Yellow Measure

@Sidewinder At this stage it is not critical for me to sort out. I am using Solar Assistant. The only reason why I wanted to get the Sunsynk comms up again was for Freedom Won to be able to access the site and verify settings etc. It has been non-operational since Apr 2025 and didn't worry me until now. But FW managed in any case to sort out the settings on the battery which seemed to do the trick.
@Yellow Measure That is quite a good price!

So that settles it then. I guess that it's an opportunity for an installer with a spare 8K SS to loan/rent it to you, and send your unit in for repairs.
But here's another plan: how about buying the new Solis S6 Pro 8K that Powerforumstore currently has on special, install it and then you can send the SS in for repair and sell it when it comes back? It's a way better unit, with far better support.

Thanks. I tested between 9 and 5 and got no reading at all

True. If Sunsynk want to be perfectly correct about it, they should be insisting on a datacomms technician to attend the call, because it has to do with the electrical signal characteristics of the RS-232 interface. I am willing to bet that the vast majority of electricians have never encountered it before, making them just as unqualified (and ill-equipped) as you. Can you imagine if the problem was not power, and they need him to plug a loopback connector in and run a BERT? Or to measure the delay between RTS and CTS? 😀
@PearlJam I know the old field "engineering" motto used to be that a layperson with enough of spares could diagnose and fix just about anything, but it does have its limits, which brings me to my point (and I guess Sunsynk's as well): If there is a fault condition with a sufficiently high voltage (say 40V) on pin 9 or 5, it could have smoked the dongle, as well as the new one that you plugged in. If you measure between pins 9 and 5 (ground) you should get +12V. Even less (down to 5V) should power the dongle, but if it's lower than 5V then it won't. If it's way high, then not only is the board faulty, but you have 2 unserviceable dongles as well. 😬

Unfortunately I've heard this same "excuse" many times before in my professional career, and I don't buy it... The actual reason is not safety, it is money - now their "installers" can charge another call-out fee and at least an hour's labour just to check a voltage across two pins of a 5V communications port...
Can somebody please enlighten me on what the requirements are to become a solar installer? To my knowledge, there are plenty of "solar installers" in South Africa who:
are not registered electricians,
are not registered electrical contractors,
have some PV training (or sometimes very little),
physically install the entire system,
and then bring in an IE or MIE to inspect and issue the CoC...
As posted above, I experienced this first hand when my "registered electrician " installer did not know about the regulations pertaining to Neutral/Earth bonding, and bonded my neutral and earth on the load side of my inverter whilst there was also an existing Neutral/Earth bond at the grid supply side. Apart from this (as discussed in detail in this thread https://powerforum.co.za/topic/34086-lfp-and-other-lithium-facts/ ) they also did not follow any rational fire "best practice" code by installing the battery isolation devices, fuses, and AC and DC DB boards directly above the Lithium batteries where one would not be able to access them to isolate the batteries if there was a battery fire - which is something else that a home owner would expect his "competent installer" to know about and do correctly... And the worst part of this story is that a registered MASTER ELECTRICIAN issued the CoC for this install, notwithstanding the above.
Regardless of the above, if I can check my house voltage at any wall plug socket (as I have done many times in my life), why am I suddenly incompetent to measure the voltage at a Sunsynk dongle terminal which is only 5V (what the original poster stated that Sunsynk wanted an installer to do...). Also, why are home owners not allowed to ask technical questions in their new support hub?

In that case, I do understand where you are coming from. I had assumed incorrectly that the warranty is always handled by the installer, as that is how we do it in the industry. I work in the Engineering sector as an Electrical Engineer, and all the new installs, retrofits, etc., I have done or have been part of, we as the company take care of the warranty for the customer.
If the PLC or RTU dies, for example, the client calls us, and we then deal with the manufacturer in that regard with the warranty. The client pays nothing for us to go to the site and investigate. The first point of call is always us, the installer of the equipment. They don't phone the actual manufacturer. The only issue is that the electricians on the plants, substations, or mines don't exactly go out of their way to actually learn the system. We will get calls as simple as a device not coming on, but the guy hasn't checked the breaker.
In the poster's case, then yeah, I actually wouldn't be happy. You are right there.

