Fogstar Drift App

[headlight]

Anybody having problems with the app ?
I received 2 x 105AH Fogstar Drifts today.
I down loaded the app on to my phone but no matter what I do my phone just searches and searches and doesn't connect.
I have also down loaded the app on to my tablet but that won't connect either.
I have Bluetooth and location turned on on both devices and have uninstalled and re-installed the app several times on both devices but still no joy.
I can connect to other devices via Bluetooth no problem.

 

[Lenny HB]

I sometimes notice the battery shows 100% charged but 229.3/230 AH

Blimey Jez you are picky.

 

[AdrianChen]

I sometimes notice the battery shows 100% charged but 229.3/230 AH

Car makers dumbed down temp gauges to just say Normal because of worried folk thinking the engine was too hot - I would like a soothing voice from my BMS that says "Relax everything is fine"....

 

[Pausim]

Car makers dumbed down temp gauges to just say Normal because of worried folk thinking the engine was too hot - I would like a soothing voice from my BMS that says "Relax everything is fine"....

My Relion battery tells me nothing, it has just sat there being a battery for the last 6 years. I like it that way. Victron tells me the state of charge if I need to know. Unfortunately I will need a larger under seat battery in my new van and they all seem to come with a Bluetooth BMS and doubtless I will become obsessed by unnecessary readings and imbalances.

 

[Lenny HB]

My Relion battery tells me nothing, it has just sat there being a battery for the last 6 years. I like it that way. Victron tells me the state of charge if I need to know. Unfortunately I will need a larger under seat battery in my new van and they all seem to come with a Bluetooth BMS and doubtless I will become obsessed by unnecessary readings and imbalances.

You are missing the best bit, you should be analysing the state of your batteries, output from solar, discharge current etc., every 10 min.

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[MichaelT]

Well my 300ah fogstar was installed back in September have used van several times have usually check app to ensure charging is ok and it is.
i think sometimes you can get bogged down with to much information and worry about things that you don’t need to
As long as it’s being charged and holding enough power let it do its job and stop worrying

Yep that and not being able to fiddle with settings.

 

[Speve]

My Relion battery tells me nothing, it has just sat there being a battery for the last 6 years. I like it that way. Victron tells me the state of charge if I need to know. Unfortunately I will need a larger under seat battery in my new van and they all seem to come with a Bluetooth BMS and doubtless I will become obsessed by unnecessary readings and imbalances.

Nah just check it to make sure it’s charged and leave well alone if it ain’t broke don’t mend it

 

[AdrianChen]

Nah just check it to make sure it’s charged and leave well alone if it ain’t broke don’t mend it

But surely a teeny weeny little look at the app wouldn't hurt? After all it's been several minutes since the last check.......

 

[Al n Val]

Sorry i've not replied sooner but i've been staring at the Fogstar app since saturday wondering why it cant see my 2 batteries

Question; do you think distance may be an issue, i'm at home in Yorkshire and the motorhome with batteries is in Alicante.

For clarity i've got an iphone 13 as well and its never not connected before whilst sat in the motorhome or just outside in the chair whilst relaxing in the sunshine with nothing else to do

Merry Christmas everyone

 

[EuroTrotters]

Don't rub it in lol.
6 hours, 2 phones and 2 tablets and no joy lol.

where do you live ?

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[headlight]

where do you live ?

Cardiff.

 

[EuroTrotters]

Cardiff.

Hopefully someone near can help

 

[headlight]

Hopefully someone near can help

I think that the problem is the apps bluetooth, rather than my devices or me.
I am not the only one who cannot connect to it.

 

[jezport]

I've never had bluetooth issues but had strange readings on the app sometimes.

 

[Pausim]

Having done some Googling it seems that bluetooth usually has backward compatibility except this does not always apply to low-energy bluetooth called Bluetooth Smart. Devices using the low-energy Bluetooth Smart may not pair with other devices that are set up for Classic Bluetooth. Perhaps the Fogstar App needs the low-energy protocol and your phone is only giving it the classic protocol?

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[Steve N Tracy]

I have no trouble using the Fogstar app to connect to my 2 Aolithium batteries so the issue would appear to either be the transmitter in the Fogstar batteries or your implementation of the connection.

 

[MisterB]

i bought a lithium battery and the bluetooth bit that came with it was free, i didnt choose the battery because of the bluetooth function, i bought it because i wanted a battery, if the battery hadnt done what i wanted it to do, ie provide power and charge up etc then i would have thought there was an issue. i dont need bluetooth or any other app to tell me that ...... we all went years with batteries without bluetooth and we knew when the battery wasnt working properly by its performance .....

