RedRok Trackers No Delivery ??

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wcarman
wcarman Registered Users Posts: 5 ✭
in Solar Product Reviews & Opinions #1
Telling the story so you guys dont gety Screwed also!!
Order 5 of them in April 2010, recieved them no problem. Had one quit working April of 2011, called Duane and he said send it back he would like to see it. So i did and I also sent a check for two Extras. April till june Nothing, talked to him and he was making them and would have done soon, called august, still making them, called september, said he thought he sent them out so he would send me two right away. Never got them ???? Now talked to Duane in October and he would send them out soon, so I paid for them by paypal this time as my check was never cashed so it was no good by now anyways. Well here it is Nov 18 and still no trackers.
Sounds like a nice guy on phone, always answers calls, put pictures of my finished tracking poles on his website ! Im not looking for something for knothing. I sent the money twice.
So here I am with 1 pole out of 5 that needs a tracking device !!!!
7 Months NO REDROCK TRACKER, guess I paid to ship the old one back for nothing and Got Screwed with a Duane System for tracking with no tracking device.
Has anybody else had any problems, Not a good way to run a business.
Does anybody Know of another tracker similar that I can use.

[to put good news with the original post. 11/27/2011 -Bill B]
wcarman wrote: »
Thanks for the help Guys. Got the relays ready to go on!!
Guess what showed up in the mail yesterday, Three redrok trackers!!! Thanks Duane.:roll:
Guess im ready if something happens to one, i will hook them all to one tracker with the relay. Happy holidays!!.
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  • XRinger
    XRinger Solar Expert Posts: 529 ✭✭✭
    #2
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    Re: RedRok Trackers No Delivery ??

    Sometimes it seems to be hit or miss with RedRock.
    I waited a long time to get mine and it works great.
    But I have had some mail from a couple of guys wondering when their trackers were going to come in..

    Other companies can be expensive.. http://www.heliotrack.com/Products.html
    These look great.. But the cost is out there.


    I do not recommend buying any tracker that uses Relays to control the actuator.

    They don't cost much, but they don't last very long either.
    They should only be used for short term apps like school science fair projects..
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  • Dave Angelini
    Dave Angelini Solar Expert Posts: 6,746 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    #3
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    Re: RedRok Trackers No Delivery ??

    All my experience is with Wattsun. They are not inexpensive. The list price is often very high compared to what you buy them for, at least it is from me. The AZ 125 is all I use as they can be installed without heavy equipment. They do nice at altitude in the wind. It is the only unit I know of that I would subject to over 90mph. A timeless design that really only needs a couple squirts of grease twice a year. http://www.wattsun.com/prices.html
    "we go where power lines don't" Sierra Nevada mountain area
       htps://offgridsolar1.com/
    E-mail offgridsolar@sti.net

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  • TnAndy
    TnAndy Solar Expert Posts: 249 ✭✭
    #4
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    Re: RedRok Trackers No Delivery ??

    wcarman,

    Your experience with Redrock mirrors mine. Ordered....waited MONTHS, with him never answering.

    Then when I did get the unit, couldn't get it to work, and of course, tech support is non-existant.....so I pitched it in the trash and tried a couple more different units.

    I used the heliotrack one....worked for a couple months, then quit. Been sitting around collecting dust until I sent it back just the other day for repair.

    Then I went with www.theanalogguy.com units, and I've had the best luck so far with them.....not to say they have been issue free, BUT at least the guy answers your emails when you have a question, and repaired them when one of them burned out.....so that's my recommendation for tracker controls of the 3.

    As to Xringer's assertion on NOT using relays, that is actually the opposite of my experience.

    The problem I had ( I suspect ) with the Heliotrack board, and the one of the Analogguy's boards was due to stuck limit switch on the actuator motor. Once I discussed this with Ken Robart ( the analogguy ), I said "how about running them thru a relay so the circuit board never actually goes TO the motor switches....just the latching coil on the relay".....and he said, yeah, that should work......so he worked me up a diagram of wiring in a couple relays, that I purchased locally at an electronics place, and my units have been fairly trouble free since then.

    At the time I bought a Heliostat board, they didn't offer the option of 'relays on the board', so I suspect they have come to the same conclusion after I bought mine some years back. I think they charge WAY too much for their relay option, but, yes, relays ARE The way to go, IMHO.
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  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    #5
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    Re: RedRok Trackers No Delivery ??

    relays in the weather are prone to failure even if sheltered from rains. often it is condensation i suspect that causes most problems and if it freezes, well, you get the picture. solid state relays could be a viable option.
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  • XRinger
    XRinger Solar Expert Posts: 529 ✭✭✭
    #6
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    Re: RedRok Trackers No Delivery ??

