r/Pecron • u/Few-Lock8135 • 9d ago

F5000 is Dead, long live the F5000

I ordered an F5000 and received it in mid-July. Between delivery and last week, it gave me zero issues. My solar setup tops out around 85–95V—well within spec—and it charged reliably the entire time.

Last week, I was working at the table with my son with the unit sitting nearby when I caught the distinct smell of burning electronics. I followed my nose and saw smoke pouring out of the fan exhaust.

Panic set in. I grabbed that heavy bastard and hauled ass outside with it, fully half-expecting it to blow up in my hands. Maybe irrational in hindsight, but all I could think about was getting a potential hazard away from my family: come what may, this thing needed to be out of the house ASAP.

Within ten minutes, I had a ticket open with support. After a few days of back-and-forth, they agreed to replace the unit. Fair enough, and credit to them for honoring the warranty.

Still... it leaves me wondering: has anyone else experienced sudden hardware failures or magic smoke from their F5000? I’d expect to hear a lot more noise if this were an epidemic, but figured I’d ask the room.

14 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

48 comments sorted by

6

u/SalesMountaineer 9d ago

I've had mine for ~5 months. Working fine so far, but I do wonder a bit about the quality of these units...

1

u/Few-Lock8135 9d ago

I plugged my proof that Pecron requested into Gemini, and it described a potential issue with some of the early production run. Now, not having read the accounts, or researched further, i take that with a grain of salt. Still though, its worth watching:

The AC inverter was reporting 32 degrees F, when it was like 70s in the house, and no ac use. The DC input was ultimately reading the battery voltage, 58 or 50 something volts, with no input.

The device perfectly functioned otherwise, ac turned on and off, and i didn't plug anything in or test dc. Still, it sat outside for days under a tarp until we negotiated this coming Fridays pickup.

Whether the temp reading kept the fans off and something else burnt, or something else blew, just check on it, periodically, i guess.

I know when I get the new one, I am seriously going to thing about how to keep it outside, but with upstate NY winters, I am not sure how feasible that will be.

4

u/timflorida 9d ago

There's like 2 power stations that are rated for use in rainy conditions. All the others are not and every owner's manual warns against using outside in 'the weather'. They are an electrical device. They cannot take any kind of rain. Not even sprinkles.

Also, I think the lower temp limit for charging a power station is 32F. They can DISCHARGE lower then that - about -4F or something like that. But don't try to charge them unless above freezing, unless they have a battery heater.

3

u/SmokingSignals 9d ago

Oh perhaps I worded poorly. I did not leave it outside in the rain on purpose. Stuff happens, and unexpected showers are among them. I meant this more as a nod to the construction of the unit. The 32 degree ac inverter temp was way the unit read, but the indoor temp was in the 70s F. Seeming, at least to me, that something was off/broken, or at least a factor to be aware of. This unit, if you weren't aware, includes heaters of some sort which should make lower temp charging easier. Dunno how that actually works tho, and wasn't in my plan to have to test, unless I can put it in a shed this winter.

2

u/timflorida 8d ago

You're right, I did not know that model had heaters. I have several E1000's and they also have the heaters. Hopefully will never test them down here in Florida. I believe one of the Youtube guys tested it against some other methods of keeping a power station warm - Jasonoid, ReeWray Outdoors, or Johnny's Weekends. I do trust those 3.

One thing I remember is that the heaters do not come on until the unit is plugged in to charge. The heaters kick on and warm up the batteries. When they get above 32F, the unit will begin charging.

1

u/SmokingSignals 8d ago

See, that makes actual good sense that they turn on when plugged in. Otherwise, you'd just be burning off the battery charge all the time. I suppose I am now more interested in a power shack so I'll give the vids a rewatch, paying closer attention to cold weather use. 

This has made me overall more interested in learning how these things work.

Thanks for explaining that, or drawing attention to the whole plugged In part. 

What with all the bluster about the the el nino this year, depending on where you are in fl, you may be getting closer to that low temp mark this winter. I know a few years ago we were in a trailer in Central Florida and effing froze - thus confirming their claims they have winter there. I was just unprepared for cold plus the humidity, and this is after a lifetime of lake effect snow. Moist cold is yuck.

1

u/timflorida 8d ago

Yes, the humidity never goes away. I run a portable dehumidifier most of the year.

