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Immersion diverter - can these confuse the app "usage" data?


MrTWales

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Seems like an odd question but I'm trying to understand what is going on. I had a diverter fitted yesterday (NU Vision) and can't work out if it's doing anything!

 

It says "Water hot" so I think it's incorrectly thinking that the immersion trigger (70 degrees) has been reached. Thought it does seem to think that something has been "saved" today, thought the "heating by solar" is zero. This part is probably just not working. 

 

But, yesterday I pressed set the override for 90 mins. The consumption in the app looked OK, with a spike of ~3kW, but then dropped back and flicked up and down a bit. This is what happends if the water really is at the required temperature but it had been a day since it was heated so this didn't seem right. But, we had four showers last night and the water was piping hot. In addition, the diverter reckoned on 4.5kWh being used (which would be 1.5 hours x 3kW) thought this could just be a mechanical calc I guess on what "should" be used rather than anything else so I'm a bit dubious about it. I was assuming that the CT clamp trigger was irrelevant in that when it's on it's like any other form of consumption when it's actually heating water, but now I'm wondering whether these things can mess up the data in the app? I assume that solar generation is always going to be accurate but I wonder about the other stuff.

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Edit - I'm almost certain that the CT clamp was the wrong way around, so I've switched that and the inverter app now shows high consumption. The diverter still says "water hot", and the "solar heating" has gone from 0 to 2.5kWh - none of which really make sense but at least it's progress I guess. 

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I think you need to give details of which diverter?  and if you have it a link to the users manual.

 

Immediate questions are HOW does it know "water hot"  Does it have a temperature probe?  What other connections other than the current transformer?

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4 minutes ago, ProDave said:

I think you need to give details of which diverter?  and if you have it a link to the users manual.

 

Immediate questions are HOW does it know "water hot"  Does it have a temperature probe?  What other connections other than the current transformer?

 

It's all very odd as the box doesn't have a model ref or anything - I think it's this one (or looks the same anyway) https://smartgreensheep.co.uk/products/nuvision-optimise-pv-wireless-immersion-control-making-use-of-excess-electricity

 

The manual is very basic to say the least. I'm not sure sure whether "Water tank hot" ever actually says anything else.  It says that now but for sure it's diverting as I can see the draw in the inverter app and the mini fan in the diverter itself was on for a while. As it's connected to the immersion heater I just assumed that I'd get "Water tank hot" showing if there was excess energy but the immersion fuse was stopping any more going in due to the max temperature being reached.

 

The diverter has two lights on the left and the top one is flashing green, but the manual doesn't tell me what this means!

 

The numbers I get from the diverter seem iffy but it seems to at least be working in some sense since flipping the CT clamp around. This still leaves the mystery of the over ride feature V the inverter app, as I'm not certain what happened there.

 

Honestly, I wish I didn't bother with a diverter now!

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There is nothing wrong with a diverter once working, it is something you just leave alone to do it's thing.

 

You say you had it fitted.  Call the fitter back to check it is working and show you how to understand the information displayed.

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It very similar to cool energy diverter.

 

The CT clamp is just looking for a flow energy out of the house, nothing more.

 

If there is no PV to heat or the cylinder is hot enough it seems to say water tank hot.

 

Easy way to check CT clamp is correct is wait until PV is off. Switch the kettle on, if your diverter kicks into life you have clamp the wrong way round.

 

Have not found a single immersion thermostat that is correctly calibrated. They all seem the have a dial about 10 degs out of calibration.

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Quote

Water tank hot Displays when all elements are satisfied

From the cool energy manual @JohnMo posted. Implies that it does have some idea of current drawn by both immersion circuits.

Good luck getting an actual 70oC into the HW!

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3 hours ago, JohnMo said:

It very similar to cool energy diverter.

 

The CT clamp is just looking for a flow energy out of the house, nothing more.

 

If there is no PV to heat or the cylinder is hot enough it seems to say water tank hot.

 

Easy way to check CT clamp is correct is wait until PV is off. Switch the kettle on, if your diverter kicks into life you have clamp the wrong way round.

 

Have not found a single immersion thermostat that is correctly calibrated. They all seem the have a dial about 10 degs out of calibration.

Thanks very much!

 

Re re the CT clamp test, I may need to put loads of things on as the battery would be used before the grid (though I guess there would be a tiny draw first)? To be honest, it's pretty clear from the manual and labels that it was the wrong way around. Even I can tell where the meter is and there is an arrow pointing towards that. It seems to be working as it should as far perhaps as the excess in concerned, but I'm still not sure about the over ride.

