turbofarming
Member
Morning all,
Looking for some advice please on where we go from here with our CHP project.
We installed 2 units last year and the whole thing has just been a total pain in the ass. Looking for some advice on what we can do going forward if possible. There are a number of different angles and complaints I have which I'll try to explain.
1. The machines are overly temperamental and we have had some months incurring up to 300 shut downs. Also a health hazard leaking CO gas and horrible ash everywhere. After being sold them on an hr or 2 checks a day will suffice, to the reality of its 2 of us nearly full time working on them.
2. The installers who we signed a service contract with have been servicing the units, despite being approved by the manufacturer, have had no formal training and basically had no idea what they are doing and haven't been doing it correctly. Probably causing half the issues above. After the first year they have replaced so many parts and consumables they say they wont be servicing them anymore unless we sign again at a much higher rate.
3. Quoted generation and power figures are all off. Theres 3 stages to this. Firstly between 2 units we are meant to generate 100kwe. However, our installer never took the parasitic load out of the calculations of what will be going through the meter. I know for a fact other sellers/installers did take this load out of calculations. This equates to about 8% down on electric generation. Manufacturer has confirmed this is the case.
The reformer heat is meant to be 24kwt, which is subtracted from our meters to give us eligible heat. This sits more between 25-29kwt.
Have also been told that the engine intercooler is pulling away another 7kwt before metering.
We were sold as 85kw usable heat, when I have had confirmation from manufacturers it should in fact be 72kw usable.
Installers are claiming that the manufacturers provided them with incorrect figures to start with. This may be true with the heat, but it is definitely their mistake with the pload.
4. Parts/Warranty
In December we were told we need to start fitting protective steel crowns in the reformer to stop reformer cracking. Unfortunately we think the reformers cracked before this and have had them replaced. We are still using the crowns but are changing them every 400 hrs due to warping. They are replacing them at the moment under warranty but this is going to be another 13k a year at least on parts just for the crowns.
We have probably replaced 50k worth of bits in the first year.
We were sold the machines on the fact that it would cost us £23k for all servicing maintenance and consumables. After this first year theyve turned round said its not feasible and now only offer a labour only service with an astronomical hourly rate.
Now that our first year is up and we're out of service contract, all prices for work has shot through the roof, noone telling us where we stand on warranty or who will deal with it.
Can anyone tell me what my options are going forward? Want to get in front of a solicitor or expert who knows what they are talking about. Any recommendations?
I would like to know who exactly is liable for what, and whether weve pee'd 3/4 mil up the wall or if we can get any recompense.
Cheers!
Looking for some advice please on where we go from here with our CHP project.
We installed 2 units last year and the whole thing has just been a total pain in the ass. Looking for some advice on what we can do going forward if possible. There are a number of different angles and complaints I have which I'll try to explain.
1. The machines are overly temperamental and we have had some months incurring up to 300 shut downs. Also a health hazard leaking CO gas and horrible ash everywhere. After being sold them on an hr or 2 checks a day will suffice, to the reality of its 2 of us nearly full time working on them.
2. The installers who we signed a service contract with have been servicing the units, despite being approved by the manufacturer, have had no formal training and basically had no idea what they are doing and haven't been doing it correctly. Probably causing half the issues above. After the first year they have replaced so many parts and consumables they say they wont be servicing them anymore unless we sign again at a much higher rate.
3. Quoted generation and power figures are all off. Theres 3 stages to this. Firstly between 2 units we are meant to generate 100kwe. However, our installer never took the parasitic load out of the calculations of what will be going through the meter. I know for a fact other sellers/installers did take this load out of calculations. This equates to about 8% down on electric generation. Manufacturer has confirmed this is the case.
The reformer heat is meant to be 24kwt, which is subtracted from our meters to give us eligible heat. This sits more between 25-29kwt.
Have also been told that the engine intercooler is pulling away another 7kwt before metering.
We were sold as 85kw usable heat, when I have had confirmation from manufacturers it should in fact be 72kw usable.
Installers are claiming that the manufacturers provided them with incorrect figures to start with. This may be true with the heat, but it is definitely their mistake with the pload.
4. Parts/Warranty
In December we were told we need to start fitting protective steel crowns in the reformer to stop reformer cracking. Unfortunately we think the reformers cracked before this and have had them replaced. We are still using the crowns but are changing them every 400 hrs due to warping. They are replacing them at the moment under warranty but this is going to be another 13k a year at least on parts just for the crowns.
We have probably replaced 50k worth of bits in the first year.
We were sold the machines on the fact that it would cost us £23k for all servicing maintenance and consumables. After this first year theyve turned round said its not feasible and now only offer a labour only service with an astronomical hourly rate.
Now that our first year is up and we're out of service contract, all prices for work has shot through the roof, noone telling us where we stand on warranty or who will deal with it.
Can anyone tell me what my options are going forward? Want to get in front of a solicitor or expert who knows what they are talking about. Any recommendations?
I would like to know who exactly is liable for what, and whether weve pee'd 3/4 mil up the wall or if we can get any recompense.
Cheers!