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Powerwall died? DC Stage Fault

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Given your experience, would you recommend PW to family and friend?
I would recommend going with a company other than Tesla. We went with Sunrun through Costco. Granted we paid more than going through Tesla, but in the long run, Sunrun's customer service is very good. Plus, we got a $2100 cash card from Costco, not to mention the Tax Credit. We have a 9.45kW system with 2 PWs. Our March electric bill was $28.00 where last year it was $300
 
I would recommend going with a company other than Tesla. We went with Sunrun through Costco. Granted we paid more than going through Tesla, but in the long run, Sunrun's customer service is very good. Plus, we got a $2100 cash card from Costco, not to mention the Tax Credit. We have a 9.45kW system with 2 PWs. Our March electric bill was $28.00 where last year it was $300

I can see a third-party installer being better than Tesla but Sunrun? It's great that you have good support experience with them but I have heard too many horror stories about them over the years and it doesn't seem to have changed much.

 
I can see a third-party installer being better than Tesla but Sunrun? It's great that you have good support experience with them but I have heard too many horror stories about them over the years and it doesn't seem to have changed much.

Actually, the stories are about Vivint, which Sunrun bought. The new CEO, Mary Powell, has come in and is cleaning house and getting Customer service revamped. I like the fact that my panels have the individual microinverters, not the single one tesla uses.
 
Given your experience, would you recommend PW to family and friend?

Yes, I would and I have. But I haven't recommended to anyone who doesn't have ongoing issues with power quality, i.e. folks who are already in pain trying to keep WFH going or running a small, power dependent business.

One of my neighbors is in the midst of their installation now, with many of the same installation and procurement issues that we had. One of the them is a professional project manager and has a hard time with those sorts of shortcomings, but was forewarned, as I knew it would be a sore point for them.

While we had glitches from Covid, supply chain issues, and installation items, I have only found a small hardware issue, of which Tesla is aware. Based on experiences here, my belief going in was that as the cells are widely used in Tesla vehicles, with a great record (MTBF), the powerwalls we're not likely to be major points of failure. Software, the app, customer service I expected not to be great, and they aren't.

The Powerwalls enable us to be non-peak consumers 100% of the year and effectively 100% of grid for 270 or so days per year, with the ability to have more power on hand for fire/weather events. We have had no impacts from outages since they were installed. From my perspective, the powerwalls are doing what I bought them to do. I don't miss running extension cords for every unplanned PG&E outage, even if I do have a soft spot for my generator. YMMV...(see my comments about power quality above)

All the best,

BG

P.S. Despite the poor power quality here, 90% of my neighbors have no generator or standby power source, and many have lost more than enough food over the last few years to have paid for a small one. I don't get the logic, but that is probably typical. I think that Powerwalls are a bleeding edge technology product, and while not vaporware, are certainly at the early adopter point in the product lifecycle when rapid updates and evolution are to be expected. I try to warn people of that.
 
Yes, I would and I have. But I haven't recommended to anyone who doesn't have ongoing issues with power quality, i.e. folks who are already in pain trying to keep WFH going or running a small, power dependent business.

One of my neighbors is in the midst of their installation now, with many of the same installation and procurement issues that we had. One of the them is a professional project manager and has a hard time with those sorts of shortcomings, but was forewarned, as I knew it would be a sore point for them.

While we had glitches from Covid, supply chain issues, and installation items, I have only found a small hardware issue, of which Tesla is aware. Based on experiences here, my belief going in was that as the cells are widely used in Tesla vehicles, with a great record (MTBF), the powerwalls we're not likely to be major points of failure. Software, the app, customer service I expected not to be great, and they aren't.

The Powerwalls enable us to be non-peak consumers 100% of the year and effectively 100% of grid for 270 or so days per year, with the ability to have more power on hand for fire/weather events. We have had no impacts from outages since they were installed. From my perspective, the powerwalls are doing what I bought them to do. I don't miss running extension cords for every unplanned PG&E outage, even if I do have a soft spot for my generator. YMMV...(see my comments about power quality above)

Sorry, I should have clarified that I was referring to getting PW from Tesla vs other sources. PW definitely has some nice capabilities.

P.S. Despite the poor power quality here, 90% of my neighbors have no generator or standby power source, and many have lost more than enough food over the last few years to have paid for a small one. I don't get the logic, but that is probably typical. I think that Powerwalls are a bleeding edge technology product, and while not vaporware, are certainly at the early adopter point in the product lifecycle when rapid updates and evolution are to be expected. I try to warn people of that.
It's kind of sobering to see that the PW came out 7 years ago and the market is still in early adopter stage.
 
Sorry, I should have clarified that I was referring to getting PW from Tesla vs other sources. PW definitely has some nice capabilities.


It's kind of sobering to see that the PW came out 7 years ago and the market is still in early adopter stage.
@cali8484 Just to clarify, we got our Powerwalls from a third party, hence the wait. However, they came with a substantial SGIP reimbursement, which Tesla's would not have. The third party installer was very good, meticulous, no complaints there.

I am of the opinion that adoption rates scale inversely to cost. A five cent candy, sure, novel flavor in a bag of chips, no problem, an expensive dinner at a restaurant with a cuisine that you have no understanding of, ok, brand new computer system from an unknown maker, um, novel power generation systems, double um, a novel technology for protection of one of your most valuable assets from the elements, triple um, wait, it is made of glass? Quadruple um.

Change is hard. Durable change is even harder.