 

[headlight]

Having done some Googling it seems that bluetooth usually has backward compatibility except this does not always apply to low-energy bluetooth called Bluetooth Smart. Devices using the low-energy Bluetooth Smart may not pair with other devices that are set up for Classic Bluetooth. Perhaps the Fogstar App needs the low-energy protocol and your phone is only giving it the classic protocol?

Fogstar said that my phone might be Bluetooth 4 not 5 and that might be the problem.
However the other phone I've tried plus 2 tablets are Bluetooth 5 so should connect.

 

[headlight]

i bought a lithium battery and the bluetooth bit that came with it was free, i didnt choose the battery because of the bluetooth function, i bought it because i wanted a battery, if the battery hadnt done what i wanted it to do, ie provide power and charge up etc then i would have thought there was an issue. i dont need bluetooth or any other app to tell me that ...... we all went years with batteries without bluetooth and we knew when the battery wasnt working properly by its performance .....

I only wanted to use the app to see how well the cells were balanced.
I have a Victron Smart shunt to monitor the batteries.

 

[AdrianChen]

I remember a story from many years ago about a large IBM mainframe that periodically crashed in the facility in North Harbour, nobody could get to the bottom of it - There was a navy radar testing station at the top of the hill opposite, and whenever they tested one of the devices they had, it killed the IBM kit in its path - - I know it sounds daft, but are you near any masts/sources of interference?

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[headlight]

I remember a story from many years ago about a large IBM mainframe that periodically crashed in the facility in North Harbour, nobody could get to the bottom of it - There was a navy radar testing station at the top of the hill opposite, and whenever they tested one of the devices they had, it killed the IBM kit in its path - - I know it sounds daft, but are you near any masts/sources of interference?

I couldn't connect when the batteries were at my home and haven't been able to connect since fitting them in the motorhome which is in storage.
Other apps such as the 2 Victron apps I have work fine.
Someone posted earlier in this thread that they knew somebody that couldn't connect who returned the battery for a replacement and the replacement connected fine.
I'm going away for 4 nights off grid over New Year so I will find out how the actual batteries themselves perform.

 

[Pausim]

I remember the AA recovering a motorhome from the Crystal Palace site. He said it would start up easily once he got it a mile or two away from the enormous transmitter next door and they were well used to this problem. The warden confirmed that a few motorhome alarm/immobilisers were sensitive to the transmitter but this was several years ago.

 

[headlight]

I remember the AA recovering a motorhome from the Crystal Palace site. He said it would start up easily once he got it a mile or two away from the enormous transmitter next door and they were well used to this problem. The warden confirmed that a few motorhome alarm/immobilisers were sensitive to the transmitter but this was several years ago.

I would be surprised if interference was the problem at 2 different locations.
Also the Victron apps connect fine both when the vehicle was at my home and now at the storage site so interference isn't affecting those apps.

 

[bigtree]

I sometimes notice the battery shows 100% charged but 229.3/230 AH

This is as far as mine gets to.

 

[AdrianChen]

I couldn't connect when the batteries were at my home and haven't been able to connect since fitting them in the motorhome which is in storage.
Other apps such as the 2 Victron apps I have work fine.
Someone posted earlier in this thread that they knew somebody that couldn't connect who returned the battery for a replacement and the replacement connected fine.
I'm going away for 4 nights off grid over New Year so I will find out how the actual batteries themselves perform.

Well having tried everything imaginable I can't think that it is anything other than the batteries....

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[jezport]

This is as far as mine gets to. View attachment 845846

The funny thing is when you go in and out of advanced settings sometimes it changes the AH level

 

[bigtree]

The funny thing is when you go in and out of advanced settings sometimes it changes the AH level

I’ve not been into the advanced settings.

 

[Just smiffy]

Well there not working as they should, you should ask for replacements…

 

[Pausim]

I can’t help thinking the problem is the Fogstar App not being compatible with your phone and other devices. At #72 you got readings on another App, this means that the battery BMS and bluetooth are working OK. It also tells us that your phone is working OK. We know that the Fogstar App works on some but not all other phones. All that is left is the Fogstar App doesn’t work with your phone and you are not alone with having that problem.

 

[Raul]

How about he tries his phone on someone else's battey?

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[Pausim]

How about he tries his phone on someone else's battey?

I reckon he could walk round the Fogstar factory and his phone wouldn’t connect the Fogstar App to any of the batteries but it would connect the other App he used at #72.