"Mostly unsatisfied customer"

I am hesitant to write this review because I’m a big fan of small business. However, my experience with MWANDS has not been ideal.
First the facts: I was in the market for a solar pond aeration system. I first purchased a Hakko HK-80 air pump (based on the size of my pond), 1” ID weighted air line, and two 12” membrane diffusers from a retailer other than MWANDS. I then purchased a 150W Suntaqe unit from MWANDS (as marketed on their website for the HK-80 pond aeration kit). At this point my pond aeration project stalled due to other, more urgent projects. A year or so later (I don’t exactly remember how much time had passed) I contacted MWANDS to purchase the remainder of the equipment. I described to the salesperson which components I had already purchased and he proceeded to prepare a list and quote for the components that I needed to buy. They included two 100 Watt solar panels, a top of pole solar panel mount kit, a pair of MC4 branch connectors, side of pole box enclosure, and a pair of 6 foot PV extension cables. During the discussion with the salesperson I expressed concern about overheating components inside the enclosure. I asked about a cooling fan and he responded that cooling fans will not be needed as they have “never had a problem with overheating”. I trusted his expertise and proceeded with the purchase. The parts were shipped 6 days after I placed the order (fine with me, no issue here) and arrived 7 days later in excellent condition. Everything was packaged well.
The following weekend I proceeded to install the system. It was an easy install and I was lucky to have a clear, sunny day. The system ran great for approximately 30 minutes and then proceeded to power cycle. On then off, on then off…over and over again until the sun was no longer shining on the panels. I placed a call to MWANDS on Monday morning and explained the situation. The salesperson asked that I send several pictures of the installed system. I also offered to send video (all of which I sent to him). This marked the beginning of a nearly two month long saga in which I sent many emails, pictures, videos and placed several phone calls. This is where the service from MWANDS deteriorated. Many of the emails and calls that I placed went unanswered. In fact, there was a two week period where I sent multiple emails and left phone messages which went unanswered. It was through shear persistence that I ultimately received a call from a technician who could walk me through some troubleshooting. I won’t go into all of the details but I will say that my detailed notes on this frustrating journey could fill a book.
The technical issues that were identified can be summarized as:
1. The Suntaqe sat in a box too long and lost its settings. There is a programmable low voltage shutdown/delay relay inside the Suntage. The purpose of the relay is to cut power to the inverter if the voltage drops below a programmed setting. Apparently the configuration settings are stored in volatile memory and will disappear if the unit sits too long without power. This was identified after I shipped the unit back to MWANDS for their inspection. Since the unit was more than 30 days old, I paid for the shipping there and back. Please note that there was no documentation (other than the AIMS inverter user manual) included with the Suntaqe so there was no way for me to know about the volatile memory issue.
2. Once the configuration issue with the Suntaqe relay was resolved, the system ran longer than it ever had before. Unfortunately a new issue was discovered. The 150W AIMS inverter was now overheating. The very issue I expressed concern about when placing the order! The AIMS inverter does not have a built-in cooling fan. There was also no fan included with the aeration enclosure as it was not recommended by the salesperson. This problem was identified while I was on the phone with the MWANDS technician. After all of the time and effort I spent on this system, I just about lost my mind. Luckily I somehow kept my sanity and politely thanked the technician for the call and support. At this point I decided that further communications with MWANDS was going to be a waste of my time. Fortunately I already had a spare inverter, one with a built-in cooling fan, which I use in my Jeep. I replaced the AIMS inverter with the unit from my Jeep and all was well…for a short period of time.
3. The next issue to rear its ugly head was yet another overheating problem!!! This time it was the Hakko HK-80 air pump. It’s getting scorching hot and then shutting down. After doing some research, I read that the Hakko pumps typically will run hot and should be kept in a well ventilated area. How does an MWANDS salesperson not know this? Where I live the summer days routinely get in the 90+ degree range. In fact, according to the troubleshooting page on the Hakko website:

“If the pump is in a box on a hot day you are likely to throw the thermal overload and the pump will turn off. If you are seeing your pump turning on and off you must investigate the reason and fix the situation to prevent premature wear and tear of your diaphragms and motor.”

Obviously, the setup I purchased from MWANDS is a recipe for overheating and ultimately a quick demise to a $300 air pump. I proceeded with an attempt to try to resolve the overheating by installing two 12v DC fans inside the enclosure and I cut/installed two additional louvered vents on either side of enclosure (in the location of the air pump). Unfortunately it wasn’t enough, the pump still continues to overheat.

To sum up, I would have been much better off trenching 500 feet to my pond to run an air line from my house. I really like the idea of using green energy as much as possible but this has been an exercise in throwing good money after bad. I have a solar PV system on my house and would have achieved the same goal by trenching the 500 feet. However, I should point out that MWANDS seems to do a pretty good job as a product reseller. They have a nice website with many helpful videos, they seem to have nailed down the art of selling, packaging, and shipping. If you know exactly what you need and have done extensive research (i.e. enough research to know with absolute confidence whether or not the products will work for your situation), then MWANDS would likely be a good place to shop. However, if you must rely on them to advise you on what to purchase or if you suspect that there is potential for a technical issue to arise, then I would recommend avoiding MWANDS. They are simply too small of a business with very limited resources such that providing technical support to promptly address issues is not within their current capabilities.

"Everything came as advertised and…"

Everything came as advertised and worked as advertised. When I had a question, a simple call, it was answered. I am very pleased with my system and how easy it was to install. I couldn't ask for more.

"Excellent after service support"

Excellent after service support. Would recommend them. A+++

"After talking to a tech person I bought…"

After talking to a tech person I bought the charge controller recommended by him. I installed the controller as instructed and switched the system on. It worked but only for a few hours. I reinstalled it and tried to get the turbine to generate power but no luck. When I reached the states, my system is in Roatan, three calls were placed to the tech guy but no return call was ever made. As it is I am without powér for my batteries until I can get back to home and some answers from MWandS.

"100% satisfied."

100% satisfied.

"Purchase experience was 100% excellent!"

Purchase experience was 100% excellent!

"I got what I needed at a fair price and…"

I got what I needed at a fair price and fast shipping. Thanks.

"Great to deal with and helpful"

Great to deal with and helpful. Thanks.

"Recently bought a classic 150 charge…"

Recently bought a classic 150 charge controller. Service was fast and received item in 3 days. I will buy here again. Also a potential PV panel source as they actually stock panels and are within driving distance, no LTL frt charges!

"Sam was great letting us what we needed…"

Sam was great letting us what we needed for our home. This is why we bought from mwands.