Thanks for your positive comments @Denns . It would be interesting to hear from installers on this Forum regarding their warranty obligations.
In my opinion, if the manufacturers warranty was registered under the installers name, then he would be liable for the duration of the warranty. If it was registered under the name of the home owner, then the installer is only liable for defective installation - and as in the case presented by @PearlJam in the original post, the installer would not be liable for a manufacturing defect, and would thus be entitled to be compensated by the home owner for his time and expenses to travel to the house, disconnect the dongle, test the power supply voltage (5V, I think...), re-connect the dongle, and drive back to his place of work. It would then be up to the home owner to claim these expenses back from the supplier or manufacturer, but as everyone should realize, these organizations would not pay up without a legal fight, so nothing will ever come from that due to the high cost of litigation. The old law of Transvaal still rules supreme 🥴

Going a bit off-topic here, but this just makes me angry... Why can the owner of the inverter not check the voltage himself. I'm sure that there are many owners that are likely more capable than an installer, and who can do this themselves. In fact, what are the minimum requirements (academic and experiential) for someone to "qualify" as a Sunsynk installer? My system was installed by an electrician who did not even know that he was not supposed to connect neutral and earth on the load side if the inverter was connected to the grid. I actually questioned him more than a year after the unit was installed, AFTER I did some "research" regarding the earth-neutral bonding requirements for going fully off-grid. Only after I quoted the SANS code in this regard to him, and referred him to some video made by Sunsynk UK,s CEO where he explained the different requirements for on-grid and off-grid connections, did he grumblingly "it's not actually necessary" accept that he had to correct my system...
Also, Sunsynk very proudly informed me via their app of this "great" new support hub for home owners, installers and retailers, only for me to then find out that the only "support" they provided to home owners was to send them information on new products - thus only a sales service, and no support!
Sunsyn's attitude regarding their "end users" who actually pay for what they sell is certainly going to harm them in the long run (if it has not already started to do so). My system has been installed for nearly two years now, and although I initially felt positive about them and encouraged my friends and colleagues to also install Sunsynk products, that has most definitely changed since I've experienced their discrimination against the owners of their systems, and I am now actively discouraging people considering the purchase of any Sunsynk system... and I know that I'm not the only person doing so.
They (and others with the same mentality) should learn a simple truth: DON'T BITE THE HAND THAT FEEDS YOU - and that hand is the home owner that pays for your product, and NOT the installer that you are trying to keep in business by nefarious practices such as this.

Will share as soon as his wife gives me an update. They are stil waiting for news at the hospital.

Sad news that @TaliaB has been admitted to the Christian Barnard Netcare with Pulmonary Embolism. He was fine earlier in the day. He has been put on Echmo.
Please keep him in your thoughts. 🙏🙏

It looks like higher import tariffs on renewable energy equipment are being planned, in the name of "stimulating local production of components in the renewable energy supply chain".

"One of South Africa’s largest electrical product distributors warned that planned import tariffs on renewable energy equipment could keep solar self-generation out of reach for lower-income households.
The International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) recently published its preliminary determinations after a year-long review of import tariffs for solar, wind, and battery components.
ITAC recommended that the trade minister align South Africa’s import duties on renewable components to World Trade Organisation rates.
In many cases, the tariff rate is 15% of the declared value of the goods. South Africa already imposed a 10% tariff on solar panels and modules in June 2025.
ITAC also recommended that the minister impose an additional 15% ad valorem duty on assembled lithium-ion batteries.
The measures are aimed at stimulating local production of components in the renewable energy supply chain, balanced with ensuring local deployment of renewables."

New import tariffs will reserve solar power for rich Sout...
One of South Africa’s largest electrical product distributors warned that planned import tariffs on renewable equipment could keep self-generation with solar out of lower-income households’ reach.

I take great pride in paying all of my bills on time.
Clearly, you did not bother to read my (albeit lengthy) post before launching judgement and ad hominem attacks. A pretty poor reflection on your ability to read with comprehension.

