My experience with the EG4 18KPV and Signature Solar

This one is about my experience with the installation of an EG4 18KPV inverter/charger and battery backup thru Signature Solar as the distributor. This involves a failure of the inverter and the resulting warranty experience with Signature Solar.

[@skutahuniai4830]

Sorry dude, but after 4 minutes I had to shut it off. Too painful. Not a thing said or learned in this time.

[@tahlularose9267]

Thanks for the update. I've been through several hybrid inverters from Signaturesolar from different manufactures. Each with their own idiosyncrasies using a hybrid grid tied (no net metering) installation with batteries. So far my experiences with them have been great for the most part through their warranty/exchange program. They've been growing and expanding very fast and I see their biggest problem is acquiring and training staff. I've done customer service briefly in the past and working with the DIY community is extremely difficult. Growwatt, inexpensive, worked great with transformer for offgrid, had issues with sharing the Neutral with the Utility tied application. EG4 6500's, worked well, very loud. EG4 18Kpv, expensive, works well, very versatile, needs better step by step instructions for setting up com's with Lifepower 4 batteries.

[@offgridbydesign3826]

Thank you.I was looking at purchasing 2 of these for my new install. This not the 1st time I heard this about Signature...

[@neo2299]

I had to RMA my 1 of my 18kpv. They sent me a new one within a week. I boxed up the old one and sent it back with their pre paid labels after the new one arrived. Support has been amazing not sure who you talked to but sounds totally different than my experience.

[@grayfurnaceman]

Your experience was exactly the opposite of mine. I contacted EG4 factory support and was assured the failure was under warranty. When I contacted signature Solar for the return, I was told that I would have to box up and return the old unit, send it to them, wait for them to determine what caused the failure, then they would decide if it was under warranty and would send the new one. When I told them the factory had determined the failure was under warranty, they said EG4 was not part of this conversation and they were the only one I would have to deal with. If I wanted to get a new one earlier, I would have to pay for it and they would return my money when they determined the failure was warranty. Obviously, this was not acceptable to me and I installed a Sol Ark 15K. Its interesting the difference between the two experiences. GFM

[@kickgas7171]

You shouldn't have had to RMA this new inverter.

[@TheVaga9]

Signature Solar took forever getting my stuff also, they clearly have problems!! Too much sugar for a dime! But I have four or five days of no sun this time of year anyway so I am rethinking my solar position! Good luck!!!

[@grayfurnaceman]

If you are in the north, March is coming and that is the month when I go positive again. Hang in there. I have ordered the Sol-Ark on last Friday and it will be arriving Tuesday. Sounds good so far. GFM

[@petersamios5409]

Sad to hear. I'm leaning toward the Victron and Schneider Electric models where they are not all in 1 and where a lot of money is spent on coding. I saw a bunch of reviews on line where the Schneider Electric, even though their interface was a bit challenging, seemed very versatile. They are a bit more $$$, but it, IMO, saves heartache.

[@USA-GreedyMenOfNoIntegrity]

You won’t go wrong with either of those.

[@tjmooney4181]

18kpv is the best by far especially for the amazing price, signaturesolar has been great to me for all the systems I have installed for friends and family since finding them

[@grayfurnaceman]

Have you installed the Sol Ark 15 in any of your installs? The reason I ask is I have found the Sol Ark to be more robust. GFM

[@tjmooney4181]

@grayfurnaceman I have not as I have only been doing solar installs for the past 14 months but we have replaced 1 solark 15k with an 18kpv and the client said the 18kpv seems the same besides more user friendly and efficient in idle consumption comparison. And for the price difference I'd say it's a no brainer for almost all circumstances 🤔

[@grayfurnaceman]

I found the 2 inverters to be much the same as for the install. Because the 18PK is a newer design, there are some bugs that have not been worked out. One of which is the one that caused the failure I experienced. What bothered me the most was the inaction of Signature Solar when the failure was brought to their attention. GFM@@tjmooney4181

[@3er328]

What’s with the cluster Fk of wires, when I see a mess like that it makes me wonder about the insulation and why it’s not working.

[@grayfurnaceman]

The spider nest was the result of having to bypass the inverter due to the failure of the inverter so I would have power until the inverter could be replaced. GFM

[@Revenants_Prophecy]

I’m running a eg4 18kpv with powerpro battery and it runs fine. Signature has been great so far. Sorry for your issues. I’m not using the generator you are though.

[@grayfurnaceman]

The generator terminal was the failure I had. However, I used micro inverter arrays in the gen terminals. This is authorized by the manual. GFM

[@simon359]

That’s why I stick with Victron!

