NASHVILLE TENNESSEE - LEAF

[TimLee]

East Ridge and Murphy Express quick chargers are both down. Slow electrons for me at East Ridge for a while.

Hate to hear that. The Murphy Express Eaton DCFC worked for me on Saturday at 17:00.
Hard to imagine that it is out of service again following repair on Friday.
Did you get to it and try it, or did someone at the Murphy Express say it was out of service?
When I used it on Saturday, the spot had a Blue Durango ICE in it driven by a store employee, because she thought it was still out of service, not realizing it had been repaired on Friday.

 

[TNleaf]

Kimball quick charger is down. I'll be hanging out here a while.

At oh for three the quick chargers are not doing you any favors. So sorry you having such a trial Rachel. Be worth a blog post.

I want to take a trip to Chattanooga, but given the state of the QC network I may wait for sometime before attempting it.

What are Blink saying when you call in the fault(s)?

JP

This is a bummer. Anyone been out to the Manchester DC QC station recently?

I was also planning a LEAF trip to Chattanooga for this memorial day... was dependant on the QC at 2 locations, but it sounds like this may be a problem

 

[rslatkin]

East Ridge and Murphy Express quick chargers are both down. Slow electrons for me at East Ridge for a while.

Hate to hear that. The Murphy Express Eaton DCFC worked for me on Saturday at 17:00.
Hard to imagine that it is out of service again following repair on Friday.
Did you get to it and try it, or did someone at the Murphy Express say it was out of service?
When I used it on Saturday, the spot had a Blue Durango ICE in it driven by a store employee, because she thought it was still out of service, not realizing it had been repaired on Friday.

We tried to use it. The screen was dark and didn't respond to the buttons. I pushed the E-stop and reset it. The screen came up with some error messages and let me press "next" a few times and finally gave me an out of service message and wouldn't charge. I guess it's not just Blink with reliability issues.

 

[rslatkin]

East Ridge and Murphy Express quick chargers are both down. Slow electrons for me at East Ridge for a while.

rslatkin,

What is the display saying when you got to the DC fast charger in Kimball?

The Manager for the CB store and I where able to get the DC fast charger at Stewart's Ferry to work again, by resetting the breaker in one of the panels that all CB stores have the keys for.

What is on the screen on the right unit, and on the left unit?

Ralph

The Kimball quick charger mysteriously started working while I was there and I was able to get my only quick charge of the trip there.

Initially, both screens said the unit is out of service. I called Blink and they said the individual Cracker Barrel stores have keys to reset the red E-stop button, and the district managers have keys to the padlock on the disconnect switch that would be needed to actually reset the charger. The manager at the CB was very friendly and tried to help, but he didn't have the right key and his district manager was all the way in Nashville.

I went for a walk around the shopping center while my car was doing Level 2 charging, and when I came back, both quick charge screens said Hello. So I tried the one on the left since the right one was ICEd. It read my card but I could only enter one digit of my zip code, the touch screen seemed not to be working right. So I talked to the manager again and angle parked my car so it would reach the right connector and that worked. The quick charge was great! I really hope Blink can do some repairs before my trip home on Friday. The quick chargers would make it much better.

I got into Murfreesboro about 11:30pm last night. I was starting to get tired but it was also a good feeling to pull into the Embassy Suites parking lot and plug the car in. Being Sunday night the hotel was not busy and both of the Blink level 2s were available.

 

[ralphmc]

Yes see previous post, DC Fast charger is working fine on the left side right side is out of service.

Ralphmc

Kimball quick charger is down. I'll be hanging out here a while.

At oh for three the quick chargers are not doing you any favors. So sorry you having such a trial Rachel. Be worth a blog post.

I want to take a trip to Chattanooga, but given the state of the QC network I may wait for sometime before attempting it.

What are Blink saying when you call in the fault(s)?

JP

This is a bummer. Anyone been out to the Manchester DC QC station recently?

I was also planning a LEAF trip to Chattanooga for this memorial day... was dependant on the QC at 2 locations, but it sounds like this may be a problem

 

[ralphmc]

The key's the stores have - "only" fit the breaker Panel (2 - one for the DC FC (125 AM) & one for the L2 (75 AMP)), the manager needs to open the Panel, and the flip the breaker off - leave it of for about 60 seconds (this is to make sure the WAN port gets reset) - the power back on - and go through the annoying screen calibration on the "LEFT" display first, then after it is successfully calibrated the right unit will come as well - and all is good.