I did my humble little solar install in August 2020. At the time I had around 980kWh credit on my prepaid meter, which for about 4 years I hardly ever used. Around 2 years later (circa 2022) City Power sent their "auditors" in to check the meter. They left with no findings.
Then came 2023, where they upgraded all the prepaid meters to "Smart Meters" in the HOA. When they came to mine, they said that they could not upgrade it, because there was over 500kWh on the meter and they were limited to transfer credits of 500kWh and under. So I was overlooked on that upgrade.
I then decided to use my credits, after all, I had paid for them and they were not doing me any good sitting in the meter. So every month I used a few kWh, and I started neglecting lifestyle changes that I had made back in 2020, like not roasting a small eisbein at midnight when I got the munchies.
The "auditors" came and went a few more times, and the prepaid meter's crypto key update was also duly performed in 2024. Fast forward to December 2025. I was going away for holidays, and my prepaid meter showed less than 1 unit left. I did not bother topping up because I would not be there, and my system doesn't need the grid, but I didn't budget for the inverter pushing some back to the grid, which it usually does when a big load stops, and which the meter counts as usage. Around 28 December I noticed that the grid had disconnected, and upon returning home on 2 January 2026, I tried to purchase electricity, but no go, I was advised to call City Power. When I called them, they were extremely unhelpful, telling me that I needed to come in to see them.
I drove over to City Power's offices, which was in disarray. As luck would have it, there was a big power outage, and they had no power, nor any backup, and the ETR was unavailable, so all visitors were told to come back another day. I insisted on seeing someone, but they said that all staff had gone home due to the power outage. I stuck to my guns, and told them that I would not be leaving. They eventually extracted a surly and most unpleasant Marxist drone The Borg from his office. He listened to my story, then disappeared back down the dark corridor. After 45m of waiting in the stuffy, unlit foyer, I went hunting for him using my cellphone flashlight. I found him sitting in his dingy, unlit office, staring into his laptop. He grunted at me, and motioned me to sit down. He asked me why I was not buying electricity from them. I repeated my story again to him. He then asked for my rates and taxes number, and proceeded to do checks on my CoJ bill. Finding nothing amiss there, he told me that he would not reinstate my meter until I paid him a R15,000.00 "fine" for not using electricity. I protested, and he scowled at me. I scowled back. Another round of argument, where he changed his story: It was now no longer a "fine", but the R15,000 had to be paid because that was what a smart meter would cost. Yet another round of argument. The situation was beyond bizarre, here I was arguing with The Borg about why I should not be "fined" for not using City Power electricity, whilst sitting in an unpowered, unlit, stuffy City Power office. Eventually he conceded that he would "raise the matter with a senior manager", who was on leave at that time, and get back to me.
Seeing that it was going nowhere, I resigned myself to my fate, went back to my 2020 lifestyle of frugality, and started pricing batteries. Needless to say, The Borg never bothered to come back to me, and I didn't bother begging him to either. I placed an order with Wimpie from The Powerforumstore, and soon my batteries arrived. I decommissioned my 3x US3000 Pylontechs and donated them to my brother, and installed my new 32kWh storage.
I am very happy, because not only have I defeated Marxism and The Borg, but I can now roast a leg of lamb and a few Eisbeins at midnight again. Bon Appetit!

I did my humble little solar install in August 2020. At the time I had around 980kWh credit on my prepaid meter, which for about 4 years I hardly ever used. Around 2 years later (circa 2022) City Power sent their "auditors" in to check the meter. They left with no findings.
Then came 2023, where they upgraded all the prepaid meters to "Smart Meters" in the HOA. When they came to mine, they said that they could not upgrade it, because there was over 500kWh on the meter and they were limited to transfer credits of 500kWh and under. So I was overlooked on that upgrade.
I then decided to use my credits, after all, I had paid for them and they were not doing me any good sitting in the meter. So every month I used a few kWh, and I started neglecting lifestyle changes that I had made back in 2020, like not roasting a small eisbein at midnight when I got the munchies.
The "auditors" came and went a few more times, and the prepaid meter's crypto key update was also duly performed in 2024. Fast forward to December 2025. I was going away for holidays, and my prepaid meter showed less than 1 unit left. I did not bother topping up because I would not be there, and my system doesn't need the grid, but I didn't budget for the inverter pushing some back to the grid, which it usually does when a big load stops, and which the meter counts as usage. Around 28 December I noticed that the grid had disconnected, and upon returning home on 2 January 2026, I tried to purchase electricity, but no go, I was advised to call City Power. When I called them, they were extremely unhelpful, telling me that I needed to come in to see them.
I drove over to City Power's offices, which was in disarray. As luck would have it, there was a big power outage, and they had no power, nor any backup, and the ETR was unavailable, so all visitors were told to come back another day. I insisted on seeing someone, but they said that all staff had gone home due to the power outage. I stuck to my guns, and told them that I would not be leaving. They eventually extracted a surly and most unpleasant Marxist drone The Borg from his office. He listened to my story, then disappeared back down the dark corridor. After 45m of waiting in the stuffy, unlit foyer, I went hunting for him using my cellphone flashlight. I found him sitting in his dingy, unlit office, staring into his laptop. He grunted at me, and motioned me to sit down. He asked me why I was not buying electricity from them. I repeated my story again to him. He then asked for my rates and taxes number, and proceeded to do checks on my CoJ bill. Finding nothing amiss there, he told me that he would not reinstate my meter until I paid him a R15,000.00 "fine" for not using electricity. I protested, and he scowled at me. I scowled back. Another round of argument, where he changed his story: It was now no longer a "fine", but the R15,000 had to be paid because that was what a smart meter would cost. Yet another round of argument. The situation was beyond bizarre, here I was arguing with The Borg about why I should not be "fined" for not using City Power electricity, whilst sitting in an unpowered, unlit, stuffy City Power office. Eventually he conceded that he would "raise the matter with a senior manager", who was on leave at that time, and get back to me.
Seeing that it was going nowhere, I resigned myself to my fate, went back to my 2020 lifestyle of frugality, and started pricing batteries. Needless to say, The Borg never bothered to come back to me, and I didn't bother begging him to either. I placed an order with Wimpie from The Powerforumstore, and soon my batteries arrived. I decommissioned my 3x US3000 Pylontechs and donated them to my brother, and installed my new 32kWh storage.
I am very happy, because not only have I defeated Marxism and The Borg, but I can now roast a leg of lamb and a few Eisbeins at midnight again. Bon Appetit!

