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Chameleon In Home Display (IHD) lost connection with smart meters - Any tips to get reconnected?

Forum|Forum|8 years ago
November 17, 2017
85 replies
30343 views

Hi, 5 days ago my IHD began showing lost connection. It had been working perfectly since install in September.

I’ve read on this forum that it could be to do with no mobile reception but we have that and can tell by the WAN red light flashing frequently on the elec meter. (Plus it worked perfectly before).

Does the IHD need repairing with the smart meter?

Thanks
Will

Best answer by tony1tf

Updated on 08/10/25 by Ben_OVO

If you’ve noticed an issue with your Chameleon In-Home Display or the communication of your smart meters follow the advice below to help get any technical bugs ironed out! :bug:

If the IHD has been working as it should, but has suddenly stopped showing usage data, then the best thing to do is contact our Support Team and request that they run an ‘XJOIN’. This is a remote request we send to the IHD to get it showing the usage again. You can find the contact information below:

Newly installed Smart meters?

Whilst most devices are up and running from the date your new meters are installed, it’s not unusual for them to lose some data or experience teething issues as we carry out the initial work to get everything up and running.

We’d recommend keeping the IHD plugged in close to your electricity meter if you notice any issues during the first 6 weeks following a smart meter installation. Hopefully things should start working as expected once the smart meters are fully updated on your account but, if not, read on to check our next trouble-shooting steps.

Checking the smart meter connection (WAN) via your online account or OVO App

Been over 6 weeks since the smart meters we’re installed and you’re still noticing issues with your Chameleon device ? - It’s time to start doing some investigating! First place to check is your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS). If we’ve lost connection to your smart meters for over 5 days you may see this message on your home-screen:

Been over 6 weeks since the smart meters we’re installed and you’re still noticing issues with your Chameleon device? - It’s time to start doing some investigating! First place to check is your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS). If we’ve lost connection to your smart meters for over 5 days you may should see a message on screen asking for a reading.

In this case the best next steps would be to carry out a smart meter health check for your meter type below and forward the results on to our Support Team:

Once any communication issues with your meters are resolved, we’ll be able to get your IHD connected and showing your usage data again too!

DIY steps to help with issues with your Home-Area Network (HAN)

Checked your online account and no ongoing smart meter communication issues to see? In this case it’s more likely to be an issue with the connection between the device itself and the smart meters (also known as the HAN). The In-Home Display connects to your smart meters via the communications hub attached to your electricity meter, so it sometimes helps to move your IHD closer to your electricity meter to help it re-gain connection. It’s best to leave the IHD in this new spot and try re-booting the device after 24 hours (a classic turning off and on again move), sometimes this simple step will do the trick!

Contacting our Support Team

Can’t get things back on track with the above steps? Not to worry - our Support Team can help get the issue escalated to our Smart metering team for further investigations.

Before you get in touch it’s best to complete the following IHD health check so we can make sure we’ve got all the information we need to carrying out some remote processes to get the IHD re-connected:

Does the device show a correct time and date?
Is the WiFi symbol solid/flashing/not there?
Could you confirm the Device ID? (Long ID number on the bottom of device)
How far away from your electricity meter do you store your IHD? Are there any walls in between that could be blocking the signal?
What is the issue with your IHD? E.g. not showing electricity/gas usage, displays incorrect tariff, device is rebooting itself?
Please confirm if your device is an IHD3 (black all over) or IHD6 (black on the front and white on the back)
If your IHD is showing incorrect rates: what rates does your IHD currently show? Are the rates shown on the IHD higher or lower than your actual rates?

Your responses to these questions can be forwarded to our Support Team (we’d recommend via live chat which you can access at the bottom of this page) who’ll let you know the next steps.

Another way to check your usage

So long as we’re in communication with your smart meters themselves, don’t forget you can always keep an eye on your usage data by checking the ‘Usage’ pages of your online account, whilst we get the IHD issues sorted. Check out the great guide below for an introduction to the usage info you can see here:

OVO member but not got a smart meter yet? - Book today!

Interested but not yet an OVO member? - Check out our plans!

Show previous replies

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GrumpyTrucker

Rank 5

It might not help on this but both the ivie and the Chameleon (IHD3) can get stuck when rebooting.
You might have already tried but it’s worth removing power from both devices for several minutes and then reconnecting. It’s possible that they’ve become disconnected in an unusual state and need internal levels to be allowed to revert to a standard off state

Unplugged them for half hour or so but sadly both are still the same after plugging back in. Hopefully it'll sort itself out. If not, it's onto OVO again. I don't know if the communication hub can be replaced without the whole meter, but it does seem odd that the WAN is working and it's just the HAN that's "dead".

