I installed a Sense monitor in my primary home in 2016 and it’s been running since then. I installed a Sense monitor in a rental property in 2023. It’s a bit annoying that the Sense app doesn’t support multiple homes.
Anyway, my Sense at home just stopped reporting accurate data two days ago. No usage, and slightly negative solar output, in the middle of the day. The graphs just stop. After restarting the app and trying the web app with two different browsers (all reported the same implausible info), I restarted the Sense device by flipping its breaker off for a few seconds. Now my Sense is working again. I’m here trying to figure out what happened and if there’s any way to get the missing data.
If you saw negative solar, that’s likely to be the “spontaneous borking” issue that folks, including me, have occasionally seen. My understanding is that it happens when the Sense mothership tries to incorrectly correct anomalous readings. Negative solar can kill your readings because Sense calculates Total Usage as Net Usage (from one set of CTs) + Solar Usage (from the other set of CTs). Glad it fixed itself with a power cycle, but I’m pretty sure you’re not getting the missing data back.
Hi @kevin1 - thanks for creating this thread for me and following up.
My Sense devices have been super reliable (in both houses) so this was definitely a surprise. I’m glad I caught it early; sometimes it may be weeks before I check the app to see what’s going on.
Mid-day July 2 - the usage graphs just stop showing anything at all (no solar, no usage) early in the morning.
July 3 - no usage at all. Even now if I go into the app I just get the five throbbing dots.
July 4 - There’s a tiny blip of solar at 11am, but then nothing actually appears on the solar and usage graphs until 5pm - when I power-cycled the breakers.
I contacted Sense support and initially they seemed defensive - “your sense was offline” - but I think I’ve escalated beyond that with the info above. I wish I took screenshots of when it was messed up.
Is this common - this “spontaneous borking”?
Is there any way to restart a Sense device through the app?
That sounds more like your unit got hung for some reason. The “borking” happens when Sense thinks it notices that relationship (polarity of CTs and assignment) between the waveforms (2 voltage, 2 net current, 2 solar current) are incorrect and tries to fix. That typically leaves you with weird, but updating waveforms of which some might be negative. Spontaneous borking has has it’s ups a down over the years, but I haven’t see any her of the forum for a while, leading me to believe that Sense had pretty much solved.
As for the unit being hung, I’ve a had a few. The only one that Sense ever diagnosed was related to too many smart plugs with too high a sample rate (default is every 2 secs). My Sense monitor just couldn’t process everything coming into it. I don’t think there’s a way out of that kind of hang without a power cycle.