Failed to charge - interesting human error

[Ingineer]

There are 2 things going on here:

Once the J1772 connector is inserted, the car will acknowledge the EVSE's Pilot signal, and the EVSE will close it's contactors allowing AC power to the Leaf.

The connector latch on the J1772 handle is equipped with a monitoring switch, and when engaged this tells the Leaf that it's safe to draw power. If the connector is not latched fully, or somehow becomes open later, the Leaf will draw no charging current, even though the EVSE thinks all is good and continues to supply power.

It's absolutely imperative you check the J1772 connector latch to be sure it's completely latched, or you could find your Leaf not charged!

-Phil

 

[LEAFer]

I have experienced some trouble with the J-plug on a CT-500 being used daily for a full year. Intermittently some slightly additional force or "wiggling" was needed for insertion. However, since it's not me plugging the car in on a daily basis, the issue went unnoticed for a while. When I did run into some trouble a few weeks ago the following is what I determined ... check your own plug.

The light-green colored rubber O-ring was slightly out of place (not completely seated at the bottom of the "well" inside the plug). Multiple attempts at re-seating it -- with some "tiny instruments" (from El Paso ) -- failed. I completely removed the O-ring and experienced no further trouble with charging. I went thru one round of trying to place the O-ring back to where it belongs, but was not successful.

The car "registered" the presence of the plug but would not start charging. In one case charging appeared to start, but was immediately (1-2 secs) terminated. A log of the ChargePoint Network account's charging events clearly illustrates the aborted attempts.

Several calls and emails to SPX/ChargePoint Customer ensued. The shame is ... there's nothing wrong with the station, but they want to replace the whole unit, even though it is a simple mechanical issue with the J-plug.







I am *NOT* recommending you remove your O-ring. I am sure it has some sort of "sealing" function for inclement weather. In my case warranty for the station will take care of the issue, that may not be the case for everyone. But if the O-ring is the issue in your case, and you need a charge really "bad" ... you know what to do

 

[Nubo]

We parked at a public EVSE this weekend, plugged in and went on our way. As I was walking away I checked the Carwings app because I wasn't entirely sure if the EVSE would be delivering 240 or 120v. Noticed it wasn't charging at all, and it dawned on me that I had timers set, which hadn't been the case before at other public charge points. With the sun out I hadn't noticed the charging lights either, and I'd been distracted talking to some nice people who had questions about the car. Fortunately the app served as the last line of defense against my lack of awareness and I trotted back over to hit the timer override. :roll:

I remember back in the early 70's, our teachers were set against allowing students to bring those newfangled electronic calculators to class. Said we'd become dependent on machines and our brains would atrophy.

They might have had a point.