 

This chart shows me flipping the clamp at around 11am.

 

image.thumb.png.c70f824a72607d880f93cbe73631b5c7.png

 

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2 hours ago, Radian said:

From the cool energy manual @JohnMo posted. Implies that it does have some idea of current drawn by both immersion circuits.

Good luck getting an actual 70oC into the HW!

I can tell you that the water is effing hot when it comes out of the tap!

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3 hours ago, ProDave said:

There is nothing wrong with a diverter once working, it is something you just leave alone to do it's thing.

 

You say you had it fitted.  Call the fitter back to check it is working and show you how to understand the information displayed.

It was a subcontractor who lives a fair away away - overall he was great and split the 12 panel array into two series and it didn't cost me anything extra, and we said he's discuss the immersion issue and he'd read up on it etc (as he hadn't fitted this brand before). I'll Whatsapp him later!

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've been doing a bit of searching. and gleaned that the diverter in this thread is indeed the same as the CoolEnergy one, and if anyone wants to deal direct with the chinaman you can have one from the manufacturer direct.

 

I'll not post a link but you'll find it on Aliexpress from "Runhu" and it'll cost you about £140 including shipping and vat.

 

photo of internals

A145c8f6a337e415d88732f931fe1d2e6t.jpg.134333be5ba81bce47305023e845f269.jpg

 

The fan is a bit bigger than the iBoost's by the looks of it, and the general build is so similar that I'd opine they could be the OEM for it too,  lol

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  • 7 months later...

^ update on this. I was having issues with my iBoost running too hot and had to fashion an external fan to assist. heatsink all clean etc. So guessing a partial fail of the triac/whatever power device

 

Ordered one of these Runhu units direct and have just installed it. Now, some reviews hint that it doesn't start diverting till a few hundred watts so I'll be monitoring more closely for the next wee while. But first impressions are that it's a bit different to the iBoost in that it doesn't run the fan during *all* divert, seemingly being temperature controlled. And it's a LOT quieter. Happy days, for now...

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Octopus are installing our ASHP as we speak and are fitting a 250L cylinder with 1 immersion heater. We had an Iboost ( which is now goosed ) in our previous set up, 6.5kwh solar + 19.8kwh battery storage and Direct UVC with 2 immersion heaters, surplus solar and off peak grid, it was brilliant . We would like to make use of surplus solar and off peak grid again but 1 immersion element presents a problem. Would this Runhu unit be capable of automatically switching between surplus solar during the day to off peak during 12:30 and 4:30? or would we need a higher spec product such as Eddi to achieve our aim?

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So the Runhu's timer is slightly simpler than (eg) an iBoost. Whereas the iBoost has a weekday/weekend timer, the PVmate only has a 24hr timer

 

but with either you can set grid boost times to your preference, up to three periods per day, yes. The downside of a single immersion is (obviously) that once that is satisfied, there's nowhere else for the energy to go.

 

/we have a TS with 2 immersions. The system happily boosts and diverts on the upper element until it's satisfied, then switches to the lower one with a higher 'stat setting, to soak up the maximum PV when available

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On 07/03/2024 at 16:11, lakelandfolk said:

Would this Runhu unit be capable of automatically switching between surplus solar during the day to off peak during 12:30 and 4:30?

Yes, has an inbuilt timer, I did just that a few weeks ago as a trial.

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  • 2 months later...

Hello again John, Purchased a PV Mate, same as your Runhu, direct via Alibaba from the manufacturer. Octopus fitted it for us today and have set the grid off peak timings OK but I can't figure out how to set the current time.  I am 85 years old and can manage some tech items providing there are idiot proof instructions, which there are not in this case. Any chance you could advise in simple terms how to set the time. Also not sure the unit is diverting surplus solar to the immersion as batteries are 100%, house load is about 350w and cylinder water temp is 48 degrees. however displays on the PV MATE show the following  "Water heating off"   "Water tank hot"   "Heating by solar 0.0kwh"   "Hot water DR V:1.06"   " Saved to day 0.00kwh"

Do any of these readings make sense?

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42 minutes ago, lakelandfolk said:

Hi John, Thank you, I have managed to set the clock to the current time via written idiot proof instructions I found on YouTube  so that problem is solved.

My electric supplier (EDF) uses UTC (GMT in old money).

Have you checked for that?

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