Timer malfunction, left me with a half-dead car

[FalconFour]

I have a simple plan for my timer. Just follow the peak times. It's not that hard. Charge ANY time except this period of time. In the winter, it's Monday through Friday, 5pm to 8pm.

So I have a timer set to "start" at 8pm, "end" at 5pm, with the timer only selected on Monday through Friday - otherwise "off".

Last night - Sunday - I plugged it in, and it... didn't start charging. I said, meh, whatever, screwy piece of crap software probably doing its idiotic "charge at the end of the timer" thing. Yeah, it did that. Maybe what it did was it planned to delay the charge until Monday at 5pm when "off" is set...

Yeah, I went out to the car this morning and it was half dead from Sunday's driving. WTF?

Is there any way to get this timer to behave like it should? "Charge at any time I plug it in between these hours"?

I only want to charge to 80% and the only way to do that is with timers. But the timer has that "wrap-around" problem, where it won't charge until it's approaching the "end time" (*bulging eyes* OH MY GOD I HATE THAT BEHAVIOR)...

Pardon my frustration. Really having an "end of my rope" kind of day today... :lol:

 

[braineo]

what a coincidence, same thing happened to me yesterday... made it back with 12 miles left in the guessometer

 

[wwhitney]

So I have a timer set to "start" at 8pm, "end" at 5pm, with the timer only selected on Monday through Friday - otherwise "off".

So that means to charge from Monday 8 p.m. to Tuesday 5 p.m., Tuesday 8 p.m. to Wednesday 5 p.m., . . ., and Friday 8 p.m. to Saturday 5 p.m.

If you also want Sunday 8 p.m. to Monday 5 p.m., add Sunday to the timer days.

Cheers, Wayne

 

[FalconFour]

But how do I get the car to ignore the "end time" and just call it a "cutoff time"? Hell, if the car's 50% charged at 4:30pm, I'd want it to charge 'til 5pm, stop, then resume at 8pm.

Oh man, I had a whole post drawn up on Facebook describing a four-mode charging timer that would resolve all these issues... "bias on/off", "beginning", "center", and "end" behaviors. Just a software update. Man, I really need to dig that post out and post it in "suggestions"...

 

[wwhitney]

But how do I get the car to ignore the "end time" and just call it a "cutoff time"? Hell, if the car's 50% charged at 4:30pm, I'd want it to charge 'til 5pm, stop, then resume at 8pm.

I don't understand your question. Right now your timers are set up so that the only time on the weekend it will charge is Saturday 12:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., which is from the Friday timer, Friday 8:00 p.m. to Saturday 5:00 p.m. timer. That's why your car didn't charge when you plugged it in on Sunday, it was waiting until Monday 8:00 p.m. to start charging.

When do you want it to charge, any time other than weekdays 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.? All day on the weekends?

Cheers, Wayne

 

[wwhitney]

When do you want it to charge, any time other than weekdays 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.? All day on the weekends?

If so, set Timer 1 to start at 8:00 p.m. and end at 5:00 p.m. and choose Monday through Friday, like you have. Then set Timer 2 to start at 5:00 p.m. and end at 4:59 p.m. and select Saturday and Sunday. That gives you your weekend charging, including Monday before 5:00 p.m.

Cheers, Wayne

 

[FalconFour]

With my completely random schedule, I want the car to charge *whenever I attach the cable during timer hours*. In fact, that seems like the most sensible use for the timer. I just want it to charge whenever there's an opportunity, not "to finish at this end time". The way it is now, it seems like it delays charging until the end of the timer, which is just as bad for utilities as if they all started at the same time - because now, everyone sets an "end" time and the car aims for that - so everyone's cars are finishing their charge around those common "end" hours like 5am, 6am, etc...

Just want the car to consider the "off" times, and charge any time it's set to be "on"...

 

[FalconFour]

When do you want it to charge, any time other than weekdays 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.? All day on the weekends?

If so, set Timer 1 to start at 8:00 p.m. and end at 5:00 p.m. and choose Monday through Friday, like you have. Then set Timer 2 to start at 5:00 p.m. and end at 4:59 p.m. and select Saturday and Sunday. That gives you your weekend charging, including Monday before 5:00 p.m.

Cheers, Wayne

Right, but it won't start charging on weekends if I'm at 70% charge, have it set to 80%, and plug it in at 1PM, because it knows it'll only take 1 hour to charge - it'll start at 3:59pm to end at 4:59pm >.<

Any other time it'll just sit there with a stupid look on the dash when I plug it in...

edit: Here's an added bonus. Because of the idiotic timer confusion and CARWINGS' shortcomings, I now have no way to stop charging without going down to the car and unplugging it. Because it wouldn't start charging (from 15% when I got home) when I plugged it in, I used timer-override to start it. Now it's 6pm, an hour into peak rate hours. And I can't stop it. I even flipped the breaker off and back on, and it dutifully continued charging after I switched it back on. WTF? It's smack in middle of "DO NOT CHARGE NOW" hours! Oh, this thing is freaking stupid.

