Comms Error to Heating Control at exactly the same time everyday

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  • Wonky
    Automated Home Jr Member
    • Sep 2016
    • 10

    Comms Error to Heating Control at exactly the same time everyday

    Hello,

    I had Evohome installed a few weeks ago. We've for HW and Boiler control relay linked into the latest wifi controller.

    I'm scratching my head a little bit as I'm getting a Comms Error with the Boiler relay at 16:46 every single day. You can set your clock by it. On the error log I'm also getting a Restore notification at 13:36 every day.

    It does not seem to have any impact on the system though. The heating is always off at the moment but I tried and override on a valve just after 16:46 and the boiler fires up as expected.

    FWIW the electrician has installed the HW and the Boiler relays too close together so I'm getting him back in to move them apart. But if this was the cause I'd expect more random drops ? Any ideas?

    Thanks
  • chrisgare
    Automated Home Guru
    • Dec 2013
    • 182

    #2
    Think about whether anything else is switched on in your home at around that time. Wide band RF interference is a big issue these days and the most likely culprit is a switching power supply such as those used on a note book, desktop PC or those infamous +12V down-lighters. Sounds like it could be the latter due to the time of day. Chris

    Comment

    • Wonky
      Automated Home Jr Member
      • Sep 2016
      • 10

      #3
      Originally posted by chrisgare View Post
      Think about whether anything else is switched on in your home at around that time. Wide band RF interference is a big issue these days and the most likely culprit is a switching power supply such as those used on a note book, desktop PC or those infamous +12V down-lighters. Sounds like it could be the latter due to the time of day. Chris
      Thanks - I can't think of anything that may be causing it along those lines . As far as I'm aware there's nothing else automated and it still happens when the house is empty - so it's not like the kids come home and flick the lights on in a certain room each day at the same time.

      Comment

      • DBMandrake
        Automated Home Legend
        • Sep 2014
        • 2361

        #4
        Is there any correlation between your hot water schedule and the Comms error on the boiler relay ? Does the comms error occur a certain number of hours after the hot water is scheduled to go on or off ?

        Your problem sounds more like a case of double binding of one of the BDR91's to me - probably due to a pre-bound BDR91 being bound to a different function without first clearing the previous binding during the installation.

        Multiple bindings on a BDR91 can cause periodic Comms failures in the log even though the relay appears to be working normally. When a binding is cleared it must be cleared at both the Evotouch and on the device itself before rebinding, especially if the function of the relay is being changed. (For example from boiler relay to hot water relay)

        I would clear both BDR91 bindings (at both ends) then rebind them as follows:

        1) Hold the button down on the boiler relay for 15 seconds until it goes from a slow flash to a fast flash. Do the same thing on the hot water relay. Both relays should keep flashing quickly to indicate the bindings are cleared.

        2) Go into the installer menu on the Evotouch (hold settings for 5 seconds) then choose System devices.

        3) Choose boiler control and change it to None then acknowledge the change.

        4) Choose stored hot water and change it to disabled, then acknowledge the change. Once you are back to the System devices screen it should say Boiler Control None, Stored Hot water Disabled.

        5) Go back to the main home screen, wait a minute then while the unit is removed from the charging stand remove a battery so that it powers off completely then reinsert the battery so that it starts up again.

        6) Go back into the installer menu, system devices, change boiler control back to wireless relay box, when prompted to bind the relay hold down the button on the correct BDR91 for 5 seconds until the flash changes to a slow flash then press the green binding button on the Evotouch. You'll know the binding succeeded when the LED on the BDR91 stops flashing slowly.

        7) Go into Stored hot water, change it to enabled, it will then ask you to first bind the hot water temperature sensor, do that first by holding down the binding button on the sensor, then when prompted bind the hot water BDR91 as above where you hold the button on the relay for 5 seconds before you press the green button on the evotouch. Again the LED on the BDR91 should stop flashing once the binding is successful.

        After that the two relays will be re-bound. Verify that the boiler and hot water relays are both working.

        See if that helps.
        Last edited by DBMandrake; 16 September 2016, 08:28 PM.

        Comment

        • HenGus
          Automated Home Legend
          • May 2014
          • 1001

          #5
          Originally posted by Wonky View Post
          Hello,

          I had Evohome installed a few weeks ago. We've for HW and Boiler control relay linked into the latest wifi controller.

          I'm scratching my head a little bit as I'm getting a Comms Error with the Boiler relay at 16:46 every single day. You can set your clock by it. On the error log I'm also getting a Restore notification at 13:36 every day.

          It does not seem to have any impact on the system though. The heating is always off at the moment but I tried and override on a valve just after 16:46 and the boiler fires up as expected.

          FWIW the electrician has installed the HW and the Boiler relays too close together so I'm getting him back in to move them apart. But if this was the cause I'd expect more random drops ? Any ideas?

          Thanks

          Hi - I have been away so I haven't been thread following for the past week.

          Are you referring to a loss of comms to the HW sensor? This isn't the same as a loss of comms to the HW actuator (BDR 91)

          If it is the former, then it is worth reporting this to Evohome UK as I have reported a loss of sensor comms which. initially, occurred at exactly the same time each day (but not every day) and which now have become more random. I have only been getting this particular error following a change to the V3 Wifi controller.

          Comment

          • Wonky
            Automated Home Jr Member
            • Sep 2016
            • 10

            #6
            hi - no its comms loss on the BDR91 Boiler relay.

