Electrical line noise while charging at 240V

You were clearly luckier/had a better dealer than I did then. I beat on Nissan a number of times and the local dealer as well, and was just met with a stone wall of denials or no response... It was at that point that I decided to see if I could resolve the issue myself, which I did. Since the car is a lease, it will then become Nissan's problem when I turn it in... But regardless, I was not the least bit impressed by my experience.

QueenBee said:

TomT said:

If the industrial strength filter I added had not eliminated the problem, I likely would still be pursuing it too... Clearly there is an issue and in most cases, Nissan is choosing to simply sweep it under the rug... It's rather like ignoring the elephant in the room.

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They are ignoring it by not issuing a recall/proactively fixing them all but I don't think it's fair to say they are ignoring it and definitely not "in most cases". As I've said unless other people don't have dealer techs as good as mine I literally mentioned it to him while doing the software upgrades and he researched it, needed to verify that my charger was in fact an early revision, and verify my home charging situation, and then it was replaced. It was very easy and definitely not ignored.

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It seems like we are having this problem too. The charger causes our LED lights to flicker. Any advice on how to get Nissan to fix it?

coolfilmaker said:

It seems like we are having this problem too. The charger causes our LED lights to flicker. Any advice on how to get Nissan to fix it?

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Verify if you can hear a crackling sound from your electrical panel while charging. Note that this is different than the humming that comes from the EVSE. If you can then take your car to your dealer. Tell them you would like to verify if you have an early revision onboard charger and if so that you would like it replaced with the new revision as you are experiencing line noise issues. They very well might not be aware of the issue yet but if they contact their contacts at Nissan they should be able to figure things out.

TomT said:

You were clearly luckier/had a better dealer than I did then. I beat on Nissan a number of times and the local dealer as well, and was just met with a stone wall of denials or no response...

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By beat on Nissan you just mean their customer service right? I could never get them to acknowledge the issue either except to say that I just needed to take it to the dealer for them to look at.

Did your dealer ever communication with the engineer type people at Nissan corporate? Bill Grossi is one of those people and once my dealer contacted him they were able to take care of it.

No, I started with CS but as we all know, they are basically worthless... I then went to Nissan Corporate (but not Bill Grossi as I did not have that name at that time). And to the dealer, of course (I don't know who they communicated with).

QueenBee said:

TomT said:

You were clearly luckier/had a better dealer than I did then. I beat on Nissan a number of times and the local dealer as well, and was just met with a stone wall of denials or no response...

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By beat on Nissan you just mean their customer service right? I could never get them to acknowledge the issue either except to say that I just needed to take it to the dealer for them to look at. Did your dealer ever communication with the engineer type people at Nissan corporate? Bill Grossi is one of those people and once my dealer contacted him they were able to take care of it.

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A new charger for my car is now on order with Sunnyvale Nissan. They know the drill and have been great with follow up. Will update when it's done...

Jay

Got our Leaf back about an hour ago. No more noise !! Our wireless x-10 devices are finally silent .... our 2 PV solar inverters are finally silent. I think I'm getting a little misty.

hill said:

Got our Leaf back about an hour ago. No more noise !! Our wireless x-10 devices are finally silent .... our 2 PV solar inverters are finally silent. I think I'm getting a little misty.

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Woo! Still think Nissan should fix this for everyone even if they don't know it's a problem yet!

Or at least fix it for those who ask with a vin before the engineering change was made... I can understand not wanting to do it for everyone, this sounds like an expensive part swap.

I just had Bill Grossi come out to inspect mine last week. We'll see where that goes.

GeekEV said:

Or at least fix it for those who ask with a vin before the engineering change was made... I can understand not wanting to do it for everyone, this sounds like an expensive part swap.

I just had Bill Grossi come out to inspect mine last week. We'll see where that goes.

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IMO Nissan is fixing this without any issues for those who ask. At this point if you are asking a dealership that can't verify you have the previous charger and if so get it replaced I would seriously reconsider if that dealership is capable of providing quality service for you.

Neat that Bill Grossi actually came out. He have anything good to say?

QueenBee said:

IMO Nissan is fixing this without any issues for those who ask. At this point if you are asking a dealership that can't verify you have the previous charger and if so get it replaced I would seriously reconsider if that dealership is capable of providing quality service for you.

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Yes, I suppose they are. What I really meant was that: a) it sounds like many dealers (not mine) won't do anything about it or know what to do without a TSB on it; b) they seem to be sending engineers out for each case - that just seems time consuming and not cost effective (why bother if they KNOW it's an issue, which they do).

QueenBee said:

Neat that Bill Grossi actually came out. He have anything good to say?

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He was polite, but not particularly chatty. I got the distinct impression he was annoyed at having to travel all the way out from SF when I can only barely hear it at the panel and not in the house... He didn't seem to acknowledge that I wanted it fixed because "what if I move" or "what if I sell the car" and it has problems in the new location and is out of warranty at the time. Fix it now, *before* it becomes a real issue. That said, I have no reason to believe they won't...

GeekEV said:

QueenBee said:

IMO Nissan is fixing this without any issues for those who ask. At this point if you are asking a dealership that can't verify you have the previous charger and if so get it replaced I would seriously reconsider if that dealership is capable of providing quality service for you.

