Why is my Juicebox 40 pro jumping up and down to 30 amps when I have it set for 10 amps

[sendler2112]

Why is my Juicebox 40 pro jumping up and down to 30 amps when I have it set for 10 amps. Check out the screen shot. It was set to 10 amps to begin the session. I noticed it jumping so I set it to 30 amps to see what it would do and it went right there and stayed steady. So I turned it back down to 10 amps and it was jumping up and down to 30 again. Almost 50/50 apparently since the session ended with an average rate of 4kW. Should have been about 2.35 kW average if it was charging at 10 amps. It is doing the same thing tonight. I am also trying to figure out how to set it to add only to an amount to reach 80%. How would this be done for my 2014 Leaf SL?
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[nlspace]

Your car is capable of 6.6kW charging and receives a pilot signal from the jbox indicating the available AC input current. The OBC will use this as it deems necessary to do its job as can be seen at the end of the session when the power ramps down as the cells get near the top voltage and the pack is approaching full.

i don't know the JB40 options but it appears to have 3 Enable levels, one might be a Time out mode that could be set to limit the session to only provide about 80% full. The fluctuating current/power level could be related to the en override setting, i.e. it was sending up to 30A to override your manual 10A setting.

You would need to monitor the PWM pilot signal sent to the car to know whether this was a commanded power level (normal ops) or a malfunction in the JB40.

 

[sendler2112]

Obviously, normal charge protocol requires the car to adhere to whatever the charge station tells it is it's max current capability. If the charge station sends the signal that it can do no more that 10 amps. The car cannot override this and start drawing 30. My charge station is not adhering to the current setting that I chose of 10 amps. Even though it knows I have chosen it as can be seen by intermittent logging of the chosen 10 amp value after the solid 30 amp rate that it correctly moved to at 18:00 when given the command. I hate to think what my charger in the car is going through electronically when being communicated to bounce up and down between 10 and 30 amps like that.
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I wrote to EMotorWerks a couple days ago with their contact form and got the automated reply to my email and replied to that also with the written concern and the image of the charge log, but no live response as of yet.

 

[WetEV]

I hate to think what my charger in the car is going through electronically when being communicated to bounce up and down between 10 and 30 amps like that.

Having designed power supplies including for charging batteries, this should not stress the charger at all.

 

[sendler2112]

I talked to tech today. He was suspecting a problem with the car. I wasn't since all other charge stations work fine. So I unplugged the Juicebox from the wall for a few minutes and when I tried it again, everything works fine. I can adjust the rate up and down at will. Although I am wondering if the issue could be something like having the web app open at the same time as the phone app and possibly having 30 amps set on one and 10 amps set on the other. It did seem like if I was controlling the settings from the PC that the phone settings did not change or update accordingly if watching them both at the same time. Will try to make sure only one or the other is open at a time and try to keep them synchronized.
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[sendler2112]

One more whacky episode. I plugged the car into the Juicebox and the relays starting clacking on and off again and again. It seemed to quit for a moment and I was in a hurry to get changed and head out to an appointment so I went inside. When I came out to leave I had to take my gas car because it had totally failed to charge at all. The log showed dozens of short charge sessions starting and then immediately ending. sent this screen shot to tech and they didn't have any explanation. I unplugged it from the wall again and it has worked more or less normally for three sessions since. The three year warranty expires on 12/ 25/ 19.
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[Oilpan4]

Do you have a backup evse?

 

[sendler2112]

I can almost get by with the 12 amp Level 1 cord at home. There are two 30 amp Level 2 stations at work. I may mod the Nissan cord to 240V or just buy the 16 amp level 2 portable for $175 to save the time from modding. I'm using about 13 kWh each night on the way home when it's cold and windy.

 

[Oilpan4]

I think you can mod that 12 amp for 240v almost nothing ad do it quickly.

 

[powersurge]

Really stupid question... If your charger can do 30 amps, then why would you want it to do 10 amps?

You might as well just plug in the 110 volt charger...

Please explain your perceptions of how or why you would need 10 amps??

 

[sendler2112]

Really stupid question... If your charger can do 30 amps, then why would you want it to do 10 amps?

You might as well just plug in the 110 volt charger...

Please explain your perceptions of how or why you would need 10 amps??

My perceptions are: I have all night and can still get full at 10 amps with a time of use setting of 11PM to 7AM. A 2.35kW charge rate is easier on the battery and the grid and the house wiring than 6.6 kW. Charging with the Nissan charger only does 1.4 kW and is sometimes not quite enough if I get home late. Ideally I will start to gain experience with the dash readout of % remaining and be able to select 6 or 7 amps on the charge station in order to end up with 85% instead of 100% when I get ready to leave. Again to retain optimum battery longevity. The biggest perception being that I paid extra for a deluxe, web enabled charge station and would like it to function as it was described, Or be replaced. Obviously clacking the relays on an off once per minute for an hour is not good for the car. My faith in this $600 charge station is pretty weak right now.

 

[nrvous]

It would be interesting to see if you had a buddy with an EV and see if their car exhibits the same issue to eliminate the possibility of the problem being car related.

I'd press Enel/Juicebox to warranty the EVSE, especially if you don't seem to have any issues at a public charger.

If the car works at a public charger, your Nissan EVSE works fine with the car and JuiceBox still can't offer any explanations, I bet they'd be agreeable to warranty replacement.

One more whacky episode. I plugged the car into the Juicebox and the relays starting clacking on and off again and again. It seemed to quit for a moment and I was in a hurry to get changed and head out to an appointment so I went inside. When I came out to leave I had to take my gas car because it had totally failed to charge at all. The log showed dozens of short charge sessions starting and then immediately ending. sent this screen shot to tech and they didn't have any explanation. I unplugged it from the wall again and it has worked more or less normally for three sessions since. The three year warranty expires on 12/ 25/ 19.
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[sendler2112]

So the usefulness is that I got home with 17%, set my charge station for 8 amps and time of use from 11pm to 7am, and went out to the car at a near perfect 90% in the morning which rolled into work with 24% remaining.
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The Juicebox is still acting weird though. I am off work today so only wanted 75% so I turned it down from 8 amps to 7 and got this: Perfect start up on time at 8 amps and then a bit wiggly after turning it down to 7. Which took me from 19% to 80%.
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