My advice to anyone who visits this site is NOT to buy a LGChem battery. In my experience the product, support, and warranty are almost literally worthless.
Mine died after 18 months.
When you call LGChem, they will not speak to you directly about the battery. They will only speak to a certified technician. They will give you a list of certified technicians and then you’re on your own.
From the list, only two technicians were willing even to come to take a look at my LGChem battery. After a site visit, neither was willing to submit the warranty claim. It just isn’t worth it for them. Of course, site visits cost money. The latest was $299.
So, again, do NOT buy a LGChem battery. If something goes wrong — and I’m one data point that something will go wrong — you have NO protection. You will have to spend hours to find a technician, you will have to pay them to look at your battery, and then they will tell you that it isn’t worth it to process the warranty.
That is very disappointing. Can you please provide more information about your system? What inverter was it connected too and who was the original installation company?
What is the exact problem with the battery? Has it shutdown due to low voltage or low SOC?
Petersen Dean was the original installer, but they filed for bankruptcy. It’s a SolarEdge inverter. Thanks!
The problem with the battery is "overdischarge current fault 2.” It’s completely inoperable. LGChem told me to shut it off months ago. Then they sent a list of technicians who, in theory, were supposed to be able to file the warranty claim, but, in practice, come (for a fee) but don’t take the work. Essentially, if your original installer goes out of business, LGChem leaves you stranded. Of course, they won’t say that; they just give you another technician to call, who will say no flat out (because you are obviously out of their service area) or charge you for the privilege. People really ought to know about this. It’s a major investment, which most people would not make without the warranty, but the warranty doesn’t really offer you protection.
Thanks for the insight. Sounds extremely frustrating. I haven’t heard of any new generation HV (High voltage) LG Chem batteries failing so this is a real eye opener.
So the list of technicians you were provided with are really just solar installers who are certified by LG Chem and not actual LG Chem technicians? DO you know why the technicians wouldn’t submit a warranty claim? Did they give a reason why, was the installation done incorrectly?
One more question… Are they claiming the load on the battery was too high or that the battery was discharged too low?
Are you aware of this information? LG Chem had to add an additional BMS controller circuit breaker in late 2018. I’m guessing your battery doesn’t have this switch added?
Wow, thanks, that’s useful to know! My battery was installed before late 2018. But I’m not sure whether that is the issue, or whether the discharge was too high or too low.
I can say, though, that the first sign of a problem was that the internal circuit breaker tripped. SolarEdge alerted me, I restarted the system, and the battery seemed to work for a few weeks before some weird cycling behavior set in. Here’s a screenshot from SolarEdge monitoring during the period:
When I called LG Chem, and explained that Petersen Dean had gone out of business, they said, “Maybe some other installer will inherit your battery. I will email you a link to search for certified technicians in your area.” As far as I can tell, they are just solar installers or consultants who have taken the hour-long certification webinar and answered the list of questions correctly. They are not LG Chem technicians, which is the basic problem: in order to access the warranty, you have to find someone who isn’t affiliated with LG Chem to take the case.
A lot of technicians say that I’m not in the service area, or that they don’t do work on batteries that they don’t install, or that they aren’t really installers at all but consultants who have taken the webinar. My guess is that some have bigger projects. It’s just not worth it.
One tech began to fill out the warranty claim, after speaking with SolarEdge to confirm that the battery was defective. In fact, he said that he actually submitted it online, although LG Chem says it was never received. Then he begged off, without charging me. My guess is that he just has bigger projects.
I have independently found one more technician who might take it on, but it’s $499 upfront. There’s no real guarantee that they will follow through, and they did warn me that returning the battery might cost over $1000 for shipping alone.
Sounds very frustrating but it’s not surprising the other solar/battery installers don’t want to get involved if it is not there installation. Troubleshooting can take many hours and numerous phone calls/emails dealing with tech support etc. (which they might not be able to offer a solution or get paid.)
This is where LG Chem should be taking the lead and helping guide through the problem solving process with yourself or another solar installer. You have been left in the dark which is very disappointing.
There is a dedicated communications cable (CAT5) between the inverter and the battery which I’m assuming has been checked? If the comms is disrupted or unreliable the battery automatically trips off. Also the battery can trip off under low voltage or low SOC.
Unfortunately if the battery is left off for too long it can ‘die’ and may not be able to be restarted without specialised equipment from LG. How long has the been been turned off?
This does sound expensive but if they are able to offer a solution and process a warranty claim then it would be worth it. Maybe you to clarify with them what they will offer for the price?
Thanks very much for all of your advice! It looks like this story now has a happy ending. I was finally able to explain the situation to Robert Melendez at LGChem, he was able to find a new installer in my area, Simply Solar. Within a week, LG was able to get a new battery to Simply Solar, and Jake Hassid and his team at Simply Solar were able to switch out the old battery for a new one, free of charge and without having to go through the warranty process. This really restored my faith in LG and their installation partners!
That’s great news. Glad to hear that LG chem was able to support you though the replacement.
Where are you located?