Zappi Charging Overriding the MG4 Schedule

[nbenn]

Any help would be appreciated.

I just installed a Zappi but no matter what I set it to it seems to start charging the car even if my MG4 schedule is not set to run until night.

Some background: I have a battery and small solar array that are not big enough for support a car.

The Zappi seems to think my battery can be used like solar so it uses my house battery even though I've scheduled it not to charge until night.

I've set the schedules on the car and the Zappi but the Zappi seems to ignore this as it thinks it's got free green energy to use from my house battery.

I was hoping the car schedule would stop this from happening but the Zappi seems to override it.

Any solutions people might have would be great!

 

[Sloucher]

I'm assuming you have a DC battery? The problem is that the Zappi doesn't see the battery as a separate item, it sees it as part of the solar array.

Do not set any schedule on the car.

You need to set your Zappi to ECO+ with an export margin of around 50W. You'll need your inverter to be programmed only to import between the hours you're getting your cheap rate.

I can't explain in any more depth at the moment because I'm not at home, but if you're not sure what I'm talking about (I barely know myself!), have a look over on the Myenergi Forum here

 

[nbenn]

Thanks. Yes I've a DC battery. Zappi sees them as one. Is the import margin set on the inverter or the zappi itself. It sounds like doing that will bleed my battery of power very slowly? Maybe 750w lost a day off it over a 15 hour period?

I'm finding it hard to believe you can't set a basic timer function on the Zappi to only run at night.

 

[TechNick]

...
I've set the schedules on the car and the Zappi but the Zappi seems to ignore this as it thinks it's got free green energy to use from my house battery.

I was hoping the car schedule would stop this from happening but the Zappi seems to override it.

Any solutions people might have would be great!

@nbenn - I feel your pain!
Although I (think I) understand the way it's all supposed to work (with ECO+, export margins, etc.) it doesn't always seem to work as intended, from my experience.
Perhaps it's the constantly moving goalposts of updates from the apps and/or Zappi firmware...

Anyhow, through various trial and error attempts at a workaround, what I've currently settled for (in case useful to try for yourself) is to:

• Set the schedule on the MG4.
• Ensure there are no schedules set on the Zappi (either via the web scheduling or via the app).
• From the myenergi app, set 'charging mode' to 'Fast' and 'Boost Settings' to 'Manual'.

I use the term 'workaround' intentionally, as this is not ideal (and I need to revisit it before summer, when I hope Solar PV levels may come into play more, so I can actually use ECO modes).

Process for charging overnight is then:

• Plug car in to Zappi.
• Monitor to see whether or not it starts charging 'immediately' (after a few minutes delay, as designed into the Zappi).
• Sometimes that's all that is needed - plug in and leave... but occasionally (haven't worked out why - seems to relate to whether or not you lock/unlock the car a couple of times after plugging in), the car starts charging almost immediately, at which point I then jump on the MG app and click 'stop/finish charging' from there. Have also used the myenergi app to switch 'charging' mode to 'Stop' and then back to 'Fast'.
  Either way, once you've intercepted any premature 'immediate' charging, it's all set to then charge overnight.

Bit of a faff (and only a workaround, for the time-being, until I can carry out further, more extensive trial/error testing over multiple days), but just in case helps get you out of a hole in the meantime!

 

[nbenn]

Ok will give this a go. Thanks very much.

 

[dzwilkins]

How many CT clamps do you have? you can set the zappi to only start charging after it see export going to the grid.

I had an issue with mine and I contacted myenergi they soon sorted my issue out.

I do have an AC battery so that helps a bit, I have the Zappi 2 setup as follows :-

Zappi is in echo+ mode
CT clamp 1 to the Grid
CT clamp 2 to the solar
CT clamp 3 to the battery - had to change this to the battery setting.

The Zappi controls all charging nothing set on the car.
also make sure you are on the most up to date firmware, as I said contact myenergi the support is good.

hope you get it sorted soon.

 

[nbenn]

How many CT clamps do you have? you can set the zappi to only start charging after it see export going to the grid.

I had an issue with mine and I contacted myenergi they soon sorted my issue out.

I do have an AC battery so that helps a bit, I have the Zappi 2 setup as follows :-

Zappi is in echo+ mode
CT clamp 1 to the Grid
CT clamp 2 to the solar
CT clamp 3 to the battery - had to change this to the battery setting.

The Zappi controls all charging nothing set on the car.
also make sure you are on the most up to date firmware, as I said contact myenergi the support is good.

hope you get it sorted soon.