    Maybe relays will work better for other setups..
    I'm using a 24VDC satellite TV dish mover (actuator).
    I think a lot of people use the 36v type, because they are more common..

    And, I gave up on the relay board, after only two relay failures.
    Maybe the 3rd try would have been a winner.?.
    I also had to change the chip once.. Have no idea why, it just died one day.
    I added that pot, and also had to replace the photo sensors,
    it turned out, they couldn't handle high temperatures..
    (In Sunny Massachusetts) :blush:
    Yeah, IIRC the vendor sent me some new ones that also failed
    and I found some in stock that I tried too.
    I also made a regulated power supply board for this unit, trying to make it more stable..
    I gave up on it after a while.. Maybe I'll replace those baby relays with some big honkin relays someday..

    l031.jpg
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  • wcarman
    wcarman Registered Users Posts: 5 ✭
    #7
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    Re: RedRok Trackers No Delivery ??

    Thanks for the help. I thought maybe he didnt like me as i sent one back. i told him I didnt care about the replacement as I thought they was priced fare. so I sent the money with the burnt one. I would think Duane would help me out and send me something since I was more than fair and very polite for waiting 7 months ?????

    :roll:Oh well, Hey can I run two acuators run off one of his trackers, or maybe some kind of relay that would run two actuators so I dont over load the tracker?? Im not a big electronics expert so help me along if you can. Thanks
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  • XRinger
    XRinger Solar Expert Posts: 529 ✭✭✭
    #8
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    Re: RedRok Trackers No Delivery ??
    wcarman wrote: »
    Thanks for the help. I thought maybe he didnt like me as i sent one back. i told him I didnt care about the replacement as I thought they was priced fare. so I sent the money with the burnt one. I would think Duane would help me out and send me something since I was more than fair and very polite for waiting 7 months ?????

    :roll:Oh well, Hey can I run two acuators run off one of his trackers, or maybe some kind of relay that would run two actuators so I dont over load the tracker?? Im not a big electronics expert so help me along if you can. Thanks


    Two arrays with one tracker? Where's the second array going to get it's guidance/feedback?
    If it is possible, it's not likely to be simple to implement.
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  • TnAndy
    TnAndy Solar Expert Posts: 249 ✭✭
    #9
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    Re: RedRok Trackers No Delivery ??

    That's exactly how I run two of my three arrays....and I'd run the third one off one control board, except the actuator I bought for it is a different gear ratio, and doesn't track the same as the first two......I actually DID run it temporarily off the single board, which is how I figured out it had a different ratio.....the first two are 36v Venture models I bought in '08, and the new one is a 24v Venture model I bought this fall....so it has to have it's own board.....no big deal.

    But yeah, with the right relays ( and mine are WAY beefier than those on that Helio board in the pic, you could run a WHOLE BUNCH of trackers off one control board.

    Implementing it is very simple.....you wire the "motor out" terminals on the board to the relay coils ( takes a double pole and a single pole relay to do this )....then you put one or more actuator leads on the output side of the relays....up to the limit of the relay you buy. I'm using 15amp, as the actuator motors only draw about 4amp....but you can buy about a heavy a relay as you want to go....20,30, etc.....

    You could also start rigging more sets of relays off the output side of the first set ....that's how I ran that third array, as it was also separated quite a bit by distance, and I didn't want voltage drop to be an issue connecting a third set of wires to the first relay set output.....so the third set was simply a small, temporary (18ga) wire up to the new array's set of relays while I waited on the new board to show up.

    Connecting the relays in this fashion, you only need one control board ( assuming you didn't screw up like I did, and your actuators ALL have the same gear ratio....ahahahaa ) and the one sensor for that control board.....when the board sends power out on "motor out" connections, the relays close, and whatever is attached to the outboard side of the relay(s) moves in tandem.


    Quite simply...it works....and works fine.

    I'll dig out the wiring diagram, and list the relay manufacturer in the next day or so to show you how to do it.

    The two original arrays are the ones pitched east in this pic....right above the greenhouse/power room. The new array (this fall) is the one on farther up the hill, in the noon position ( was I was doing some reading for another guy on another site, who, incorrectly, told me tracking 'couldn't possibly make THAT much difference....and yet, it does...ahahahaaa )

    ry%3D480
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  • wcarman
    wcarman Registered Users Posts: 5 ✭
    #10
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    Re: RedRok Trackers No Delivery ??