Blastoise186

Super User

The Comms Hub is always hot-swappable on SMETS2 without replacing any other component - the designers considered that possibility!

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way! Remember, I'm just like you - AI Powered Evil Geniuses aren't Staff!

Firedog

Super User

This little tool might reveal something wrong: homebrew.n3rgy.com. Put in your MPAN and tick the tiny confirmation box before clicking Check meter. Don’t worry about any warnings about certificate expiry - they don’t matter. You’re looking particularly for warnings or errors in respect of the In-Home Display.

Noel | I have no official status; I'm just a volunteer who comes here to help other customers. My gear: Aclara SGM 1416-B Electricity-only E7 meter; Chameleon IHD3-PPMID-AAA | It may look as if I know what I’m talking about, but don’t let that fool you. |

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GrumpyTrucker

Rank 5

Just a quick update before work. Looked at the meter this morning and both the WAN and HAN lights are blinking green in unison roughly every 5 seconds which if memory serves is normal?

BPLightlog

Super User

Just a quick update before work. Looked at the meter this morning and both the WAN and HAN lights are blinking green in unison roughly every 5 seconds which if memory serves is normal?

That’s correct

Bring me Sunshine ~ E&E {Solar PV, Battery Storage, Hybrid EV, ASHP and Home Assistant automation}

Firedog

Super User

... both the WAN and HAN lights are blinking green in unison roughly every 5 seconds which if memory serves is normal?

A little aide memoire (if the link works 🙂) : Technical information on UK SMETS 2 Smart Meters

Noel | I have no official status; I'm just a volunteer who comes here to help other customers. My gear: Aclara SGM 1416-B Electricity-only E7 meter; Chameleon IHD3-PPMID-AAA | It may look as if I know what I’m talking about, but don’t let that fool you. |

G

GrumpyTrucker

Rank 5

This little tool might reveal something wrong: homebrew.n3rgy.com. Put in your MPAN and tick the tiny confirmation box before clicking Check meter. Don’t worry about any warnings about certificate expiry - they don’t matter. You’re looking particularly for warnings or errors in respect of the In-Home Display.

No errors on anything, just a warning that the security certificate on the Electric meter will expire soon.

IHDs are still not connecting. Ah well, guess it's the minefield of OVO support soon at this rate.

Wouldn't be so bad if the OVO site at least gave a daily cost in the cost column on the usage page, but that seems too difficult for them.

Firedog

Super User

OK, thanks.

No errors on anything, just a warning that the security certificate on the Electric meter will expire soon.

IHDs are still not connecting.

Odd. I thought he tool queried the IHD (e.g. to get its GUID), but perhaps it only checks what information the CH has stored for it. Anyway, if there was a problem with connecting to the IHD, the tool would say so and even give a reason. That’s apparently not the case here.

Have you checked for interference? All sorts of stuff may be using the same band as the HAN: in-house devices connected to wifi, baby alarms, garage door openers, smart fridges and so on. The IHD will usually look for the best (least busy) channel to operate on, but may not find it. To test, disconnect anything (including the wifi router) that might be using the 2.4 GHz band, then try rebooting the IHD again (unplug, remove batteries, wait a few minutes, then re-insert batteries and plug in again).

What devices did you find? Any joy?

Noel | I have no official status; I'm just a volunteer who comes here to help other customers. My gear: Aclara SGM 1416-B Electricity-only E7 meter; Chameleon IHD3-PPMID-AAA | It may look as if I know what I’m talking about, but don’t let that fool you. |

Blastoise186

Super User

This little tool might reveal something wrong: homebrew.n3rgy.com. Put in your MPAN and tick the tiny confirmation box before clicking Check meter. Don’t worry about any warnings about certificate expiry - they don’t matter. You’re looking particularly for warnings or errors in respect of the In-Home Display.

No errors on anything, just a warning that the security certificate on the Electric meter will expire soon.

IHDs are still not connecting. Ah well, guess it's the minefield of OVO support soon at this rate.

Wouldn't be so bad if the OVO site at least gave a daily cost in the cost column on the usage page, but that seems too difficult for them.

It does - view it via Monthly view and you get the Daily costs.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way! Remember, I'm just like you - AI Powered Evil Geniuses aren't Staff!

Abby_OVO

Community Manager

Hi @GrumpyTrucker

Sorry to hear you’re still having issues with your IHDs.

Unfortunately, as we don’t have access to accounts here at the Forum, you’ll need to get in touch with the Support Team so they can run a few things remotely.

Keep us updated with how you get on.

Currently Playing: She's Electric

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