OpenEVSE no longer receives grid import/export via MQTT

I’ve had my OpenEVSE running for a while now and working successfully, including solar divert.

Recently, I noticed that it is no longer reporting the grid import/export value and instead always displays 0W. The charger should be receiving data via MQTT running on a Pi with Emoncms (with an emonTx). Checking mosquitto.log on the Pi I see some disconnections - though I’m not sure what’s normal:

1642535953: New client connected from 192.168.178.142 as openevse-9c4c (c0, k60, u'emonpi').
1642535955: Client openevse-9c4c disconnected.
1642535955: New connection from 192.168.178.142 on port 1883.
1642535955: Socket error on client <unknown>, disconnecting.
1642535960: New connection from 192.168.178.142 on port 1883.
1642535960: Socket error on client <unknown>, disconnecting.
1642535960: New connection from 192.168.178.142 on port 1883.
1642535960: Client openevse-9c4c disconnected.
1642535960: New client connected from 192.168.178.142 as openevse-9c4c (c0, k60, u'emonpi').
1642535982: Client openevse-9c4c disconnected.
1642535982: New connection from 192.168.178.142 on port 1883.
1642535982: Client openevse-9c4c disconnected.
1642535982: New client connected from 192.168.178.142 as openevse-9c4c (c0, k60, u'emonpi').
1642536838: Client openevse-9c4c disconnected.
1642536853: New connection from 192.168.178.142 on port 1883.

In the OpenEVSE web interface, it looks like it has a valid connection:

I’ve also tried using a topic from a emonTx shield but no luck.

Any help appreciated.

I am slightly confused as in you description you say you are getting the data from a Pi is this an EmonPi?
if so in the feeds you seem to have you are using emontx1 as the topic

John

Hi John,

The import/export feed comes from an emonTx, which is connected to a stardard Pi running Emoncms. So unless I’m mistaken, the data goes:

emonTx > Emoncms
Emoncms > openEVSE (by MQTT)

Hi,

doubt this is the problem but the only difference (apart from you are using a emonTx) is that my base topic field is emon/openevse not just openevse

John

I think that’s used for devices connecting TO the EVSE using MQTT, however I did try and change it anyway without success.

Mark

Looks like a network issue. Try restarting the AP it is connected to and the OpenEVSE.

You have reserved the IP Address in the AP/DHCP?

I finally got round to adding an extra AP closer to the charger to rule out any connection issue. Unfortunately still having the same problem.

EVSE is set to DHCP but the IP address has not changed since I installed it.

Missed out on lots of solar diversion with all the recent sun we’ve had :frowning:

What version of OpenEVSE WiFi are you running? There have been a number of connection and MQTT improvements recently: Releases · OpenEVSE/ESP32_WiFi_V4.x · GitHub

Thanks Glyn. I didn’t realise there had been quite so many updates - I’m currently on 4.0.1 (and 7.1.3.T2).

I’m guessing I’ve got a Huzzah ESP32 (unit purchased June 2021), is there a way to tell for certain?

Newer FW versions display the hardware info in the interface. Unfortunately, on your older version, the only way to check for sure is to open up the enclosure and take a look

Updated to 4.1.2 but unfortunately no improvement. When I reset the Wifi on the unit, it seems the timer (that shows time since last data received) goes back to 0. I don’t know if that’s relevant or not.

It should be updating every 10s, does MQTT still report as “connected?”

Yes MQTT is stilll showing as connected:

@glyn.hudson I now have a more pressing issue, level 2 charging is only show 6 or 7A as available charging rates. Level 1 shows 6-12A which I assume is normal.

I have tried rebooting the unit and changing with the car connected/not connected but to no avail.

When did this start? What firmware are you running on the OpenEVSE controller and WiFi? Could you share a screenshot?

On the 8th it was certainly charging at full whack, so it must have been in the last few days (after the wifi upgrade or a reboot?)

Mine does change to 6A on odd occasions, I just use the drop-down to put it back to 32A

John

Unfortunately I don’t have that option

I also just noticed that it’s showing the Voltage as 120V, part of the issue maybe?

I know nothing about it, but 120.00 (not 120.13 or something) is highly suspicious to me. It it were an emonTx or emonPi, it would mean it defaulted to the nominal value because it couldn’t detect the actual voltage.