Are you Happy with your Zappi

RevID3

Just wondering anyone using a Zappi long term and are they Reliable.

Trying to decide on Zappi or EO Mini Pro 2. for new wall charger.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

zg3409

Zappi is best and most expensive charger (there are a couple more expensive)

I'm terms of reliability there is the odd issue but the manufacturers are extremely responsive and will send out free replacements nearly overnight.

The downsides

It's physically large and if tethered you could have up to 8metres of heavy cable to wrap up or hide.

The menu on the front is somewhat basic, hundreds of options, but lots of up and down scrolling.

To get it online with app you need to pay 120 euro extra for hub,

App is somewhat basic and easy to use. It should improve with time with regular updates and bug fixes.

Some niggly points, if using solar it generally works ok, but you need your car home daytime a lot, and cars typically won't start to charge until you have about 1000watts of excess solar being exported, so not very often and cars charge slowly, not 7000 watts like normal rate.

The zappi measures the incoming AC for deciding exports and it does not generally work well if you have a solar battery.

The zappi does not know the charge % of the car, so you can't say charge car to 80% before you leave for work. This is a limitation in the standard used to talk to the car, not easily fixed, but it does limit the options to mix solar and overnight charging, ideally you want to maximise solar, but not at the cost of car having low charge level when you need to use it

For solar and zappi you may need to buy one or two eddie sensors too.

In terms of EO mini pro 2, I don't know it much, but I think it's small and untethered. Untethered is more suitable if you don't need a charge often or want a beat install. You will probably want a second cable otherwise you need to put a wet lead into your boot for public charging, or you will end up needing to public charge and have no cable.

If you have an instant shower or heat pump then you need load monitoring then make sure it has it. This may be extra.

If it has internet connectivity for an app then this might be an optional extra. Apps for chargers are a bit over rated. You won't need it day to day.

Any charger will work at same 7.2kW rate and you can use a timer in the car for night rate and if car has an app it will be used more than app for charger.

Note you should consider a home charger a long term addition to your house. It may last longer than the car and still be in use in 10 or 15 years. Shop around, prices vary wildly, you can get quotes by email by sending photos of fuse board and intended charger location. Some installers have a big backlog, so you might be waiting weeks for them to show up. You need SEAI grant approval before any work starts so apply today if you have not, even if you don't have the car.

Comer1

If you're happy with your zappi clap your hands 👏👏

Sorry, couldn't resist

turnfan

I have a Zappi, and I think it's overly complex, and had tripped a good new times, leaving me low on charge.

At the price charged, the hub should be integrated in it to at least alert me to an error.

RevID3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117726760#Comment_117726760

Many thanks for a very informed response. Lots to ponder and very much appreciated.

RevID3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117726912#Comment_117726912

😁👍️

RevID3

ini

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117727549#Comment_117727549

Thanks for that..Have seen a lot of comments that the Zappi is very sensitive and can trip the breaker easily..I think EO Mini is looking the better option

eddhorse

My Zappi V2 does not trip anything. Ever. Very happy with it as i would like to use solar with it down the line.

Maybe that user depends on the installer or the house wiring?

KCross

Mine has never tripped either. If its tripping it could be a faulty RCBO, which is nothing at all to do with the Zappi. I've never heard of it being sensitive to tripping the breaker easily.

Having said that, the Zappi is not faultless. I think every charge point has negative stories about them. The Zappi is very popular (10s of thousands of them out there) so you will of course hear bad things. A niche, low volume charge point might have very little negativity because its not out there much yet. Its the nature of the internet.

I think your purchase decision should really be down to what features you want and decide from there. I dont think your decision should be on a few anecdotal examples of one failing over the other.

Both will do the job just fine and you just have to hope you dont get a lemon example (like buying a car) and ensure you get a competent installer.

Things to consider.