Ralphmc

If you do the right screen first - and not do the left screen first the unit will go into a none working order, and yu

East Ridge and Murphy Express quick chargers are both down. Slow electrons for me at East Ridge for a while.

rslatkin,

What is the display saying when you got to the DC fast charger in Kimball?

The Manager for the CB store and I where able to get the DC fast charger at Stewart's Ferry to work again, by resetting the breaker in one of the panels that all CB stores have the keys for.

What is on the screen on the right unit, and on the left unit?

Ralph

The Kimball quick charger mysteriously started working while I was there and I was able to get my only quick charge of the trip there.

Initially, both screens said the unit is out of service. I called Blink and they said the individual Cracker Barrel stores have keys to reset the red E-stop button, and the district managers have keys to the padlock on the disconnect switch that would be needed to actually reset the charger. The manager at the CB was very friendly and tried to help, but he didn't have the right key and his district manager was all the way in Nashville.

I went for a walk around the shopping center while my car was doing Level 2 charging, and when I came back, both quick charge screens said Hello. So I tried the one on the left since the right one was ICEd. It read my card but I could only enter one digit of my zip code, the touch screen seemed not to be working right. So I talked to the manager again and angle parked my car so it would reach the right connector and that worked. The quick charge was great! I really hope Blink can do some repairs before my trip home on Friday. The quick chargers would make it much better.

I got into Murfreesboro about 11:30pm last night. I was starting to get tired but it was also a good feeling to pull into the Embassy Suites parking lot and plug the car in. Being Sunday night the hotel was not busy and both of the Blink level 2s were available.

 

[rslatkin]

Kimball quick charger is down. I'll be hanging out here a while.

At oh for three the quick chargers are not doing you any favors. So sorry you having such a trial Rachel. Be worth a blog post.

I want to take a trip to Chattanooga, but given the state of the QC network I may wait for sometime before attempting it.

What are Blink saying when you call in the fault(s)?

JP

This is a bummer. Anyone been out to the Manchester DC QC station recently?

I was also planning a LEAF trip to Chattanooga for this memorial day... was dependant on the QC at 2 locations, but it sounds like this may be a problem

Manchester QC was saying "Emergency Stop has been pushed" on both sides last night.

 

[ralphmc]

WOW.

this looks like the same issue that I experienced in Manchester.

Did you have a chance to get with the manager, so they can reset the power to the DCFC?

This usually resolves the problem.

Ralphmc

Kimball quick charger is down. I'll be hanging out here a while.

At oh for three the quick chargers are not doing you any favors. So sorry you having such a trial Rachel. Be worth a blog post.

I want to take a trip to Chattanooga, but given the state of the QC network I may wait for sometime before attempting it.

What are Blink saying when you call in the fault(s)?

JP[/quote]

This is a bummer. Anyone been out to the Manchester DC QC station recently?

I was also planning a LEAF trip to Chattanooga for this memorial day... was dependant on the QC at 2 locations, but it sounds like this may be a problem [/quote]

Manchester QC was saying "Emergency Stop has been pushed" on both sides last night.[/quote]

 

[TimLee]

I tried the Eaton DCFC at Murphy Express in Chattanooga this afternoon 05-21-2012 @ 16:30 and it is dead in the water.
I turned the power off to it at the local disconnect and waited two minutes.
It rebooted, but showed Close Main Circuit Breaker fault during the restart, and the screen reset fault did not work and it went back into Out of Order Status.
It may be that the Eaton has a circuit breaker inside the Eaton DCFC that is tripped.
But is a bad idea to start opening a 480V panel that has capacitors in it, unless you're wearing the proper personnel protective clothing for arc flash protection and have the right training.
I didn't check to see if the Eaton 480V panel was locked though.
It wasn't locked early on before it went into service when I took the early internal pictures of it.
If DCFC is this unreliable to have internal circuit breaker that requires a technician visit to repair, then the technology needs a lot of work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is the Blink DCFC breaker that is being reset inside the Blink DCFC panel?
Are the Cracker Barrel personnel trained / properly protected to open that panel and reset that breaker?

 

[JPWhite]

Are the Cracker Barrel personnel trained / properly protected to open that panel and reset that breaker?

The only time I've seen a cracker barrel staff member near an EVSE is when they park their ICE vehicle in the nearly always free spot and go inside to start their shift.

McDonald's workers have the same habits.

