Trickle charge question

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woodyas

Active member
Joined
Aug 19, 2012
Messages
33
Just got new Leaf on Wednesday...and am truly overwhelmed. Trying to master every feature and just drive and enjoy...and yet my mind is trying to finish all the manuals, read this forum, and glean any acumen I can from the the folks that have driven the car for more than 2 days.

But I can say this: have no regrets leasing this.

Quick thing: I have the trickle charge for now...no really need for a shorter charge. (At least not yet.)But: is it ok to leave the charger plugged into the wall socket? Does this do any damage when the other charging device is not plugged into the Leaf? Does being plugged into the wall, with the car charging, use any electricity. Reason I ask: the owners manual said to always unplug the trickle charger from the socket.

I would rather leave plugged in--then I can putt into garage and if I want to charge grab the main thing hanging from my wall and plug into car. The socket is down and away--and would be pain to plug in every time.

Looking forward to my first weekend in the Leaf!
 
No problem leaving it plugged in, any more than any other new appliance.

However, good to check any new appliance (and the socket that
it is plugged into) frequently, just
in case it proves to be defective in some way.

Yes, it uses a little electricity whenever plugged in, but not much.

Instead of being overwhelmed by all the new information,
just try many shorter trips, so range is not even an issue,
and enjoy the "feel" of the e-ride.

Then, learn the Nav enough to Go Home.
Then, you set other destinations... before you start.

Mostly, relax and enjoy learning the "personality"
of your new eeee-car.

Congratulations!
 
One important thing:

Out there in La Quinta, try to keep the car as
cool (shaded, etc.) as possible to better preserve
the battery capacity.

Welcome to the battery "reality".
But, since you have leased, it might not be such a big issue for you.
 
I think Phil (Ingineer) has said the trickle charging EVSE as provided by Nissan pulls about 5 watts in standby, so less than some nightlights. Let's see ... if my mental math hasn't failed me, at fifteen cents per kWh that would work out to about fifty cents per month.

I agree, it's better to leave it plugged in; less wear on the house outlet, and a lot more convenient. Not that you couldn't replace the outlet once every year or two if you had to, but that's inconvenient, too.

Ray
 
The EVSE seems pretty hardy. I have left it plugged in, and have used it a lot in many places. No worries. One thing I overlooked until recently is the keyless entry. The rear hatch I knew about - you just have to have the fob in your pocket and the hatch will unlock allowing you to open it, but the side doors also will open if you press the little button on the handle - something I didn't notice. Very convenient.
 
One drawback I see in leaving your EVSE plugged into your garage is that you don't have it in your LEAF when you are out and about. Unexpected scenarios can arise when you would need the EVSE to trickle charge while away from your home base.
 
Notice the Nissan EVSE "brick" has some holes in the case. When I was using the unit for daily charging, I looped some twine through one of those holes and used that to bear the weight and take all of the strain off the wall plug and cord. The brick is fairly heavy.
 
Hello! I too use trickle as main charge. One month now and no issues. Did all the the action described by these experienced Leafers!

Question-I would like to get an effective plug monitor to record accurate kwh draw month to month. Recommendations?

Thanks!
 
Nubo said:
Notice the Nissan EVSE "brick" has some holes in the case. When I was using the unit for daily charging, I looped some twine through one of those holes and used that to bear the weight and take all of the strain off the wall plug and cord. The brick is fairly heavy.
I do that also—except that mine is upgraded to 240V—and run my cable along the ceiling of my garage on bicycle hooks to keep it off the floor and out of the way. (I have a lot of dirt on the floor of my garage since I live on a dirt road in snow country; it is a fact of life here.)

The "brick" is hanging from a screw on the wall.

The cable hangs down from the ceiling above the front of the car. When not in use I just hang the nozzle on the ceiling hook to keep it out of the way.
 
SeattleBlue said:
Hello! I too use trickle as main charge. One month now and no issues. Did all the the action described by these experienced Leafers!

Question-I would like to get an effective plug monitor to record accurate kwh draw month to month. Recommendations?

Thanks!
It depends somewhat on whether you rent or own your house. If you rent and charge at 120V ("trickle" charge) you could use a Kill-a-Watt meter. However, Phil ("Ingineer") has reported that some of those meters can't handle constant 120 Volts, 12 Amps without overheating. I guess I got lucky since my Kill-a-Watt meter handles 120 V charging without issues. But I only use it when away from home now since I charge at 240 V at home.

If you own your house, meaning that you can install whatever devices you want, an inexpensive option is to use a refurbished utility meter like the one I showed in my message above*. DaveinOlyWA describes how to do it here:
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/blog.php?u=291&b=92" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
This is an easy DIY project if you are comfortable working with electrical wiring and outlets. Otherwise an electrician could install it for you.

Others use monitoring systems like The Energy Detective (TED) but that figures to be more expensive.


* My meter currently shows 1722 kWh of home charging since it was placed in service 11½ months ago. Adding that to my small amount of charging away from home, which I log, and dividing into my LEAF mileage gives 3.95 miles/kWh average over the almost one year I've had my car. That total includes winter, summer, preheating, and the efficiency losses of charging. At my local electricity rate of 13¢/kWh, that works out to 3.3¢/mile for my LEAF. And that's why it is fun to have a way to keep track!
 
SeattleBlue said:
Hello! I too use trickle as main charge. One month now and no issues. Did all the the action described by these experienced Leafers!

Question-I would like to get an effective plug monitor to record accurate kwh draw month to month. Recommendations?

Thanks!

http://www.amazon.com/P3-International-P4400-Electricity-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1354383731&sr=1-1&keywords=kill+a+watt" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

for 120 volt
 
Nubo said:
Notice the Nissan EVSE "brick" has some holes in the case. When I was using the unit for daily charging, I looped some twine through one of those holes and used that to bear the weight and take all of the strain off the wall plug and cord. The brick is fairly heavy.

bungy cord connectors!
 
Keep an eye on the Kill a Watt. Using it for L1 charging, mine got hot enough to melt the solder connecting one plug prong to the circuit board. And yes, the outlet (socket) was a good tight fit.
 
I've got a question about trickle charging as well. I use the trickle charge at home because I don't see the need to pay for a L2 charger (I was on the free Blink charger list but missed the deadline for the free installation). This situation works fine for me. I've had my 2013 SV for about 3 months now and noticed that my range when trickle charging at home once fully charged has gone down from ~98-100 to ~85-90 miles in that time. At first I thought that my battery must be degrading quicker than anticipated. However, my work location installed an L2 charger so I can now charge there as well. So yesterday when I got back in the car after a full charge I noticed my range was back up to 102.

I realize that the L1 charging is less efficient and results in greater loss (i.e. 10-15% less energy leaving the wall is put into the battery), but is there some limit to the amount of juice that can be put into the battery when trickle charging? Does the additional voltage when charging at L2 allow you to "push" more juice into the battery? Appears to be the case with me.
- Reading the posts, everyone seems to agree that there are no adverse effects to the battery of trickle charging but are we sure about that?
 
tjlyerly, the range meter (aka Guess-O-Meter) has nothing to do with your state of charge or capacity. All it does is take your current energy remaining and divide it by some unspecified recent mi/kwh figure. If you drive fast on the way home, it will read lower than when you go slow for the last several miles. You almost certainly don't have significant range loss in 3 months.

The L1 charger was "fine" for me until I got my L2. Now I take my kids to school, go to work, run errands at lunch time, and get home with 70 or so miles on the clock. L2 during dinner, and then my wife takes it out in the evening for 30-40 miles without any range anxiety. I've only had the thing for a few weeks, but the L2 is really freedom.
 
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