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Connectivity issue with my Chameleon In Home Display (IHD) and how I fixed it!

  • 24 January 2019
  • 33 replies
  • 48058 views
Connectivity issue with my Chameleon In Home Display (IHD) and how I fixed it!
T
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Userlevel 4
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Updated on 14/12/22 by Emmanuelle_OVO

 

Since we had S2 smart meters installed for gas and electricity last year, we have lost the electricity readings on my IHD twice. The engineer came round and replaced the electricity meter a couple of weeks ago, but the electricity readings stopped again after a few days. OVO have said that it is a firmware problem in the IHD, and a replacement will be rolled out after January.

Wondering if the IHD can be reset to temporarily fix the problem, I pressed the on/off switch and disconnected the charger (My IHD seems to have a battery in it so it works when disconnected from the supply). I then held the on/off switch pressed for some time while reconnecting the charger.

The IHD came up in a reset condition and reconnected to both meters after a minute or two. It is now showing both gas and electricity readings again. So if it fails in a few days, which I expect, I now know how to get it working again. I presume that there is some sort of software overflow problem which works for a time from reset and then fails. It would be interesting to know if this works for others having similar problems. The unit is a Chameleon and it says "type 2" and "IHD3-PPMID / CA30111" underneath.

 

Tony

 

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33 replies

Tim_OVO
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Userlevel 7
Nice work sorting this @tony1tf

Keep a look out for anyone else with this issue!

If I spot one, I'll send them to this topic!

👏
Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there! My green tech: Aclara SGM 1411-B smart meter, Chameleon IHD6
T
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Userlevel 4
Badge +1
Hi @Tim_OVO

Unfortunately this method is not foolproof. I have also found that deleting settings turns off the IHD. When you switch it back on it finds the meter(s). However, for the last couple of weeks it has only been able to find the gas meter, even when a couple of feet away. So I am still awaiting the new firmware hopefully to get round this problem.

Tony
Tim_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7

When you switch it back on it finds the meter(s). However, for the last couple of weeks it has only been able to find the gas meter.

This topic might be worth a look @tony1tf
Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there! My green tech: Aclara SGM 1411-B smart meter, Chameleon IHD6
T
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Userlevel 4
Badge +1
HI Tim

Ufortunately that reply referred to the older meters. Smect2 don't have a keypad, and the lights are diffetent. Bizarrely, my IHD has started showing gas and electric readings again in the last two days. I wonder if OVO have managed to do an over the air firmware update?
R
Rank
I find that if I unplug my 'connection lost' IHD it makes a great paperweight, about all it's good for!
Nancy_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 5
I wonder if OVO have managed to do an over the air firmware update?

This update was scheduled for the end of January to start of Feb, so it sounds like it's worked!
Your guiding light(bulb)
J
Rank
Sadly the problem persists. We had a new Smect2 meter installed last month. The IHD worked fine for a few days,. then it lost connection with the meter and now just shows "Waiting for current data" and the wifi fan top left blinks.

According to OVO who I spoke to today there is still a problem with the IHDs and there is a 5 week wait for a replacement!

I have tried Tony's method of rebooting but to no avail. Just get the above message.

Pretty disappointing. What is the point of a smart meter if it does not connect to the IHD?

If there is a reboot method that works I would love to hear about it.

Jo
M
Rank
My display is showing my joint usage yesterday as £75.84 but with 65.63 kWh Usage. If my tariff is only £0.15 per unit and £0.036 per kWh how can these figures be anywhere near correct?.
B
Rank
I am having the same trouble with mine says I'm using £15-£20 a day! But when I go to total bill for period it was I've used less than £10... anyone know how to fix this?
A
Rank
I have exactly the same problem, readings in KWH are correct but price is ridiculous. My question is: Is anybody's Chameleon IDH3 giving the correct price for the KWH consumed, I think gas looks about right but electricity is way off.
Amy_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 6
Hey, @mattbuk33, @Bencie09, and @andyt63 I've moved you collective posts here.

Please check out @tony1tf's post at the top for the answer you need.

Thanks!
OVO-Joyed to help!
B
Rank
My Gas and Electricity Smart meters were installed a week ago and although my monitor was working perfectly for the following 3 days it then lost it's connection. Since then, I've turned it off and on next to the meters and although signal light in the top left hand corner flashes on and off, I still receive no information...does the IHD3 need re-activating by OVO?
Eva_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 5
Take a look at this topic for more info, @brickbrad, let us know how you get on!
My friend told me how electricity is measured and I was like Watt!
B
Rank
Since we had smart meters installed for gas and electricity last year, we have lost the electricity readings on my IHD twice. The engineer came round and replaced the electricity meter a couple of weeks ago, but the electricity readings stopped again after a few days. OVO have said that it is a firmware problem in the IHD, and a replacement will be rolled out after January.
Wondering if the IHD can be reset to temporarily fix the problem, I pressed the on/off switch and disconnected the charger (My IHD seems to have a battery in it so it works when disconnected from the supply). I then held the on/off switch pressed for some time while reconnecting the charger.
The IHD came up in a reset condition and reconnected to both meters after a minute or two. It is now showing both gas and electricity readings again. So if it fails in a few days, which I expect, I now know how to get it working again. I presume that there is some sort of software overflow problem which works for a time from reset and then fails. It would be interesting to know if this works for others having similar problems. The unit is a Chameleon and it says "type 2" and "IHD3-PPMID / CA30111" underneath

