AV Unit Broken? (Actually, no!)

I just picked up my LEAF yesterday. (Yay!)
However, I can't get it to charge with my AV Unit. (Boo!)
I see the "Power Present" light on the dock, and when I plug in the car I hear the beep. However...
- no other lights ever turn on on the dock
- no lights ever display on the car

I have turned off the charge timer.
I have flipped the breaker on the AV Unit.

I have talked to Nissan and AV, and they are going to call me back with a senior technician, but I am suspicious it is just a bad unit. I have a memory of someone else on the Forum who had a bad unit, I just can't find it.

My AV Unit was purchased as a "cash and carry" in December because AV's contractor in the area couldn't figure out how to do a Second Meter installation with PG&E. So I had the same installer as gudy do the work.

Anybody have any tips? Thanks!

Does the car charge on 120V with the included Panasonic mobile EVSE ?

Does the AV plug, when inserted, make a solid feeling "click" ? Once inserted, WITHOUT pressing the release button, when you try to pull the AV plug does it remain "locked" in the charge port (it should) ?

After inserting the AV plug, did you check CarWings to see what it reports ("plugged in") ?


Since you said ...

margie100 said:

I see the "Power Present" light on the dock, and when I plug in the car I hear the beep. However...
- no other lights ever turn on on the dock

Click to expand...

apparently the "Ready to charge" light is also not "on". So, yes, probably a bad AV unit.

But congratulations on the arrival of your LEAF

LEAFer said:

Does the car charge on 120V with the included Panasonic mobile EVSE ?

Click to expand...

I've never tried it because I don't have a standard outlet anywhere near the car. It did arrive with a full charge from the dealer yesterday.

LEAFer said:

Does the AV plug, when inserted, make a solid feeling "click" ? Once inserted, WITHOUT pressing the release button, when you try to pull the AV plug does it remain "locked" in the charge port (it should) ?

Click to expand...

Yes, it makes a solid click, and I am unable to pull it out unless I press the release button.

LEAFer said:

After inserting the AV plug, did you check CarWings to see what it reports ("plugged in") ?

Click to expand...

CarWings has always shown a red box around the plug image with an "X", and if I try to start charging I get an email that it has failed.

LEAFer said:

Since you said ...

margie100 said:

I see the "Power Present" light on the dock, and when I plug in the car I hear the beep. However...
- no other lights ever turn on on the dock

Click to expand...

apparently the "Ready to charge" light is also not "on". So, yes, probably a bad AV unit.

Click to expand...

Sigh...that is what I was afraid of. Now I fear that they will charge me something horrible to replace it since they didn't do the install in the first place. But...the only reason I didn't hire them to do the install was that they couldn't deal with the second meter.

LEAFer said:

But congratulations on the arrival of your LEAF

Click to expand...

Thanks!

I don't remember who, but someone else on this forum had a cash-and-carry unit replaced. Wonder what the "terms" were ? (You pay return shipping ... they send you a new one under the 1 year warranty ? I think AV charges something like $50 for shipping ? Of course ... the unit has to be un-installed and the new one installed ... might think about adding a receptacle and converting the replacement unit to plug-in.)

That was me. In the end, they wound up covering return shipping and shipping of a replacement unit since it was DOA. No cost out of pocket to me. It was a bit of a headache at first, because I was the first cash and carry to have this happen. But they made good in the end. Read all about it here:

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=2752&start=0

Oh, also, since it doesn't show "vehicle connected", check both the charge port and the J plug on the EVSE and make sure there's no debris that may have gotten in there and be blocking electrical contact. AV had suggested that maybe some styrofoam from the shipping box got in the plug and was blocking something, but that wasn't it for me. Could be for you though...

GeekEV said:

Oh, also, since it doesn't show "vehicle connected", check both the charge port and the J plug on the EVSE and make sure there's no debris that may have gotten in there and be blocking electrical contact. AV had suggested that maybe some styrofoam from the shipping box got in the plug and was blocking something, but that wasn't it for me. Could be for you though...

Click to expand...

Ohhh....I liked that idea so I ran out to check, but no luck.

So...if I have to hook up a 50 foot extension cord to use the L1 charger -- is that going to be an issue?

Now if only my EV Project charging station had been installed, I wouldn't be stuck. I decided that I wanted to have both chargers just in case one of them had an issue (and because we eventually want a plug-in Prius), I just didn't know I'd be needing that second charger right away!

margie100 said:

So...if I have to hook up a 50 foot extension cord to use the L1 charger -- is that going to be an issue?

Click to expand...

Extension cord needs to be #14 or #12 wire. #16 is too small.

margie100 said:

So...if I have to hook up a 50 foot extension cord to use the L1 charger -- is that going to be an issue?

Click to expand...

Since you're having two 240v circuits installed, I'd make sure to get at least one 120v circuit installed as well. You're bound to find yourself needing/wanting one at some point.

margie100 said:

I see the "Power Present" light on the dock, and when I plug in the car I hear the beep. However...
- no other lights ever turn on on the dock
- no lights ever display on the car

Click to expand...

The control pilot cable is probably disconnected or isn't plugged all the way in, inside of the AV EVSE. The cables are supposed to be designed to "break-away" from the EVSE if they are pulled hard enough, so my theory is that the EVSE doesn't sense the voltage change, thus won't send power to the car.

The car is beeping, so the proximity pin is functioning properly on the cable, so I would first assume there are cable connection issues inside of the AV EVSE first.

If you're handy with a multimeter, I would suggest doing a continuity test between the pins on the J1772 plug and the inside of the EVSE, but hopefully checking that one cable will result in success.

Also, if you're using an extension cord outside, be sure to use a GFCI outlet!

Well it turns out the AV Unit is fine!

What I forgot to check, in all my troubleshooting, was the breaker attached to the E9B Meter. It was apparently in some kind of halfway state. Enough to illuminate the "power present" light, but nothing else. I had only been flipping the breaker in the sub-panel, and not checking the one in the main panel.

Now I need to apologize to the helpful guys at Aerovironment. I was pretty hard on them when I thought they sold me a bad unit I'd have to pay to replace.

I like my car more now that I have a way to charge it!

Thanks to everyone who helped with troubleshooting. I'll be at the BayLEAF gathering tomorrow.

Wow ! That's an odd one, if I've ever heard one ... "halfway state" ... not enough to turn the "Ready to Charge" green light on. In that case the AV should have indicated a red fault light ...

Oh well. Thanks for updating, and glad your car "getting juice" ...

Wow, that is weird. I'm not even sure how such a thing is possible... :?:

GeekEV said:

Wow, that is weird. I'm not even sure how such a thing is possible... :?:

Click to expand...

I've seen only half of a double pole breaker closed.