evohome controller locking up

[mdf4068]

has any any one got any idea how to fix a problem I have with my evohome controller, over the last couple of months it randomly locks up and you cant do anything with it, also all control of the system also freezes, then after an hour or two it comes back but all of the zones are out of comms and the only way I can fix it is to factory reset it and start again from scratch :-( now its happening at least once a week and I'm getting a bit fed up with the continual reprogramming.

I guess it could be because it was one of the early controllers so is well and truly out of warranty now. but I would have expected it to have lasted longer than this.

[paulockenden]

Is it near to any other equipment? Or electrical switches? The Evohome design seems quite fragile when it comes to the RF side of things (hence the instruction that boiler relays need to be well separated, so eliminating interference as the cause of the lockups would be the first thing I'd try.

[DBMandrake]

Try the obvious things first - have you tried replacing the batteries ?

They are 2x AA rechargeable NiMH. Eventually they can wear out or they could be faulty.

Even if it is connected to power all the time its possible for faulty batteries to cause issues depending on how they and the internal charging circuit are connected.

[mdf4068]

Evohome controller lockup

Is it near to any other equipment? Or electrical switches? The Evohome design seems quite fragile when it comes to the RF side of things (hence the instruction that boiler relays need to be well separated, so eliminating interference as the cause of the lockups would be the first thing I'd try.

IT may be that it is caused by interference, as we have a lot of wireless networks in the house, wifi, zwave, zigbee, sonos , but these have been in place for a while and its only recently the evohome controller has started locking up.

Does anyone know of a way to take any RF diagnostics on the Evohome network to see if this the cause?

[paulockenden]

The only RF diagnostics available is the comms check. That doesn't report things like SnR.

But it's distance that seems to be the issue. Especially distance to other Evohome components (you need to ideally keep them a couple of feet apart). But also distance to other RF sources.

Having said that, my controller sits next to a DECT base station (1.9 Ghz) and that doesn't seem to cause any problems.

[DBMandrake]

I fail to see how a re-occuring hard system freeze is going to be caused by RF interference.

It's going to be a hardware problem or possibly corruption of the configuration files on the unit.

As I said, I'd try new (rechargable!) batteries first as that's the easiest thing to try, also check the condition of the spring battery contact as they have a tendency to get compressed flat and corroded. Mine went black with corrosion and was causing a problem - I had to scrape it clean.

If that doesn't help I'd do a complete system reset and set the unit up again from scratch. Musing over possible sources of interference is not going to solve this issue.

[paulockenden]

In your very humble opinion!

[G4RHL]

Electromagnetic noise can be a cause but I am not so sure with the control panel though. I have had “noise” affecting other wirelessly controlled devices but not the panel. When I had the issue it took me ages to realise what the problem was - a wireless relay within 3 feet of an electronic garage door control panel. My Evohome panel has sat for months on end alongside 3 other hubs all using wireless to control things but the Control Panel did not bat an eyelid. As suggested by DBMandrake check the batteries, the contacts, do a complete discharge of the batteries and a reset of the panel. If that does not work it sounds like a fault.

Ideally I would like to distance hubs from each other and the router but as for most of us it is not practical. It means longer cables everywhere. Were I to redesign/refit my study I think I would then consider distancing devices but...... I suppose I could put them all in the loft 3 meters away from each other with a network cable extender up there and one cable to the router!

Slightly off topic but it would interesting to read what research has been done and what the best advice is for having lots of Wi-Fi devices in proximity. PaulL your mag ever done such?

[DBMandrake]

In your very humble opinion!

Based on over 20 years of troubleshooting and repairing computers and electronic devices yes. Take it or leave it, I don't mind.

If there was a firmware problem allowing "RF interference" to crash Evotouch controllers we would have heard about it on here by now, but we haven't.

I don't think I've even seen one report of Evotouch's hard freezing prior to this ? For all their foibles, hard freezes doesn't seem to be one of their ailments.

Which leaves a corrupted configuration or more likely a hardware issue as the next most likely causes.

My money is still on the batteries or battery contacts as a real possibility as I have had problems with the battery contact on mine (although it caused random reboots through intermittent loss of power not hard freezes) and its troubleshooting 101 to rule out the simple and obvious things first like a power supply problem before looking for more esoteric explanations for a problem...

The battery contact for the positive terminal of the battery is not well designed - it's too flat so on some batteries the shoulder of the battery touching the plastic prevents a good connection from the actual battery terminal to the spring contact. Small differences in the protrusion of the battery terminal between different battery brands can be make or break because of this flaw.

[paulockenden]

Take it or leave it, I don't mind.

I was just having a laugh about your often quite brutal way with words Simon. But I can take it because I'm often accused of much the same myself! I think we both like to get our point across.

I haven't seen any other RF kit lock up due to interference either. But then again, I've never come across anything like a BDR91 before where it becomes unreliable if it's sitting a foot away from another one. And I was kind-of assuming that the RF design was much the same across the system (remember, there's also advice about moving the controller 1m away when pairing an HR92). So I don't think we're talking about 'normal' RF kit here.

On the other hand, you're probably right. As usual.... ;-) <-------

P.

[HenGus]

I have had the WiFi controller lock up once when I was using the App. I was about 30 minutes away from home and I made a selection and then realised that I had made a mistake. I selected the correct action and I came home to find an unresponsive controller. I removed the batteries for 30 seconds, replaced them and everything was fine. No need for a full re-set.