Thanks. Not sure about the clamps. I think maybe one. If you set your battery to export are you not discharging your battery all day?

 

[DelBoy]

I'm assuming you have a DC battery? The problem is that the Zappi doesn't see the battery as a separate item, it sees it as part of the solar array.

Do not set any schedule on the car.

You need to set your Zappi to ECO+ with an export margin of around 50W. You'll need your inverter to be programmed only to import between the hours you're getting your cheap rate.

I can't explain in any more depth at the moment because I'm not at home, but if you're not sure what I'm talking about (I barely know myself!), have a look over on the Myenergi Forum here

Hi, Zappi will not export solar to the car unless it is over 1.4kW.

 

[nbenn]

Hi, Zappi will not export solar to the car unless it is over 1.4kW.

Thanks. Yes but the Zappi sees my battery as solar and my battery sees the Zappi as part of the house so it's willingly provides more wheat than 1.4kW which kicks the Zappi into gear and depletes my battery to charge the car.

 

[FiferMG4]

Thanks. Yes but the Zappi sees my battery as solar and my battery sees the Zappi as part of the house so it's willingly provides more wheat than 1.4kW which kicks the Zappi into gear and depletes my battery to charge the car.

I’m going to be in a similar situation once I have solar/battery storage installed and like you, I don’t want the Zappi draining the battery. I’d rather that power was used gradually for the house. There must be a way round it. I’ll ask my installer about this when it comes time, but that might be 4~6 months away.

 

[nbenn]

I’m going to be in a similar situation once I have solar/battery storage installed and like you, I don’t want the Zappi draining the battery. I’d rather that power was used gradually for the house. There must be a way round it. I’ll ask my installer about this when it comes time, but that might be 4~6 months away.

Ya, it kind of defeats the purpose for me! I'll hopefully get something working. if I do I'll pop it in here. Seems to me a basic timer function that allows it to only run at a time when the battery is set to not discharge would do it. Hopefully they give it a software update. Seems like a basic function.

 

[FiferMG4]

Ya, it kind of defeats the purpose for me! I'll hopefully get something working. if I do I'll pop it in here. Seems to me a basic timer function that allows it to only run at a time when the battery is set to not discharge would do it. Hopefully they give it a software update. Seems like a basic function.

Agreed. It should be a simple fix for myenergi to do, especially as home battery storage systems are becoming more commonplace. Let us know how you get on.

 

[Oakland]

Any help would be appreciated.

I just installed a Zappi but no matter what I set it to it seems to start charging the car even if my MG4 schedule is not set to run until night.

Some background: I have a battery and small solar array that are not big enough for support a car.

The Zappi seems to think my battery can be used like solar so it uses my house battery even though I've scheduled it not to charge until night.

I've set the schedules on the car and the Zappi but the Zappi seems to ignore this as it thinks it's got free green energy to use from my house battery.

I was hoping the car schedule would stop this from happening but the Zappi seems to override it.

Any solutions people might have would be great!

The people at MyEnergi are extremely helpful and will talk you through any set up issues you have. I can't praise them enough for excellent products and service.

My Zappi was installed when we built the house (by a complete idiot as it turns out) and so 2 years later when I came to use it for the first time I was shocked to see condensation on the display.

So before turning it on at the isolation switch I decided to take the front off and have a look. As soon as I took the bottom screw out a fraction I was deluged with water.

The unit had been filling up because it was installed VERY badly - all of the fixings were unsuitable and the power cable was just poked through the back of the unit instead of being in a waterproof connector.

I called MyEnergi expecting to have to pay but they said they'd take the old one out and replace it with a new one even though the problem was caused by the cowboy who installed it. The replacement was with me in two days and it was installed within 5 days. Absolutely no cost to me. That's what I call excellent service

 

[FiferMG4]

Ya, it kind of defeats the purpose for me! I'll hopefully get something working. if I do I'll pop it in here. Seems to me a basic timer function that allows it to only run at a time when the battery is set to not discharge would do it. Hopefully they give it a software update. Seems like a basic function.

If it’s a GivEnergy battery you have installed, here’s one way to get around it being drained by the Zappi or other wall charger.


Edit: It looks like we need a CT clamp on our battery to connect it to the Myenergi Harvi and then you can go into advanced settings on the Zappi to stop battery drain. I have a Harvi installed already, so I’ll make sure to get the CT clamp installed on the battery as well as the solar. Hope this works for you as well.

 

[nbenn]

If it’s a GivEnergy battery you have installed, here’s one way to get around it being drained by the Zappi or other wall charger.


