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jewelie
Rank 4
jewelie
Rank 4
March 14, 2022
Solved

Chameleon In Home Display (IHD) 3 stopped receiving Aclara S2 electricity smart meter usage info?

  • March 14, 2022
  • 38 replies
  • 1804 views

(Dammit, due to a mix of bad luck, confusing UI issues with the zoomed-in responsive page layout, the post-editing time window, and forgetting to select all plus copy before hitting post, I’ve just lost the content of this post now 3 times…. aaarrrgggh)

Forgive me for I have sinned… I used to be a regular on the forums here but haven’t posted in over a year, sorry.  Glad to see @Transparent is still around and that there’s others volunteering here also.  :)

 

TL;DR  Like some other posters here, I seem to have lost electric info on our IHD

 

We’ve had our gas and electric smart meters for a few yeas now, for the last year things have been working fine.

Sometime in the last few months our IHD stopped displaying electric info.  The IHD does display info about our current and historic gas usage plus gas meter info, but the gas tariff info is now missing and there’s nothing about the electric supply/usage/meter on it at all any more.

 

Equipment

  • SMETS2
  • Installed via OVO a few years ago (not inhereted from previous supplier)
  • Gas meter (can’t remember, can’t easily get to it to check right now)
  • Aclara SGM1412-B Electric Meter
  • Toshiba SKU1 Cellular Hub
  • Chameleon IHD3-PPMID in home display

 

Diagnostics

  • Website/app seem to be getting frequent usage information uploads from the meters suggesting good  meters → hub → DCC → OVO  communications
  • On the hub, all LEDs except the MESH one flash every 5 seconds -- as they’re supposed to
  • Time is always accurate on the IHD whenever I’ve looked
  • The signal strength indicator on the IHD is always solid, although not very strong; however, it’s been like that for the past year or so, whilst working fine.  Nothing new getting in the way or blocking the signal. No new devices nearby that might interfere etc. For the last couple of days I’ve relocated it nearer to get a better signal, for testing purposes.
  • I’ve turned the IHD off for a while (and have done the 10-second reboot thing.)

 

Question

I’ve already phoned it in to OVO and have received the standard response about it taking up to 45 days to be addressed by the technical crew.  Reading others’ experiences with this issue on this forum, I don’t hold out much hope of a fix any time soon. which is a real pain as we’re desperate to start adapting our behaviours to reduce our energy usage which means needing easy access to current usage info.

Is there anything more I can do to help get this fixed?

(I’m a techie with some electronics and lots of computer knowledge.  I was asked about becoming a volunteer here in the past but life got in the way unfortunately.)

 

The IHD that’s not playing ball
The electric meter and hub
The IHD model info
The meter install.  I had to post this as I caught the LEDs mid flash, what are the chances of that?  And no, I’ve no idea what’s going to happen when any of the neighours in this block of flat decide they’d like smart meters too -- which idiot thought it would be clever to squeeze all of these meters  into one small box huh?

 

    Best answer by Jess_OVO

    Updated on 19/07/24 by Shads_OVO

    Welcome back, @jewelie!

     

    Thank you firstly for raising a really great point about the layout of our ‘Post a topic’ page, @Tim_OVO has already put your feedback in action and made some adjustments to this page to the avoid the same confusion in future.

     

    Looks like you may be experiencing a similar loss of usage data that we see reported here by other users, in case you hadn’t spotted it we’ve put together a bit of initial trouble-shooting which might help get things back on track:
     

     

    Our smart team may also be able to suggest some remote processes which sometimes help in advance of us reporting the issue to the DCC, so we’d encourage you to follow this up with the Support Team if the tips above don’t manage to sort it.

     

    Hope this helps.

    38 replies

    Show previous replies
    G
    Newcomer
    Gonger65
    Newcomer
    February 6, 2023

    Hi,

            I had a smart meter fitted on Friday 3/02/23 for gas and electricity. I have an IHD3 energy monitor as of this afternoon has stopped communicating with the Smart meter, so I have no information with regard to usage etc, which was the idea of having a Smart Meter!!.

    I have logged onto my online account and have noticed that there is no indication that I have a Smart meter fitted and the webpage is asking for readings for my Old meters. 