 

[Deleted member 5796]

I've set my timers in the way that Wayne suggested and it always starts charging immediately if not during the "off" times. If you've set both start and stop times, it doesn't delay starting based on needed amount of charging. Give it a try.

 

[FalconFour]

I've set my timers in the way that Wayne suggested and it always starts charging immediately if not during the "off" times. If you've set both start and stop times, it doesn't delay starting based on needed amount of charging. Give it a try.

I always set start- and end-times (how can you only set one?), and it always does this... maybe I need another firmware update? :?

 

[derkraut]

When do you want it to charge, any time other than weekdays 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.? All day on the weekends?

If so, set Timer 1 to start at 8:00 p.m. and end at 5:00 p.m. and choose Monday through Friday, like you have. Then set Timer 2 to start at 5:00 p.m. and end at 4:59 p.m. and select Saturday and Sunday. That gives you your weekend charging, including Monday before 5:00 p.m.

Cheers, Wayne

Right, but it won't start charging on weekends if I'm at 70% charge, have it set to 80%, and plug it in at 1PM, because it knows it'll only take 1 hour to charge - it'll start at 3:59pm to end at 4:59pm >.<

Any other time it'll just sit there with a stupid look on the dash when I plug it in...

edit: Here's an added bonus. Because of the idiotic timer confusion and CARWINGS' shortcomings, I now have no way to stop charging without going down to the car and unplugging it. Because it wouldn't start charging (from 15% when I got home) when I plugged it in, I used timer-override to start it. Now it's 6pm, an hour into peak rate hours. And I can't stop it. I even flipped the breaker off and back on, and it dutifully continued charging after I switched it back on. WTF? It's smack in middle of "DO NOT CHARGE NOW" hours! Oh, this thing is freaking stupid.

Yo, FalconFour: Even though Wayne has patiently explained the Leaf timer functions for you, You obviously do not want to understand and accept how the Leaf charging timers work. Rather than get your underwear in such a bunch, I think you should sell your Leaf and buy a used Hummer. The Leaf is obviously too complicated for you. :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

 

[wwhitney]

I've set my timers in the way that Wayne suggested and it always starts charging immediately if not during the "off" times. If you've set both start and stop times, it doesn't delay starting based on needed amount of charging. Give it a try.

I always set start- and end-times (how can you only set one?), and it always does this... maybe I need another firmware update? :?

Are you sure? The only problem you mentioned in your opening post is that it failed to charge on Sunday night/Monday morning, and that is because your timer schedule didn't include any times on Sunday or Monday morning. Please try the schedule I suggested and report back.

Cheers, Wayne

 

[Deleted member 5796]

I've only had my timers set like Wayne suggested, I've only heard about other people setting end time only.

On week days I have a peak time of 4pm to 9pm (12pm to 5pm summer) to avoid charging during.

So I set timer 1: 80% start 9:10pm end 3:50pm days: sun, mon, tues, wed, thurs
And set timer 2: 80% start 9:10pm end 9:10pm days: fri, sat

This makes it charge to 80% any non-peak time when it is plugged in. If I plug in during peak, then it waits to start until peak is over. On the rare occasions I want to get 100%, I either hit the override button in the car, or use leaflink to start charging again. I usually only do this in the morning when I wake up (a hour or more before I need to leave) and then since the car was at 80% after charging all night, it gets to 100% just before I'm ready to go.

With the timers set this way, I've never had a problem with the car not getting charged

Perhaps the problem you've had has to do with day assignments

 

[FalconFour]

I'm just going to scroll right past a certain abusive post... this takes some serious self control. :evil:

Maybe I need to explain... *deep breath*... *hard rolling eyes*... exactly where I come from and exactly how much I already understand about the LEAF's internal systems and how I'm probably one of the most outspoken LEAF advocates in the whole 200-mile area of a crap-hole called the "central valley". There may be one or two more... but no, I'm not a freaking moron with this thing, even though the car didn't come with a manual in the glove box. :lol:

*clears throat*

I have set timers - usually "7 day a week" timers. I've only ever enabled one timer. I don't feel that this function should be as complicated as the car makes it. I watch its behavior and I try to come up with rationalizations as to why it malfunctions the way it does.

