Electrical line noise while charging at 240V

[GeekEV]

Ooh, I had forgotten about this. I'm going to be getting solar soon and I wonder if I'll hear it. I don't hear it now anywhere in the house, so maybe not. I'll be using micro-inverters too. Anyone have any guesses/bets on whether it will be an issue for me?

 

[wsbca]

When I charged on the blink at 240V, I would hear buzzing start to come out of my solar panel inverter.
A short while later, the solar inverter failed.

Did you hear the buzzing only if the solar inverter was active?

If my inverter is active and I start charging the car, I hear a buzz from my inverter, but not if the inverter is off. It's not terribly loud, but it is noticeable - I'd describe it as a steady faint kazoo type of sound.

 

[DaveEV]

Ooh, I had forgotten about this. I'm going to be getting solar soon and I wonder if I'll hear it. I don't hear it now anywhere in the house, so maybe not. I'll be using micro-inverters too. Anyone have any guesses/bets on whether it will be an issue for me?

If you're using Enphase micro inverters, you're definitely not going to hear anything because 1. They're on the roof and 2. They're fully potted so there's nothing to vibrate.

 

[jsnable]

I an eerily similar situation. I installed a new inverter this summer to handle my expanded array and noticed the buzzing sound during the few times I charged during the day. That inverter failed after a few months, and the tech stated that it was an error that he had only seen once before. I now make a point only to charge at 1am to avoid this, but would really like it fixed.

Jay

I switched to charging from 120V when at home... Just barely enough time to get me recharged nightly.
When I charged on the blink at 240V, I would hear buzzing start to come out of my solar panel inverter.
A short while later, the solar inverter failed. I doubt I could get Nissan to pay for that.
(A lot of finger pointing could happen including - "we don't output any noise that the other device should find harmful.")
So, rather than risk possibly causing another inverter failure, I will just use 120V charging at home.

I still use public 208V/240V EVSEs occasionally, and hope I am not damaging any equipment on the other side of the EVSE.
I think I may have heard some buzzing coming from transformer closets at public garages when charging there, but apparently it is not supposed to be harmful, so I am trying not to worry about it.

If Nissan comes forward and says there is a problem that needs to be fixed, and I can get my charger replaced as a routine service, then I will gladly get it done. But if I have to mount a fight to convince them to change it, I am not inclined to put in all the time. I try to workaround the shortcomings of the vehicle, including the limited range, slow charging, and sometimes 'noisy' charging.

 

[LEAFer]

And if your particular LEAF does exhibit the "buzzing" ... be courteous ... don't charge while on the same transformer (=house/parking lot/etc) while a 2008 Tesla Roadster is charging. (That's a little more expensive to replace than a solar inverter.)

 

[TEG]

Did you hear the buzzing only if the solar inverter was active?

If my inverter is active and I start charging the car, I hear a buzz from my inverter, but not if the inverter is off. It's not terribly loud, but it is noticeable - I'd describe it as a steady faint kazoo type of sound.

Yes, that basically described what I observed.

 

[hill]

We should probably just wait for the "week or so".

While it can be fun to troubleshoot, I agree - I'm sure Nissan will make good. And I can't imagine any of us have more resources than they do... :shock:

That post was written a HALF YEAR ago. We still get crap/noise - caused from our on-board charger. Nissan reads our posts. Nissan has more resources and sadly, it seems they're planning to NOT spend a dime on their problem - but in stead, choose to leave it as OUR problem, unless we squeal loudly enough. That's just great. I can't begin to tell you how close I feel for corporate Nissan now. Each new week, of each new month, of each new season continues to increase my feelings for the fine folks down at corporate.
:evil:

 

[GeekEV]

Pshaw, you should see how long it took Apple to fix some of the bugs I reported in their iOS developer kit! And those were SOFTWARE bugs that didn't require swapping parts.

 

[hill]

Pshaw, you should see how long it took Apple to fix some of the bugs I reported in their iOS developer kit! And those were SOFTWARE bugs that didn't require swapping parts.

1- If software is bad, you can go back to an earlier version or go with another Co.'s product.
2- If software is bad, your other devices' functionality aren't rendered noisy.
3- If software is bad, you can get a refund or an exchange.

Maybe Nissan would like to give me a refund, or an exchange.

 

[Dennisj00]

I guess I've been lucky. We had an AV charger installed in a sub-panel in October along with a 240 volt circuit to the roof for 15 panels / Enphase Microinverters.

