10W to run Blink EVSE, ~0W to run OpenEVSE

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greenleaf

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So, I just added a new MTU to my TED 5000 setup to measure the power consumption of both the Blink EVSE (obtained as part of the EV project) and the OpenEVSE.

With the OpenEVSE in standby, the TED 5000 reports 0W (basically too small to be measured). With the Blink EVSE, it reports 10W. Talk about vampire loads!

Maybe I should get rid of the Blink EVSE and install another OpenEVSE! I wonder how much are the Blink EVSEs worth on the resale market anyway?
 
Odd. With the screen off mine only pulls 4-5 watts...

greenleaf said:
With the OpenEVSE in standby, the TED 5000 reports 0W (basically too small to be measured). With the Blink EVSE, it reports 10W. Talk about vampire loads!
 
greenleaf said:
So, I just added a new MTU to my TED 5000 setup to measure the power consumption of both the Blink EVSE (obtained as part of the EV project) and the OpenEVSE.

With the OpenEVSE in standby, the TED 5000 reports 0W (basically too small to be measured). With the Blink EVSE, it reports 10W. Talk about vampire loads!

Maybe I should get rid of the Blink EVSE and install another OpenEVSE! I wonder how much are the Blink EVSEs worth on the resale market anyway?

You are correct, OpenEVSE was designed to draw little power in standby. Even while charging it will draw less than 3 watts with 30a relays and a LCD display.

The blinks are not worth too much as they have issues with the cable and often fail. Many folks have converted the guts to OpenEVSE.
 
The little power supply for the blink screen/meter/control electronics may not be power factor corrected (a lot of smaller power supplies are not) so the power reading may be inaccurate. The power drawn is not sinusoidal, making it difficult to measure with current transformers.

Of course the charger in the car is power factor corrected and should measure properly.
 
chris1howell said:
greenleaf said:
So, I just added a new MTU to my TED 5000 setup to measure the power consumption of both the Blink EVSE (obtained as part of the EV project) and the OpenEVSE.

With the OpenEVSE in standby, the TED 5000 reports 0W (basically too small to be measured). With the Blink EVSE, it reports 10W. Talk about vampire loads!

Maybe I should get rid of the Blink EVSE and install another OpenEVSE! I wonder how much are the Blink EVSEs worth on the resale market anyway?

You are correct, OpenEVSE was designed to draw little power in standby. Even while charging it will draw less than 3 watts with 30a relays and a LCD display.

The blinks are not worth too much as they have issues with the cable and often fail. Many folks have converted the guts to OpenEVSE.
Good job on the OpenEVSE!
 
JeremyW said:
The little power supply for the blink screen/meter/control electronics may not be power factor corrected (a lot of smaller power supplies are not) so the power reading may be inaccurate. The power drawn is not sinusoidal, making it difficult to measure with current transformers.

Of course the charger in the car is power factor corrected and should measure properly.
The TED system does measure "true power". The apparent power measured is 38 VA, the measured power factor is 26%, giving a true power of 10 W. My Blink screen is off too.
 
There is a strong market for Blinks on eBay. Not a very big supply though. I sold mine for over $500 and now just use my OpenEVSE. Fortunately I had blink replace the cord so hopefully it works well for the new buyer.
 
johnrhansen said:
So at 12 cents per kwh that vampire load costs you 1.20 in 42 days. Is that a problem?

A nice rule of thumb I like to use is 1 watt 24/7 costs $1 per year to run. That assumes about 11.5 cents per kwh. So a Blink costs about $10 a year to run.
 
johnrhansen said:
So at 12 cents per kwh that vampire load costs you 1.20 in 42 days. Is that a problem?
Multiply that by millions and you can see how it could be a problem.

Just because the amount of energy used seems insignificant does not mean that it's OK to throw it away. I mean really, there's no reason for it to suck down power unless a car is plugged in.
 
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