LG RESU Recall Nightmare

[voodooboy22]

Hello folks,

Reaching out to this group to see if there’ an alternative to legal recourse.

We’ve had a grid-tied solar setup with an LG RESU 10H battery/SolarEdge StorEdge 7600 inverter since 2018. The experience was good enough for us to add a few more panels and a second LG RESU 10H battery in late 2019. I won’t bore you with the months long installation issues we had this go around, but suffice to say, after a lot of issues and back and forth, the setup was up and running perfectly since mid 2020.

Come May of last year, we got a notification about a recall on ONE of the two batteries. Initially, the battery replacement was supposed to happen some time in Q3. Until then, they pushed out an update that capped BOTH our batteries to 75% capacity for safety reasons. Q3 came and went, the new battery replacement timeframe became Q4. That became Q1’22 and now we’re in April, almost a year since they gimped the batteries.

Our installers, LA Solar, was been essentially useless. They just keep telling me that LG keeps pushing the date out, and LG themselves have been utterly useless. Any one else in the same situation? if so, what did you do to get this resolved? If not, what to folks suggest as next steps? With summer just around the corner, quite frustrated that the really expensive setup we’ve paid for is essentially running gimped.

Appreciate any help/feedback!

Cheers

[Mike90250]

Until LG has a solution, you are at their mercy.
Like my Subaru, there's a huge recall on the CVT transmission, car can't be sold, in May ? Subaru may have a inspection / replacement remedy. CVT can't be rebuilt, just exchanged for factory trans.

[bcroe]

. Like my Subaru, there's a huge recall on the CVT transmission, car can't be sold, in May? Subaru may have a inspection / replacement remedy. CVT can't be rebuilt, just exchanged for factory trans.

That is a Continuously Variable Trans? Based on rebuilding my own
for 4 decades, I would never buy one of those. good luck, Bruce Roe

[soby]

Hello folks,

Reaching out to this group to see if there’ an alternative to legal recourse.

We’ve had a grid-tied solar setup with an LG RESU 10H battery/SolarEdge StorEdge 7600 inverter since 2018. The experience was good enough for us to add a few more panels and a second LG RESU 10H battery in late 2019. I won’t bore you with the months long installation issues we had this go around, but suffice to say, after a lot of issues and back and forth, the setup was up and running perfectly since mid 2020.

Come May of last year, we got a notification about a recall on ONE of the two batteries. Initially, the battery replacement was supposed to happen some time in Q3. Until then, they pushed out an update that capped BOTH our batteries to 75% capacity for safety reasons. Q3 came and went, the new battery replacement timeframe became Q4. That became Q1’22 and now we’re in April, almost a year since they gimped the batteries.

Our installers, LA Solar, was been essentially useless. They just keep telling me that LG keeps pushing the date out, and LG themselves have been utterly useless. Any one else in the same situation? if so, what did you do to get this resolved? If not, what to folks suggest as next steps? With summer just around the corner, quite frustrated that the really expensive setup we’ve paid for is essentially running gimped.

Appreciate any help/feedback!

Cheers

1. Do you own the batteries outright? If not, you are but a pawn in this game of solar chess. If so, proceed to #2.
2. Do you manage the charge/discharge behavior of the batteries? If yes proceed to #4. If not, proceed to #3.
3. If you own the batteries, you should request installer admin rights to the system. This would allow you to set custom battery charge/discharge routines.
   • You need to create a new SolarEdge monitoring account and register as an installer
   • Your installer can then add you as an admin on only your site
     • You can then access additional settings under Admin - Energy Manager
     • You can access Accounts - Storage Profiles where you can generate custom Time-of-Use (TOU) schedules
   • Your installer will still be in the installer on record but you have similar capabilities
   • You will be responsible for making sure you don't ruin the batteries by creating a profile that erroneously prevents the batteries from ever charging
4. From a battery longevity standpoint, keeping the battery energy level between 15% and 80% is ideal. You want to charge/discharge as slow as practical and minimize full charge/discharge cycles unless they benefit you. With that said, the most important detail here is if you have net metering and/or TOU rates where you live. Depending on the answer to this question, you can make a determination of the ideal functionality for the batteries:
   • Are you using them primarily for standby backup power?
   • Are you charging them from solar and then maximizing self consumption when electricity is most expensive?
   • Are you charging from clipped solar?

The recall is not ideal but it's also not the worst thing that could happen (i.e. fire). Presumably, you will get a brand new battery at some point and that's a good thing since these things degrade. The bad news is that the warranty doesn't get renewed. The warranty ends 10.5 years after ORIGINAL manufacturer date or 10 years after ORIGINAL installation date (whichever is sooner).

The original battery that my installer hooked up was DOA so I got a replacement battery in early 2020 which is thankfully not part of the recall. The process was not terrible. LG Chem shipped a new battery to me on a pallet and my installer swapped it with the dead one. Even though the battery only came to life in March 2020, the warranty is until 2028 but I'm not too worried about it.

[warx]

I'm curious to know if its possible to check if my two RESU batteries are recalled. I got them installed at the same time but one was new and one was previously installed (but quickly replaced by a standby generator by a customer and discounted to me).

Ironically, my 7600 and Backup Interface can't actually handle both batteries at the same time. First, I had the wrong version of the 7600 (the one that works with a single RESU16). That was replaced with the almost identical 7600 designed for up to two RESU 10. It communicates with either just fine as long as the other battery is off. I don't have installer rights (and can't get them without terminating warranty) so can't really check or diagnose myself - or be able to get a answer/estimate from SolarEdge. So I would at least like to know both my batteries are keepers.

EDIT:

The serial number of the recalled product begins with R15563P3 and is located behind the access door of the RESU home battery.

Hmm, both my batteries begin with that. Crap. Guess I was notified by reading this forum and not by LG/installer and most luckily not by the fire dept.

EDIT: The CPSC website is very broad in it's SN. I ran my SNs against an LG site and it said they are both the latest versions and NOT subject to recall thank goodness! Now if they could just both work... Almost wonder if it's better to switch to a RESU 16 at this point.

[soby]

I'm curious to know if its possible to check if my two RESU batteries are recalled. I got them installed at the same time but one was new and one was previously installed (but quickly replaced by a standby generator by a customer and discounted to me).

Ironically, my 7600 and Backup Interface can't actually handle both batteries at the same time. First, I had the wrong version of the 7600 (the one that works with a single RESU16). That was replaced with the almost identical 7600 designed for up to two RESU 10. It communicates with either just fine as long as the other battery is off. I don't have installer rights (and can't get them without terminating warranty) so can't really check or diagnose myself - or be able to get a answer/estimate from SolarEdge. So I would at least like to know both my batteries are keepers.

EDIT:


Hmm, both my batteries begin with that. Crap. Guess I was notified by reading this forum and not by LG/installer and most luckily not by the fire dept.

You need to enter your info and both battery serial numbers here: https://www.lgessbattery.com/us/home-battery/checkSN.lg

My battery SN actually started with R15563P3SSEG but somehow is not part of the recall.
Recall.JPG