Making my dumb Rolec charger a smart one for under £20

[AussiePete]

I've seen a few comments on posts which have suggested using a Shelly 1 Switch to upgrade a dumb charger to allow timed charging. Well now I've done it and I can confirm:

1. It works
2. It's relatively easy to install (I’m no genius and I did it)
3. Cost me under £20 and saved £800 on purchasing a new smart charger

If you have a dumb charger it's well worth considering.

PS - the Shelly switch doesn’t take the 7kw load of the charger it is only controlling the low voltage switch inside the charger.

This video (not mine) was my guide

 

[Jomarkh]

Do you think the Shelly would work in a Zappi as I don’t have the hub?

 

[AussiePete]

Do you think the Shelly would work in a Zappi as I don’t have the hub?

I don’t know but I can’t see why not. You can install it stand alone (ie not internet connected) and you don’t need an app you can just use your phone to control it as it has its own internal access point (ie you connect to it using WIFI, open a browser and use a address http://192.168. 33.1)

There maybe some functional restrictions, but should still work

 

[Cosmic Resident]

I just spent the last few hours fitting a Shelley 1 to my dumb 6-year-old Rolec.

Piece of cake, although getting the Shelley configured to my Wi-Fi did not go according to plan by following their instructions. I had to use the built-in web server and configure it manually.

I didn't require the timer\schedule functions, I simply wanted to be able to stop the charge at any time remotely, so it will probably become redundant once I take delivery of the new ZS.
But seeing as I might be waiting for most if not all of the winter, it was a cheap upgrade and something I've been meaning to do for ages.

Somewhat impressed with the Shelly ecosystem!

 

[AussiePete]

I just spent the last few hours fitting a Shelley 1 to my dumb 6-year-old Rolec.

Piece of cake, although getting the Shelley configured to my Wi-Fi did not go according to plan by following their instructions. I had to use the built-in web server and configure it manually.

I didn't require the timer\schedule functions, I simply wanted to be able to stop the charge at any time remotely, so it will probably become redundant once I take delivery of the new ZS.
But seeing as I might be waiting for most if not all of the winter, it was a cheap upgrade and something I've been meaning to do for ages.

Somewhat impressed with the Shelly ecosystem!

I did have some initial problems with getting it WIFI configured, but once done all good.

 

[Bluejeros]

I wonder if I could fit this to my Wallbox. The Wallbox is always loosing its wifi connection so this might let me switch on/off remotely.

 

[Cosmic Resident]

I wonder if I could fit this to my Wallbox. The Wallbox is always loosing its wifi connection so this might let me switch on/off remotely.

Don't see why not.
If your Wallbox defaults to 'dumb' mode upon loss of Wi-Fi, switching the pilot signal is a fairly benign method of controlling the charge.

There is a school of thought that simply interrupting the pilot wire puts the charger (which of course is in the car, not the wall box) into an error condition, rather than a standby or off condition.
I've not seen the car complaining though, and the mod works a treat.

 

[Lovemyev]

I did have some initial problems with getting it WIFI configured, but once done all good.

I have been using the Sonoff Wi-Fi relay in my 7 year old ( rebuilt ) dumb Rolec unit for about two years now.
Has been a game changer !.
The only hard part was getting connected to my router.
I had to carry out a temp wiring job with a test lamp and bring the relay very close to the router.
Even then it failed to automatically link, it kept coming back as failed every time.
I had to manually configure it through my Iphone.
Once it connected, it was fine !.
I must have taken a good hour to get working.
Then I unplugged the supply and built it into my wall box.
Fingers crossed to see it would re-connect, all good.
My fixed rate of peak contract is about to expire with EDF and it looks like I will have to go on a standard tariff until some type of normally returns ( if ever ).
So, my delayed timer function through my phone has become redundant.
I am absolutely gutted right now !.
Nobody like Octopus are taking any new customers and your old energy supplier know's this.
So, they are shafting anybody and everybody they can !.
EDF are mainly using nuclear energy to provide electric, when I last looked, the retail price of nuclear energy has not increased ?.
Arh ........ But they are a French company.
So, we are all away of how good our relationship with them is right now.
Maybe we can exchange some fish for some power instead ?.
We are too reliant on gas and other people to supply it, simple as that.

 

[Cosmic Resident]

just spent the last few hours fitting a Shelley 1 to my dumb 6-year-old Rolec.

...and i just spent the last hour upgrading my upgrade.

Since the Rolec sits on an outside wall, out of direct sunlight, I thought it would be an ideal place to put a temperature sensor. To that end, I fitted the Shelly temperature add-on and sensor to the Shelly 1 that I fitted last weekend.

So now I have a reliable temperature reading from outside the house.

The Shelly devices knock spots off the Sonoff device that up until yesterday monitored my garage temperature (but not reliably) to guard against freezing temperatures.

Edit to add: Oops, sorry @Lovemyev, just re-read your post and realised you use Sonoff, but that comment wasn't in reference to yours...
Just that my Sonoff kept powering down all on it's own, so its being returned.

 

[Lovemyev]

Edit to add: Oops, sorry @Lovemyev, just re-read your post and realised you use Sonoff, but that comment wasn't in reference to yours...
Just that my Sonoff kept powering down all on it's own, so its being returned.

