Issues with Vaillant connectivity via the MyCONNECT gateway - Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHPs)

RE: Issues with Vaillant connectivity via the MyCONNECT gateway

dr_dongle — Sat, 04 May 2024 08:44:55 +0000

@drew-pa I don't know about hard work! It is pretty clear now that the problem never was with the app but I parachuted in as a complete newbie into a perfect storm. There were local networking problems, then competing installation instructions from the App and from Android, things in the manual that were, then weren't in the App, figures, screens and links that appeared and disappeared and apparently unrelated things that didn't work. I think Vaillaint had server problems that started about the day I arrived and the app is where they showed up. Once I realised from forums such as this that it wasn't just me and once I got my head around it all then the picture became clearer. A clincher was probing the system *not* from via the app and finding that the information was missing there as well.

RE: Issues with Vaillant connectivity via the MyCONNECT gateway

Drew Pa — Fri, 03 May 2024 22:42:45 +0000

That’s awesome news, well done the hard work paid off.

if there is anything I can help with regarding the info in the app please holler and I’ll see what I can come up with for you. It’s not a bad app, they regularly update the app at the moment as they are trying to bring more functionality

drew

RE: Issues with Vaillant connectivity via the MyCONNECT gateway

dr_dongle — Fri, 03 May 2024 21:50:30 +0000

@drew-pa It's all working! At about 4:15 pm today (UTC+1) everything sprang into life. Energy graphs appeared, a couple of stuck values and the energy information calendar started updating and a couple of new values such as the COP appeared. Someone obviously fixed something for which congratulations and thanks.

The next challenge is understanding the energy data.

RE: Issues with Vaillant connectivity via the MyCONNECT gateway

dr_dongle — Mon, 29 Apr 2024 16:12:26 +0000

@drew-pa I have given up on the app - right now it is showing no information at all and there are no working controls. There is something very wrong with this app, my configuration, my hardware or some combination of all of those. Even if it is still trying to load data then (design suggestion) the fields and screens should still be there but greyed out, not just random permutations of screens, links and data that appear and disappear. I still don't know what a working system should look like and this has taken up way too much of my time. I'll use HomeAssistant for some of this and the wall unit for the rest.

RE: Issues with Vaillant connectivity via the MyCONNECT gateway

dr_dongle — Mon, 29 Apr 2024 10:02:28 +0000

Drew Pa As you say, once you to ignore the big Android pop-ups then the setup is pretty straightforward and not dissimilar from other WiFi-only products which need you to connect to a temporary network momentarily.

I think the way forward is to get Vaillant and/or my installer to probe my system with whatever tools they have. The important thing is to establish whether it is just the app (annoying) or whether it is the gateway/controller (big problem when talking to OvO till fixed). Thanks for the offer re: photos - that has already resolved one issue. Here's a conundrum though - the first ever time I ran the app you *could* alter the heat curve and there was a little graph but I never ever saw it again.

RE: Issues with Vaillant connectivity via the MyCONNECT gateway

Drew Pa — Sun, 28 Apr 2024 23:34:08 +0000

Oh dear, it sounds like a bit of a pickle. The struggle is real.

FWIW, ours has been pretty darn good. The app is very slick, it does lack functionality(heat curve is one), but they are continually updating it. I think they have kept it simple to prevent people inadvertently changing settings, makes sense I guess.

As for the setup it was quite easy if I remember. When doing the setup, you do need to connection your phone to the units Wi-Fi, to then allow it to connect to your home Wi-Fi( it’s been a while since I did it sorry).

if you would like more photos of the app etc just let me know.

RE: Issues with Vaillant connectivity via the MyCONNECT gateway

dr_dongle — Sun, 28 Apr 2024 22:42:04 +0000

@Drew Pa No, mine is a new installation so I have no idea what the app should look like because it has yet to work properly. The installer (and so I) was expecting a wired connection and the location is in a WiFi black spot. I fixed up something so as not to give the installer a wasted journey but we had all kinds of network issues. Then at the point where the app switched to the Gateway's temp network and back again I was getting instructions from Android to "connect" which I clicked-on but which conflicted with what the installation was telling me. I eventually realised this and ignored the Android prompts. Connection is sorted now (I think) but after a lot of false starts.

ASHP has been running since 5 April and Gateway network issues were resolved by 16 April. As I say, I have no idea what any of this should look like so it is hard to identify what issues are actually bugs and what are known features such as not having any energy usage graphs or the COP value after 12 days. "System view > AroTHERM Plus" within Energy information correctly lists the serial number but the running time and on/off cycles don't update. "Select Range > Days" in Energy information gives a calendar for April 16 which can't be altered. No-one has offered any useful suggestions, I feel like I'm beta-testing all of this and I'm really unimpressed with it all.

RE: Issues with Vaillant connectivity via the MyCONNECT gateway

Drew Pa — Sun, 28 Apr 2024 22:16:02 +0000

If we go to the control section of the app we get the options listed in the attached pic. We’ve never had the option to modify the curve in the app unfortunately. Tbh the apps have always been pretty damn rock solid with us. We have the same components as you in our system, strange. Had it ever worked as advertised? I even fitted the gateway to ours myself.

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RE: Issues with Vaillant connectivity via the MyCONNECT gateway

dr_dongle — Sun, 28 Apr 2024 22:05:12 +0000

@Drew Pa .. and there it is in the manual - they must have removed it. If App support had *told* me that then it would have saved me a lot of wasted time.

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Concerning the gateway firmware, in the declaration Web page about Open Source software I see versions up to 0404.01.19 so I'm probably fairly up to date.

Tonight's exciting new glitch is 'Network Error - Sorry, an error has occurred. Please try again later. "AxiosError: Request failed with status code 500"'. I try again and it is solid.

From years being the guy in the hot seat I'm inclined to suspect that someone at Vaillant software development is burning the midnight oil and doing server updates or reconfiguration.

I really don't know why I'm seeing so many errors (less one now). There are three items in the chain - the ASHP controller, the gateway and my copy of the app.

I need to see if the installer and/or app support can read my system - this might determine if the problem is between app and gateway or between gateway and controller.

RE: Issues with Vaillant connectivity via the MyCONNECT gateway

Drew Pa — Sun, 28 Apr 2024 21:29:39 +0000

We used to use the sensoAPP but got upgraded to myVAILLANT earlier this year. Other than the issue this week with it not pulling the data it’s been pretty rock solid since switch over.

the attached screenshot shows the version of the app we are presently running. Defo don’t have the option to adjust the curve though. That’s still only done on the actually sensocomfort box I’m afraid

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