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Yes, I suppose they are. What I really meant was that: a) it sounds like many dealers (not mine) won't do anything about it or know what to do without a TSB on it; b) they seem to be sending engineers out for each case - that just seems time consuming and not cost effective (why bother if they KNOW it's an issue, which they do).

QueenBee said:

Neat that Bill Grossi actually came out. He have anything good to say?

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He was polite, but not particularly chatty. I got the distinct impression he was annoyed at having to travel all the way out from SF when I can only barely hear it at the panel and not in the house... He didn't seem to acknowledge that I wanted it fixed because "what if I move" or "what if I sell the car" and it has problems in the new location and is out of warranty at the time. Fix it now, *before* it becomes a real issue. That said, I have no reason to believe they won't...

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It's strange they dragged bill out. The engineers simply told our local dealership to go home with me and listen, and hear if they can hear anything. Same when the on board charger was swapped out . . . . the mechanic came out ... listened to see if the noise was gone - and it was. My dealership had nothing but ignorance. It was up to me to get the local dealer to call the other dealerships that were "in the know" ... and/or call corporate - so that they could confirm there is in fact an issue. What a hassle. Glad it's over.

Good (but exhausting) work, my friend!
And indeed, good to have it done!

I just discovered that my solar inverter makes a high frequency noise if I 240v charge while the PV system is active. I have no other noise from my power panel nor any of my home devices while charging. I have an early car, VIN 889. I almost never charge during the daytime. I'm wondering whether to bother trying to get a charger replacement. I am leasing the car.

The only reason I would pursue a charger replacement is if my solar inverter would be damaged by my occasional daytime LEAF charging. As I recall from reading this entire thread last night :!: , some folks said that soon after hearing noise from their solar inverter while charging, the inverter failed.

Since I only charge during the day perhaps twice per year and I have no other noise problems while charging, and I'm leasing the LEAF, would anyone recommend pursuing a charger replacement from Nissan?

Boomer23 said:

...
Since I only charge during the day perhaps twice per year and I have no other noise problems while charging, and I'm leasing the LEAF, would anyone recommend pursuing a charger replacement from Nissan?

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I would. You might decide to buy-out the lease. Even if you don't, the next owner will be stuck with it as the warranty by then would have lapsed. In the meantime, the exact nature and extent of any potential damage to "stuff" around the house is unknown. ( I don't trust the fact that you're only hearing the noise during the day on the solar inverter; in my personal opinion this does not eliminate the potential of damage to its circuits while charging the car during the night -- unless the inverter is isolated during idle time, which is a highly unlikely feature except during powerfailure. Color me paranoid if you like, but the "noise" is still produced by the LEAF ... where it goes and what it "does" during the night ... anyway ... To me it's plain and simple: It's "wrong" and needs to be fixed. )

LEAFer said:

To me it's plain and simple: It's "wrong" and needs to be fixed. )

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I agree completely. I'm not all that convinced that it is going to damage stuff but why not get it fixed? Bring it up at your next service appointment and a good dealer tech will get it resolved for you with no effort on your part (Other than a home visit). Then if you don't want to bring the car back just have them hold on to the charger for you and get it done the next time it's at the dealer. A good dealer will have a LEAF loaner car for you as well. IMO this exercise seems like a good way to test if your dealership is worthy of your business.

I've heard back from my dealer that given the low level of noise heard at the panel and no-noise heard in the house, Nissan has denied my request to have it fixed. I've now asked them for a formal letter ensuring that if it ever becomes a problem in the future (say, due to my moving or selling the car) that they will cover it at that time - even out of warranty. We'll see how that goes! :roll:

GeekEV said:

I've heard back from my dealer that given the low level of noise heard at the panel and no-noise heard in the house, Nissan has denied my request to have it fixed. I've now asked them for a formal letter ensuring that if it ever becomes a problem in the future (say, due to my moving or selling the car) that they will cover it at that time - even out of warranty. We'll see how that goes! :roll:

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Wow, that's crazy. Want to borrow my UPS that makes unpleasant sounds on my old charger?

So Nissan is replacing the chargers not because there is anything wrong with them and not because they are doing anything bad but instead just because it annoys the owners? And they are deciding how annoying it must be before replacement is justified?

QueenBee said:

So Nissan is replacing the chargers not because there is anything wrong with them...

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I suppose it depends on whose definition of wrong you use. If they're violating any regulations regarding EMI emissions, clearly there's something wrong. But are they? I don't know what the regulations are. I don't recall having seen them quoted here and can't find them with my own google-fu...

QueenBee said:

...and not because they are doing anything bad but instead just because it annoys the owners?

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I don't think it's ever been demonstrated that they ARE doing anything bad. Yes, it's noisy, but there's no conclusive evidence (that I've seen) showing it causes any damage.

GeekEV said:

I don't think it's ever been demonstrated that they ARE doing anything bad. Yes, it's noisy, but there's no conclusive evidence (that I've seen) showing it causes any damage.

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It doesn't do anything bad, unless you consider noise through your wireless speakers to be bad ... or it's not bad, except that FCC reg's say that such RF interference is proscribed by law. Heck, if Nissan isn't satisfied that their level of interference isn't sufficient ... you can always install a set of wireless speakers ... even move 'em right next to your charger/car. Make a Youtube video of the noise ... post it and see if that doesn't light a fire under their feet. It took a LOT of persuasion for us to get our charger noise resolved. Those are the kinds of creative things you sometimes have to be willing to suggest to some companies before they get with the program, unfortunately.