IHD "Frozen"

  • macwomble's Avatar
    Level 1
    My, very new, IHD has "frozen" at 16/12/21 (yesterday) at 08.55.

    So can't take readings; show consumption anything.

    Tried pressing "OK" to restart....nothing happens......pressing all other buttons has same result.

    Ideas on what to do?
  • 3 Replies

  • Best Answer

    theunknowntech's Avatar
    Level 80
    Best Answer
    Howdy!

    Is this that SmartView 2 by any chance? Me and my friend Blastoise186 used to have the SSE Smart Energy Tracker, which is pretty much the same IHD apart from being SMETS1. We used to see the exact same problem with them on a pretty much daily basis. The best solution we came up with was to pull the battery out and put it back in, as it's the only way to force these IHDs to reboot if they completely freeze up.

    Failing that, the other option would be to leave the device on and let it drain the battery until it runs out and powers off, then charge it back up and turn it on.

    Unfortunately, it's a known issue with this particular IHD (the real manufacturer of both of these is STi Electronics Philippines) and it's impossible to fix because these devices don't have any way of getting firmware updates at all. I'm afraid it's a bug that will plague them forever.

    Your best bet is to probably just take readings either directly off the meters themselves, or use your online account. As much as I'd like to forward what Blastoise usually recommends by suggesting asking for a replacement for a faulty device, you'll probably end up with the exact same one again and it'll just be an infinite loop. The only way to get a different model such as the Chameleon IHD6 is via other suppliers.

    Sorry this isn't the answer you hoped for. But the experience that me and Blastoise have with this particular IHD means we know (albeit under SSE branding) there's no fix for this issue.
    Just another guy passing by... The unknown tech way...
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  • macwomble's Avatar
    Level 1
    @theunknowntech

    Thanks...I ended up letting the battery drain....now working OK....'til the next time 😞
  • theunknowntech's Avatar
    Level 80
    No worries. Trust me, both me and Blastoise were very tempted to smash our SSE SET IHDs with a sledgehammer on multiple occasions. Instead, we've opted to keep them and plan to either donate them to friends who like to play with electronics, or otherwise dispose of them in an environmentally friendly way.

    If your IHD was manufactured by a proper brand like Chameleon, Geo or Hildebrand, I could probably dig up more resources but the problem with these edge cases is that resources are extremely scarce. In fact, so scarce that community members like myself and others often have to create our own versions instead. I know the SSE SET very well despite not using it for ages, so based on that, I know the SmartView 2 as well.