Tony
B
Rank
Hi Tony just read your post regarding the IHD “freezing” as my IHD did the same last night followed your remedy & it worked ok this morning so everything crossed.Thank you for sharing that information.👍👏😊
T
Rank
Userlevel 4
Badge +1
Hi @Barney

You were lucky. My IHD reset only worked for a while - have had many more problems, as discussed in this thread, but after the last meter install and firmware upload all is still OK:

https://forum.ovoenergy.com/smart-meter-booking-and-installations-66/smart-meters-not-worth-the-pain-6858/index3.html#comments

Tony
T
Rank
Hi
the electricity readings on my IHD failed to display about a week ago but have inexplicably returned over the last 2 days.
However my gas prices are WAY off. It’s showing that I am using £1 per kWh. Yesterday I used £17.60 and I wasn’t even at home until 7pm.
However the web pages cost looks correct.
I reset my IHD settings but it didn’t shut down. It just sits there frozen. A paperweight might be the best idea. I have unplugged from mains to let the battery die out and see if it will reboot if I then connect to mains. If this continues I’ll switch to another provider that supports the meters and who is more efficient in rolling out fixes.

1 Attachment
T
Rank
So it died pretty quickly and I’ve charged it a little. Total monthly cost looks right now ( Ive had it installed about a week)but no individual cost for gas, only electric. And I’ve never been able to see the tariff information.

1 Attachment
T
Rank
Userlevel 4
Badge +1
Hi @tonyw707

It seems you have to be patient, and OVO eventually will sort it out. My IHD has now been working correctly and the website is correctly showing my usage for at least a month. The posts on this forum go a long way to explaining why it takes so long - unfortunately, there are a lot of government imposed systems involved in the SMETS2 jungle:
https://forum.ovoenergy.com/smart-meter-booking-and-installations-66/smart-meters-not-worth-the-pain-6858/index3.html

Don't desert OVO - they seem to be trying as hard as anyone to make it all work.

Tony
T
Rank
Hi @tony1tf

Thanks for the advice and the link above. The IHD seems to be working okay today since the reboot this morning so fingers crossed it’ll stay that way. I guess what’s most important is that the meters are correctly sending readings to OVO. Still, it’s a bit alarming to wake up and find out you’ve apparently spent £50 on gas you know you couldn’t possibly have used. Reminds me of when I had a brand new gas meter from Npower and the next month they charged me £13500 for the month because the readings had seemed to go around the clock haha
I’ll keep an eye on it and see how it goes. Thanks again

Tony
A
Rank

I have a Bulb account with a newly installed smart meter which has just stopped working completely after about two weeks. I started searching and found this forum and thread, and tried the fix mentioned in the first post. This is to let you know that the fix works for other meters! From the start the meter failed to show gas readings but was fixed within 2 to 3 days of complaining, although they never replied to my message other than an automated “did this help” message (which didn’t).

These things are so bad they are not worth the plastic they are moulded from.

Amy_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 6

I’m glad to here our forum offered you some help, @alan-c, please keep us in mind in the future as a potential supplier!

:grinning:

OVO-Joyed to help!
D
Rank

We moved into our new home early last year, we were previous Ovo customers, the supplier in our new home was British gas so we contacted Ovo to switch to them and did so on the 26/02/19 for a 2 year fixed rate plan. We were offered a smart meter by Ovo shortly after joining and our first meter was fitted on the 17/4/19, from this point until 21/1/20 we were not properly charged for electricity as the meter wasn't commissioned and it wasn't a dual rate meter it was a single rate. Our bills since have fluctuated quite heavily and it's quite difficult to know what's going on.. As for our IHD we are totally clueless as to what's going on, it won't show us any form of electricity usage, and the bills it is showing for us are extremely high (see photos) we have a wood burning stove at home so barely have the heating on yet we are being charged this much, can someone please look into this as I've made numerous calls to yourselves and still don't really know what's going on.

 

D
Rank

How long does it normally take to get a reply on here?

Amy_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 6

Hey @DanShelton83,  

The forum is user lead and therefore not the best place to get an instant or account specific response. I’ve popped your post here, there is a lot of handy info above regarding your IHD. Please reach out to the team they’ll be able to check over your billing.

You can send us a message on Facebook, Twitter and our Help Centre has online chat! You can reach our team on: 0330 303 5063.

 

Thanks! 

OVO-Joyed to help!

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