Balance charge??

[Bumblebee]

Hi all, So been about a month now since venturing into the EV route and so far enjoying the experience of my MG4.
One question I hope someone can help with.
I have a Zappi on IOG, all working fine, how do you know if the charge instigated by IOG has balanced charged the battery?
Does IOG it do it automatically or is it controlled by the car? Many thanks.

 

[Jomarkh]

Hi, a battery balance on my MG5 is done once the car has reached 100% and then left connected. The car draws about 200-300W until it is finished.
Depending on your battery type it could be done at 100% or 80% if you set that in the car. With IOG it is difficult to tell as you can't watch the IHD to see what's being used. I set IOG to take it to 80-90% when I know that I won't use it much the next day then add more the next night to take it well past 100%. I hope that makes sense.

 

[dsimpkins]

Hi all, So been about a month now since venturing into the EV route and so far enjoying the experience of my MG4.
One question I hope someone can help with.
I have a Zappi on IOG, all working fine, how do you know if the charge instigated by IOG has balanced charged the battery?
Does IOG it do it automatically or is it controlled by the car? Many thanks.

It will do it, but only if you charge to 100% (based on your profile you have a Trophy LR) If you charge to 80% (not long trip mode) then it won't balance charge. SE SR has different battery tech so balance charges every time.

 

[Bumblebee]

Hi, a battery balance on my MG5 is done once the carchas reached 100% and then left connected. The car draws about 200-300w until it is finished.
Depending on your battery type it could be done at 100% or 80% if you set that in the car. With IOG it is difficult to tell as you can't watch the IHD to see what's being used. I set IOG to take it to 80-90% when I know that I won't use it much the next day then add more the next night to take it well past 100%. I hope that makes sense.

Thanks Jomarkh, yes that does make sense, will look into the car settings.

 

[Bumblebee]

It will do it, but only if you charge to 100% (based on your profile you have a Trophy LR) If you charge to 80% (not long trip mode) then it won't balance charge. SE SR has different battery tech so balance charges every time.

Thanks dismpkins, Ok so need to charge to 100% at least every other charge I guess??

 

[Rolfe]

You can see on the Zappi app if it's done it.

Last night I plugged in just with the Zappi's own schedule, and when the charge had started I saw the car was due to be full about 5.15. That wasn't going to be enough to balance before the end of the cheap rate period, but balancing takes hardly any power anyway. So (lying in bed) I altered the Zappi schedule by adding 5.15 for an hour in to the timings, to make sure there was enough balancing time. In the morning I saw that the car had finished charging about 5.25 but had gone on balancing well beyond six. Actually now I look at it it maybe hadn't finished by whatever time I set the schedule to stop at, but it usually only takes half an hour. Anyway, it got a decent balance.

 

[Bumblebee]

So I'm guessing then that the Zappi while charging on IOG will not necessarily balance the battery automatically as IOG will only charge to the amount required and stop.
So say the battery is at 60% and I set IOG to 30% of charge taking the battery up to 90% then the battery will not be balanced.
But if I set the IOG to 45% of charge then car will stop taking a charge when it reaches100% then goes into a balance charge, what is dictating when the battery has completed its balance charge and then stops charging, the car or IOG?
Would it be worth charging the following night on the granny charger within the lower rate just to balance the battery?
I know it is important to make sure the battery is properly balanced!!

 

[Rolfe]

I find that IOG generally allows sufficient time for my SR battery to balance, although I think that's probably just them making sure there's plenty time to get to 100% rather than specifically thinking about balancing. However, if a slot ends while the car is balancing, I don't think it picks up again when the next slot starts.

You should be OK if you ask for a bit more than you actually need (or have set the car to accept).

When I was unsure that the car had been allowed to balance for whatever reason, I took the empties to the bottle ban a mile away, which brought the battery back to 98%, then as you say, plugged in the granny charger to take it back to 100% and balance. (Given that this is only 1 kwh or so, it's arguably not even worth waiting for the off-peak rate, and if I did it during the day it would take it from my home battery anyway, so a notional 15p rather than the peak rate.)

