Barney12

That’s a really interesting point. Battery technology is moving at a huge pace (largely driven by the EV market and huge investment therein) and price points continue to drop. I’m guessing there may become a point where phase change heat storage becomes unattractive (it’s a one trick pony, you can’t power your washing machine or the TV via a Sunamp!). I’ve certainly not seen much evidence of big investments into heat storage on a large scale which is counter to battery storage where hundreds of millions is being pumped into such facilities. As always the early adopter position is a painful one both in terms of cost and user experience. It’s certainly a lesson I’ll learn if I’m ever to self build again.

If you read the Sunamp twitter feed it suggests they now have partnerships with three ASHP manufacturers. The marketing focus appears to be “load shifting” which with the rise in flexible energy tariffs ( and of course all the fuss around Octopus’ zero and negative pricing of late) is not surprising. Of course the detail is lacking but one thing that fascinates me as how you actually take advantage of these tariffs, especially with a product like Sunamp which is inflexible and somewhat dumb in terms of control? I assume people are busy setting their alarm clocks to make use of the cheap energy? But equally I assume this must be focused towards high temp ASHP’s as I don’t believe they have realised the low temp PCM that was supposed to be in testing?

Yes, but my system was specified to provide heating and DHW. Also one of my units still doesn’t work properly.

Correct. Equally the ability to “hit the override button” on a standard DHW tank is (in my view) a feature that is as old as the product itself. Sunamp provides NO such functionality. But then there is another problem which is key if you’re wanting to maximise solar. Because there is no ability to charge them “on demand” you have absolutely no way of maximising your solar generation. All of this may have been fixed in newer controller versions but I’ve read nothing that suggests that’s the case. Again all of this points make specification absolutely key. Sunamps capacity is NOT comparable to a cylinder.

Because specification is absolutely key and Sunamp have made it very clear they are a “manufacturer” not a “specifier”. I note you have included the warranty document. Once you’ve had the pleasure ??? of moving a 12kw unit you may start to understand why a return to base warranty provides some unique challenges. My advise is to fit them near an outside door ideally with an electric winch and head rail system. Something like this should do it:

In reality it’s much worse than that. You may receive a unit that is more like 40 or it could be 60. The technology for measuring the discharge is beyond basic (a length of wire with temp sensors hand soldered on and poked down a copper tube). The wire is not fixed in place and can be pulled or pushed moving the measurement points. But more importantly you do not have ANY control. Unless they’ve changed something in the most recent controllers there is absolutely no way to override this. Although I believe some have fixed this by power cycling the controller which frankly is a bodge.

I’ve never had children so I’m not an expert but don’t the little people get bigger? ? Welcome Jim from a fellow Devonian self builder.

The Innova branded product is what I ordered. It was fitted this week. Unless they print fake labels I can confirm it’s a Spanish product and I have to say I’m impressed with the finished article. The two guys that fitted the worktops were efficient and courteous.

As @Russdl has said Sunamp have been very responsive to issues of this nature. I would definitely contact them directly.

These are blooming handy for fast clamping: https://www.rutlands.co.uk/sp+fast-jaw-90-degree-corner-clamp+R3106?tyah=y Stanley (and others) do a ratchet style corner. But they’re not that practical on large items: https://www.toolden.co.uk/hand-tools/clamps/stanley-tools-band-clamp-4-5m-15ft/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkvX748SB6gIV5IBQBh322Ql_EAQYBSABEgIKJPD_BwE Alternatively just use clamping squares with your existing clamps: 90 Degree Positioning Clamp L Type Right Angle Clamps Woodworking Tool Auxiliary Locator Plastic Square Ruler(4Inch) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07SPD2KGC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_PEJ5Eb4A05N3F

Oh thats encouraging ? The more positive news is my contract is with DIY Kitchens and I paid by credit card.

Correct. Their customer service/sales teams have been fully operational working from home. I too have spoken to them a number of times. I certainly agree it’s been a challenging time for many.

I now have all of my units and doors. Alas I still have no quartz worktop as the subcontractors they use (natural stone surfaces) was closed due to Covid-19 until a little over a week ago. It’s now 5 months since a placed my order and handed over my cash. Granted 2 months of that are Covid related. An interesting snippet or two: The final missing items were delivered by one of their own delivery guys in a swanky branded van. Friendly and helpful chap and thus I engaged him in a little conversation. He proceeded to tell me that the entire production lines, packing and shipping team had been shut since the lockdown. He and one other driver were the first couple of staff back and it was only his second day. So why is this interesting......well the message on their website said (and I wish I’d taken a screen grab) “we are open selling, making and delivering kitchens” throughout the lockdown. I suppose I can’t blame them, they were taking steps to protect their business. But equally honesty goes a long way with me. Secondly a little chat with the templater from the worktop company who arrived last week. He said “feedback from customers I visit are a bit 50/50 about DIY Kitchens”. To which I asked; are you saying half the people you see are unhappy? “Yes. It seems they have a lot of issues with shortages and damages and when they do they’re not geared up to deal with replacements”.

someone recently told me that WD-40 mixed with glyphosate is effective at controlling mares tail. No idea if it’s true but I found at least one YouTube video that seems to suggest that WD-40 just on its own is effective. I might give it a go as I have the same problem where it’s breaking through the weed control membrane in a gravel area I have. It’s also started to appear in a couple of beds too

They are working but with a reduced team. In fact they are paying 70% of a verified claim immediately before they have fully checked your invoices.

The multi tool suggestion is an exceedingly good point. Another of those tools where you really don’t know how you managed before you had one.

All 4 of your suggestions, obviously ! But you forgot the plunge saw and rails. Honestly it’s one of those pieces of kit you never realised you REALLY needed.

I had exactly the same fault. I called the service line and they said the issue can be caused by a build up of scale. I pointed out that I lived in a very soft water area and she said well we can send an engineer but if it’s scale we will charge you (a fixed fee of £150 IIRC). At the time I was really busy and didn’t have time to get a service engineer visit into my diary and as the fault was intermittent left it. Fast forward a few weeks and the fault became permanent. I called them again and they sent an engineer next day. The control board had failed which was replaced under warranty. He also changed the filters at the same time which as I had suspected were perfectly clean. edit: I have exactly the same model.

I thought I’d update this thread: I finally received the missing unit. They managed to forget to order the drawer fronts for said missing unit which then took another 10 days. ? The damaged door and 3 wall units have still not been replaced. That’s a month now. Yes I accept that these are unprecedented times but they go to great lengths on their website to say they are open, have high levels of raw materials and are building and selling kitchens. On the plus side the solid worktop installer they use (natural stone surfaces) has shut down completely so there is bugger all chance of finishing the kitchen anytime soon ??

The Apollo GEM is a good bit of kit. Simple to install and set up. I had one working on my dual Sunamps and worked well until the problems with cold start on the controllers was revealed. Since then it’s been sat in a box

Good luck with that. I’ve got an entire feckin building dedicated to them. 3 years on and the only residents I’ve had is a wasps nest ?

yup..... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/362882511273

that’s where the 55 cord is so much better, it’s a breeze to wrap a bit of cord around the thread and hey presto. I agree wit the liquid stuff. The loctite version has a bellows style bottle but it’s still genuinely annoying

hard to see properly butt the horizontal looks pretty good. Are you sure the reveals not just running out? Maybe take the wall down, remake the opening and then refit the door? ?

+1. Amazing on brass threads. Add a smear of Jet-Lube at the same time. https://www.diy.com/departments/jet-lube-jointing-compound-300-g/191085_BQ.prd Bullet proof, Tape just doesn’t do the job well enough.