• Tethered or untethered
• App support
• Load sensing. Important if you have electric showers, heat pumps etc. An optional extra for some charge points and others dont do it at all which means spending money on a priority switch which drives up the cost.
• Solar PV integration... do you plan to add Solar panels to your house in the future.
• Aestethics, some people want small/discreet since its usually at the front of the house.
• Customer support
• Budget

Weigh all those up and then decide.

I'm happy with the Zappi. Any issues I had were fixed FOC and with good customer support.

RevID3

Many thanks for throwing the cat among the pigeons as they say..

Onward and upward with the research...

RevID3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117728965#Comment_117728965

Thanks for the info

slave1

Never an issue with my Zappi2, full suite of MyEnergi products and would recommend

RevID3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117730158#Comment_117730158

Cheers

RobAMerc

also doing some research, hope you dont mind the question.....

Why do I need an app for the charger ?

eddhorse

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117732018#Comment_117732018

You dont, but it gives you more info for charging and house consumption.

garo

You don't NEED an app. But it can be convenient to start or stop a charge from your phone. I have a Zappi and I don't have the app. If you have Solar PV or are planning to get one then the Zappi is a no-brainer IMO.

ted1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117726760#Comment_117726760

The eo mini pro has a tethered and untethered version. Also it does load management for electric showers etc.

RevID3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117734044#Comment_117734044

Thanks..Swaying big time towards the EO Mini Pro 2..Lots of bells and whistles on the Zappi which in time will probably never use. Plus the fact if you want full functionality you have to lash out another 150 for the Harvi unit just to be able to use the app.

At least if the EO go's down you still have a Dumb Socket to charge the car presumably.

Comer1

I went for tethered zappi over the EO because of how neat it is with the cable wrapped around it.

KCross

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117736021#Comment_117736021

At least if the EO go's down you still have a Dumb Socket to charge the car presumably.

Not sure what you mean. If it goes down , its down. No charging, regardless of which one you pick.

If you are referring to just the app, its optional on the Zappi. If the app isnt working the charge point is still fully operational and configurable via its own menus. The app is a convenience feature only.

RevID3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117736363#Comment_117736363

Good point, I did mean "If the app go's down"...Good to know about the Zappi..Thanks for your time

Bitten & Hisses

We have a Zappi, using it to charge a BMW 530e and a VW ID4. It isn't connected to PV, but it's good to have the option for the future if needed.

Because of the well-known shortcomings in the VW's charge timer, we rely on the Zappi to charge on night rate electricity. I'm astounded that neither Zappi nor VW can simplify their logic to give a simple "Start charging at time A and stop charging at time B" menu. Having said that, setting the Zappi to a scheduled boost time at night overcame the issue - I just wish it was less clunky and more intuitive.

We have never tripped anything in the house yet. Overall, I believe the charger is as good as anything else on the market and success/failure depends largely on how good your installer is.

RevID3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117736816#Comment_117736816

That's some great info to ponder..I like what you said that the Zappi is only as good as the competence of the installer.

kesey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117737167#Comment_117737167

My EVSE supplier discussed/advised on the various options prior to recommending a particular EVSE, in my case the Zappi. They then had their recommended installer visit the house to survey and quote for the install. All that helped the learning experience.

RevID3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117741210#Comment_117741210

Just as a matter of interest, how long have you had it installed, and any issues.

kesey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117741246#Comment_117741246

Since April, 2021. No issues whatsover. When I got it, I had a small bit of a learning curve as I had no previous experience of EVs, other than from chatting to people. My supplier was very on the ball, and very accommodating re any questions I had before and after purchase.

I sent you a p.m.

RevID3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117741284#Comment_117741284

Perfect Thanks

I am in contact with the Head man from Zappy due to severe radio interference from the unit which of course has a serious impact to me having an Amateur radio license anyway they pulled out all the technical specs and all the list of regulations is passes and all that which is fine but I know what happens, they come up with a prototype with all the hardware and components necessary to pass these tests then for production removes components and/or alters the circuit to save money.