 

[Bumblebee]

I find that IOG generally allows sufficient time for my SR battery to balance, although I think that's probably just them making sure there's plenty time to get to 100% rather than specifically thinking about balancing. However, if a slot ends while the car is balancing, I don't think it picks up again when the next slot starts.

You should be OK if you ask for a bit more than you actually need (or have set the car to accept).

When I was unsure that the car had been allowed to balance for whatever reason, I took the empties to the bottle ban a mile away, which brought the battery back to 98%, then as you say, plugged in the granny charger to take it back to 100% and balance. (Given that this is only 1 kwh or so, it's arguably not even worth waiting for the off-peak rate, and if I did it during the day it would take it from my home battery anyway, so a notional 15p rather than the peak rate.)

Yes I think you are right, not worth the bother and charge during the day just to top up and Ballance charge. Thanks for the advice

 

[Rolfe]

Remember you can see what has happened on the MyEnergi app, and how long the car has balanced for. If it stopped before the end of the charging schedule, you're good. (So long as it wasn't cut short by the end of one of Octopus's discontinuous slots.)

 

[Bumblebee]

Remember you can see what has happened on the MyEnergi app, and how long the car has balanced for. If it stopped before the end of the charging schedule, you're good. (So long as it wasn't cut short by the end of one of Octopus's discontinuous slots.)

Yes good point I will check Myenergi app tomorrow, I think I did see a message, something like "charge not complete". So zappi could have stopped short of completing its charge. Just pay more attention in future.

 

[Rolfe]

You might find it easier to turn off smart charging for a bit, and just use the Zappi's schedule in the off-peak period. So long as you do the occasional smart charge, Octopus will be OK with it. Doing it like that will give you more control and make it easier to see what's happening.

 

[dsimpkins]

Thanks dismpkins, Ok so need to charge to 100% at least every other charge I guess??

Once a month would usually be fine. Depends on how many miles, and how much rapid charging you do. If you are doing lots of long journeys for instance. If you forget, the car will tell you when it needs a balance charge.

 

[Bumblebee]

Ok that's good to know. To be fair I only do sort trips at the moment but hopefully in the new year I will be doing more miles 30-40 mile a day.
Myenergy app only shows a broad log of usage and not that detailed, so trying to monitor if it has done a balance charge is difficult. It used to show details of the charge does not do that now for some reason, also IOC shows me my usage 2 days later, useless!!

 

[dsimpkins]

Once a month should be more than adequate based on what you've said above.

 

[Rolfe]

Ok that's good to know. To be fair I only do sort trips at the moment but hopefully in the new year I will be doing more miles 30-40 mile a day.
Myenergy app only shows a broad log of usage and not that detailed, so trying to monitor if it has done a balance charge is difficult. It used to show details of the charge does not do that now for some reason, also IOC shows me my usage 2 days later, useless!!

The graph of charging at the bottom of the Zappi page should let you see if it's balanced.

 

[Bumblebee]

Hi Rolfe, is this a typical image for the graph?

 

[Rolfe]

Yes, but you need to select "Today" or "Yesterday" to get the graph at a scale where you can actually see it. It's even better if you maximise the graph to the phone screen. Do that, then if you look carefully on the right side of the obvious charge time, you should see a thin blue line that's just above the x-axis, lasting for maybe half an hour, but it can vary quite a bit especially in the Trophy. There should be that fainter blue shading above the line too.

I managed to screenshot mine from yesterday.

You can see why I'm wondering whether it completed balancing as the end of the charging schedule I set was 6.15 am. I thought it would be enough but maybe it wasn't.

 

[Bumblebee]

That’s my problem, i do not see todays usage until two days later, not being updated in real time. Thanks for your image, that is what I use to get, I can see your battery being balanced at the end. Need to speak with Octopus to find out why I have a two day wait to see usage!!

 

[Slipstream]

That’s my problem, i do not see todays usage until two days later, not being updated in real time. Thanks for your image, that is what I use to get, I can see your battery being balanced at the end. Need to speak with Octopus to find out why I have a two day wait to see usage!!

Easy answer just granny charge it once a month when cars at 100%.