    That would be great TnAndy. Looks like you have your own little project going there. By 4 out of 5 poles working with 8.2KW system it went from about 52KW/day max to 70 KW/day max.
    I read on redroks site one controller can handle 9 amps, but not sure what my 36'' , 36 volt actuators are drawing on start up on 12 volts. Dont want to over draw on one.
    All 5 are identical so shouldnt be a problem with them getting out of position as you said they will reset each night. I did just find SBE,LLC his website is http://www.richardsfoundry.com/index.html , has trackers very similar but do not reset until morning sun light come out, I used a security camera box to hold them in and I dont think they will see the sun in morning while facing the west. But he also sells the relay setup that i believe will work. here is his wiring on the relay, what do you think, will it work with redrok controller?? I think so.. attachment.php?attachmentid=2255&stc=1&d=1321845176
    relay_module.JPG
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  • wcarman
    wcarman Registered Users Posts: 5 ✭
    #11
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    Re: RedRok Trackers No Delivery ??

    Heres the wiring diagram for this relay. http://www.spellingbusiness.com/isolation_relay_circuit.jpg
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  • solarvic
    solarvic Solar Expert Posts: 1,071 ✭✭✭✭
    #12
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    Re: RedRok Trackers No Delivery ??

    At one time I was thinking about using an old cband satelite receiver to power a tracker. The better ones had timers in them that you could program times and satelites to program to. You could also have it repeat every day if you wanted. All you would need to do is run a 3 wire coontrol wire to your tracker and keep the receiver somewhere you can hook the vidio to your tv for onscreen programing.
    :Dsolarvic:D
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  • TnAndy
    TnAndy Solar Expert Posts: 249 ✭✭
    #13
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    Re: RedRok Trackers No Delivery ??

    Here's the relays I'm using. Takes a single pole ( shown in the pic ) and a double pole. Brand is "Magnacraft"....google them, lot of sources.

    They are 20amp rated @300v. ( I was thinking they were 15amp )

    The base is DIN rail mountable, or you can use a couple drywall type screws thru a couple slots on the side of the base to mount them to a pc of plywood/etc. I have them mounted both ways.

    The relay plugs into the base, and the relay has a manual "overide" button on the end of it ( the tiny blue button in one corner on the end ) so you can operate the tracker actuator manually if you need to.

    ry%3D480
    ry%3D480


    Here's the wiring diagram for using them:

    ry%3D480
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  • wcarman
    wcarman Registered Users Posts: 5 ✭
    #14
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    Re: RedRok Trackers No Delivery ??

    Thanks for the help Guys. Got the relays ready to go on!!
    Guess what showed up in the mail yesterday, Three redrok trackers!!! Thanks Duane.:roll:
    Guess im ready if something happens to one, i will hook them all to one tracker with the relay. Happy holidays!!.
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  • XRinger
    XRinger Solar Expert Posts: 529 ✭✭✭
    #15
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    Re: RedRok Trackers No Delivery ??
    wcarman wrote: »
    Thanks for the help Guys. Got the relays ready to go on!!
    Guess what showed up in the mail yesterday, Three redrok trackers!!! Thanks Duane.:roll:
    Guess im ready if something happens to one, i will hook them all to one tracker with the relay. Happy holidays!!.


    RedRock is a one-man operation that turns out a very nicely made tracker. More than likely, worth the wait.

    Humm, maybe I better check the fuse in my tracker. Perhaps it should be a little smaller. Just in case!
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  • TnAndy
    TnAndy Solar Expert Posts: 249 ✭✭
    #16
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    Re: RedRok Trackers No Delivery ??
    XRinger wrote: »
    RedRock is a one-man operation that turns out a very nicely made tracker.

    Yeah.....one man who only gets to the post office once a quarter....and never answers an email.......ahahahaaaaaa
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  • XRinger
    XRinger Solar Expert Posts: 529 ✭✭✭
    #17
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    Re: RedRok Trackers No Delivery ??
    TnAndy wrote: »
    Yeah.....one man who only gets to the post office once a quarter....and never answers an email.......ahahahaaaaaa

    Yeah, I guess that's why I always call him on the phone.. :p
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  • wiboater
    wiboater Registered Users Posts: 1
    #18
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    Re: RedRok Trackers No Delivery ??

    I ordered a dual axis tracker in May of 2011 and have called Duane at least 4 times and emailed him. I still have not recieved my tracker or had my $114. refunded to pay pal. I never really get an answer from him when I call. Anyone no if he's having financial problems or something??
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