires to the opposite way to make mine face the sun! So now when I press south it go's north and west it goes east ect. But works now guess it was a faulty batch

[@OffgridwithJayandJen]

Maybe the sensor just needed rotating?

[@johnkirby6547]

Seems to be working now. Are you going to turn the other 1 upside down to.. Good job Jay 👏

[@OffgridwithJayandJen]

Now that would make too much sense, lol

[@vonheise]

So, when do the projects end? Mine ended at age 70 due to age and health, however, we are fortunate that we have adequate investments now to be able to pay for others to do small fixes as they occur, and I can still do minor electrical repairs at 77.

[@theodoorfisher9410]

Curious, I have really strong winds. I wondered how it would hold up. I can get winds 90 km and high. Sustained winds around fifty to sixty km an hour

[@OffgridwithJayandJen]

We have crazy winds up here and ours has been solid so far. We have an install video if it helps. Little bit of sway on the unit because it has simple unions rather than bearing or bushings.....but still holding up good

[@thomaswhite5871]

Sure would like info on the mount and is it a whole unit

[@OffgridwithJayandJen]

There is a whole video about its install last spring. I think it is in our solar playlist.

[@thomaswhite5871]

@@OffgridwithJayandJen I got 50- 550w solar panels.. I been stocking up.. I gonna need some high kw off grid.. lol mostly to power a 4post lift

[@djrtime1398]

Did you flip the actuator that wasn’t damaged to help prevent water intrusion and failure?

[@OffgridwithJayandJen]

I did not....but I should....soon. thanks for reminding me

[@mariafongoul]

Hi Guys, Was the State doing a burn off there behind you? Jay seems pretty calm so I would say yes.

[@OffgridwithJayandJen]

Clouds in the background maybe?

[@jsmith6799]

Jay on one of the videos during the snowy season you said that you had a motor that could charge up your solar batteries on overcast days: could you tell me about that motor? It might be good to have here down South also in bad weather.

[@OffgridwithJayandJen]

Hey there, I just use a small gas generator and hook it to a small 24 volts charger that is in the solar shed. The generator is nothing fancy, it is a cheap inveter style 2000 watt. Very quiet and sips about 1 gallon of gas every 10 hours. I think I have a video or two where I show changing the oil and such in it. It should be in a Playlist called random projects if you care to find it and watch it

[@jsmith6799]

I will check it out: the wife and I enjoy you two's videos, we watch here from South Georgia. 😊

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

I’ve been waiting for this video. Overall, do you think you would still recommend it? When you put the new actuator on, did you have to reverse the wiring?

[@OffgridwithJayandJen]

It all went smooth and I did not have to swap anything. Considering the system is not that much more expensive than buying traditional metal racking systems....I would buy one, ya. But I'm a man of simplicity most the time.

[@SergioBernardoAlmi]

Hi guys 😊

[@OffgridwithJayandJen]

Hey Sergio

[@HumbleLife8]

Hey Jay thanks for the video, I would like to get this Solar Tracker but not sure if it would handle my 2 huge Renogy 550w bifacial panels they weigh 58lbs each + I have 2 ecoflow 400watt panels also 4 Total Solar panels that I would like this Solar tracker to handle, renogy dimensions are Dimensions: 89.72"x44.65"x1.38in OR 7.5Ft x3.7Ft x1.38in ] do you think this solar tracker can handle my 4 panels? Thanks alot for taking the time to. do these videos I am following your channel now! GOD Bless you and your family Jay

[@OffgridwithJayandJen]

I think it would handle 3.....but 4 might be too wide.....there are specs on the website if you use the link below it will take you there. Appreciate you watching my friend. I really enjoy our tracker still 😊

[@leviusmiles7815]

How does this handle on a windy day?

[@OffgridwithJayandJen]

It moves around a bit...but has handled our hill top wind for almost 2 years

[@sleepingbear6116]

Where did you get part?

[@OffgridwithJayandJen]

Amazon

[@sshaw9046]

Good job 👍 now Jay are you going to build a

[@OffgridwithJayandJen]

......

[@bwilson948]

put the motor up to keep water out of the cylinder

[@brettmitton7839]

I've got water in the sun sensor lense after 1 week. Anyone else dealing with this? I dried and sealed with silicon and trying that. Eco worthy tells me they are on back order but au could buy 2 more lol it's a week old. I guess warranty is bs

[@OffgridwithJayandJen]

No issues here

[@donclay3511]

It's still winter. You still in Florida :)

[@OffgridwithJayandJen]

Ha....we brought the nice weather back with us

[@JohnWick-xz9tc]

you missed a chance to show the power input. thumbs up anyway 😊

[@OffgridwithJayandJen]

Thanks my friend......the CC I have on this system only tells me the volts I think, so I can't really tell how many watts I'm getting anyway, or maybe I just don't know how to find the amps it pulls in too. I'm still learning, lol

[@JonOffgrid]

👍👍

[@pmartin6759]

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

[@canajian]

🖐😎👍

[@imurhuckleberry7777]

Flip that other one

[@josefreck1103]

👏🏻👋🙋‍♂️🤗👍

[@LukiF]

Oh, there were 666 likes, I had to change it 😀

[@OffgridwithJayandJen]

👍

[@mortenmyhrmoen7592]

🇳🇴👍👍👌