I have witnessed - through no isolated instance - that every day I plug my car in, with a "start-" and "end-" timer, it will delay charging until the end of the timer period. When I DO NOT want it to do this, there is no option to prevent it from doing so. So the car, since it only takes 4 or 5 hours to charge, amongst a 21-hour timer cycle, will decide to not charge when I want it to. Resulting in a dead car. Because "Sunday" was already "Monday" when I plugged it in, and even though it was in middle of its "on" time, it chose not to charge the car because it felt that it would finish charging "by 5PM" - which IS NOT WHAT I WANT.

Do we have any constructive input on the matter, or are we just going to go round and round with this "Nuh-uhh! My car doesn't do that! Nuhh-uhh! Nuhh-uhh!" crap?

Again, I'm at the end of my freaking rope today after having to deal with an entire unstoppable barrage of idiots thinking they're "smart", artifacts of a decaying society being stumbled over and stubbing my toe on, so on and so forth. The last thing I need right now is to be told that I need a "Hummer". :evil: :evil:

Oh, I see, said troll in the post at the top of this page is an "old man", one of those holier-than-thou jerks that thinks all these "youngns" are stupid and ignorant. Yeah, like I was saying about decaying society...

 

[evnow]

Ok guys. Just calm down - life is too short to get worked up over a timer.

 

[Stoaty]

I know this isn't what you want to hear, but after reading the entire thread I would say the most likely cause of your problem is user error.

 

[Deleted member 5796]

I will not defend the Leaf's charge timers, they are limited, confusing, and otherwise annoying. That being said, and going back to the original post, I think the leaf did what you asked. Because of the stupid way it works. It should be simple to say, charge anytime except (range) or only (range) but it isn't.

If you have any charge timer set, it will only charge between start and end times.

On days where there are no times specified, it will not charge at all.

So, with the timers set as in the original post, you will only allow charging on the following times:
Between:
Monday 8pm and until Tuesday at 5pm
Tuesday 8pm until Wednesday 5pm
Wednesday 8pm until Thursday 5pm
Thursday 8pm until Friday 5pm
Friday 8pm until Saturday 5pm
And no other times.

So when you plugged it in Sunday, it wouldn't start charging until Monday at 8pm, not what you wanted. When you set an end time before the start time it means the next day. To get weekend charging always, and weekday charging except during certain hours, you need to use two timers. It sounds like you need the same setup I have been using, but offset by one hour.

 

[FalconFour]

I know this isn't what you want to hear, but after reading the entire thread I would say the most likely cause of your problem is user error.

sigh. I'm a person that's focused on "things that shouldn't be the way they are, so bring it up to someone that might facilitate a change in a broken system". If Nissan and the whole LEAF community somehow disappeared overnight, yes, I could figure this out on my own. My point is that it's not optimally designed.

No, not if the design of the charging timer is to "be convenient" and try to "think" for me, the user, when I want to think for it, the car. If the timer is designed to function as I said it does, then there's no readily-available way to accomplish what I wanted it to do. That's what I'm trying to understand - the unnerving and unnecessarily complex design of the charging timers. It all boils down to that "I'll start charging before the timer ends" mentality of the charger design. Instead of charging right when I plug it in during "go" hours, it sits there not charging until the charge will finish by "end" time. And "user error" has nothing to do with that, other than not programming the timer "around" that design (i.e. a "work-around". for an "issue".)

I will not defend the Leaf's charge timers, they are limited, confusing, and otherwise annoying. That being said, and going back to the original post, I think the leaf did what you asked. Because of the stupid way it works. It should be simple to say, charge anytime except (range) or only (range) but it isn't.

Exactly. "Except" or "Only" timers would be better, to give a preference between "I'd like you to charge at any time EXCEPT these", versus "I'd like you to charge ONLY during this time". For "ONLY" timers, it could perform its "end-of-timer" charging. For "Except" timers, it would always start charging immediately unless the time is currently within an "exception" period. Maybe that's a better way to implement my "four-mode" timer concept. As it is now, it functions as what appears to be an "only"-range timer.

On days where there are no times specified, it will not charge at all.

:shock: :?: Da fuq? That doesn't sound like a rational design at all. "Sure, don't charge at this time at all. Yeah. I'll plug it in, but don't charge at all today". I don't know any situation that would be appropriate. Really? Now that's something that should change...

So, with the timers set as in the original post, you will only allow charging on the following times:
Between:
Monday 8pm and until Tuesday at 5pm
Tuesday 8pm until Wednesday 5pm
Wednesday 8pm until Thursday 5pm
Thursday 8pm until Friday 5pm
Friday 8pm until Saturday 5pm
And no other times.

So when you plugged it in Sunday, it wouldn't start charging until Monday at 8pm, not what you wanted. When you set an end time before the start time it means the next day. To get weekend charging always, and weekday charging except during certain hours, you need to use two timers. It sounds like you need the same setup I have been using, but offset by one hour.