So I said to them, that's all lovely to have all the technical jargon lads, thanks but I just proved that your Charge Point breeches many regulations so fix it, that's several weeks ago now, so they're supposed to be sending me a test charge point and if that works then they'll replace the one on the wall.

Why does this matter to anyone ? well, I can contact COMREG which can make Zappy investigate and fix every single Zappy with this issue because I'm damn sure they're all the same not only that, anyone with a Zappy or any other EV charge point or electrical appliance for that matter can be made remove it because it breeches local, EU and international regulations as the radio spectrum is protected, obviously there are far more uses for radio than most People realise but the effects to more of the radios people have in their homes they can relate to are their home WiFi and internet modems as this interference travels through the mains wiring and can cause intermittent issues such as loss of internet connection to ISP and/or random WiFi disconnects as this interference travels through the mains wiring from source back to the grid picked up by the power supply of the effected device. COMREG have all the equipment to track the source of this noise to your door.

I can/should also contact Ofcom and E.U Regulator.

If anyone has a radio that can work on the AM/MW band bring it close to the zappy and turn on the radio and charger mains wire that comes from the house electricity to power the zappy ( or any charge point ) and if it causes the radio to make loud noises it's definitely got issues and should be fixed.

There's a solar PV Inverter manufacturer banned in Germany for this same issue.

Hopefully myenergi sort this for future models also but if this is an issue with your Zappi then you'd be wise to contact them to fix it but they're not the only devices, everything from no name off the shelf led light bulbs in woodies or Ikea can cause lots of issues and bad laptop power supplies, don't buy electronic stuff from China directly.

RobAMerc

can someone tell me how long it can take to get a green light from the SEAI on the grant ? I did the application over a week ago.

Planning on having a Zappi installed next week, but no word from SEAI on this.

thanks

Rob

RevID3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117748131#Comment_117748131

Hi was in the same boat..Sent all info in..No word until I rang and followed up..Turned out the address linked to the MPRN was not the same as that on the SEAI form I filled in...I did get notification in about 2 weeks to say the address was wrong..

If you don't get a reply with 2 weeks , best to ring to check the progress..Nice people to talk to and no waiting time on the line.

THE ALM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117748131#Comment_117748131

took exactly a week to get confirmation for us

eagerv

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117748131#Comment_117748131

Normally they are very quick, well less than a week in our case. But it was 18 months ago when I am sure they were a lot quieter.

As mentioned above, well worth giving them a call, they are very approachable and helpful.

RobAMerc

So, 10 mins after i posted this i got a mail to state my mprn was wrong. I called them with ther correct one. I got the offer 5 mins later.

Thanks all for the help.

Zappi in the post! ( sort of )

slave1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117748131#Comment_117748131

About a week for me

Seriously lads, does it not bother that your Zappy could be defective ?

RobAMerc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117750306#Comment_117750306

I dont think I understand the issue mad_Lad, nor do I understand the potential fallout. Maybe if you explain it I ( we ) would care.

An electrical appliance interfering with my AM radio isnt an issue for me ( or is it and I dont know ? )

please inform

KCross

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117750306#Comment_117750306

Nobody cares about your hobby mad_lad! 😀

particularly when you said LED bulbs had the same issue! 😉

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117750502#Comment_117750502

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117750458#Comment_117750458

Not caring about something can have implications for others and could fall back on you in the end, for instance if you don't care that your appi could be interfering with some other electronic device down the road, neighbour etc and wouldn't be willing to try resolve it with the manufacturer because you don't care about the effects to someone else then this person being effected probably won't care about making you resolve it through COMREG. If it's their internet, then their ISP will do this on their behalf, if it's a mad lad on a radio I have to do this myself or if an Neighbour is trying to listen to BBc R4 on Longwave it doesn't matter but it would matter if it effected you in some way or another, for instance you'd be pretty p1ssed if your internet kept dropping out......

