[DougHo]

Kevin – is there something I can do to make the data spikes “rare” like you describe (which I suppose is why you continue selling the Vue3 with known flaw)? Mine are not rare since I’ve had them around 28 days of the last four months (obviously past my return period and one-third of the way through my warranty).

• This reply was modified 1 week, 4 days ago by DougHo.

[DougHo]

I am not from Emporia and not sure whether this is something like you are trying to describe, but in case it helps…

I find weird behavior in this forum where I often have to “refresh” my browser’s view after I enter my Login information. Not only for situation like you describe where it doesn’t seem to show you logged in after you login (so it isn’t showing you an option like Reply), but also in order to see proper info about recent updates etc. I don’t bother to study whether it is something about browser cache or what, I have just learned that when visiting this site I have to hit Refresh on most of the pages I visit before I really start looking at them.

[DougHo]

For those following along, support says there should be a fix soon. Not only firmware (which I would expect) but supposedly some App update.

I’ve continued to experience large spikes/glitches as previously described, such as (in 15 minute bins): 8/20 8:30p, 9/1 9:15a, 9/11 12:45a, 9/13 5:15a, 9/20 6:30a & 9:15p, 9/21 4:30a, 10/1 1:45a &  5:30p & 7:30p.

[DougHo]

I am not from emporia and I don’t have solar, so I could easily be mistaken. I am not sure the direction for the CT breaker arrow facing, but if you go through the next step and it seems backwards, then reverse it and consider repeating the setup.

I think the step you didn’t list is doing the Setup (using the App) and specifying the Circuit numbers which are connected to the Solar as Solar/Generation during that Setup in App. It is started by something like the following in the App: Manage/Setup-Vue-Reset WiFi / Solar Setup. I had to do that myself for recalibration and it is a little frustrating to have to re-enter your WiFi password but then pay attention to the screen because it will ask you if you want to do more than just reset WiFi (do NOT choose Skip) – that seems to be the only way to change setup, and is described here.

[DougHo]

Still occurring.
In case info helps others, what I usually see is very large spikes for one minute, on one to three of the CTs in sequence (for example the main 200A CTs or 50A CTs of circuits 1&2, or the 50A CTs of circuits 14&15, etc. Completely removing Vue 3 for a day or so and re-installing/re-initializing doesn’t make a difference. My guess has been some type of communication error with the cloud.
Although glitchy data remains in the cloud for all duration variations, with some difficulty I am usually able to adjust my downloaded data by looking at the minute data and using the preceding/following minute’s data to determine approximate value to subtract from the spike (sometimes making it zero), or if I am monitoring both phases of a 240V circuit with glitch on just one phase then I can use the other phase’s value to adjust. Calculating the Balance (of each phase) is also handy to help detect glitch and verify the adjustment.
The following are some of the times (Eastern US) where I have noticed spikes/glitches (not the exact minute but rather in the 15 minute data I archive): 6/7 7:15p, 6/9 2:15p, 6/10 10:15p, 6/14 4a, 6/21 10:30p, 6/25 1:45a, 6/25 1:30p, 6/27 1:30a, 7/1 6:30p, 7/3 2a, 7/18 7a, 7/18 8:45a, 7/18 10:45a, 7/20 12:15a, 7/20 1:30a, 7/20 3a, 7/22 5:30a, 7/24 8:30a, 8/10 8:30p, 8/12 3:45p, 8/12 5:15p, 8/15 2:15a, 8/16 3:45a, 8/16 6a, 8/16 11:15a, 8/17 8a.

[DougHo]

Thanks for letting me know that I’m not the only one. I’m still experiencing these; below is an example from couple days ago. Until we get a fix I am not doing the “Merge Circuits” feature for things like my HeatPump and WaterHeater since having both phases separate has helped spotting and manually adjusting some of these bad data spikes.

I noticed a Vue 3 user reporting a few days ago on reddit /r/EmporiaEnergy Bad data high kw spikes and people giving uninformed responses. I am not registered there so haven’t replied to point here (where I hope we’ll eventually get explanation of fix such as firmware higher than Vue3-631).

• This reply was modified 2 months ago by DougHo.

[DougHo]

I recently got a reply from support that offline behavior for Gen2 and Gen3 are the same, so it seems they edited the web page I referred to (to make it the same). The second link works and now mentions multiple generations but I’m not sure whether the Note in green box is referring to the proper generations.

The support reply also said they are working on the data issue while offline but they don’t have an ETA at this time. I’m not quite sure how to interpret that, whether they wrote the web page before implementing the design or what. Straight line would be acceptable to me if it was close to accurate average or even matched the “last” or “first” value (before/after the outage). My report was that it does not seem anywhere near those three choices. Full data for <15 minute outage would also be nice but not really something appropriate to me (my outages are typically longer).