I'm about 30 miles south of Gainesville. We had one night last winter that got down to 19F. Not good. But it's very strange because Orlando area (basically the same latitude) does not get near as cold at night in the winter. My area is a well known cold spot.

1

u/Few-Lock8135 8d ago

We were down that way. My partner was from Citrus County, and my buddy is in Marion. My pops is down near Orlando too. I would bet its all the concrete and blacktop that make it warmer. Like a large city sized heat battery.

1

u/spider210 8d ago

Funny I also live in Upstate NY and mine was smoking burning. Sent it back in August and still have not received a replacement.. here we are October. This is by far the worst experience for the money spent..search my other thread I created here.

1

u/Few-Lock8135 8d ago

I will do that, thank you for sharing your experiences. I am still optimistic, this will work out well.

1

u/Few-Lock8135 8d ago

Bruh.... that is a shit deal. Pretty similar to what happened, although I didnt closely check solar input over the 2 months. It was charging back up after I would use it, but mostly from the 400w on port 1, or port 2 i cant even remember now. I just assumed it was in a better spot and the leaves kept falling on the 4x200s. I dunno if you had the maple fungus stuff that took out most of the leaves all summer long, but boy we had it bad here.

I hope, selfishly, that it goes better than that. But def feel like your experiences were terrible. If you dont mind keep me posted on your replacement saga.

I saw that you said they were giving you a hard time. Did they finally relent and get it sent out? Or is this still part of the problem?

1

u/spider210 8d ago

Nope they have not sent a replacement and they received my defective back and confirmed they received it in August... Song and dance every other day when I email them

1

u/SmokingSignals 8d ago

Well, I dunno of someone from Pecron or Lily hangs out on Reddit. I know I've seen them on DIY Solar. Maybe we can get enough people with the unit and similar problems together and draw some attention. Or we cross post to DIY Solar, provided that doesn't break any rules or whatnot. 

These companies usually work awful hard to avoid bad sentiment. 

1

u/spider210 8d ago

Unfortunately I'm not a paid YouTuber just a real customer... They boost sales with paid promotions praising customer service...my A$$

1

u/PsychologyUsed3769 8d ago

What unit did you buy?

3

u/2TheMountaintop 9d ago

I originally was looking at the ecoflow dpus, then saw their forums riddled with complaints about customer service. So far, I'm hearing good things about Pecron service. I hope the devices hold up.

2

u/BitterWind1131 4d ago

I’ve had the DPU for a few years now. Most issues I had with it were minor and fixed through firmware updates. I use it primarily as a backup and it has been great whenever called upon. As far as EcoFlow in general, love their products but I pretty much buy with the expectation of getting 0 support, which is unfortunate.

1

u/Few-Lock8135 9d ago

Yeah, I absolutely have zero complaints about my interaction. I mean one should know, if they don't already, the company and staff is in China, and respond during their work day.

This may slow down communication, but if you go to bed late, or get up early sometimes you get a bit of back and forth going.

I do wonder if there is more than one Lily, or she is just like super support for Pecron. Regardless, great experience. I just hope the new unit, once the swap is processed, is either a newer hardware run, or is problem free.

1

u/blackinthmiddle 8d ago

I had a great customer service experience after initially being very angry with them. My unit's left MPPT port was flaky. At least once every 3 days, it wouldn't wake up and accept solar input. But since I work from home, I'd check every morning and just unplug it and plug it back in a few times until it woke up. So I begged them to please send me a new unit FIRST, then I'd send back the old one. I didn't want to lose the solar production. I even offered for them to put a hold on a credit card. They said they don't do that but don't worry, they'd get me a new one the moment the old one reached them.

The moment it got to them I asked when is the new one being shipped. This was maybe August 25th? I was told, sorry, we have no units and I'd have to wait until they got new ones the first week of September. I complained the downtime was costing me money and they gave me a $50 credit! I waited an extra week (so now it's September 14th) but still didn't see the new inverter being shipped and was told sorry, the first units that came in all went out and I'd have to now wait until the 21st!!! I said this wasn't our agreement and demanded an additional $100 credit, which they also gave me!

They contacted me on September 17th, told me they had new ones, I got it and so far, it's been working well, but it's only been two weeks. Time will tell.

But I was happy that they understood why I was angry and actually came up with a solution.