The Envoy (communications gateway) that talks to the panels via PLC is on a circuit in the garage from the main panel and works fine. I have the PLC adapters to get the net connection back to my router.

And I have TED5000. I did move the gateway to a circuit nearer the main panel, but also added a MTU in the sub-panel for the solar circuit.

The LEAF (delivered 10/26) charges fine with no interference to X-10 or the microinverters or TED.

 

[Christopher]

I guess I've been lucky.
[...]
The LEAF (delivered 10/26) charges fine with no interference to X-10 or the microinverters or TED.

No luck required: My understanding from a conversation back in June is that all newer LEAFs were already shipping with the updated part. In fact, they tested a LEAF that had the updated part at my home to verify that the problem went away.

 

[TomT]

A couple of bifilar wound toroids on the two legs and AC Main capacitors to the neutral added to my Blink EVSE removed every bit of interference for me. Far cleaner than even my buddies new Leaf alone which has the new modified filter. The parts were already in my ham radio junk box so the cost was zero...

 

[GeekEV]

A couple of bifilar wound toroids on the two legs and AC Main capacitors to the neutral added to my Blink EVSE removed every bit of interference for me. Far cleaner than even my buddies new Leaf alone which has the new modified filter. The parts were already in my ham radio junk box so the cost was zero...

I remember a couple of conversations (in another thread?) a while back that was commenting on pictures of the AV EVSE innards and how it had a few toroids in there that weren't needed. Perhaps this is why? I think someone else made that association already too, but it bears repeating.

 

[DaveEV]

A couple of bifilar wound toroids on the two legs and AC Main capacitors to the neutral added to my Blink EVSE removed every bit of interference for me. Far cleaner than even my buddies new Leaf alone which has the new modified filter. The parts were already in my ham radio junk box so the cost was zero...

I remember a couple of conversations (in another thread?) a while back that was commenting on pictures of the AV EVSE innards and how it had a few toroids in there that weren't needed. Perhaps this is why? I think someone else made that association already too, but it bears repeating.

Yep, the AV definitely has the ground, L1 and L2 wrapped around a decent sized toroid 3 times.

Hard to tell from the pics on the Blink, but at least the GE Wattstation doesn't.

See this thread for pics: Inside the EVSE

 

[Herm]

[ but at least the GE Wattstation doesn't.

but it has those massive fuses..

 

[TomT]

What is already in the Blink appears insufficient to make much of a dent in the noise problem. I suspect it is there more for FCC R.F. compliance and/or GFI sensing. Way too small and improperly wound to handle both common and differential mode noise. Plus, without good coupling to the neutral via some caps, the toroids and pots are going to be far less efficient.

A couple of bifilar wound toroids and Pots on the two legs and some AC Main type capacitors to the neutral added to my Blink EVSE removed every bit of interference for me. Far cleaner than even my buddies new Leaf alone which has the new modified filter. The parts were already in my ham radio junk box so the cost was zero...

I remember a couple of conversations (in another thread?) a while back that was commenting on pictures of the AV EVSE innards and how it had a few toroids in there that weren't needed. Perhaps this is why? I think someone else made that association already too, but it bears repeating.

 

[DaveEV]

What is already in the Blink appears insufficient to make much of a dent in the noise problem. I suspect it is there more for FCC R.F. compliance. Way too small and improperly wound to handle both common and differential mode noise. Plus, without good coupling to the neutral via some caps, the toroids and pots are going to be far less efficient.

Do you have specs on the toroids / caps you used on your Blink?

 

[TomT]

The caps were 10Uf, 250VAC, mains rated capacitors from my junk box . The toroids were big 3.5" OD units I also had in my junk box and I don't have any specs on them. I wired them in a Pi arrangement from each side of the L1 and L2 lines to the neutral.

Do you have specs on the toroids / caps you used on your Blink?

 

[Nekota]

Yep, the AV definitely has the ground, L1 and L2 wrapped around a decent sized toroid 3 times.

Hard to tell from the pics on the Blink, but at least the GE Wattstation doesn't.

See this thread for pics: Inside the EVSE

I would think that is part of a ground fault detection circuit for GFCI .

 

[LEAFer]

Nissan brought an AV EVSE to our house to eliminate our EVSE as a potential source for the noise. It made no difference. ( I did not verify the innards of the AV unit; their only modification -- AFAIK -- was a NEMA plug on the input side. )