Edit: It looks like we need a CT clamp on our battery to connect it to the Myenergi Harvi and then you can go into advanced settings on the Zappi to stop battery drain. I have a Harvi installed already, so I’ll make sure to get the CT clamp installed on the battery as well as the solar. Hope this works for you as well.

Thanks. Yes it looks like I'm going to need to get a CT clamp installed. Hopefully my installer can come back soon to get it sorted. Thanks for the info!

 

[FiferMG4]

Thanks. Yes it looks like I'm going to need to get a CT clamp installed. Hopefully my installer can come back soon to get it sorted. Thanks for the info!

No problem! If you hadn’t brought up the issue I’d have been none the wiser either, but now I know what to discuss with my installer, so thank you too.

 

[TechNick]

Thanks. Yes it looks like I'm going to need to get a CT clamp installed. Hopefully my installer can come back soon to get it sorted. Thanks for the info!

Don't think you can use a CT clamp on a DC-coupled battery, though...

 

[DevonMG4]

Don't think you can use a CT clamp on a DC-coupled battery, though...

@TechNick I think this would be on the AC out of the battery inverter.

 

[DevonMG4]

@nbenn below is a screenshot of the Zappi timer. Unfortunately I don't currently have a battery, other than a huge one in the car!, but a timer most definitely DOES exist in the Zappi and can easily be set it in the app, I don't know if it has an interface on the unit but...

My timer setting is below to make use of Octopus Go.

For reference, I have NO schedules set in the car, I can plug in at any time, lock the car and walk away, no fiddling with settings in the car, myenergi app or Zappi. The car is charged the next day - or as much as my 4 hour GO slot will provide. It's never let me down so far. The car doesn't try to charge at any other time and I assume (accepting that assumption is the mother of all cockups) that your battery is set to disable discharge during the overnight cheap rate?

I'm no myenergi expert, but if it were my installation I'd be wanting a clamp on the battery AC inverter out for it all to work properly, but even without it, I'd have thought the timer would help?

Having said my car will not try to charge any other time isn't quite how it is set below but that's because I've been experimenting with diverting excess solar to the car. But I'd say unless you've a 10+ kw PV system then it's not viable at this time of year to try to charge an EV, stick any surplus into your battery. Make sure the battery is setup in the myenegi app and has a higher priority than the Zappi, that way spare solar will not try to go to the car. Not scary tech stuff, it's drag and drop on the graphical myenergi app screen.

You will be able to set the timer without the extra CT on the battery output.

 

[nbenn]

@nbenn below is a screenshot of the Zappi timer. Unfortunately I don't currently have a battery, other than a huge one in the car!, but a timer most definitely DOES exist in the Zappi and can easily be set it in the app, I don't know if it has an interface on the unit but...

My timer setting is below to make use of Octopus Go.

For reference, I have NO schedules set in the car, I can plug in at any time, lock the car and walk away, no fiddling with settings in the car, myenergi app or Zappi. The car is charged the next day - or as much as my 4 hour GO slot will provide. It's never let me down so far. The car doesn't try to charge at any other time and I assume (accepting that assumption is the mother of all cockups) that your battery is set to disable discharge during the overnight cheap rate?

I'm no myenergi expert, but if it were my installation I'd be wanting a clamp on the battery AC inverter out for it all to work properly, but even without it, I'd have thought the timer would help?

Having said my car will not try to charge any other time isn't quite how it is set below but that's because I've been experimenting with diverting excess solar to the car. But I'd say unless you've a 10+ kw PV system then it's not viable at this time of year to try to charge an EV, stick any surplus into your battery. Make sure the battery is setup in the myenegi app and has a higher priority than the Zappi, that way spare solar will not try to go to the car. Not scary tech stuff, it's drag and drop on the graphical myenergi app screen.

You will be able to set the timer without the extra CT on the battery output.

View attachment 14908

Thanks Devon. My system is DC coupled system so the Zappi treats my battery like solar. When that happens it starts to charge outside the scheduled timer as it sees it all as surplus. I've used all these settings in the myenergi app and none allow the system to run without doing this.

I know there is a timer function but it actually too complex for my needs. I do feel a more basic timer function with a hard time set would ensure it would only start when my battery is set to stop discharging (at night).

From feedback it may be possible to use CT clamps and excess margins to stop it occuring but I do feel this shouldn't be necessary. My understanding is that the CT clamps are going to be needed to set priorities as without them my zappi sees them as one input. My app doesn't allow me to set priorities as its can't see the difference. Thanks for the feedback though.