Home charge points (purchase/problems/questions) (See mod note post#1)

MojoMaker

This thread looks to be double-borked now @liamog

Homesick Alien

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123754806#Comment_123754806

You were right, miscommunication on their part. Should work at 6 amps not 6kw. So 1.4kw or so. Seems like an issue with the clamp so they're sending someone out to have a look at it.

...Ghost...

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123758809#Comment_123758809

That’s good news. CT clamp is often incorrectly installed. Hopefully they come out and sort it when the sun is shining and you can test it.

Keep in mind the other point about exporting. Most of the time, it’s better to export excess than use solar to charge the car/home battery etc , depending on your tariff.

slave1

How are they testing these units if the clamp is installed incorrectly?

...Ghost...

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123758871#Comment_123758871

I would say they are only testing the installation as far as safety and basic charger functionality. They probably don’t test solar charging as standard, because they can’t always test it. The charger will still function for standard on/off charge, even if the CT is not correctly installed. I’ve seen this on inverters and also during the setup of my own EVSE when I was having the CT installed for load balancing.

zg3409

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123753807#Comment_123753807

You need to be exporting to grid a minimum of 1.3/1.4kW before any EV will start charging (with some exceptions). As said if getting paid for export then it makes more financial sense to charge at night and you can control how charged the car is compared to solar variance day to day. It's also more energy efficiency and green to charge at night and provide excess to others during the day. If you have an app for your solar system you should be able to see when the charger should kick in.

guil

Looking to get a charger installed. Need about 15 metres of cable so guessing untethered is the way to go and just buy a longer cable? Car can only charge at 3.6kw so I presume I should be looking for a 7kw charger?

...Ghost...

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123780361#Comment_123780361

I know Hypervolt do 5M, 7.5M and 10M cables with the tethered units. I swapped out a 5M for 7.5M which reaches both cars no matter what way they are parked on the drive. 15M is some ask. Why so much?

Install a 7kW charger. The car will only draw 3.6kW anyway, but your charger will be future proofed.

Wildly Boaring

So the Sync Energy app.

I've got it a few weeks. Charger is perfect but the app bit glitchy.

Main issue is that I need to stop and restart the app every time I try to start a charge.

I've tried turning on or off "auto start"

Any other advice?

Buffman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123780361#Comment_123780361

I don't recall ever seeing 15m tethered available 'off the shelf' so you'd probably be looking at a special order/swap yourself job and pay accordingly for it.

Untethered would probably be cheaper and neater for that length. 7kW to future proof it, very little if any money to be saved going smaller as the labour is the same, unless you just install an outdoor socket and can live with granny charger speed of 2ishkW.

lord lucan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123780688#Comment_123780688

Seems to just be a quirk of the app,I got mine in March and it's always done that. Got so used to it that I don't even think about it now.

guil

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123781220#Comment_123781220

I'm weighing up the idea of a charger or an outdoor socket with a granny charger. I think there wouldn't be a massive difference in cost by the time I've bought another granny charger with a long lead or one of those ev extension cables that some places in England sell and put in a socket. Car is outside the garden. We are at the bottom of a cul de sac but still going to get one of those ramps that the cable runs underneath.

Its a hybrid superb with 13kw battery so very little difference in charging time either way

Buffman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123781426#Comment_123781426

Ah, didn't realise it was 'on street' parking, that has it's own world of potential issues.

Well discussed around here already but mainly if you're planning on running over a public footpath you're potentially leaving yourself wide open to claims even with the ramp.

MojoMaker

And sometimes you just gotta step outside your little box and say "risk accepted" ✅

Homesick Alien

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123781349#Comment_123781349

On the Sync app/charger - is there a way to get it to charge at more than 1.4kw? Haven't been using it much because the solar only element wasn't working for a while, but I plugged in overnight last night and 1.4kw was the output. I remember the first time I plugged it in it was charging at near 7kw but that was during the day and it was drawing some energy from solar at the time. Is 1.4kw the max "grid only" output and anything more than that will just be topped up by available solar?

lord lucan

I don't have Solar but mine has been charging at 7kw consistently since I got it. Charger itself is excellent just the app is clunky and not great.

...Ghost...

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123787208#Comment_123787208

1.4kW is slower than a granny charger, so definitely not normal. Your charge rating has been lowered and presumably at the APP. I’m not familiar with Sync, so you’ll have to go through the APP to check if you’ve inadvertently limited the charge current, which is a feature on most smart chargers.

There is also the outside possibility that the charger has developed a fault. Check your car on a slow public charge point to rule out car issue. If you can’t find the problem, contact the installer, or Sync.

Homesick Alien

The app has very limited functionality - set charging schedule, toggle between solar only or solar + grid is pretty much it. Had it charging yesterday when there was a bit of sun and got up to 5.6kw at one stage so it seems to be depending on solar for anything over 1.4kw. Will get on to their support.

Wildly Boaring

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123790437#Comment_123790437

Yeah looking at it here now too.

You try turning off the solar toggle?

...Ghost...

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123790437#Comment_123790437

That's pretty basic.

Turn off Solar charging.

Homesick Alien

The options are solar only or solar + grid as shown. You can't switch solar off as such.

Wildly Boaring

Mine is off altogether

lord lucan

I know someone asked before about the Sync units LED and adjusting the brightness,there's just been an update to the app that allows you to adjust it yourself without going into Installer mode.

MBSnr

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123826832#Comment_123826832

This is only for the new branded Sync Energy units right? My unit is branded BG Sync EV and can't be managed from the Sync EV app (have to use the Monta app). I can change the LED if the Sync EV app is in 'Installer Mode'.

Cuauhtemoc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123829488#Comment_123829488

My charger is a Monta linked BG sync and I was able to use the Sync Energy app to do this while I was beside it. Just select the option "Add new device" and then select EV Charger. It's mostly leave the default option as are. Select Monta as your server if it isn't the default.

it didn't affect the Monta app for me.

MBSnr

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123844997#Comment_123844997

Not sure how you got this working to be honest. Doesn't work with mine anyhow.
If I add a device (charger LED is blue and house wifi is on), it asks to scan the QR code that came with the install paperwork and it fails (as expected as it's managed by Monta).
If I add it manually using the charger ID/password from the paperwork, it adds it but then I cannot manage it - selecting it brings up a link to download the Monta app and the BG Sync app then hangs until closed.
I can manually add the charger and bypass the wizard, but then it starts to scan for bluetooth, so would require the wifi to be off (same as the installer method - which works for me when the wifi is off). You say you don't need the wifi to be off?

Cuauhtemoc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123845387#Comment_123845387

Now I'm not sure 😄. It pretty much worked straight away. That light bugged my wife no end. It's still noticeable now but a bit less of a glare. Could've been offline as it's a good bit from the house and I get offline notifications occasionally. Adding the WiFi was part of the setup but it was the same access point.

I'll try it again tomorrow and see how it goes.

Cuauhtemoc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123845387#Comment_123845387

So I tested this again. I was using the Sync Energy app and yes it needed the WiFi off. Picked up the charger straight away using Bluetooth after that. Pretty much 1st config screen is this one.

buffalo

Having been bitten by the EO chargers going non-smart next month, I was wondering if there are any chargers that don't require a third party service to work? A charger I can set a schedule on directly.

zg3409

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123890240#Comment_123890240

The zappi V2 can be controlled from the screen and does not need internet to work. It's not that easy but you can easy change from timed to immediate and back. They are one of the most expensive options, and reports of reliability issues and failures inside and out of warranty. If you keep your old charger, now dumb, you can set a timer in the car, and if the car has an app you can adjust the times from anywhere.