Home charging speed

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Mandarinfish
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Post by Mandarinfish »

Daveion wrote: Sun Oct 17, 2021 9:08 am I dont know anything about EO unit but could it possibly have an off peak current limitation setting?
Can a meter be externally controlled to limit current draw if for instance the suppliers cheap quota was running low?
The latter seems unlikely!
In the thread is it only on EO home chargers?
Dave
Food for thought! Thanks
Frankly I think the make of charger is irrelevant, and the answer lies with the meter/supply, but I will chat to EO just to rule the charger out.
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Utumno
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Post by Utumno »

I’ve seen similar things on my Dad’s supply, where the DNO is balancing the network overnight and isn’t making enough power available as a result. Bear in mind though that my Dad probably draws far more than you - he has two EV’s and a household battery to fill totalling 17-18kWh’s when they all sucking electrons at full capacity and his air source heat pump and everything else then has to fit inside his 100A main fuse!
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Post by Daveion »

Doesn't that then confirm that the current draw can be limited by the supplier via the smart meter? I thought that unlikely.
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Post by MotMot »

Is the charger getting hot? Mine (SyncEV) throttles back from a blistering 7.8kw to 6.5/7 after 30-60 min - especially during the daytime and even more so in afternoon as the box comes into direct sunlight.

Afaik the only way your electricity supply can limit itself is with the voltage… and if you’re dropping to 16 amps (3.5kw) then that’s 120v!!

As Dave said… got to be in the charger.
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Utumno
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Post by Utumno »

Daveion wrote: Sun Oct 17, 2021 10:38 am Doesn't that then confirm that the current draw can be limited by the supplier via the smart meter? I thought that unlikely.

Depends what you mean by “supplier”. If you mean Octopus etc (who have the billing and meter relationship) then yes it’s possible but they require your consent and a tariff explicitly allowing this (they’re called Demand Side Response tariffs). There are very few of these around and you’d know if you were on one.

However every electricity customer in the UK has a “hidden” supplier, the DNO. The DNO can do whatever the hell it likes to your electricity supply basically, whenever it likes, as long as basic service is maintained and it’s very usual to have amperage and voltage changes seemingly at random on any consumer supply.
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Post by Daveion »

Thats the thought process I took. The supply voltage has to be stable at 230 else other things in your property would stop. In Utumno's example can the charger be instructed to reduce current from the DNO. I knew that its possible that chargers could stop/start dependent on overall network consumption but not to reduce current!
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Post by Daveion »

Daveion wrote: Sun Oct 17, 2021 10:51 am Thats the thought process I took. The supply voltage has to be stable at 230 else other things in your property would stop. In Utumno's example can the charger be instructed to reduce current from the DNO. I knew that its possible that chargers could stop/start dependent on overall network consumption but not to reduce current!
Utumno. Missed your post before typing.
I think the DNO has a legal obligation to maintain supplies to a given voltage + or - a small percentage and that is within the operating range of all appliances I have ever come accross.
Thats not to say if an 11kv tranformer goes bang or roadworks accidentally dig up a cable the network system load sheds and there is some disruption to supplies but I do believe they do their best to maintain supplies. Its something that can happen I guess. It was a common occurrence in my time in the City square mile.
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Utumno
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Post by Utumno »

As it was described to me (and please remember I am no expert on these things!) voltage and amperage are two different measures of current. The DNO doesn’t futz much with voltage for all the reasons you’ve laid out, but it can and does futz with amperage.

As amperage is what EV’s place pressure on, not voltage, then it can cause these kinds of issues when it’s reduced because stuff charges slower.

Most households use hardly any amperage I was then informed, so most don’t notice the futzing particularly overnight in off-peak times. EV charger though have an obviously more noticeable pattern.

If it helps I had it described to me in terms of water pipes, with voltage described as “water pressure” and amperage described as “pipe size”. With a narrower water pipe but the same back pressure, less water comes through the pipe.

Again I’m very happy to be corrected!
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Post by Daveion »

That is the accepted analogy for voltage and and current. However voltage and amperage are not both measures of current. As you say voltage is pressure and amperage is current.
Watts (work) = volts x amps. So the DNO can only limit amps by reducing voltage as its the terminal device that dictates the current draw.
In the hose analogy the pressure is present but the tap turned off. Turn the tap on and water (current) flows. If there is a fault in the network the voltage collapses, load shedding to other network transformers and loops then takes place within seconds to re-establish supplies but it can still be subject to a reduced voltage as the network finds a balance. Lots of appliances drop out and load reduces on the network and voltage may then increase.
Its a fully automated system.
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Post by Utumno »

Fascinating, thanks Daveion. Always happy to learn 😀
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Post by Utumno »

Although now I have even less idea why vehicle batteries and household batteries are not drawing predictable current!
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Post by sidehaas »

OP, have you got an economy 7 meter or something? I'm just wondering whether it's possible the current is taking a slightly different route to the charger at nighttime and if some component in that route could be limiting the current in some way.
It might be worth posting on the SpeakEV forum, it seems there are a couple of people on there who are pretty experienced electricians and post a lot on the chargers board.
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Post by Mandarinfish »

sidehaas wrote: Sun Oct 17, 2021 3:45 pm OP, have you got an economy 7 meter or something? I'm just wondering whether it's possible the current is taking a slightly different route to the charger at nighttime and if some component in that route could be limiting the current in some way.
It might be worth posting on the SpeakEV forum, it seems there are a couple of people on there who are pretty experienced electricians and post a lot on the chargers board.
Good idea - I will do just that.

Thanks to everyone for your input. Much appreciated.
I suspect I may be embarking on a tortuous road to resolution, but I will report back on my findings.
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Mandarinfish
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Post by Mandarinfish »

Ok my issue is fixed.
It was the charger.
My installer told me it needed a software update to run at 32A overnight, for some reason.
Then it started to trip out after a period of charging.
This was solved by my installer fitting a 40A fuse, as the EO Mini Pro 2 is/was ‘sensitive’ with ID3s, so I was told.
All working perfectly now on scheduled charging via the EO app.
Many thanks to those who offered their advice and tried to help me solve this issue.
Your input is much appreciated
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Post by VPatz232 »

Mandarinfish wrote: Tue Nov 09, 2021 1:16 pm Ok my issue is fixed.
It was the charger.
My installer told me it needed a software update to run at 32A overnight, for some reason.
Then it started to trip out after a period of charging.
This was solved by my installer fitting a 40A fuse, as the EO Mini Pro 2 is/was ‘sensitive’ with ID3s, so I was told.
All working perfectly now on scheduled charging via the EO app.
Many thanks to those who offered their advice and tried to help me solve this issue.
Your input is much appreciated
Hi Mandarinfish,

I’d been keen to understand your home charging setup. I’m due to have an EO charger installed in the next couple of weeks and have been advised that there will be an isolator and an earthing unit fitted (assume Garo).

For info I have an 80A single phase supply, with a recently updated Hager dual-RCD consumer unit.

Many thanks.
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Post by Whistler »

I have the same issue, most nights on octopus go I get 15kw total,however, if I am still awake after the charging starts and I turn off and then back on, most times it will switch to 7.3kwh and supply 30kw. No idea why?
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