[APP][Pro] ChargeAmps

This App has been developed to control a Charge Amps car charger device from Homey.

Important notice!
When upgrading this App from 3.1.4 (or older) to version 3.2.0 (or newer) you have to remove the ChargeAmps device in your Homey and add it again. I had to do some changes in the code which had the downside that devices added with older version doesn’t work with the new code.

Currently the APP has support for AURA, DAWN, HALO & LUNA, it also supports the ability to add multiple chargers in your Homey. The app support both CAPI and OCPP versions of software in the ChargeAmps chargers.

For AURA users who only have access to one of the Charging Ports (i.e. sharing the charger with a neighbour) it is from version 3.7.0 also possible to use the App, add a AURA device and go into device settings and choose which of the ports you have access to.

It has the ability to:

  • Turn on/off the charger port/s
  • Turn on/off the 220V Outlet in the charger (HALO Only)
  • Turn on/off the ground light (HALO Only)
  • Control the LED ring in the charger
  • Control RFID Lock on/off
  • Control Cable Lock on/off (AURA, DAWN & LUNA only)
  • Control the Current limit (A) in the charger
  • Several Flow Cards that you can use to implement the AURA/DAWN/HALO/LUNA in your Flows

In the app you can see:

  • Real-time charging consumption.
  • Cumulative consumption over time.
  • Amount of energy delivered during the last charge session.
  • Car connection status.
  • Status of ports and lights in the charger.
  • Firmware version.
  • Whether the charger uses CAPI or OCPP protocol.

Important requirement:
For this App to work you will need a API key from ChargeAmps, they are normally rather quick in their support, so just contact their support and they will assist you with what you need.

Installation process:
Given how this has been developed there are a few IMPORTANT steps needed to setup a ChargeAmps device in your Homey. User credentials are needed before adding a device, so if you follow the steps below everything will work smoothly.

  • Install the ChargeAmps App
  • In the App Settings, enter your credentials: email, password and API key
  • (API key you need to request from Charge Amps support, is is a 24 long character key)
  • Add a AURA, DAWN, HALO or LUNA device in Homey
  • Start to control your Charge Amps charger from your Homey!

Things on the ToDo list:

  • General code cleanup
  • “Under the hood” improvements

Requests for improvements and new features/functions are more than welcome

Special thanks to:
The app would not exist with all the features and functions it has today without your good help with testing, test data and diag reports!
@pellen
@Goliath
@Stefan_Rehnberg

2 Likes

Have you gone though the steps listed to install this APP?
Have you also requested a API key from Charge Amps support?

You should setup this in the following way:

  1. Install the App

  2. Go into the App Settings → Appsettings and there

  3. Write in: email, password & APIkey and press ‘save’

  4. Then you can add a Charge Amps HALO device

The APIkey is a short (roughly 24 character long) key you receive from Charge Amps Support. The Bearer is something completely different, The Bearer is something the APP received once a login with email, password and APIkey is successful

Version 1.1.X is sent in to Homey.

Several things have been rewritten in the background to handle some situations that could lead to issues. The ChargeAmps API are not 100% “stable” so there could still be some issues that can occur. One issue is that under normal circumstances the respons time from Charge Amps API is 0,5-1,5 seconds, but over period of time it can take 40-70 seconds. Trying to handle it in the App but it is challenging…

In this version there are some capabilities added to display Status, Current (A), Last Charged kWh, Lights and FW version.

Next development steps will be to dig even deeper in error handling to make the app stable and once that has been achieved additional features will be added.

PLEASE NOTE…. It is important to follow the installation guide step by step for this App to work properly.

1 Like

Version 1.1.X quickly became 1.2.0 :slight_smile:

So version 1.2.0 have been submitted for approval and are now available as Test version.

Development went faster than I thought, several new features/functions in this release and also added several Action Flow Cards.

As long as you follow the steps needed during installation and write in your user credentials in the App Settings before adding a HALO device to you Homey this App should run stable and without any major issues.

The App now have the following functions:

  1. Control the charger on/off:
  2. Control the 220v Outlet and DownLight:
  3. Control the LED ring on the charger:
  4. Overview of data from the charger:
1 Like

Version 1.3.2 is now Live

News in this release:

  • New Trigger Flow Card: Charging has completed
  • Added a lot of translations (AI generated)
  • Several improvements to the Charge Amps API communication.

There are some issues that are difficult to handle with the Charge Amps API, sometimes it just takes really long time to respond. Trying to handle this in the code but difficult to do without affecting the “user”.From time to time the App can get really slow in responding to actions, but hope that the corrections now implemented will make it a little beter.

User feedback are more than welcome :slightly_smiling_face:

Version 1.4.1 is now released and available!

News in this release:

  • Energy meter added
  • Power meter added
    • Shows Charging power used during charging (not power that the HALO itself consumes)
  • Removed FW Version capability (not especially useful… :upside_down_face:)
  • Added “Now Charged kWh” capability
    - This will always show 0 until a charging session is started, then it will show how much that is charged during that charging session.
  • Added four new Condition Flow Cards
    - Car is connected
    - Car is charging
    - Ground light is on
    - 220V Outlet is on

@Simon_Valkaer @JB_75

And Thanks @Borgen for creating,
Cleaning up the Homey Pro Community App Requests

1 Like

Version 1.4.3 now released

Improvements in 1.4.2 version:

  • Fixed an issue where Charging Limit (A) could become 0 at reboot/restart.
  • Rewritten the code that handles communication with the API
  • Minor bugfixes and speed improvements.

Improvments in 1.4.3 version:

  • Changing the Current Limit (A) during charging would terminate the charging, this is now fixed.

Version 1.5.0 released

Changes in this release:

  • Several changes in the code to reduce the memory footprint of the App
  • Code preparation to make it easier to add additional features

FEATURE REQUEST ARE WELCOME!
If you miss a feature/function in the App please let me know and I will do my best to implement it.

1 Like

Many thanks to @Borgen for developing this app!

1 Like

Thanks!

Don’t hesitate to reach out here if you run into any issues or if there are any feature/functions that you miss.

I’ll reach out if I have needs or wishes for additions. Now, I’m just waiting for my API key before I can play with your app :wink:

1 Like

When I update max power (A using a flow, I get
Invalid capability error.
I also see that it has changed in the charge amp app to undefined value.

Thanks for the report!

Does the same thing happen when changing the Current (A) in the Setting of the device?

I will look into this during the evening and see if I can find what is causing the issue.

I have no issue changing the current from settings. The changes are shown in both homey and charge amp app.

Mvh
Frank Petter Larsen

@Frankaren

Tanks for the update, highly appreciated!

I will sort this out and publish a update as soon as I have it fixed.

@Frankaren

The issue was identified and now fixed, thanks for the report!

Updated version (v1.5.1) is now in Test and also pushed to publication. Test version can be found here:

Will this only support Charge Amps HALO or could it be used more generic for Charge Amps Chargers? I just got a Dawn installed and would like to get some functionality into Homey.

Hello,

Now it supports HALO to 100%

Unfortunately I only have access to a HALO device so have no possibility to test how it works with other Charge Amps chargers.

I had an earlier request to support AURA which is more challenging to implement as it has two charging connectors.

There are also a bit of a difference between how communication is done between different ChargeAmps products.

As the Dawn is a 1 port charger just as Halo basic functionality could work, but it can also be so that Aura requires totally different type of commands and then it will not work.

You could test and see what works, it will definitely not break the product.

OK Thanks, then I’m eagerly waiting for the API key from support. :slight_smile:

I’ll let you know the status after I get the key and have setup the app/device.

And Yes I did read that I need to setup the app before I create a new device.