Judging by this, I surmise the training to the staff has been zero. Quite frankly the staff should not need training the equipment should be more reliable.

What the DC fast charge infrastructure needs is twofold.

1. Better reliability (duh!!)
2. More redundancy

We've all pulled into the only open pump at a busy gas station only to be greeted with a yellow 'out of service' baggie on the pump handle. All technology breaks, redundancy is what make those breakdowns less of a problem.

It's worth remembering that last fall the reliability of Blink L2 EVSE's was horrible. Now I trust Blink L2's to remain functioning most of the time. Here's hoping Blink/Ecotaility can remedy the L3 units with the same sucess rate and time frame.

 

[hill]

I was testing settings recommended by another LEaf owner on the regular part of the forum, he's on the Left Coast, I think. Anyway, his idea was to set the thermostat at 60 (the lowest settings), and run the system in manual mode with the fan at the lowest setting. For me this ends up blowing a lot of cold air and I have to cycle the system off and on, at least on this trip. M next lengthy trip I will use the auto setting and set the thermostatic at 72 degrees which is were I prefer it anyway. I usually go out of the garage with the GOM at 110 to 114 miles. The GOM rapidly drops to around 100 by the time I get up Franklin Pike a few miles. I figure that the GOM has those extra "14 miles" as something like icing on the cake and they aren't really that many miles.


Dave

Have you ever seen Leafs parked at Ham & Jams? That's some GOOD eats in there. Great place for a QC too, imo.

 

[rslatkin]

I asked about the Tennessee quick chargers on http://blinkshare.blinknetwork.com/blink" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and got this reply:

"It looks like all of the fixes to known issues for the DCFC's in TN will be fixed around mid-June! We appreciate your patience while we get these back online."

Maybe I'll try this Atlanta to Murfreesboro trip again in a month or so.

 

[TNleaf]

I asked about the Tennessee quick chargers on http://blinkshare.blinknetwork.com/blink" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and got this reply:

"It looks like all of the fixes to known issues for the DCFC's in TN will be fixed around mid-June! We appreciate your patience while we get these back online."

Maybe I'll try this Atlanta to Murfreesboro trip again in a month or so.

Dang. :?

Sounds like my Nashville to Chattanooga day trip will be later too.

 

[rslatkin]

I also asked Blink why the quick chargers in Tennessee aren't shown on the BlinkMap anymore, and got this response:

"We took the DCFCs that are currently offline temporarily off of the map due to the fixes we are making to the units. Once the fixes are completed - (mid-June) - we will put them back on the map."

That should be a good indication for when Blink thinks the quick chargers are ready to go again. I am looking forward to it!

 

[kg4bec]

Hey Bert, if I can make the meetup (pending a date), I live near the Smyrna Airport and don't mind coming to pick you up.

Cool, thank you! I'll keep my eye on this thread -- and the weather.

Cheers, Bert

 

[brad]

It is almost time to renew my license plate. In Davidson County an emissions test is required prior to renewal. Has any one renewed their tags yet? Did you have to go through emissions testing?

Brad

 

[JPWhite]

It is almost time to renew my license plate. In Davidson County an emissions test is required prior to renewal. Has any one renewed their tags yet? Did you have to go through emissions testing?

Brad

Shouldn't the LEAF be an exempt vehicle?

I'd try to renew without going to Marta first.

 

[ralphmc]

It is almost time to renew my license plate. In Davidson County an emissions test is required prior to renewal. Has any one renewed their tags yet? Did you have to go through emissions testing?

Brad

Brad,

No MARTA - they will tell you to go to the county clerks office. There you tell them that you drive an electric car, they will check your vin, and have you sign a separate paper.

That's it. Did mine in November last year.

Ralphmc

 

[CWO4Mann]

It is almost time to renew my license plate. In Davidson County an emissions test is required prior to renewal. Has any one renewed their tags yet? Did you have to go through emissions testing?

Brad

Shouldn't the LEAF be an exempt vehicle?

I'd try to renew without going to Marta first.

I made a copy of the TN DMV form for HOV exempt vehicle and sent it in. Must have worked. Got new plates.

 

[TNleaf]

It is almost time to renew my license plate. In Davidson County an emissions test is required prior to renewal. Has any one renewed their tags yet? Did you have to go through emissions testing?

Brad

I won't have to renew until August, but I assumed it would be the same way as with my motorcycle. Just renew online without going through MARTA since motorcycles do not have to go through emissions.