Is my Blink Home EVSE safe for 6.6 kW charging?

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Joined
Aug 28, 2012
Messages
13
Hi All

I just turned in my 2012 Leaf, which charged for two years with no problems at 3.3 kW (15A) on the Blink home EVSE that I got through the EV Project.

The new 2015 Leaf, however, has 6.6 kW Level 2 charging (i.e. 30A).

I've heard that Blink has had issues with their plugs overheating at 30A.

And I just plugged in for a few minutes at 6.6 kW. The port on the Leaf definitely feels warm. I never checked to see if it felt warm before.

Should I be worried? Should I throw out the Blink unit and upgrade? Will I burn my house down / melt my charge port?

John
 
I am neither a lawyer nor an engineer, so don't take this as gospel, but I think the general consensus of opinion on this website is that the Blink unit itself is OK to charge at 6.6 kW (IF you have it connected to a 40A, 240V circuit), but that the J1772A cord may not be up to the task. I believe that one owner (Tony Williams, IIRC) partially melted the J1772A socket on his vehicle (a new RAV-4 EV) with a Blink with the stock cord.

Most people are recommending that if you have the electrical skill, you should replace the cord with a 40A-rated cable from a different manufacturer, such as this one or this one that forum member Chris Howell is selling for his OpenEVSE unit. Oh, and check the tightness of all of the high-voltage connections.

If you aren't comfortable replacing the cable yourself, your options are:

  • Pay an electrician to replace it
  • Try to open up the existing cable J1772 connector and beef up the connections (there's a post about that somewhere on this forum), or
  • Sell your Blink to someone on the forum and buy a different unit

You can check out differing opinions here.

Ultimately, its Caveat Emptor at this point...
 
JJMcCoySeattle said:
Hi All

I just turned in my 2012 Leaf, which charged for two years with no problems at 3.3 kW (15A) on the Blink home EVSE that I got through the EV Project.

The new 2015 Leaf, however, has 6.6 kW Level 2 charging (i.e. 30A).

I've heard that Blink has had issues with their plugs overheating at 30A.

And I just plugged in for a few minutes at 6.6 kW. The port on the Leaf definitely feels warm. I never checked to see if it felt warm before.

Should I be worried? Should I throw out the Blink unit and upgrade? Will I burn my house down / melt my charge port?

John

GlennD wrote up how to fix the Blink cable, in this thread.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=16876

It is fairly easy, if you can solder.
 
I wish I had been paying better attention here lately because yes my J1772 Blink connector melted and damaged my Leaf. Has been at the Dealer over 3 weeks now. Even though Blink admitted it is their issue and 2 people, including their CTO, have admitted this is something that is due to the bad cable, well getting approval for the repair is taking a very long time. I don't want to pay for the repair at the dealer and ask for reimbursement because they may decide they would not then need to cover it.

Is weird that I charged without issue for months and then boom.

Check your cables people. I was afraid to replace mine myself and just kept putting it off assuming that they would send a recall or a notice to me. Poor poor choice on my part. If you have an original Blink unit, please do not assume you are ok just because nothing has gone wrong before now with the 6.6 charging. Fix that cable.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/clanmiller/14787876670
 
I wish you luck. The company that purchased Blink only purchased their commercial EVSEs. Home owners are left drifting without support.
 
Kelangst said:
Even though Blink admitted it is their issue and 2 people, including their CTO, have admitted this is something that is due to the bad cable, well getting approval for the repair is taking a very long time. I don't want to pay for the repair at the dealer and ask for reimbursement because they may decide they would not then need to cover it.
Pay for the replacement receptacle and take Blink to small-claims. Just because you chose to pay for the repair out-of-pocket, any legal right you have against Blink shouldn't be diminished.
 
Not directly on topic, but I want to add that I received an email from BLINK last week. Don’t remember the exact wording, but what I remember is that because of overheating in some situations, they have done a software reset (via internet) on all BLINK units to limit them to 15 amps. Anyone else get that memo? I ask because I’m wondering if they did it because of the problem you’re talking about here.
 
ahagge said:
I believe that one owner (Tony Williams, IIRC) partially melted the J1772A socket on his vehicle (a new RAV-4 EV) with a Blink with the stock cord.

Most people are recommending that if you have the electrical skill, you should replace the cord with a 40A-rated cable from a different manufacturer, such as this one that forum member Chris Howell is selling for his OpenEVSE unit.