All the best,

BG
 
@cali8484 Just to clarify, we got our Powerwalls from a third party, hence the wait. However, they came with a substantial SGIP reimbursement, which Tesla's would not have. The third party installer was very good, meticulous, no complaints there.
Thanks for the clarification. I guess even a third-party installer can only do so much to shield customers from Tesla's support problems.
I am of the opinion that adoption rates scale inversely to cost. A five cent candy, sure, novel flavor in a bag of chips, no problem, an expensive dinner at a restaurant with a cuisine that you have no understanding of, ok, brand new computer system from an unknown maker, um, novel power generation systems, double um, a novel technology for protection of one of your most valuable assets from the elements, triple um, wait, it is made of glass? Quadruple um.

Change is hard. Durable change is even harder.

All the best,

BG
I agree with that conceptually but it seems Tesla could have done more like they did in the EV market with the Model 3. I guess PW is still in the Model S only stage.
 
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Update: Got email and app notification to schedule service, first available was in 3 weeks. Hope it's just a quick Powerwall swap.

Given your experience, would you recommend PW to family and friend?

My situation is unique. I farm/cultivate saltwater corals, the income from it easily pays for PW to provide power backup to keep everything alive for any extended (days) outages, though I already have lead batteries and UPS to carry through short outages. But otherwise probably not worth it, only get 0-1 power outages a year in my location.
 
Sorry, but I sure hope they repair the fault rather then chunk in a land fill..
Also hope right to repair laws get passed so we all can keep the equipment running beyond the 10 year warranty, perhaps Tesla will offer a extended warranty in the future.
 
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Update....2 weeks ago, Tesla tech in a tiny minivan came by for scheduled appointment. I asked if he brought a new battery with him after seeing his tiny little van and he said no. Then I knew immediately this visit would be pointless. He spent 30 mins on site only to determine that......battery is dead and needs replacement. Shocking.

He said "Level 2" has ordered new battery and should be installed within a few days. But as usual, it's been silence since.
 
Update....2 weeks ago, Tesla tech in a tiny minivan came by for scheduled appointment. I asked if he brought a new battery with him after seeing his tiny little van and he said no. Then I knew immediately this visit would be pointless. He spent 30 mins on site only to determine that......battery is dead and needs replacement. Shocking.

He said "Level 2" has ordered new battery and should be installed within a few days. But as usual, it's been silence since.
Again, due to the stories of bad customer service, i am glad I went with Sunrun.
 
@getakey I view Powerwall ownership akin to owning a vintage vehicle; it is great when it runs, and when it has an issue, it will require intervention on my part. Tesla's customer service isn't the worst, but we all agree that there is room for improvement. (I have ongoing issues with several other companies, all minor, but they range from a company that does not answer its phones, one that hides its contact information, and one that only list an email, that it doesn't answer. My favorites so far are "well we sold that product line, so not our problem, and no we can't tell you who or what the buyer's contact information is", and an all day long recording of "our staff is on a training break now, please call back later", over many days, and when I finally got through a representative said that the recording was their lunch break.(for hours? Somebody knows how to work the system on their end...))

@taphil My bottom line is to call Tesla daily, or at least 3-4 times a week. Be polite, and ask for status. Every so often, I get a customer service representative that is on the ball and moves mountains. Totally luck of the draw.

Where it counts on performance, and once we got the installation issues sorted, the Powerwalls have been great. I went into the purchase knowing, from the collective experiences here, that any customer service issues were going to be hands on, and they have been.

All the best,

BG
>(I have ongoing issues with several other companies

How many of these other companies are physically integrated into your home electrical system with proprietary components that only they can fix?
 
5 month update.....replacement PW on backorder, no ETA. Or at least that's what I was told, and obviously no idea if they prioritize new installs vs. warranty replacements. Sigh.

With 1 PW working, I can stay off importing from the grid from 4pm-8pm while running the AC in peak summer til the battery goes to 30% reserve. If I had 2 PW working, I could probably never have to import from the grid unless it's cloudy, which was the whole point of getting PWs.
 
5 month update.....replacement PW on backorder, no ETA. Or at least that's what I was told, and obviously no idea if they prioritize new installs vs. warranty replacements. Sigh.

With 1 PW working, I can stay off importing from the grid from 4pm-8pm while running the AC in peak summer til the battery goes to 30% reserve. If I had 2 PW working, I could probably never have to import from the grid unless it's cloudy, which was the whole point of getting PWs.
It does make one realize how useful ones powerwalls are, doesn't it?

Good luck on a speedy replacement.
 
5 month update.....replacement PW on backorder, no ETA. Or at least that's what I was told, and obviously no idea if they prioritize new installs vs. warranty replacements. Sigh.

With 1 PW working, I can stay off importing from the grid from 4pm-8pm while running the AC in peak summer til the battery goes to 30% reserve. If I had 2 PW working, I could probably never have to import from the grid unless it's cloudy, which was the whole point of getting PWs.
Thats horrible! Are we at their mercy? They have been doing installs left and right around me. Seems like this should be a priority.
 
Frustratingly and happily, this saga has finally come to an end. Tesla replaced the fried Powerwall today, 7 months after it failed. They also installed a Neurio meter inside the Gateway 2 for unknown reason (I wasn't home during service). System is now back to normal.

About 5 weeks ago, I called Tesla again to ask for updates and note my frustration at having to wait for a backordered replacement PW whereas new PWs are being installed everywhere left and right, and also asked them to send me information about arbitration so I could proceed with filing for arbitration, and the rep said they'll send it to me and that it's also on the website. I already had the info in the signed contract, but wanted more info. The next business day I received an email with a copy of the contract with no further information. But an hour later, I got service appointment notification, with the closest date being about 4 weeks later.