[DougHo]

This is not official, but my Vue 3 CT wires seem close to that 39 inches (not longer). The 39 is probably stretched tight between the CT and the terminal block. Just removed my Vue 3 while HVAC gets replaced tomorrow including downsizing some breakers. Didn’t want to invite any criticism from electrician or inspector but sure will miss Vue 3 data until I’m ready to put it back.

[DougHo]

Another glitch spike this morning.

[DougHo]

Update (since Edit only works within minute of posting): I realized that your diagnosing whether it is same glitch would be easier with 1Min instead of 15Min, so below is yesterday morning’s glitch minute (marked in red). Note: I’ve been using CTs on both phases of my HVAC inside (fan) and outside (condensor) but if both phases remain equal after my new HVAC install next week then I will use multiplier to free up two CTs for other use (in this case it was helpful to point out glitch since both phases should have been equivalent).

[DougHo]

I am not from Emporia but I am a new non-generation user in the US. In another thread I pointed out that these are likely values you can compute from the CSV output. You first need to look at your Mains value and see whether they are the In (positive?) or Out (negative?) values (I am guessing that is the case, rather than being Total Usage). And you look at the column(s) for your generation CT(s). Use those values to come up with missing values, which might need the sign changed as described in the recent bi-directional CT update.

So for example if the Mains in CSV ends up being the net value (positive meaning In from grid or negative meaning Out to grid), you add it and the generation CT for “Total Usage.”  I am sorry that as a non-generation customer I can’t be sure of that terminology detail. Regarding Balance, it should be computed as something like Total Usage less all the non-generation CTs.  As a fun exercise, if you know which phase your CTs are on then you can subtract the appropriate CTs from the appropriate Total and end up with multiple Balances (one balance for each phase). In my case I monitor almost all circuit usage so end up with Balances around .02 or .03 KWatts (near noise level).

• This reply was modified 2 months, 4 weeks ago by DougHo.

[DougHo]

Thanks. I noticed another glitch yesterday morning as shown below (the latest CSV added Mains_C “No CT”, I wonder if that will remain from now on?)

My manual fix for this glitch was to subtract 3.616 from Mains_A, subtract 1.0345 from the first CT and subtract .468 from the second CT.

[DougHo]

Still seems to me like you should be able to find/compute what you desire. For my non-solar, I’ve found that the utility smart meter measures tiny amount larger than Vue Mains.  Just over 8 watts average (i.e., .2kWh) which is probably mostly my irrigation controller that hooks in outside panel between my meter and Vue.  Way less than the up to 2% tolerance mentioned and noise level.

For your situation, don’t deal with the balance at first – it is already part of the mains.  I’m guessing to handle the different billing values you have to be conditional such as if Mains are negative then that would be the “out” value for billing. When Mains are positive then that would be the “in” value for billing. If that works, then the next thing is the generation and consumption breakdown (not for billing).  You’d add the Generation (CTs) to the main and that should should be your total consumption, which is explained by all the remaining CTs and the unmonitored/missing “balance.”  You can either do it as totals of both phases, or for extra fun you can keep the phases separate as I have done by knowing which phase each CT is on. Note: as I said earlier, I don’t know what “sign” you will actually use for the generation CTs. The recent Vue 3 firmware enhancement where setup allows generation CTs to be designated as bi-directional says that it might affect the sign that ends up in CSV for past vs future values.

[DougHo]

Is one or more of your CTs measuring the solar generation? Is that CT one of the columns of the CVS export?  You would just work it into the MS Excel formula as appropriate.  Balance is a calculated value, so it is not going to be stored/exported. Since I don’t have solar I haven’t given careful thought to the formula, but it might be something like adding the solar CTs rather than subtracting them and/or maybe the sign depends on which direction you are told to have the generation CTs facing.

[DougHo]

I am not from emporia but am new user who exports/downloads non-solar CSV data in the US. Since Balance is a computed value, I easily add it back using a formula in MS Excel.

I add two columns T & U which I label BalanceA and BalanceB which I will explain, but a simpler variation would be to just add one column with combined balance. For my method I find which CT columns are on Phase A versus which are on Phase B. I then subtract those CT columns from either Mains_A or Mains_B as appropriate. So my T column formula is something like =B2-D2-G2-I2-J2-L2-N2-O2-Q2-R2-S2 and my U column formula is something like =C2-E2-F2-H2-K2-M2-P2.  I have most loads monitored so my Balances are around .02 and .03 which made it fairly easy to notice when I had made a mistake in assigning one of the CTs to the wrong phase (by noticing Balance outliers related to that load, and switching that column’s letter between the T and U formula).

Of course you “fill down” the formula to all rows (which changes the 2s to 3s and so forth). If you just wanted the one column, the formula is simplified to =B2+C2-Sum(D2:S2). I will leave it up to you to figure the change to formula for solar generation.

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