I did my humble little solar install in August 2020. At the time I had around 980kWh credit on my prepaid meter, which for about 4 years I hardly ever used. Around 2 years later (circa 2022) City Power sent their "auditors" in to check the meter. They left with no findings.
Then came 2023, where they upgraded all the prepaid meters to "Smart Meters" in the HOA. When they came to mine, they said that they could not upgrade it, because there was over 500kWh on the meter and they were limited to transfer credits of 500kWh and under. So I was overlooked on that upgrade.
I then decided to use my credits, after all, I had paid for them and they were not doing me any good sitting in the meter. So every month I used a few kWh, and I started neglecting lifestyle changes that I had made back in 2020, like not roasting a small eisbein at midnight when I got the munchies.
The "auditors" came and went a few more times, and the prepaid meter's crypto key update was also duly performed in 2024. Fast forward to December 2025. I was going away for holidays, and my prepaid meter showed less than 1 unit left. I did not bother topping up because I would not be there, and my system doesn't need the grid, but I didn't budget for the inverter pushing some back to the grid, which it usually does when a big load stops, and which the meter counts as usage. Around 28 December I noticed that the grid had disconnected, and upon returning home on 2 January 2026, I tried to purchase electricity, but no go, I was advised to call City Power. When I called them, they were extremely unhelpful, telling me that I needed to come in to see them.
I drove over to City Power's offices, which was in disarray. As luck would have it, there was a big power outage, and they had no power, nor any backup, and the ETR was unavailable, so all visitors were told to come back another day. I insisted on seeing someone, but they said that all staff had gone home due to the power outage. I stuck to my guns, and told them that I would not be leaving. They eventually extracted a surly and most unpleasant Marxist drone The Borg from his office. He listened to my story, then disappeared back down the dark corridor. After 45m of waiting in the stuffy, unlit foyer, I went hunting for him using my cellphone flashlight. I found him sitting in his dingy, unlit office, staring into his laptop. He grunted at me, and motioned me to sit down. He asked me why I was not buying electricity from them. I repeated my story again to him. He then asked for my rates and taxes number, and proceeded to do checks on my CoJ bill. Finding nothing amiss there, he told me that he would not reinstate my meter until I paid him a R15,000.00 "fine" for not using electricity. I protested, and he scowled at me. I scowled back. Another round of argument, where he changed his story: It was now no longer a "fine", but the R15,000 had to be paid because that was what a smart meter would cost. Yet another round of argument. The situation was beyond bizarre, here I was arguing with The Borg about why I should not be "fined" for not using City Power electricity, whilst sitting in an unpowered, unlit, stuffy City Power office. Eventually he conceded that he would "raise the matter with a senior manager", who was on leave at that time, and get back to me.
Seeing that it was going nowhere, I resigned myself to my fate, went back to my 2020 lifestyle of frugality, and started pricing batteries. Needless to say, The Borg never bothered to come back to me, and I didn't bother begging him to either. I placed an order with Wimpie from The Powerforumstore, and soon my batteries arrived. I decommissioned my 3x US3000 Pylontechs and donated them to my brother, and installed my new 32kWh storage.
I am very happy, because not only have I defeated Marxism and The Borg, but I can now roast a leg of lamb and a few Eisbeins at midnight again. Bon Appetit!

Do I have to register this tiny UPS + PV system for my router?
Please advise.

Only if you grid feeding.

If you not grid feeding, then you have a UPS with PV.
There is no requirement to register a UPS.

I have this below UPS which came with a small PV and I use for my router.
Do I need to register this with CityPower?

