I have a Fibaro FGWP102 connected to my washing machine for the purpose of notifying me when it is finished. Recently the plug switched off in the middle of the washing program, apparently in response to an alarm.
The plug has all config parameters set to default. The plug has functioned succesfully through earlier washing jobs without switching off.
Can someone enlighten me:
what is the cause of this alarm?
how is it able to switch off the plug, while the default settings seem to be “no reaction” to alarms (confi param 31 of the plug)?
Not sure, but it could be a result of exceeding the device’s power rating, causing the overload protection to trigger. In all three cases when the alarm occurs, the power level is reported to be north of 2000 W.
as I said I also have some logs of successful washing jobs, during which the power consumption has been above 2000W as well (up to 3000W actually).
the mechanism you describe is configured in the wall plug using parameter 3: “Overload safety switch”, which in the default configuration (and also in my case) seems to be set to 0, or “function inactive”.
Finally, the specs of my washing machine mention it should be using max 2200W (although I’m aware this needs verification)
The 3000 does seem to be some kind of limit as nowhere in the logs this value is higher than 3000, not even 3000.1W.
So even if this mechanism was the cause, I’m not understanding why because it shouldn’t be triggered in the first place.
Not really. Regarding my theory… The power reports from the device are produced only at specific points in time. Washing machines have fairly powerful induction motors. When those motors start, they draw high current (possibly several times the steady-state current), which results in instantaneous power spikes that may or not be captured during the periodic reports we see in the logs. The washing machine specs may refer to continuous loads, and may not accurately represent the instantaneous spikes.
I looked around to try to determine the meaning of EVENT=6 in a POWER_MANAGEMENT ALARM_REPORT. I wasn’t able to find anything. Perhaps @chris knows?
“The device has a protection that will turn the load off in the case of detecting current greater than 110% of rated current (>12A). It is a safety function and it cannot be turned off. After its activation the load can be turned on back again by pressing the B-button or sending a control frame. This function is independent of overload safety switch set in the parameter no. 3.”
Yes - it’s sent from the device when there’s an overcurrent event - ie the device has tripped off because the things connected to it drew too much current, and the device sends the alarm so that you are alerted.
Right, I guess this particular plug is not very suitable for use with this washing machine then. Apparently the machine wants to draw over 12A sometimes (although it is spec’d at 10A).
