Pod point charge timer

[SteeveeLeevee]

It's ironic that i'm using a BP Chargemaster charger and experienced the same problems, I wonder if both chargers are the same internals, software etc?

 

[Cocijo]

It's ironic that i'm using a BP Chargemaster charger and experienced the same problems, I wonder if both chargers are the same internals, software etc?

It’s possible. Seems a strange coincidence.

 

[Cocijo]

I pressed PodPoint a little more - i’ve added the more detailed reply from them. I haven’t changed any of my router configs or moved it - so strange. Definitely worth checking the status light when plugging in to charge.

Thank you for getting in touch.

I have had a look at your charger for you and can see that it successfully started the scheduled charge on the 15th of April.

However, we have checked your home charger and can see that scheduled charge may have previously been affected due to weak WiFi signal.

For example, an RSSI value (on the very right hand side) of more than -80 tends to lose the ability to translate the data over.

We suggest moving the WiFi router closer to your home charger if possible, or using a WiFi extender to see if this would resolve the issue.

If you have any questions then please do not hesitate to respond.

 

[Cocijo]

So - I’m thinking that at the point that the charge starts and stops a good LAN signal is needed otherwise it fails? Maybe ?

 

[ging353]

Thanks Bloggsy......I'll check my wallbox light on my next charge and see what happens. Thanks very much for your response.

 

[bloggsy]

So, here's the next part of the puzzle!

On Monday, I programmed a scheduled charge for 11pm on Wednesday until 9am on Thursday and then at 12.30am on Friday until 9am on Friday.

On Wednesday, when I finished for the day and went to plug my car in, my wallbox was showing a solid green light and my timed charge worked.

I've just went out to have a look at my wallbox and it was showing a flashing green light (indicates the car or wallbox has stopped charging). I've swapped cars to charge up the battery on the other car and when I unplugged the first cable, the wallbox light turned blue (stand-by).

I plugged in the next car and it immediately started charging, so I unplugged it.

My app confirms my next scheduled charge is 12.30am tomorrow morning so I've put in another scheduled charge starting at 11pm tonight, until 12.15am (it wouldn't let me go any longer) and watched the wallbox as it changed to a flashing blue light (it's updating itself) for 5 mins.

The wallbox light has then turned solid green and I plugged in the car and it shows as connected but not charging.

From this, I think I can confirm - if your wallbox has a solid green light, your next scheduled charge will work. Also, if you change your schedule, it will take 5 mins for the wallbox to update itself and I'm not sure why, but my charger doesn't like starting a charge at 12.15 or 12.30am!

I'll leave my 2 scheduled times to see if the app goes from 1 charge to the next and on my next charge, I'll try it at 12.45am and see if it likes that any better!

Cheers

Bloggsy

 

[Cocijo]

Interesting info. Thanks for sharing. A couple of observations;
make sure (I’m pretty sure that you are) that when you set your 12.15am or 12.30am timed charges you actually set 00.15 and 00.30 in the app and that if the start time is say 00.15 that this is set on the following day (the actual day that you want charge to start). also make sure that all changes are always saved and the schedule active button enabled in the app. My week of charges are all set and saved for 00.30-04.30 each day to use cheap tariff. I know that it’s basic stuff but worth checking.

as I understand it in simplified terms when you set and save a timed charge in the app this is then saved to the podpoint server via your home LAN which the wallbox connects to also. There is a built in delay for this to incorporate any changes. When it’s time to charge, the remote server sends a signal to the wallbox.
i think the status light of the wallbox needs to be read after plugging in the car and locking it.
if for whatever reason your LAN goes down or the wallbox loses the signal the timed charge fails - I don’t think it polls to retry. If you’re not enabling scheduled charging you don’t actually need the LAN connection to continually charge until the car stops proceeding.

 

[bloggsy]

Interesting info. Thanks for sharing. A couple of observations;
make sure (I’m pretty sure that you are) that when you set your 12.15am or 12.30am timed charges you actually set 00.15 and 00.30 in the app and that if the start time is say 00.15 that this is set on the following day (the actual day that you want charge to start). also make sure that all changes are always saved and the schedule active button enabled in the app. My week of charges are all set and saved for 00.30-04.30 each day to use cheap tariff. I know that it’s basic stuff but worth checking.

as I understand it in simplified terms when you set and save a timed charge in the app this is then saved to the podpoint server via your home LAN which the wallbox connects to also. There is a built in delay for this to incorporate any changes. When it’s time to charge, the remote server sends a signal to the wallbox.
i think the status light of the wallbox needs to be read after plugging in the car and locking it.
if for whatever reason your LAN goes down or the wallbox loses the signal the timed charge fails - I don’t think it polls to retry. If you’re not enabling scheduled charging you don’t actually need the LAN connection to continually charge until the car stops proceeding.