My licence means I'm authorised to use certain parts of this "protected" radio spectrum.

Well for starters having the zappi in the condition it currently is in my installation is illegal under local, Eu and international law because the Radio spectrum is protected legally and nothing is allowed to interfere with it because there's so much that use the radio spectrum other than than millions of mad_Lads talking on a radio.

Internet connections can be knocked out due to this noise carried from source back to the grid and picked up by other modems power supplies.

And yes, LED light bulbs can be a huge source of noise. stick to philips and osram and other quality brands and stay away from no name brands which can also cause a strobing effect which can have other implications even if you don't see it.

from comreg

https://www.comreg.ie/industry/radio-spectrum/spectrum-compliance/radio-interference/

General Public

Where a member of the public believes that their, broadband or mobile phone service is experiencing radio interference this should be reported to the service provider. If the service provider determines that an external interference issue is occurring, it will contact Spectrum Intelligence and Investigations directly by submitting a case of suspected interference. In such cases Spectrum Intelligence and Investigations can only deal with the network operator and updates cannot be provided to third parties or members of the public.

Where a member of the public is experiencing disruption to Saorview or satellite television reception, a television reception system installer should check the installation for faults. System faults such as damaged cables & aerials are common sources of disruption to reception. Should it be determined that the disruption is caused by external interference, this should then be reported to Spectrum Intelligence and Investigations directly by submitting a case of suspected interference as per process outlined above.

Examples of Type B cases could include:

• Instances where a radio link is experiencing harmful interference such that it cannot operate as licensed;
• Harmful interference to a base station on a mobile network such that a single sector of the base station has to be turned off; and
• Harmful interference to a base station such that there is a degradation in the quality of service being provided to the end users.

slave1

Does the Zappi not use proprietary element of the Radio spectrum?

"I dont think I understand the issue mad_Lad, nor do I understand the potential fallout. Maybe if you explain it I ( we ) would care.

An electrical appliance interfering with my AM radio isnt an issue for me ( or is it and I dont know ? )

please inform"

Different types of modern electronic equipment today can emit much higher levels of interference than others and can cause issues for other people which can have implications for you if this interference is traced back to your home which isn't too difficult to track down with the equipment COMREG have. Someone's internet can suffer drop-outs caused by their modems power supply picking this interference up from a device in your home and if in a built up area this can have a much greater impact all because of a bad quality LED light bulb, Laptop power supply, Tv etc, this list is long and growing as people import more and more electronic junk from china directly and even resellers here in Europe. Stick to quality brands and even then it's not guaranteed there won't be issues.

Not knowing a device is causing interference is not an excuse, it's up to you and your installer to make sure the device meets regulations and in my case the Zappi on paper does meet all these requirements except in reality it does not as I proved to myenergi which they claimed they couldn't replicate but I seriously doubt I am the only one with such noise coming from my zappi.

I have to admit that I was quite shocked that the zappi emitted this level of noise. we'll see if they fix it.

RobAMerc

Ok. Point well made MadLad. I do have one question though is this a potential issue with all home chargers and am i likely to fall foul of this if i buy another brand ?

Also how long before comreg investigate, i know as government agencies go, they are quite effective and efficient.

Btw i flew model aircraft for years and know the effects of radio noise and interference ( although most was casued by other modelers kit ).

KCross

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117751087#Comment_117751087

I wont argue with you on it from a technical standpoint. What you've said about the regs is true.

However, I think you might be over egging it a bit. All you have at the moment is one Zappi that potentially has an issue. Whether it affects all Zappi's and whether people should be worried is a bit premature, imo.

I have no issues with my own. No internet concerns with me or my neighbours.

