a Few Q's

[GolfjunkyC60]

Hi guys and Girls,
the onset of autumn has made me want to try the iphone app again. i have successfully synced and set the car to pre warm for 10mins (is that enough as app says that longer will drain the battery)on weekdays. my questions are:-

1:- if the car is plugged in will it drain the battery to pre heat or use the mains ?
2:- can someone please repost the link to setting my home wifi as my default
3:- does the car and phone have to be linked for my preheat setting to work ?
4:- have people found that the heat function also does the windscreen or is just the windscreen better ?
5:- i pay a flat rate for home electricity so is it necessary to set charging timings ?

thanks in advance

 

[geoffshep69]

1- Yes, but only slightly. The heater in the car draws more power than the mains can provide so it uses a small additional amount of power from the main traction battery. But even after 20 minutes of pre-heating, you are probably only losing 2 miles of range from the main battery, so not that big a deal.

2 - sorry, not sure what this means.

3 - you need to set the timers for pre-heating either by the app or the MMCS. So if you want to set or change the timers via the app, then yes, your phone has to connect to the car. But once set, your phone doesn't have to be connected for the pre-heating to operate at the times you have already set.

4 - I personally don't think it makes a massive difference which setting you use. I use the windscreen setting and that does a good job of clearing the windscreen and heating the whole car.

5 - if you pay a flat rate then no need to set charging timings, just plug it in every night and it will be fully charged for you in the morning. I have never bothered to do anything with the charging timer on my car.

 

[mellwaters100]

Hi GolfJunky!

This is so bizarre, because I was just thinking the same and came onto the forum to look for advice, and you asked the question I wanted answering! Thanks GeoffShep - you certainly answered what I was going to ask as well.

GolfJunky, in terms of #2 - I am assuming this relates to ensuring your iPhone connects to your home wifi rather than your car's wifi - 'by default'? The thing to consider here is how far away your car is from your home network router. The iPhone will automatically connect to the last wifi network in its location; if it is not found, it will proceed down the A-Z of previously connected networks (there is some logic in there depending on whether those networks are secure or not).

If you have an iMac, or can change the priority of network connections in System Preferences, and that order that gets pushed out to your iCloud connected devices. Without another Mac, you are left to 3rd party apps.

However, one of your options to prevent your phone auto-connecting to the car (say, while driving) then remaining connected to the car once you are in your house, is to 'forget' the car wifi once you have configured the timings. You will still the car's network as a list of available networks should you need to / want to use the app again but it will mean it doesn't keep connecting each time you get in the car. The downside of this, of course, is that you will need to remember / enter the car's wifi password the next you want to use the app after 'forgetting' the network.

 

[Tipper]

I use an app - 'WiFi Priority' to disable auto join. This stops the car wifi monopolising the iPhone unless you want/need it to.

 

[fsimao222]

In the new ios 11 you have the option ro remove auto join to a certain wifi network.
In wifi setings, press the blue “i” in front of the car wifi and there you have the option.

Very handy for me, because mine its always conected to car network.

 

[jthspace]

Thanks for the tip on ios11. I can remove wifi priority now.

Jeff

 

[GolfjunkyC60]

Another Q, I currently leave for work at 7:30 and have the preheat start at 7:15 for 10mins, this drains the battery and also uses some from the mains i think. would it be better to have the preheat (mainly used for the windscreen rather than warming the car up) start at 6:30 ish so that once it has done its 10mins the batteries could then carry on charging until 7:30.

 

[anko]

Another Q, I currently leave for work at 7:30 and have the preheat start at 7:15 for 10mins, this drains the battery and also uses some from the mains i think. would it be better to have the preheat (mainly used for the windscreen rather than warming the car up) start at 6:30 ish so that once it has done its 10mins the batteries could then carry on charging until 7:30.

I am no expert on this matter, but it seems that topping up the battery like this is not good for battery health.

 

[maby]

Another Q, I currently leave for work at 7:30 and have the preheat start at 7:15 for 10mins, this drains the battery and also uses some from the mains i think. would it be better to have the preheat (mainly used for the windscreen rather than warming the car up) start at 6:30 ish so that once it has done its 10mins the batteries could then carry on charging until 7:30.

I am no expert on this matter, but it seems that topping up the battery like this is not good for battery health.

I would agree. It might also be counter-productive from the point of view of clearing your windscreen - cars are not well insulated and it will rapidly cool off after the pre-heat cycle finishes. It could easily have the same effect as pouring a jug of warm water over a frosted windscreen - the frost will melt, but if the water is not rapidly removed, it will refreeze as a sheet of solid ice rather than soft frost - much more difficult to scrape off again.

 

[Austen]

Another Q, I currently leave for work at 7:30 and have the preheat start at 7:15 for 10mins, this drains the battery and also uses some from the mains i think. would it be better to have the preheat (mainly used for the windscreen rather than warming the car up) start at 6:30 ish so that once it has done its 10mins the batteries could then carry on charging until 7:30.

Try pre heating for 5 mins.

Set the timer to start at 0725 and open a door at 0730 and it will stop.

 

[Kesto]

The last bit of charging is a balancing act and is very slow- hrs. Even if you heat at 6:30 am and leave home at 7:30 it will show loss of range about 4 miles.
If you want heating and want car to be warm in morning I think setting should close to the time you leave and bear the range loss. If for wind screen defrost setting at 6:30 will be fine because frost happens mostly in very early hrs 1am -4am.
Recently I tried all combinations and this what I found.

The easy way to reinstall wifi connection with android- samsung I found is back up phone -factory reset- download app- disconnect home wifi- go to car- follow instructions and set up connection. - then restore the old stuff on phone