            Comment

            • Wonky
              Automated Home Jr Member
              • Sep 2016
              • 10

              #7
              Thanks, I've done this and wonder if I've figured out the issue while doing it.

              If binding the Heating Relay first when I then bind the Hot Water and select the '2 or 3 Port Valve' Option it automatically steps to another bind of the Heating Relay after binding the Hot Water has completed. I wonder if this was the double binding issue?
              So i've selected the Heating first but didn't bind the relay (went for the 'do it later' option). Then completed the Hot Water (2/3 Port option) and then the heating at the end of the HW binding process.

              This all seems to be working as expected so far so we'll see what happens at 16:46 and the comms issue

              Thanks for the help so far!

              Comment

              • HenGus
                Automated Home Legend
                • May 2014
                • 1001

                #8
                Originally posted by Wonky View Post
                hi - no its comms loss on the BDR91 Boiler relay.
                BDR comms issues can be difficult to resolve. I ended up having to move both my BDRs well away from anything metal/electrical to resolve my initial BDR comms issues. I agree that it is worth clearing the binding from the BDR and the controller.

                Some good advice Above about how to delete the HW from the controller. It takes no time. I did a full HW relay clear and re-bind this morning after replacing the HW transceiver.

                Comment

                • Wonky
                  Automated Home Jr Member
                  • Sep 2016
                  • 10

                  #9
                  Quick update - several days have gone by and all is well. No recurrence of the issue.

                  Thanks

                  Comment

                  • Tractorboy
                    Automated Home Jr Member
                    • Nov 2015
                    • 22

                    #10
                    Last Monday I replaced my 2nd Generation Evotouch controller (colour screen & separate internet gateway) with the latest controller (integrated internet gateway & electric zones). Have spent all week trying to solve the "comms fault at same time every day" fault. Thanks Wonky, your 3:59pm post on 17 September 2016 solved the problem for me too. I knew the physical installation of BDR91s and Hot Water Temperature sensor previously worked faultlessly for years, so the fault must have been a configuration fault.

                    The control panel reported the comms fault about 6 hours after I did a heating BDR91 and hot water BDR91.

                    At around 10:30pm last night I followed your instruction: "...selected the Heating first but didn't bind the relay (went for the 'do it later' option). Then completed the Hot Water (2/3 Port option) and then the heating at the end of the HW binding process."
                    I expected to be greeted by the on screen "comms fault" report this morning. But so far, no more faults, and nearly 24hours have passed. So big thank you for reporting your experience.

                    (Fingers are, however, still crossed!)

                    Comment

                    • G4RHL
                      Automated Home Legend
                      • Jan 2015
                      • 1580

                      #11
                      Am sure I read somewhere when I set up my system over 4 years ago that the instructions are to configure the hot water first. Must check the manual.

                      Comment

                      • Tractorboy
                        Automated Home Jr Member
                        • Nov 2015
                        • 22

                        #12
                        Guilty! I've just looked at the evohome installation guide (2014 edition) and in the "Step 3: Power up & bind devices" the sequence is:
                        HR92Rad controllers...
                        CS92Wireless Cylinder Stat...
                        BDR91 to control boiler...
                        R8810OpenTherm Bridge...
                        BDR91to control Zone Valve...
                        HR80Radiator Controller...
                        HCE80 or HCC80...Underfloor heating controller...
                        HM80Mixing Valve Controller

                        When I replaced my old evotouch controller with the new one, I prepared a scheme of work:
                        Remove all rad valves.
                        Replace batteries in all Rad Valves and unbind
                        Unbind 2 x BDR91 (Boiler and Hot water)
                        Replace batteries in Cylinder stat and unbind
                        Replace batteries in 3x DTS92 and unbind

                        I then followed the guided configuration on the new controller - but must have, somewhere along the line, made an error, because on completion, although everything seemed to work and all RF tests were good, about 6 hours later I got my first "Comms Fault - Boiler Relay."

                        I then had a few days of problems and didn't record in detail my actions, but by and large it involved rebinding either the boiler relay and/or the hot water relay and/or the cylinder stat in various - and I must admit, increasingly frustrated combinations and sequences. I had to wait approx 6 hours between each rebind to see if the comms fault reappeared - and it was only after reading wonky's contribution that I has success.

                        So... only myself to blame, but maybe the importance of "hot water before boiler" should be better highlighted.

                        Comment

                        • G4RHL
                          Automated Home Legend
                          • Jan 2015
                          • 1580

                          #13
                          It has all come back to me! It’s a mistake I remember I made back in December 2014. I then started from scratch again with a clean slate and followed the instructions line by line. Richard from The Evohome Shop had produced a better guidance, probably still somewhere in this forum, which was/is very helpful.

                          Comment

                          • The EVOHOME Shop
                            Site Sponsor
                            • Dec 2014
                            • 483

                            #14
                            Originally posted by G4RHL View Post
                            It has all come back to me! It’s a mistake I remember I made back in December 2014. I then started from scratch again with a clean slate and followed the instructions line by line. Richard from The Evohome Shop had produced a better guidance, probably still somewhere in this forum, which was/is very helpful.
                            Nice to see some of my old material being referenced!

                            Comment

                            • Tractorboy
                              Automated Home Jr Member
                              • Nov 2015
                              • 22

                              #15
                              Originally posted by The EVOHOME Shop View Post
                              Nice to see some of my old material being referenced!
                              Any chance of a link to the guidance G4HRL mentions please? Started trawling Evohome Shop's 478 posts... but, well, it may take a long time!

                              Comment

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