As a matter of interest I took a look at the Zappi internet forum and there was a guy on there who is an amateur radio enthusiast like yourself and he looked at several charge points and came to the conclusion that the Zappi was one of the better ones from a filtering and components perspective and he also has no interference issues with his.

https://myenergi.info/viewtopic.php?p=26916#p26916

It could simply be that you have a faulty one or a bad batch... who knows. Lets see what your replacement unit does before we go calling in the EU! ;)

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117751472#Comment_117751472

Every electronic device has the "potential" to cause harmful emissions and it's really up to the person buying the equipment to do their research, that's all you can do really. Buy quality and keep well away from no brand and cheap aftermarket replacements they are usually junk and if imported from unknown sources can be a potential fire or shock hazard or both because if manufacturers of cheap Chinese junk are omitting components that stop or greatly reduce interference then it doesn't say much for their products, there's lots of great quality stuff coming from China too but you're better to buy branded stuff from E.U suppliers. Replace laptop power supplies and phone chargers with originals. If stuff is much cheaper than the original then it's cheap for a reason. Keep away from No name LED lights in woodies and Ikea, stick to Philips and Osram.

COMREG aren't going to come knocking at your door unless you have a suspect device in your house that is causing interference so not something to be worried about, if they did come knocking you'll have the opportunity to fix the problem.

My old ABL unit installed by the ESB in 2015 emitted a noise at certain frequencies which was tolerable but only when plugged into the car, the Zappy causes really bad interference powered on, car connected or not so there is the potential that there are many Zappis causing serious emissions if there are several nearby.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117752197#Comment_117752197

Ah no not going to contact any regulatory body at this time as long as they fix the issue and can tell me they will issue a recall for any zappis effected they will know themselves.

See as I said earlier, the specs on paper are all good and legit and of course the prototype passes all tests then that applies to all charge points of that model after because it's designed properly, then production comes and some change to the circuit design ends up causing some issue like this.

For safety zappi is one of the best and it's a really good charge point, I am really happy with it apart from having the RF issue which I hope they will resolve, I'm still waiting for the test charge point.

More and more these issues are cropping up, Solar PV installations are causing more issues and One brand of inverters that I know of has been banned in Germany.

Anyway, I'm doing them a really big favour but I can't compliment Barrow Automation and FAAC enough for their amazing service and speedy replacement of my Mothers Electric Gate control board.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117751122#Comment_117751122

it does, it probably uses 2.4 Ghz to connect to it's hub but I can't confirm what frequencies it actually uses, I never looked into it as that's not causing me any issues.

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117754706#Comment_117754706

If its the same type of noise that comes from cheap power supplies, it could be the power supply for the low voltage boards in the zappi.

I would agree, always use good chargers, - not for noise, but for the fire risk. Think Dublin fire brigade done a campaign to stop people charging stuff at night because of so many catching fire. -it was always the cheap knock off ones

The hub works on 868 and 915mhz - so I'm gonna guess the harvi works on them frequencies either.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117756364#Comment_117756364

yes it would be the power supply for the low voltage boards, switch mode power supply without proper filtering and/or poor design.

daheff

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117730158#Comment_117730158

Agreed. Very happy

Also to note the Zappi 2 can lock a cable in, turning an untethered into a tethered unit.

Philburns

I'm very happy with my Zappi 2!

I was having some problems with my broadband connection dropping off recently, which lead me to this thread. But after moving my telephone and cables and broadband router well away from my solar inverter I seem to have solved my problem.

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117754706#Comment_117754706

868MHz or 915MHz

https://myenergi.com/hub-status-lights/

My Ireland you're supposed to use 868MHz but there's nothing that stops you from switching to the other frequency

To answer the OP#s question, I've both an EO Mini (2018 model) and a Zappi v2. Both are great, it took a little while to get the load balancing working on the Zappi but now I can charge both cars in parallel

The EO Mini is pretty robust seeing as it survived being torn off the wall by my wife catching the charging cable under her car

So I'd say it's really down to personal preferences

slave1

A charge point that has continual updated firmware is a huge positive for me. Who knows what issues may arise in the future with newer EVs.

Great to know Z constantly eliminating bugs and sorting car chatter issues