Finally, someone explains the problem in a way I can understand, once they get over the whole "r u did read deh manual? ur stupat" thing. In other words, the timer is about as real-world as most people think this car is. Yeah, next to Carwings, I'd say the timers are my second biggest annoyance on this car. >.<

I'll plug your timers into my car and see what happens. I'll eat my words if that thing starts charging the moment I plug it in at any time I want during the "on" times (as I'd hope it would). :lol:

 

[planet4ever]

I have witnessed - through no isolated instance - that every day I plug my car in, with a "start-" and "end-" timer, it will delay charging until the end of the timer period.

This is most puzzling. I will join others in saying that the timers are confusing and frustrating, but if I understood what you said in that sentence it seems as if the timer is working in the mode that it was designed to follow if there was an end time and no start time. So, one thing to do is go back and check that the timer hasn't somehow lost the start time.

Independent of that problem, though, and as illogical as it may seem, you do definitely need to move your timer up one day as adspguy advises, i.e. Sunday through Thursday rather than Monday through Friday. I was not aware of the "no charging" claim he makes for weekends with that setup, but it is certainly true that if you want 80% charging on weekends you will need a second timer for that. So please do try what he proposed, with slight time adjustments, and see how it goes.

So I set timer 1: 80% start 9:10pm end 3:50pm days: sun, mon, tues, wed, thurs
And set timer 2: 80% start 9:10pm end 9:10pm days: fri, sat

Here's hoping that works for you!

Ray

 

[derkraut]

I know this isn't what you want to hear, but after reading the entire thread I would say the most likely cause of your problem is user error.

sigh. I'm a person that's focused on "things that shouldn't be the way they are, so bring it up to someone that might facilitate a change in a broken system". If Nissan and the whole LEAF community somehow disappeared overnight, yes, I could figure this out on my own. My point is that it's not optimally designed.

No, not if the design of the charging timer is to "be convenient" and try to "think" for me, the user, when I want to think for it, the car. If the timer is designed to function as I said it does, then there's no readily-available way to accomplish what I wanted it to do. That's what I'm trying to understand - the unnerving and unnecessarily complex design of the charging timers. It all boils down to that "I'll start charging before the timer ends" mentality of the charger design. Instead of charging right when I plug it in during "go" hours, it sits there not charging until the charge will finish by "end" time. And "user error" has nothing to do with that, other than not programming the timer "around" that design (i.e. a "work-around". for an "issue".)

I will not defend the Leaf's charge timers, they are limited, confusing, and otherwise annoying. That being said, and going back to the original post, I think the leaf did what you asked. Because of the stupid way it works. It should be simple to say, charge anytime except (range) or only (range) but it isn't.

Exactly. "Except" or "Only" timers would be better, to give a preference between "I'd like you to charge at any time EXCEPT these", versus "I'd like you to charge ONLY during this time". For "ONLY" timers, it could perform its "end-of-timer" charging. For "Except" timers, it would always start charging immediately unless the time is currently within an "exception" period. Maybe that's a better way to implement my "four-mode" timer concept. As it is now, it functions as what appears to be an "only"-range timer.

On days where there are no times specified, it will not charge at all.

:shock: :?: Da fuq? That doesn't sound like a rational design at all. "Sure, don't charge at this time at all. Yeah. I'll plug it in, but don't charge at all today". I don't know any situation that would be appropriate. Really? Now that's something that should change...

So, with the timers set as in the original post, you will only allow charging on the following times:
Between:
Monday 8pm and until Tuesday at 5pm
Tuesday 8pm until Wednesday 5pm
Wednesday 8pm until Thursday 5pm
Thursday 8pm until Friday 5pm
Friday 8pm until Saturday 5pm
And no other times.

So when you plugged it in Sunday, it wouldn't start charging until Monday at 8pm, not what you wanted. When you set an end time before the start time it means the next day. To get weekend charging always, and weekday charging except during certain hours, you need to use two timers. It sounds like you need the same setup I have been using, but offset by one hour.

Finally, someone explains the problem in a way I can understand, once they get over the whole "r u did read deh manual? ur stupat" thing. In other words, the timer is about as real-world as most people think this car is. Yeah, next to Carwings, I'd say the timers are my second biggest annoyance on this car. >.<

I'll plug your timers into my car and see what happens. I'll eat my words if that thing starts charging the moment I plug it in at any time I want during the "on" times (as I'd hope it would). :lol:

Hey, FalconFour: OOPS!---I didn't realize you were so sensitive. I don't care what you say, I love you anyway, Man. You see, I used to live in Fresno; and I know what that place can do to you. Luckily, I got out of there before I suffered permanent brain damage. Now....go set your timers. :lol: :lol: