Zaptec Go2 Changing between 1 and 3-phase charging

[Revilo-S]

I've got a new Zaptec Go 2 Wallbox I'm trying to configure for PV charging. To use most of the surplus solar power, I need to change between 1-phase and 3-phase charging. I can do this in the Zaptec app but cannot find the option in the integration.

[sveinse]

There is no direct way to controlling the selection of 1-phase vs 3-phase.

You can try using an Action: Developer tools -> Actions -> select action "Zaptec EV changer: Set current limit". Then you need to select your installation device. With this, you are able to specify the current limit for each of the phases.

Where and how in the Zaptec app do you change between 1 and 3 phases?

[Revilo-S]

Thanks a lot. This is what I was looking for.

In the app under Settings - Advanced Settings - Installation it is possible to limit the charging to 1-phase only.

[sveinse]

Its interesting. I cannot change that setting from the app. It only shows "TN, 3-phase" without any ability to change.

But I can change it from Zaptec portal. With very visible warning about changing it.

[Revilo-S]

That's really strange. I can't change this setting in the Portal. It's locked to TN 3-phase, 16A.

But under Installations - Name - Circuits - Charge Circuits - Settings I can limit the charging to 1-phase with "Max phases" without any warning.

Installed firmware is 3.0.2.1

[Revilo-S]

With my installer account, I'm able to edit the settings, you described. But these are the settings for the physical installation, which should not be altered.

The "Max phases" setting can be changed with the user account.

[paulzaptec]

1 or 3 phase charging is set automatically, so there are a couple of things you need to set to control this behaviour. In the Zaptec Portal under Installation -> Power Management, 3 to 1-phase switch current should be 8A (or whatever threshold you wish to choose) and Allow chargers to return to three phase charging to Enabled (if that's what you want). You can now control 1 or 3 phase mode by adjusting the installation available current. If set to more than 8A (or whatever value to set above), this will allow 3-phase charging. If less, this will select 1-phase charging.

[Revilo-S]

I really don't know, how to set this value to efficiently use PV charging. My EV can not be charged with less than 6A and more than 16A. This means I need at least 1380W PV power for 1-phase 6A charging. When PV power rises, so does the current and at 3680W 1-phase charging reaches 16A. For 3-phase charging to work, PV power needs to be at least 4140W to provide 3-phase 6A charging. Which value should be set to support this scenario?

[paulzaptec]

In your case, your (theoretical) charging power range is 1,380W (6A, 1-phase) to 11,040W (16A, 3-phase), with a small gap where you can't charge between 3,680W (16A, 1-phase) and 4,140W (6A, 3-phase). What is your maximum solar output? To avoid repeated switching between 1 and 3 phase (which requires a session stop & start each time), I’d suggest setting the switching threshold to a value equivalent to above your maximum solar ie [your max solar power] / 3 / 230.

[paulzaptec]

That will keep it in single-phase mode for solar charging, but allow it to switch to 3-phase mode for grid charging. You’ll need to set the Installation Max Current in real time according to whatever is available from your panels (when solar tracking) or 16A (when charging from the grid). Hope this helps!

[Revilo-S]

I do have only 6kWp. As you suggested, I guess I'll have to use single-phase mode only for solar charging. Thanks a lot for your help.

[paulzaptec]

If you get a lot of continuous sun, you could experiment with setting it to a lower value (and letting it switch), but you may find it stops switching on a day with intermittent sunshine. There might be another way to achieve what you want: set the installation switching threshold to 0A to disable Zaptec's auto switching (and force the power balancer to always allocate 3 phases). Then you can change the maxChargePhases on the charger API to 1 for 1-phase changing and 3 for 3-phase charging. I haven't tested the behaviour mid-session so I don't know if this will automatically stop & restart the session for you... [EDIT] Ah, it may be that the Home Assistant plugin doesn't expose this control (I don't see it right now). It is there in Zaptec's update charger endpoint, so it might be possible to add this... https://api.zaptec.com/help/index.html#/Charger/Charger_UpdateExternal_POST

[Revilo-S]

I guess, I'll have to experiment ...

Ah, it may be that the Home Assistant plugin doesn't expose this control (I don't see it right now). It is there in Zaptec's update charger endpoint, so it might be possible to add this...

That would be great :-)

[sveinse]

I'm looking at adding maxChargePhases to the integration.