[@kevflynn]

EG4 18PK? assume you mean EG4 | 18KPV?

[@GypsyStacker]

OK KAREN!!!

[@electricandlspower]

Sorry to hear.

[@jamestoy426]

tad from teddy digest a hvac u tuber just got this same system he has a video one about how to use a fish tape you may want to contact him he’s in tennessee

[@user-yn8qg3bx2h]

I need your expertise on a project , how can I contact you?

[@grayfurnaceman]

Send to: [e-mail] GFM

[@USA-GreedyMenOfNoIntegrity]

Pro HVAC guy here. Two Sol-Ark 12K and Schneider XW Pro 6848 for me. I bought two EG4 6500EX from SS, just to try some low quality junk out for comparison. Never again. Come on…quit falling for that cheap price. It happens in the HVAC industry too, you and Taddy should know better. We got what we paid for. 47kWp.

[@grayfurnaceman]

The EGU is the newest product with both the good things like latest tech and the bad things like not ready for prime time. This industry is moving very fast. Every year there are advances that get these things ever closer to a problem free transition. I was attempting to get the latest. The product itself is quite good. My biggest issue is with Signature Solar. Customer service is very bad. GFM

[@USA-GreedyMenOfNoIntegrity]

@@grayfurnaceman Customer service in the HVAC industry is the worst it’s ever been too.

[@jasonweb9720]

Sol-Ark and 6500ex are not in the same class. Sol-Ark and 18kpv are. I installed tons of the 18kpv. Just they have a problem using generators to pass in the inverter.

[@ShuhDonk]

I have heard lots of horror stories about signature solar.

[@vfsd234]

What type of horror stories? Thanks

[@USA-GreedyMenOfNoIntegrity]

….Like very poor 240VAC split phase power quality output from 2 ea 6500 EX’s. Poor customer service. They’ll drag you along for weeks dealing with issues so that you’ll give up and accept their credit on a new unit or you can pay to ship the piece of junk back and wait weeks for a warranty decision.

[@vfsd234]

Thanks for the details ​@@USA-GreedyMenOfNoIntegrity

[@sia3540]

I thought they would have changed by now! If you buy anything from them you better pray 🙏 that it doesn’t fail because they will send you through HELL!

[@USA-GreedyMenOfNoIntegrity]

100%.

[@duotronic6451]

This makes no sense. What broke? Why are you rambling incoherently?

[@grayfurnaceman]

What makes no sense is that Signature Solar would not back the product. The microinverter controlled solar arrays were wired thru the GEN input as recommended by the manufacturer. When the arrays were shut down for a maintenance issue, the GEN input failed. GFM

[@Fonze1955]

Chinese white label LuxPower Tek doesn’t mean it’s not good though

[@grayfurnaceman]

I would agree. Because the 18pk is pretty new, there are bugs in the system. The factory people understood the problem and were willing to back it up. My problem is with Signature Solar. They were terrible to work with and mostly unresponsive. GFM

[@Fonze1955]

Who’s Signature Solar, i thought they were apart of Power Store in TX

[@kg4muc]

Very poor business model!

[@kickgas7171]

Why do you suppose that no reputable American inverter manufacturer, builds inverter using, low cost, low surge capacity, short lived high frequency inverter technology in their designs?

[@williamjosephbc17Q]

that waxine you took has fried your brain

[@grayfurnaceman]

It's spelled vaccine dummy. Whose brain is fried? GFM

[@williamjosephbc17Q]

@@grayfurnaceman lol... yeah well some of us are censored by algorithms when we spell certain words right... isn't it time for your booster?... decease X is coming

[@grayfurnaceman]

Already got it. BTW, its disease not decease. If your spelling is bad enough, spell check will not be able to decipher your meaning. GFM@@williamjosephbc17Q

[@Jon-hx7pe]

those wazine things don't work - they actually dampen down ipputiny on top of the risk of hart demege and cincer. @@williamjosephbc17Q

[@Jon-hx7pe]

those boaster wakkine thingies actually reduce immenuty and can cause hartte demege and kincer. @@williamjosephbc17Q

[@solarcharging9743]

I would never buy any inverter from any dealer that uses low cost, Chinese made, low surge capacity, short lived high frequency inverter technology.

[@seansevo4g]

Which manufacturer are you speaking about?

[@solarcharging9743]

@@seansevo4g Any manufacturer that uses high frequency, transformerless inverter technology.

[@paparock3962]

Spare us, really don't care what you would do

[@solarcharging9743]

@@paparock3962 If you want to throw your money away on this junk high frequency tech, go right ahead. I couldn't care less.