I definitely have the times and days (as you say, 12.30am for Friday morning to charge after I go to bed tonight) and I've got a BT Home Hub so I can check the WAN and internet status and they've both not dropped out for several weeks.

Once I've done the latest round of trials, I'll set a timed charge for 12.30am to 4.30am everyday, like you, just to see! If you're getting a timed charge between those times, I can't understand why I'm not!

Cheers

Bloggsy

 

[Cocijo]

The only other thing that I’ve come across is wifi entenders causing interference - you’re not using these are you?

Powerline Based WiFi Extenders May Disrupt MG ZS EV Car Charging UPDATE

Some owners of UK electric vehicles, particularly the MG ZS EV, who struggle to get their cars charged at home are finding that the culprit can sometimes be tra

www.ispreview.co.uk

 

[bloggsy]

The only other thing that I’ve come across is wifi entenders causing interference - you’re not using these are you?

Powerline Based WiFi Extenders May Disrupt MG ZS EV Car Charging UPDATE

Some owners of UK electric vehicles, particularly the MG ZS EV, who struggle to get their cars charged at home are finding that the culprit can sometimes be tra

www.ispreview.co.uk

No - my BT Hub reaches my driveway so I've not got any extenders. It's strange how charging at 11pm is recognised with no problems but 12.15 and 12.30am is not!

I'll let you know what happens tonight, tomorrow.

Cheers

Bloggsy

 

[Cocijo]

Latest from PodPoint on the subject. They are being very helpful.

Thank you for getting back to me.

I can confirm that's correct, the pod point will need a stable Wi-Fi connection in order for the scheduled charge to go ahead, normally when the schedule has been set the pod point will show a solid yellow light on the front until the schedule starts.

I hope this helps, if you experience further issues then please do not hesitate to get back in touch.

 

[SteeveeLeevee]

Latest from PodPoint on the subject. They are being very helpful.

Thank you for getting back to me.

I can confirm that's correct, the pod point will need a stable Wi-Fi connection in order for the scheduled charge to go ahead, normally when the schedule has been set the pod point will show a solid yellow light on the front until the schedule starts.

I hope this helps, if you experience further issues then please do not hesitate to get back in touch.

As you are in touch with podpoint could you ask them if the BP Chargemaster is made in the same factory, it seems the software to run mine and yours are very similar.

 

[Chrisb]

Now that podpoint are doing timed charging I'm going to switch to octopus, does anybody have a referral code, first one wins ?

 

[Cocijo]

Octopus Energy

 

[Cocijo]

?

 

[JodyS21]

Is it just me that finds all these scheduling problem rather worrying!
I'm still waiting for Octopus to sort out my transfer so that I can then buy the Ohme on offer, I'll then be totally reliant on its scheduling to work most nights otherwise we'll be stuffed as won't have enough juice to get to work.
Has your pod point scheduling issues not completely messed up your plans yet?

 

[Chrisb]

Thanks, quick question for anyone who might know, when I switch to octopus and get a smart meter, does it affect the 50% export from my solar, do they remove that generation meter aswell? Because I believe smart meters can measure what's being exported, do they use that instead?

 

[bloggsy]

Latest from PodPoint on the subject. They are being very helpful.

Thank you for getting back to me.

I can confirm that's correct, the pod point will need a stable Wi-Fi connection in order for the scheduled charge to go ahead, normally when the schedule has been set the pod point will show a solid yellow light on the front until the schedule starts.

I hope this helps, if you experience further issues then please do not hesitate to get back in touch.

Thanks Cocijo - the only thing is that it's not a yellow light! It's green (the same as when the wallbox is charging). In fact, I've never seen a yellow light on the wallbox! ?

Cheers

Bloggsy

 

[Cocijo]

Is it just me that finds all these scheduling problem rather worrying!
I'm still waiting for Octopus to sort out my transfer so that I can then buy the Ohme on offer, I'll then be totally reliant on its scheduling to work most nights otherwise we'll be stuffed as won't have enough juice to get to work.
Has your pod point scheduling issues not completely messed up your plans yet?

It has failed overnight for me and I had to rearrange my day. I’m hoping it’s sorted now. It’s dependent on a good consistent WiFi signal.

 

[bloggsy]

I've just checked and my wallbox activated at 11.01pm. It's going to finish at 12.15am and the next charge is at 12.30am (15mins later) and I've scheduled charges for the rest of the week starting at 12.30am and finishing at 4.30am, so we'll see what happens this week!

Cheers

Bloggsy