@paulzaptec to confirm: The /api/chargers/{id}/update endpoint does not have a minChargePhases? Only maxChargePhases, correct?

Is it possible to read out maxChargePhases? In order to have it as a controllable entity in HA, we need a way to read the current value.

[remconiesten]

I am looking for this functionality as well. It is true that the switching for a Go 2 between monophase and multiphase charging is dictated by a three_to_one_phase threshold. This threshold is already visible in my Home Assistant, as 'three_to_one_phase_switch_current', an attribute on the installation entity. It would be good to be able to change this through HA.

Context that might be of help:

• Just got the Go2 this week. I noticed that our Mercedes (CLA, hybrid from 2021) does 2-phase charging. When I drop current below three_to_one_phase_switch_current (default 8), charging automatically drops back to monophase.
• Putting charger max current above three_to_one_phase_switch_current again doesn't automatically switch to multiphase charging. But I can pause and restart charging to force it.
• In this 2-phase charging case I can simply keep three_to_one_phase_switch_current at 8, restart the session when solar power gets >= 4kW.
• For 3-phase charging cars though, I would like to set three_to_one_phase_switch_current dynamically to have more control.

[paulzaptec]

Is it possible to read out maxChargePhases? In order to have it as a controllable entity in HA, we need a way to read the current value.

I will check...

[sveinse]

@paulzaptec I found a state with stateid 520 "MaxPhases". I would assume this is the same field.

[paulzaptec]

That's the one! The current number of phases should be returned by /api/chargers/{id}/state under stateId 520

[sveinse]

We have to postpone this feature to after v0.8. It's important to get this out the door first for broader testing and then we can consider the new features.

[paulzaptec]

Based on some of the feedback in this thread, we have updated the /installation/{id}/update endpoint to enable threeToOnePhaseSwitchCurrent to be set. This should make this easier to implement. Documentation will appear shortly at https://docs.zaptec.com

[sveinse]

@paulzaptec cool!

One question thou: Any particular reason this was chosen to be set under the installation object and not the charger? What is the significance for all chargers that this value is set?

[paulzaptec]

At the moment, we have some restrictions on what you can/can't do at the charger level API, due to interactions with the power balancer. This will come, but these settings are at installation level (for now). Setting this value will operate on all chargers in the installation (up to 3x chargers for Home installations).

[sveinse]

Can someone summarize what we would like to add to the integration for this, please? New entities? What type (switch, button, sensor)? What Zaptec data should it track? Thank you.

[Revilo-S]

Since I started this, I'm trying to help.

I guess, a switch entity would be sufficient. Switch on : 3-phase charging / Switch off: 1-Phase Charging Since this switch would be set from automations tracking surplus power, this entity wouldn't need to track any Zaptec data (other than it's actual state).

Thanks a lot.

[sveinse]

@paulzaptec

Based on some of the feedback in this thread, we have updated the /installation/{id}/update endpoint to enable threeToOnePhaseSwitchCurrent to be set. This should make this easier to implement. Documentation will appear shortly at https://docs.zaptec.com

To summarize: We read chargers/{id}/state in MaxPhases field, but set the value in POST installation/{id}/update field threeToOnePhaseSwitchCurrent?

The docs at https://docs.zaptec.com/reference/api_installation_id_update_post gives this the datatype double. What type of values is expected here? Or is just a boolean-like value of 0 and 1 what's expected?

(This does give us a little trickeries in the code, since the read-back is on the charger, while setting it is in the installation, which creates cross dependencies between devices/classses.)

[sveinse]

@paulzaptec

MaxPhases field is only selectable between 1 or 3, right?

I have an older Go charger that doesn't support it. How can we determine reliably which users should have access to selecting the number of phases?

[paulzaptec]

Only Go 2 and Pro support phase switching. Go does not have this feature. We currently recommend parsing the device serial number to determine the charger model: https://docs.zaptec.com/docs/identify-device-types

[sveinse]

@paulzaptec - on that note: Is the device serial number the DeviceId or the MID field? Which should we preferably use?

[paulzaptec]

DeviceId MID is deprecated - see here https://docs.zaptec.com/reference/api_chargers_id_get

[paulzaptec]

Also: 1-3 phase switching control documentation for Go 2 is now available: https://docs.zaptec.com/docs/3-to-1-phase-switching-with-zaptec-go-2#/

[sveinse]

@paulzaptec thank you very much