I don’t get to write on this blog as often as I’d like and, in this post, I’m going to share some of the reasons why.
The other side of life as Robinson
The fact that I am here alone for most of the work has taken its toll. It is an engineering feat for one person to lift an 8-meter mast with 40 kg “weight” at the end, without heavy equipment. For those who do not want to count the lever, it is 320 kg that must be lifted.
It took me a long time to figure out how to safely erect such a mast in one person. With three or four people, it would be about half an hour’s work, but for one it was several days of preparation and then a whole day of gradual erection.
But what happened during all this was that when I finally had the mast and the wind turbine safely up, I realized that I had forgotten to tighten the screws on the turbine blades. I left it until the end because I was still thinking about attaching the turbine tip, which was attached rather poorly by the manufacturer. However, then I got so caught up in the erecting technique and excitement that it would be done that I completely forgot about this step. ☹
So, what now? It’s getting dark soon, and I was looking forward to finally having proper electricity today after several months. The fatal mistake was that I thought I could fix it by dark. Since I already had an invented and proven technology for lifting the mast, I could take it down and put it up again within an hour, right? Sorrow, nervousness from the approaching darkness, and exhaustion after several days of stressful work took their toll.
Even though I had secured everything three times, the weakest link in the system gave way (the two-inch support pipe broke), the belay rope fell out of the fuse for an inexplicable reason, and I couldn’t hold the tottering mast in my hand by the other belay wire. Finally, from a height of about 2 meters already at dusk, the wind turbine and the mast fell to the ground.
In the morning, I inspected the damage and was delighted to find that the turbine blades had not broken. And at first glance, there was no sign of any damage. After all, the height from which it fell was not so great, and the turbine’s tip sank into the relatively soft ground. However, when I then tightened the turbine blades, I noticed that the aluminum washer (7mm thick, by the way) was slightly bent. The bend was very slight indeed. About 2mm, but I guessed it wouldn’t do any good, which ended up being why the wind turbine still doesn’t work. I was afraid to straighten it with a hammer. That would certainly crack or weaken the material too much. So, I was hoping that the bend wouldn’t be critical and everything would work as it should.
So, I had another day of preparation because I had to replace the weakest element so that a similar fall would not happen again. This meant swapping out the 2″ support pipe for lever alignment with a 3″ pipe, which was a significant difference in weight and why I didn’t do it sooner. I struggled quite a bit with how to screw this pipe to the main mast at the height of 2.5 meters. Again, it wouldn’t be such a problem if you weren’t doing everything alone and didn’t have to hold everything at the same time and at the same time screw with force at height. But once someone “plays” Robinson, he must figure it out.
In the end, it succeeded, and the mast stood again with the turbine blades firmly anchored. However, when the wind started blowing, it became clear that the bending of the base plate was going to be a problem. The turbine was making a strange noise, and it was obvious that the shocks were more extensive than they should generally be. Another unfavorable factor was that I had to leave for a few hours to help a neighbor harvest olives and could not monitor the turbine on site. I should have turned it off before leaving, i.e., locked it so it wouldn’t spin, but I always do stupid things when I’m stressed and let it a spin.
When I returned in the afternoon, one turbine blade was broken away, and I never found it again. In addition, the tail of the turbine, which I found a few meters sideways, also broke. All because of the excessive vibration caused by the bent plate and, thus, the incorrect layout of the turbine blades. A strong wind was not a problem. So, it was necessary to order new spare parts from the turbine manufacturer, and that’s when the problems started.
And problematic communication with the supplier begins
You know, when you have a problem that you can solve yourself, it does cost you some time, maybe some resources for materials, but you can deal with it in a reasonable amount of time. But when you’re dependent on third-party delivery, it can be quite frustrating.
That same day, I wrote to technical support about what happened, described the problem, attached photos and a video, and attached a request for a quote for the necessary spare parts. When there was no response within a week, I wrote an email to a specific person from the supplier company, with whom I previously dealt with the purchase of the turbine and who helped me a lot when there were problems at the border with the shipment through customs. He replied in the next five days that there was no problem, that they would send me the spare parts, including the metal plate, and that I should write to technical support. I.e., he advised me to do what I did right away. 😊
Well, I filled out the technical support form again, and in about ten days I received a message that there was no problem and that I would soon receive information about the price for the required spare parts. Three days after that, I received a question from a technical support employee that I thought was very stupid and unnecessary. She asked me if I wanted their mast in addition to what I wrote. Come on; they think I’m a total asshole who doesn’t know what he really wants. The fact that I repeatedly (at least three times) wrote which parts I needed, including photos and videos, must have somehow been “overlooked.”
I actually only used one part of their mast that I originally purchased and made the entire mast, including ground anchors myself. Unfortunately, more than half a year passed from the time of ordering to implementation, and it turned out that it was necessary to have a mast much higher than the original assumptions.
Since nothing happened again for a long time, I replied that I really didn’t need their mast, and again (for about the fourth time), I repeated what I needed very urgently. FYI, at this point, it has already been a month since I first contacted the wind turbine manufacturer regarding spare parts supply.
But still, nothing happened. So, I reminded myself four times by email every five days, but still nothing. So, I once again submitted a completely new request to their helpdesk (another month has passed in the meantime), where I repeated what I needed and said that no one had responded to the previous communication.
