Outback installer near Portland, Oregon

[AgingInOctal]

I have an Outback system that was installed in 2008 and it needs some work. Unfortunately, the original installer is no longer available.
Does anyone know a solar company near Portland, OR that has experience with Outback systems?

Thanks, Mike

[JRHill]

Mike, I have no references. Actually I have kind of the same curiosity where I live a few hours east of you in case something happened to me and the wife had to carry on.

But would you take a moment and give a bit of detail as to the problem(s) you need help resolving?

[raysun]

This is a common problem. The equipment outlives the installer who commissioned it.
Now when needing service, a 3rd party installer must be found. Most are loathe to come in to support systems they didn't install due to the unknowns on the original deployment. Companies can't send their "normal" install resources who are usually trained only on what's currently being sold. That means a senior technician must be dispatched, taking them away from their primary role of supporting their field people in order to put them at the disposal of one system for an indefinite length of time. Add to that the senior people's billing rates are substantially higher and the homeowner would be in for some fairly substantial sticker shock when the bill comes due. Just to avoid the high probability of jobs ending in customer dissatisfaction, most companies don't step into that business.
"Outback' compounded the problem by a very messy change of ownership that left the brand in the lurch for an extended period. Most installers, left with nothing to install, were forced to switch horses midstream just to keep from going under. A great deal of the former Outback install/support network simply evaporated. Those who might remain are hamstrung by the unknowns. Those attempting even basic remote support are poleaxed by the Optics clusterf***. Anyone that masochistic is a trump supporter anyway and not likely to be around Portland.
Hawaii is a very good case in point. A decade ago, Outback was such an overwhelming choice, one pretty much couldn't buy anything else. A good choice it was too. There was an outsized network of installers/technicians. Now, I can count them on 3 fingers. Two of them beg me on the regular for help. I say no, I don't do that work (for pay). The folks I help is to be neighborly. When they offer to pay me, I decline. My snide rejoinder is "If you paid me what's reasonable, I'd be insulted. If you paid me my consulting rates, you'd be insulted. It's best we keep it free."
Good luck finding someone with the requisite skills, time, and predilection to work on 20 year old systems.
TBH, my first thought is a system installed in 2008 with a 10 year design life, owes one nothing but a happy retirement. It may be time to do some succession planning.

[JRHill]

It may be time to do some succession planning.

That gives me an idea. I wonder if the wife will notice if I give 'her' new puppies a bite of each item on my food plate and wait 15 minutes before I continue...?

[raysun]

It may be time to do some succession planning.

That gives me an idea. I wonder if the wife will notice if I give 'her' new puppies a bite of each item on my food plate and wait 15 minutes before I continue...?

Why so elaborate as poisoning the king's food? A pillow would do if succession was the plan.
Be concerned if she asks how the wood chipper and backhoe operate.

[AgingInOctal]

I think you guys have answered all my current questions, even several I hadn't yet asked.

Succession planning is clearly the way to go!

Thanks, Mike

[raysun]

I think you guys have answered all my current questions, even several I hadn't yet asked.

Succession planning is clearly the way to go!

Thanks, Mike

Feel free to reach out if advice on system updating is desired. Though I don't take a dime for this, I'm pretty well up on industry trends, and sorting the fact from the BS.
*PRO TIP* Stay away from any company that puts a contract in front of you that looks like recycled vacation timeshare language (we're looking at you Sunrun), or offers leasing in any form.
Outback gear in the same form as your system is still available, but the technology is getting a bit long in the tooth. Though with a system that's 18 years old, you've made your peace with lead acid batteries, but the new Lithium Ferro Phosphate batteries are better in every way that matters, and are cheaper too. The new battery tech works better with the new inverter tech. For the latter, most is Chinese and throw-away. There are some brands that are better made and supported than others.
I wish you well. We old guys don't need any more hassles, the novelty has worn off all that stuff.

[AgingInOctal]

Feel free to reach out if advice on system updating is desired. Though I don't take a dime for this, I'm pretty well up on industry trends, and sorting the fact from the BS.
*PRO TIP* Stay away from any company that puts a contract in front of you that looks like recycled vacation timeshare language (we're looking at you Sunrun), or offers leasing in any form.
Outback gear in the same form as your system is still available, but the technology is getting a bit long in the tooth. Though with a system that's 18 years old, you've made your peace with lead acid batteries, but the new Lithium Ferro Phosphate batteries are better in every way that matters, and are cheaper too. The new battery tech works better with the new inverter tech. For the latter, most is Chinese and throw-away. There are some brands that are better made and supported than others.
I wish you well. We old guys don't need any more hassles, the novelty has worn off all that stuff.

When my system was installed, PV systems were rare in my area. I was told that 4860w was a large home system and that less than 2% of private PV systems in Oregon had battery backup. The property is next to a public park and 1/4 mile from a school. Lots of people stopped by to ask about it and almost all of them wanted to know how long it would be before it would pay back my investment. I told them that I was an "early adopter" and my hope was that if enough people bought the early systems the PV market would expand, prices would come down, and more people would be able to afford them. It worked. (I recognize there were lots of people before me, but I still feel good about how it has worked out.

BTW: I also bought a first generation Toyota Prius in 2001. My son drove until it died in 2020. He replaced with a new Prius Prime. Hybrid cars were a good investment too.

[chrisski]

You may try contacting outback support directly. On their outback power website, there’s a support chat. That may work.

From a different company for a different project, I got a list of 5-8 installers, most of which would not do the work and one that ghosted me while doing an estimate.

If you can’t find anyone, might even be cheaper if someone can install a different inverter, or whatever is broke, with the working components.

My equipment is chugging along, and I hope to get 20 years at least out of it.

There is one guy in my valley of 6 million who has a company of 10-20 employees and an off grid in the city house run by Outback equipment that is my installer.

As long as he’s around, I’ll have someone to service my Outback equipment. After that, I am out of luck and on my own.

If you do keep it, get spare parts when you can. They are getting hard to come by.

[fcwlp]

There is one guy in my valley of 6 million who has a company of 10-20 employees and an off grid in the city house run by Outback equipment that is my installer.

If you ever need help and it is not summer, I am available. We moved out of the Phoenix valley 15 years ago to 5,500 feet, where the deer and elk play, to get out of the heat.
.
per raysun I must be a masochist as I have taken over many systems including, Trace, Xantrex, Schneider, Outback, Victron, MPP (a disaster that got replaced), Sungold, etc. I am an engineer and find trying to figure out what and why they did something a challenge. I recently got a OB dual VFXR 240V split-phase system. Owner had a company with a controls engineer. He designed the system so that if one inverter failed, you can turn two switches and run the output of the good inverter thru a transformer and make the 240V split phase. There are also redundant generators and a few other bells and whistles.

[raysun]

I have taken over many systems

It is fun in a nerdy way to figure out "What were they thinking?"
Like this quad VFX split phase system.
viewtopic.php?t=19682
With dual FX one can simply "Classic Stack' the inverters.
With dual FX and an autotransformer one can "Outback Stack' create split phase and load balance the legs.
With quad FX the autotransformer is required. Why?
Later Outback came up with the Master/Sub Phase Master for split phase that required the Hub 10.3 and jumper settings in it.

[AgingInOctal]

The problem I had when I started this post was that I foolishly did some testing to prepare to have the PV panels removed so that the house could be re-roofed. In the process I turned off the PV and charge controller breakers. The good news is that I verified the batteries would run the gas furnace if the grid goes down while the panels are off. The bad news was that, when I turned the breakers back on, It had forgotten the system voltage and asked me to confirm that it was 60 volts. (it's 48) When I tried to correct it, it asked for the password, which I could not remember. This didn't take long to fix but I figured I was pushing my luck and started looking for help.

There is one guy in my valley of 6 million who has a company of 10-20 employees and an off grid in the city house run by Outback equipment that is my installer.

As long as he’s around, I’ll have someone to service my Outback equipment. After that, I am out of luck and on my own.

The guy who installed my system unfortunately passed away away a few years ago. (at 49)

[raysun]

Great news!
Glad to hear it wasn't hardware or firmware fault, but a "wetware" error.

The "quad" FX Outback Stacked split phase inverter arrangement is a unique setup and depends on their autotransformer configuration. Glad the AT wasn't the failure point.

Just to share that "it happens in the most well regulated families" as my grandfather would say. Yesterday I was upgrading the firmware in our off grid system's backup inverter which is idle and disconnected from our house power by an interlock on the main load panel. No worries about the 6 warnings the upgrade program gave which I barely paid attention to, I've seen it all before.
Half way through the upgrade, the power goes out.
I look at the backup inverter and its normal and idle. I look at the main imverter and its showing "overload". Like your system, I use an autotransformer to create split phase. Disconnect the AT and the inverter starts up automatically with no error. Connect the AT and immediate overload error.
Great. Dead inverter? Dead AT? Right in the middle of a firmware update on an inverter not even connected for output power?
Something's not right. Turns out it was the operator, of course.
Picked the wrong inverter to upgrade and the main inverter reverts to factory settings when new firmware is written.
Only took 2 hours of chasing my tail to.figure that out.

[SumPowerRays]

Been there and done that too (to often)! At least it only took you 2 hours to get it all squared away.