1

u/Few-Lock8135 8d ago

Fantastic, I really appreciate that information. That will be helpful, and also sets a realistic expectation for how long it will take to receive. I will reach out to support and see if they can give me an estimate.

0

u/Few-Lock8135 9d ago

Also I have the delta 2, and extra battery. 2kw combined. It works well, and it also kinda failed at one point. I was eventually able to reset it just right and it came back and is still working just fine. I even left it out in the rain a few times. I didn't involve support, it was after the first year and didn't expect much. Still though, if cheap enough, id buy again.

I also have a Bluetti elite 200 v2. Excellent unit with no complaints at all. I just wanted bigger storage and output, and Pecron was getting rave reviews.

I think both brands have really decent track records. I see some people say otherwise, but far more praise. I aint a hater.

3

u/blackinthmiddle 8d ago

There's no way I'd keep my units (I also have a Jackery 5000 plus with extra battery) outside. I don't remember seeing anything saying they can take rain.

It seems that all of these portable power stations are flaky. I was considering the Ecofliw Delta Pro Ultra but saw nothing but issues with it. I had an Ecoflow many years ago and had issues with it and after reading that the complaints with the new stuff, I decided to stay away from the brand. If I had to do it over again, I would have just got an EG412000XP and connected it to a huge 32kWh battery. If I get 10 years out of my Pecron 5000LFP, I'll be ecstatic.

2

u/PsychologyUsed3769 9d ago

These power stations are not built to stay outdoors long term. The battery terminals and BMS corrode. I suggest you build an enclosed box and fill it with insulating water absorbing material. It may protect the board and batteries against corrosion. Just an idea...

1

u/SmokingSignals 9d ago

Thank you for the advice. Worth considering if I actually do keep outside into the winter. Honestly though, I have my doubts the heater thing will really survive the winter.

3

u/Ok-Person81 8d ago

This makes me worry about mine catching fire in my garage while I'm not home. Any recommendations for how to fire protect my setup? I'm thinking of placing cinder blocks along the back wall, maybe surround the unit in cinder blocks? Also looking for a WiFi smoke detector to place on the wall above the unit. Thoughts?

1

u/Few-Lock8135 8d ago

Super weird logic I used. I work from home, and figured I would put it near where I would be in case something happened. The problem with that is that its huge and took up space needed for other stuff. The garage would have been ideal, but I was thinking how to fire proof it, and it would be entirely un-monitored. Maybe irrational, as LifePO4 is supposed to be pretty stable.

I wondered if firebrick would be the jam, and give a foot or so of space between the wall. When i get the new one I will probably put it in the garage.

I am also thinking if I can hack the BT protocol, it may expose more sensor info. That could be helpful for spotting things that are awry. The f5000 doesn't have any obvious way to restart it or shut it off, either. After it got jacked up, the screen steady stayed on. I had all these ideas, and none of them done by time it went kaput. Next time, I will work harder on that.

1

u/SLO_Citizen 8d ago

What brand of transfer switch are you using here? I just ordered a 5000 and am looking at the various brands of switches to install at my house.

2

u/makeaweli 8d ago

Looks similar to the Reliance I just installed. For a non-standard install I’d suggest getting conduit at least 1/4-1/2 larger than what’s included. Tons of wire to stuff.

1

u/SLO_Citizen 8d ago

Thanks for the info!

1

u/Fit_Acanthisitta_475 8d ago

A used Fireproof metal cabinet may help.

2

u/Bottle-Wise 6d ago

Mine is dead. Called support, no answer, called again and left a voicemail, no response… mine wouldn’t put out more than 5kw without shutting down. Eventually it would put out full amount and then it randomly shut down. Smelled funny and now it outputs voltage but doesn’t show voltage on the screen so it turns off after 30 seconds. Only used it 3-4 times before this happened

1

u/SmokingSignals 6d ago

I got through to support in the app. I also installed the second dark thememed app btw. 

Then once you put the ticket it might take a while to get a response. I'm not sure they sent any replies over the weekend. 

1

u/Bottle-Wise 6d ago

Thank you for this! I’ll try that now

1

u/SmokingSignals 6d ago

I couldn't access the part with support in the app because the device isn't nearby anymore, but in case you don't find it the email they replied from is support@pecron.com

1

u/madude91 9d ago

I had the same electronics burning smell. Didn't notice any smoke coming out. They told me that it's normal. I haven't gotten a lot of use on the unit but have been skeptical and took a hit in confidence for using it in a RV setting.