You can call it what you want. The taxpayers fund the infrastructure, whether it's income tax for Eskom or your property tax for municipal infrastructure. The core problem is not the fluctuating usage, the core problem is the free hand outs in exchange for political votes.
I am all for no tax and pay for connection and usage charge. Not going to happen in a Socialist system pretending to be a free Democracy.
 

Unethical and unfair to disconnect you because you don't buy for a few months.
Then to demand R12,000 to reconnect is completely outrageous.
I'm also on CoJ pre-paid.
Fortunately I'd heard of this disconnect issue, so I decided to purchase a small amount every month.
No issues so far with CoJ.

COJ..is a money making racket..!!! Only doing there Job..!!!  Same with us today in Roodepoort.We are on Prepaid.  .They came and removed my Elect.meter Connection on the pavement 'without' prior notification!!...because we not using the meter the right way..we not loading EVERY MONTH. !!!! We MUST load units every month so "they" can see we using Elect..Or otherwise someone has "maybe" tampererd  with the meter...ext.. allthough we have Elect..and still units on meter...!  but no 'loading' is showing 'monthly' on there system.. Meanwhile we Sassa Pensioners and buy 'Units' sameday when drawing Sassa...but keep it "until" previous units are finished.?..and then load new Units...Oh  NO ...we not allowed to do that and had to pay R5000.00 penalty fee to get our meter put back again. What a shock.🥵 Who is gaining from this bull ????   Only City Power..!!!!
We are the loosers all the way..When we got the prepaid meter years ago..nobody told you anything about all their "rules"...or this nonsense..The staff in the office where very helpfull..  but still without Elect..I wish I can speak to Higher Person..and explain it was not our fault and still have units ont the meter while taking out the outside connections..
🫣🫣🫣
 

Happened to my parents this past weekend. They bought as much as they could before the increase. Since then, they havent bought any units because they have about 2000 units in the meter.
They still used the utility to run the oven + charge up batteries, but didnt need to buy.
Come Sunday, power is off. They phoned CoCT who sent someone out within an hour. They were told that they were disconnected because they are clearly tampering with the meter. A new meter was fitted and they lost all 1500 remaining units. They were told they're now being investigated but not to expect to get any of their units back and they wont get any answers for at least 2 months.
 

My 2c worth:
>account side of things
The post paid "Service Fee" is for meter reading which require someone to read your meter monthly.
On pre-paid there is no meter reader hence no "Service Fee"

>fixed up front fee per month for all pre-paid meters
This is referred to as a "Network Fee"

In order add a fixed fee to pre-paid, they need to align the pre-paid and post-paid rates, both the bands and R/kWh.
a) CoJ Pre-paid has 3 bands and post-paid has 5 bands - needs to be made the same
b) CoJ Pre-paid units (R/kWh) are more expensive than post-paid - needs to be made the same
c) "Service Fee" is not applicable to pre-paid as there is no meter reading.

d) Implementation of fixed fee.
Since with pre-paid you don't have an account CoJ would have to add the fixed fee of R616,37 on the first purchase of the month.  The R616.37 can't be added to the rates bill as the electricity bill is often separate from the rates bill for tenants. You would need to by R616.37 before getting  your first kWh of electricity.

e) Only 4% of Alex [and other township] residents paying for electricity - City Power
https://ewn.co.za/2020/09/09/only-4-of-alex-residents-paying-for-power-city-power
CoJ need to fix this township non-payment issue.
CoJ wanted to just introduce a pre-paid fixed fee without fixing (a) (b) (c) (d) and (e) making it unfair.
If they fix (a) (b) (c) (d) and (e) then I'll OK with paying a pre-paid fixed fee - otherwise it's just a tax on middle class and they will lose votes and increase non-payment.
 
 

Infinity is down again. At least we were busy earlier this week with ISPA, and they advised Afrihost took it down for the second time now. It seems to be an endless battle with these scammers as they just come out of new holes every week again.

Don't forget Infinity Group Companies in KZN
They have scammed numerous people
I had their website taken down and opened a case with the National Consumer Commission
The NCC found that the registered address of the company is false. There is a building at this address, but they have never occupied it. The building owner said that people had been coming to the address for 3 years looking for them
The CEO's name is Christopher Gold

Yes, the numbers are on rotation. The moment authority starts calling, number is changed. If it is just a victim, you get blocked.
The pages are not hosted in SA, and oak even has cloudfare protection. I see he has moved hosting from Singapore to Indonesia at the moment.
The company is registered with two Chinese directors, but these directors also show up in same company in Nigeria running the same scheme. If you trace the opened cases in that region, they are looking for these non existent directors.
Its just a matter of time ...