No offence taken !.
The Sonoff device bridged a gap that my car or my dumb Rolec wall box could not offer.
Delayed charging on cheaper off peak was impossible on the ZS EV nearly two years ago.
The Shelly device has received more features now.
It looks like I will be stripping out the Sonoff relay in March of 2022 because the new face lift model has built in charging timers and the App of course.

 

[smokie]

I'm not too knowledgeable about electricity (!!) but the Shelley 1 says it is 16A whereas the car charger will be probably be drawing closer to 32A won't it?

I know when I was speccing my custom wall box someone said to only use the planned Sonoff mini (which I recall are 10A) to drive a contactor to carry out the switching as an underpowered switch could overheat and catch fire, but maybe I've got the wrong end of the stick. Anyway that's what I did and it all works well enough.

 

[Jomarkh]

Ok. The Shelly does not switch the 32a it switches the CP wire.
This is what the car uses to turn on the EVSE.

 

[Cosmic Resident]

I'm now well into these Shelly devices off the back of the Shelly1 that I installed into my Rolec.

I now have a Shelly1PM monitoring and guarding against freezing temperatures in the garage, and thanks to the Shelly1L I have now finally been able to convert a particular light switch to one that Alexa can control.

The light switch conversion has always been a bugbear of mine because most WiFi relays require a neutral wire to the switch, which of course most UK homes do not have. The L version of the Shelly1 does not need a neutral.

Yet more devices are on their way!

 

[Valiant5]

Presumably the Shelley could be fitted to the very basic Chargemaster unit that's been on my wall for five years now?

Without a very clear video like the Rolec one, sadly I wouldn't be confident enough to have a go myself at fitting it, but it would be a real boon, given that I have five hours of 5p per kWh from 10 every night courtesy of Good Energy. Mostly I charge up for an hour or two from 10, then nip out to unplug, unless I know it will charge to 100 percent by 3am and cut out itself

 

[Lovemyev]

Presumably the Shelley could be fitted to the very basic Chargemaster unit that's been on my wall for five years now?

Yes it can !.
In the brilliant video on adapting a older type dumb Rolec unit above, the Charge Master unit is covered.
Remember, only attempt opening up your wall box after carrying out a safe isolation process and only IF you are 100% confident in your skills set's in order to carry out this work safely.
Otherwise, speak to a friendly spark.
It's about 20 mins worth of time and the small outlay of the Shelly device.
Having control of your charging needs from your phone, is brilliant !.

 

[Valiant5]

Yes it can !.
In the brilliant video on adapting a older type dumb Rolec unit above, the Charge Master unit is covered.
Remember, only attempt opening up your wall box after carrying out a safe isolation process and only IF you are 100% confident in your skills set's in order to carry out this work safely.
Otherwise, speak to a friendly spark.
It's about 20 mins worth of time and the small outlay of the Shelly device.
Having control of your charging needs from your phone, is brilliant !.

Thanks. I do have a couple of friendly sparks in mind

 

[Rich71]

Thank you so much for this; really easy to follow and I’ve now installed my Shelly 1. However, whilst everything works as expected, about 5mins after plugging my car in, the main circuit breaker for the Ev charger in the main fuse box trips. Any idea?

 

[Jomarkh]

Hi, is your EVSE on a separate mini CU or fed from the main CU?
Could you put on some pictures?

 

[fmzsev]

I have been using the Sonoff Wi-Fi relay in my 7 year old ( rebuilt ) dumb Rolec unit for about two years now.
Has been a game changer !.
The only hard part was getting connected to my router.
I had to carry out a temp wiring job with a test lamp and bring the relay very close to the router.
Even then it failed to automatically link, it kept coming back as failed every time.
I had to manually configure it through my Iphone.
Once it connected, it was fine !.
I must have taken a good hour to get working.
Then I unplugged the supply and built it into my wall box.
Fingers crossed to see it would re-connect, all good.
My fixed rate of peak contract is about to expire with EDF and it looks like I will have to go on a standard tariff until some type of normally returns ( if ever ).
So, my delayed timer function through my phone has become redundant.
I am absolutely gutted right now !.
Nobody like Octopus are taking any new customers and your old energy supplier know's this.
So, they are shafting anybody and everybody they can !.
EDF are mainly using nuclear energy to provide electric, when I last looked, the retail price of nuclear energy has not increased ?.
Arh ........ But they are a French company.
So, we are all away of how good our relationship with them is right now.
Maybe we can exchange some fish for some power instead ?.
We are too reliant on gas and other people to supply it, simple as that.

A country shouldn't use foreign country's companies to provide, build and operate power supplies.

Things like nuclear plants should be operated by the govt and then the power can be sold to the energy supplier retailers.

At worst the plants can be operated on short term lease by companies like trains and removed if not hitting standard.

Is part of the issue with the Energy supplies in the UK the retail providers post a loss because their wholesale arms are over charging. They make it look like the energy needs to go up in price when reality the wholesale arm could reduce price.

Energy companies are becoming to large and need checked and reigning in

 

[Rich71]

Hi, is your EVSE on a separate mini CU or fed from the main CU?
Could you put on some pictures?

Hi. It’s on the main CU. I’ve attached a picture. What I hadn’t mentioned is that I have also had to purchase a 0.3m extension/adaptor to change from Type 1 to Type 2. I’m more and more convinced that this is my problem and not the Shelly 1, although I am getting a friend over with their hybrid car which takes a type 1 to check!