How to turn off IHD

  • nictu's Avatar
    Level 1
    Hi,

    How do I turn off the Smartview2 Monitor, the manual says to hold down the power button, but the only options are Cancel or Restart. I really dont want another gadget in the house that going to need recharging whenever....

    Many Thanks,
    Nick,
  • 6 Replies

  • Best Answer

    theunknowntech's Avatar
    Level 80
    Best Answer
    Howdy!

    I don't think I've replied to this thread yet, sorry if you get duplicate comments!

    This is a known issue with this IHD. It's actually pretty much identical to the old SSE Smart Energy Tracker that I still have from my SMETS1 days. I have SMETS2 kit these days with a pair of Chameleon IHD6-CAD-PPMID IHDs from my actual supplier (which are a lot more reliable!), so my old SSE SET is basically sat in a cupboard and no longer used. I'm planning to give it to one of my friends eventually to "repurpose" it.

    I had pretty much the exact same issue with the SSE SET back in the day and it's basically an unfixable bug/design flaw because of something I'll explain in a moment. But the first thing you should know, is that the real manufacturer of the SSE SET and E.On SmartView 2 is STi Electronics (specifically STi Phillipines), a generic electronics prototyping company that does not specialise in anything Smart Meter related at all (whereas Chameleon, Geo and Hildebrand do). The software/firmware that runs on these is pretty cheaply done and it really shows - I used to crash my SSE SET pretty much daily just trying to use the thing and the only fix was to pull the battery out and put it back in. I eventually gave up on it and put it aside. It's now totally dead these days and no longer functions at all.

    Pretty much every design flaw and bug that exists in the SSE SET also exists in the E.On SmartView 2, and vice versa because they're basically identical in almost every possible way (except that the former is S1 while the latter is S2). It gets worse because neither of these IHDs has any capability or support for firmware updates at all that I'm aware of. So that basically means if there's a bug in the firmware that means the power off option is missing, then I'm afraid it'll be that way forever and the only solution is a replacement device (unless the option randomly decides to reappear somehow). Even if you replace it though, there's no guarantee that the replacement one won't suffer from the exact same bug.

    Interestingly, a company called IHDL (In Home Displays Limited) claims to be the manufacturer for the SmartView 2 but somehow I have my doubts. To me, they're either just a reseller of stuff that comes from STi, or they buy in the hardware and dump custom firmware onto it. Which seems remarkably similar to the firmware on the SSE SET somehow (which is definitely from STi)...
    Just another guy passing by... The unknown tech way...
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  • eathcliff's Avatar
    Level 1
    Hi Nick, I've got the same problem!
    
    Sorry to hear your having problems turning the IHD off! Can you try holding the power button in please to see if that powers it off?

    This was the reply from Eon next energy specialist. Seems I must leave the Smartview2 plugged in too!
    Please let me know if you make any progress with this problem.
    REGARDS EATHCLIFF
  • nictu's Avatar
    Level 1
    @eathcliff Hello, eathcliff. In the end I just let the battery run down, the thing doesn't actually power off when holding the power button ! I chose EON Next because the electricity is supposed to be derived from renewable sources. Ok, good, but now they've left me with another gadget of E-WASTE hanging about in my house, where's the sense in that? Completely contradicts any 'Green' credentials. I have no intention of leaving the thing plugged in, it's a complete waste of resources.
  • Landmark's Avatar
    Level 29
    My smart meter self charges automatically using a negligable amount of power; so get a perspective and realise that the truth is that it helps me save is far greater amount than it uses.
    It's self defeatist to render the device 'dumb' by switching the display off; it's there to help you monitor your power usage in real time, like watching your fuel gauge as you drive, so don't switch it off lest you cut off your nose to spite your face in ignorance😶
  • nictu's Avatar
    Level 1
    @Landmark I'm glad your happy with the monitor, if you find it helps you then that's great. As for being ignorant, I used to work in the electricity industry so I can read a meter and as I generate my own electricity, monitoring my usage is not such a problem. The engineer that installed my smart meter didn't have much praise for the monitor either.