Yes, that was me with the melted Yazaki J1772 inlet on my 2012 Rav4 EV.

Its also myself and my brother who makes the 40 amp J1772 cable for Chris.
 
rdhauser said:
Not directly on topic, but I want to add that I received an email from BLINK last week. Don’t remember the exact wording, but what I remember is that because of overheating in some situations, they have done a software reset (via internet) on all BLINK units to limit them to 15 amps. Anyone else get that memo? I ask because I’m wondering if they did it because of the problem you’re talking about here.
Carcharging/Blink Reduces resedential EVSE's to 24Amp.
 
JJMcCoySeattle: Why not post a carefully worded poll of Blink users of their experience with it, including entries for Leaf MY, charger power, and length of time of experience? You might also call Blink customer support and find out what they have to say about residential Blink problems. (Realize they may not be unbiased, especially if they are trying to sell you another EVSE to replace your Blink.)

I have read that some (models unstated) EVSEs apparently do not use silver plated coupling pins (like nickel plated) and I wonder if that could possibly be an issue as well.

It seems to me that any mechanical electric coupler is subject to a number of contributing degrading factors over time that can cause them to eventually fail, and it would be best if EVs monitored their J1772 ports for excessive temperature (and perhaps reduced power draw when appropriate).

In the meantime might I suggest considering using your home EVSE set to operate at only 16a 240v, if that is sufficient most of the time (i.e. why use a higher power rate than you normally need)? If one has two (or more) EVs, that makes the most amount of sense to use to be more sustainable (and probably avoid expensive service upgrades, etc).
 
Just an update - my out of pocket cost to repair this was in excess of $2500. Hopefully Blink will reimburse. I agree that if you have a 6.6 capable car that until this is all worked out you should consider forcing a charge at a lower rate.

Worse, however, was the unfortunate treatment from Nissan. I completely understand that Nissan is attempting to distance themselves from being at fault, but we are trying to create a community that supports and advocates EV vehicles. Completely alienating an early adopter like they did with me over this last month has caused me to question whether I want to continue to support the company. I have been a Nissan person since they were Datsun. But the manner in which the dealer's service team communicated with me was pretty belittling and diminishing. So tired of bad customer service. Just treat customers with a modicum of respect and we won't get cranky.
 
Yes, and yes it was to 24 amps, not 15... I took my Blink offline some time ago so they can't touch it (I have the upgraded handle and mods from Blink, installed just before they went under)...

rdhauser said:
Not directly on topic, but I want to add that I received an email from BLINK last week. Don’t remember the exact wording, but what I remember is that because of overheating in some situations, they have done a software reset (via internet) on all BLINK units to limit them to 15 amps. Anyone else get that memo? I ask because I’m wondering if they did it because of the problem you’re talking about here.
 
This is the free marketplace. No one with a little electronic experience would pay their price. On the other hand if I am a surgeon and makes a bazillion dollars the cost is irreverent.

What I really like is the statement that the cable is under sized. My handbook says #10 bundled is good for 33A. Itt and Yazaki claim 30A . Dostar says #10 is good for 32A.

My upgraded Blink cables have never over heated!
 
pchilds said:
$2500 to replace a $69 part? Something criminal is going on there.
No, if you read his earlier post in the thread, his handle overheated and damaged the charge port on his Leaf.

Cheers, Wayne
 
wwhitney said:
pchilds said:
$2500 to replace a $69 part? Something criminal is going on there.
No, if you read his earlier post in the thread, his handle overheated and damaged the charge port on his Leaf.

Cheers, Wayne

The price of a replacement J1772 port is $69 from Quick Charge Power. Installation should be less that an hour. $500 is too much, $2500 is 5 times too much. The damaged port, didn't look bad enough to have damaged the wiring. I would love to see the invoice, to see what they claim to have done, for $2500+.
 
pchilds said:
The price of a replacement J1772 port is $69 from Quick Charge Power.
Sorry, I didn't understand that was the part you were referring to. Maybe the heat damage extended to the wiring harness and elsewhere?

Cheers, Wayne
 
wwhitney said:
Sorry, I didn't understand that was the part you were referring to. Maybe the heat damage extended to the wiring harness and elsewhere?
I would love to see what exactly was replaced and at what cost. $2,500 sounds crazy.
 
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