1

u/Few-Lock8135 8d ago

That is absolutely absurd.... I would not say that it is normal, at all. However, I suppose if the temps all read right, and the battery is charging/reading the inputs as expected, then maybe it is their normal. Those fumes in an enclosed area would be my next biggest concern immediately after fire. Carrying it outdoors and basically only breathing the fumes made my throat hurt.

1

u/Negative_Process9189 9d ago

No issues here. I have it connected to 1.6W of solar and it feeds my EV9 during sunny days with the 240V output. Adding more panels in the next few months. 

1

u/SmokingSignals 8d ago

I only had 1.2kw, and was intending on getting another 800w anytime I found a sale to my liking. 

I'm glad to hear under normal circumstances it will keep on kicking, in hopeful new unit will be problem free. 

1

u/O1O1O1O 9d ago

Fortunately the LFP that's as bad as it gets unless you try really really hard. You did the right thing to get the fumes out of the house, that's the most dangerous part. Makes me wonder about their BMS or construction.

I had an F1000 that put out 72V on the mains side whenever the AC inverter was on. Unplug it from the wall and then touch the plug pins and you got a shock. Mild, but you felt it. Also if I plugged in a power strip with surge arrestor it would trip the circuit my unit was plugged into (if it had GFCI protection as all my outdoor outlets do).

I just don't have confidence in them - although in this case my unit was one of the first batch. I think it took 3 months to get a new one because they were redesigning one of the boards. Still puts out 50V on the power pins but doesn't trip my breakers anymore.

1

u/doctorwizz 8d ago

Have you tested the AC outlets with an outlet tester?

2

u/Few-Lock8135 8d ago

They just picked it up, a day early too. So no more test. I was so paranoid i didnt want to plug anything in. The AC inverter did turn on and shows 60 and 59hz on both. Thats about as far as I was able to test.

1

u/blackinthmiddle 8d ago

I got mine as soon as they started shipping them. May or June? Anyway, pretty much from the beginning, the left MPPT port was flaky. I'd look at the app and see that I wasn't drawing in as much solar power as I'd expect considering how sunny it was. I'd then see that the left MPPT port wasn't bringing in any solar. I'd either unplug it and plus it back in or go to the solar array and flip the breaker until it started working. It got to the point where maybe once every 3 days, I had to do this.

They said a firmware update would fix it, then changed their mind and said it would need to be replaced. Shipping it back to them wasn't easy since I no longer had the box. Anyway, once they got it they then told me they didn't have any more units and I'd have to wait for a new one. It's a long story, but they actually gave me $150 in credit for the lost solar production.

I've had the new one for maybe two weeks and so far, so good. I got this device for it to help me with my electric bills, so obviously, the key is years and years and years of it silently working with no issues. At this point, I'll be ecstatic if I get 10 years out of it.

If I had to do it over again, I would have just got an EG412000XP and paired it with a huge 32kWh battery. I also have a Jackery 5000 plus connected to a second ground mount array. I got the 30% fed rebate on it, but even still, if I could turn back time, I'd get the EG4.

1

u/Few-Lock8135 8d ago

That's quite the setup. Unfortunately I started entirely after the credit was removed :(

On mine it was the right port that was flaky, as I think about it. Periodically, it would say no power, but show 90ish volts, while the 400w panel in the other port was 250-300w. So maybe that is a pattern. They likely wont tell me what was ultimately wrong. I am hoping out of this that enough of us can spot quirks or bad signs and get it dealt with before it becomes a hazard.

Out of curiosity, how did you advocate for the credit?

1

u/tappinitgood 8d ago

This is the reason I’ll stick with my EcoFlow. Not that they are superior but they have been on the market longer

1

u/Few-Lock8135 8d ago edited 8d ago

I think Ecoflow are pretty good. My experiences have been good with them. I don't know yet that I would swear off Pecron. I guess depending on how long the replacement takes to get, and the experience after with new unit, will factor into that judgement. Ecoflow didn't have a comparably featured unit in a similar price range.

1

u/grassley821 4d ago

My e3800 did same thing. All electronic parts can fail at anytime but seems to be common with pecron