    The lights on the smart meter flash green periodically apart from MESH.

    Any ideas, I am starting to regret getting a new meter installed.

     

    Mark 

     

    BPLightlog
    Super User
    BPLightlogSuper User
    Super User
    February 6, 2023

    The communication between the smart meters, IHD and main data hub takes a while to settle down. You could try to move the IHD closer to the electricity meter to see if it can pick up a signal again. 
    The main thing will be to make sure you get your meter ID swapped on your account .. presumably you have the last readings from the old meters

    Bring me Sunshine ~ E&E {Solar PV, Battery Storage, Hybrid EV, ASHP and Home Assistant automation}
    G
    Newcomer
    Gonger65
    Newcomer
    February 6, 2023

    Hi,

         Thanks for your reply. Yes I did make note of the last meter readings from the old meters.

    The engineer that installed the meters said he had sent the last readings to OVO, so i assumed that a the new meter ID would be changed automatically!!

     

    Thanks

     

    Mark 

    BPLightlog
    Super User
    BPLightlogSuper User
    Super User
    February 6, 2023

    …

    The engineer that installed the meters said he had sent the last readings to OVO, so i assumed that a the new meter ID would be changed automatically!!

     

    It should be but best to keep track. Of course they don’t work weekends so it might still be in progress 

    Bring me Sunshine ~ E&E {Solar PV, Battery Storage, Hybrid EV, ASHP and Home Assistant automation}
    J
    Newcomer
    Jamesons
    Newcomer
    November 29, 2023

    Hi 

    We have just moved home and the new house has previously been supplied by EON as their services provider. The house contains a SMART meter as supplied by EON.

    We have taken out a two year deal with OVO which I believe includes a free SMART meter and installation along with instruction and or demonstration for useage.  I have  been told by an OVO consultant that all SMART meters are compatable and that we will be expected to use the EON version (not what is advertised by yourselves) I find this strange that OVO would be happy for me to be advertising EON rather than themselves, however should that be the case and more importantly the main point is that no demonstration or instruction would be offered other than to access this forum? We are new to the SMART meter and would be very keen to learn more. Having looked at the example of one shown on this portal it does not appear to be the same in layout to the one we have inherited?

    Any advice would be gratefully received.

    BPLightlog
    Super User
    BPLightlogSuper User
    Super User
    November 29, 2023

    Hi @Jamesons , presumably you’re talking about your IHD (in home display) rather than the smart meter itself. Generally these units are in continuous use after installation. Which unit do you have?

    Bring me Sunshine ~ E&E {Solar PV, Battery Storage, Hybrid EV, ASHP and Home Assistant automation}
      J
      Newcomer
      Jamesons
      Newcomer
      November 30, 2023

      Hi BPLightlog

      After much searching the unit is a Chameleon SEDv3.

       

      BPLightlog
      Super User
      BPLightlogSuper User
      Super User
      November 30, 2023

      This is the Chameleon webpage with guides identified. 
      https://chameleontechnology.co.uk/inhomedisplayhelp/

      There are also videos available (they work the same, whoever the supplier).
      https://youtu.be/DRS5xhRGTkI

      Your note of an SED v3 is probably an IHD3 version. See here for some other notes on that 

       

       

      Bring me Sunshine ~ E&E {Solar PV, Battery Storage, Hybrid EV, ASHP and Home Assistant automation}
        Jeffus
        Rank 20
        Jeffus
        Rank 20
        November 30, 2023

        See if this helps

         

          Firedog
          Super User
          FiredogSuper User
          Super User
          November 30, 2023

          After much searching the unit is a Chameleon SEDv3.

           

          That looks to be an old model. There was one, vintage 2016, at auction on Ebay a few minutes ago:
            


           Look familiar?

          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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            Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement

            OVO Energy Ltd, Floor 5, Crescent, Temple Back, Redcliffe, BS1 6EZ, (Company no. 06890795) registered in England and Wales.

            OVO (S) Gas Limited is registered in England and Wales (Company No. 02716495) at Floor 5, Crescent, Temple Back, Redcliffe, BS1 6EZ.

            OVO (S) Gas Limited is part of OVO Group Ltd