This is a note to those wondering why I didn’t call them long ago. I wanted to do this right away at the beginning, but this company does not publish any of its phone numbers anywhere. So, the only possibility of contact is through the web-based online form, which, after sending, does not show any confirmation of sending the inquiry, nor does it receive any confirmation by e-mail. So, you never know if your query has actually been sent. Please note that this is a company from Great Britain! No China, Pakistan, etc. The leading manufacturer of wind turbines with a global reach has its own development and probably can’t keep up.
And the frustration is mounting
A week after submitting a new request, I received an email from a tech support worker apologizing that all my previous messages had ended up in their spam. Interesting when I only gave a RE: to their question and only sent a text message. No images, links, or attachments. But so be it, it will happen. The fact that they do not have RE: connected to an online technical support system is another confirmation that even a multinational manufacturer with multi-million turnover does not consider it important to make a small investment into a basic online technical support system to provide standard support to their customers.
But what I found even more obscure is the recommendation their tech support gave me. Let me order spare parts from their e-shop. I’ve already gone into a corkscrew. Of course, I went through their e-shop for the first before contacting them three months ago! At the same time, I was looking for a phone number to discuss the next steps with them in person. Unfortunately, they don’t have one key component, the metal plate, in their e-shop. That’s why I emphasized in all my previous emails and messages that I mainly need this and if they can deliver it. If they had written to me right away that they could not deliver this, I would have solved it differently a long time ago. Did you know that there are several companies in the Czech Republic that can cut anything you want on a CNC machine from almost any material, even in the quantity of one piece?
I responded to this with a somewhat longer email, where I described my dissatisfaction with the fact that within three months, they were not even able to tell me the price of spare parts, let alone send them. And to make matters worse, their response after a few days was that they didn’t know what I wanted. And they sent a nice picture describing the individual spare parts. They don’t even have this picture on the website; it’s not even in the technical documentation for the turbine. Why didn’t they send it to me in the first email when they had doubts about what I wanted? Their way of communication is a mystery to me.
Would you buy something from such a company?
I was excited about their technology. I have gone through many offers for different types of wind turbines, and this company has the best performance x price ratio. The turbines will probably be good, unfortunately, the technical support is ruining their whole business. A practical demonstration that is not only quality marketing important for stable growth in the number of customers but also the tuning of all business processes.
How will it continue?
At the time of writing this post, I am still waiting for their reply to the last reply where they clearly stated where in their schematic what I need. Since no one responded to the simple reply to the email, I entered the request again (for the fourth time) via the online form. That’s the only thing they always responded to.
I don’t know yet whether, due to the bending of an aluminum sheet worth several tens of euros, I will have to buy a new wind turbine from another manufacturer worth several thousand euros, or I will use the services of a Czech manufacturer, and they will pay a few thousand CZK for the part, or it will end well in the end, and they will send me spare parts. I still believe in a happy ending!
In any case, I have been without a main source of electricity for three months now due to zero support from the wind turbine manufacturer.
And how does this relate to blog posts?
Even though it’s been almost two years since my total burnout, I’m still not healthy. I am not able to do concentrated work for more than 4 hours a day, even with breaks. If I overdo it, I get a crazy headache, and the solution is either pills or the following day or two to completely shut down. Plan changes and unexpected problems are the worst for my health. When I count on the fact that there will be good electricity in the evening and then I find out that there won’t be for another few weeks, it completely throws me off mentally, and I am unable to do anything. And every nonsensical email that postpones the solution to the problem for the next weeks indefinitely will throw me off again. It’s terrible how unstable I am now. In the past (before my burnout), I used to manage to solve so many critical situations at the same time almost continuously….
Electrical problems are also the cause of poor blog posting. I have electricity during the day when I can work in the garden, where there is still much work to do. And after dusk, when I could be working on the computer, I’m only dependent on the computer’s battery, which dies after two hours. And since I manage two companies, I primarily deal with company matters, and then there is no brain and battery capacity left for anything else.
What does this imply?
In any situation, it is important to have a backup solution. The more critical the infrastructure, the more thorough the backup must be. E.g., I paid for the internet three times to three different providers, and it has paid off several times. If I didn’t have another source of electricity, I wouldn’t be able to do anything here. I improvised, adding one more solar panel to the caravan to recharge my old gel battery faster. Thanks to this, I have electricity for basic needs, at least during the day. However, it is a considerable complication, and the entire 5 kW system has been lying unused for several months. That is why I am now finishing the solar field, which will also have a power of approx. 5 kW after completion.
If spare parts for the wind turbine come, I will have spare propellers, and hopefully, no more will break. If a strong wind breaks my propeller, I can replace it immediately. And if there is another problem with the wind turbine, I will have solar panels of the same power and 200 Ah Li-Ion batteries. And just as a backup, I also have a diesel unit with a power of 7 kW. So, I won’t be without electricity soon. I hope we can run on renewable energy sources for almost 12 months of the year.
The solution to a permanent, stable source of electricity will hopefully help restore my internal energy sources so that I can work for a more extended time.
Did this article amuse you at least a little? Did you find any suggestions for your situation in the text? Are you tempted to try this kind of “romance”? 😊 Let me know in the comments.
