Blink WE-30CIRE from 2011

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warrenc

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 28, 2017
Messages
110
Location
Tacoma,WA
I made a deal on this charger without doing a lot of research, but it was on the Nissan Leaf local Facebook page and the price was right. I also don't really need it, but it might look better on my wall than the stock EVSE upgrade one that I have mounted now, and theoretically it can handle up to 30 amps going by the model number.
I have since heard some rumors of these early ones having some bad crimps in the J1722 connector and some overheating concerns. The current owner had not heard of any recalls and says they have never had a problem with it.
I actually did search here, but I found more on just a Google search, and nothing specific to this model. I've already agreed to purchase it, and she has dropped the price to $100 so I'm not going to be out a lot, but what exactly have I gotten myself into? :?
 
The faulty Rema handles on those crap Blink EVSEs is NOT a rumor.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?t=10749
http://www.plugincars.com/honda-fit-ev-overheats-blink-charger-126246.html
https://insideevs.com/under-threat-from-oems-ecotality-turns-down-the-output-on-chargers-to-avoid-failures/

If the person was only charging an '11 or '12 Leaf or say a Chevy Volt, those don't draw more than 16 amps at 240 volts, so there's no issue w/the connector melting. '13 to '18 SV and SL all have 6.6 kW OBCs will draw up to 27.5 amps @ 240 volts.

If that Blink EVSE has a pilot signal advertising 30 amps still, then if the handle's faulty, drawing 27.5 amps will probably melt it.

I found this other threads on the topic of this EVSE by Googling for site:mynissanleaf.com 24 amps blink:
https://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?t=17612
https://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?t=23022
https://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?t=16876
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?t=13557

A few years back, some sucker was willing to pay $550 for one!
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?t=16428
 
I still have and use my Blink from 2011. There are a few issues with the unit. Searches on here will locate them and how to fix them. The first problem is the one you found out about. The handles have trouble dealing with the full 30a rating of the unit. These units were sold to LEAF and Volt owners whose cars could only do 16a charging. 3 or 4 years after that, as cars that could charge at higher amperages started to use these EVSEs, both private and public, some of the handles started melting, the most public being Tony Williams' RAV4EV whose inlet port was destroyed. Blink's response to this problem was to remotely program the units to charge at 24a max, rather than replace the defective handles. User GlennD here has had good luck soldering old Blink handles to beat the problem. On my personal unit, the handle failed because of a broken wire, so I replaced the cable and handle. There is a service menu that can be accessed to force the units back to 30a if one wishes to.

The second problem was false errors from the GFI function in the unit. This was fixed under warranty by Blink for folks who reported it during the warranty period. The general cause was bad crimps on the wires going to the current sensors. There is a thread on here that links to a detailed procedure that can be done by a handy enough user to fix the problem.

The final problem these units have is a tendency to have their firmware corrupted. The firmware resides on an SD card, which can be copied and saved so that you can make a new card if that ever happens to you.

Despite all this, many of these are still working fine and the units have lots of features that other units don't have, like fairly sophisticated scheduling of charging and the ability to track dollar cost of electricity based on time of use rates. They also log usage to the Blink site, and I can still access 7+ years of charging history even today.
 
I also have an early 2011 Blink EVSE that was free along with installation as part of an "early adopter" program. Blink techs did some post-installation work to fix the current sensors and it has worked flawlessly for 7 years. The default current limit was lowered from 30 to 24 amps a few years ago to deal with the overheating handle issue, but my 2011 Leaf never draws more than 16 amps. The WiFi never worked reliably, so I used a hard-wired Ethernet cable.

Got a Tesla Model 3 in April and it draws the max 24 amps without any issues. The Leaf is feeling neglected.
 
As is said I have never owned a Blink EVSE. I have repaired and used over a half dozen Ji772 Cabled. The Rema (BLINK labeled) cables are really cheap on eBay. The last one I purchased was under $80 shipped. If you go to the Blink section and do all of the fixes it is a good EVSE but large.

I think Blink's setting the units to 24A really helped. The crimps on the last cable were appalling but it was not burned. Of all the cables only one was burned and I had to scrape the wires to solder them. In no cases was it melted like Tony Williams unit but I think a cable like that was not sell able..
 
warrenc said:
Yes, and of course the parent company is bankrupt. Is the amperage adjustable on these units?

Blink set the current to 24A but with a replaced cable there is instructions to set it back to 30A on the Blink section. TusanEV has good 30A cables for $125 in the 20 foot length.
 
Thanks for all the info! I did hook the system up and it seems to work just fine, although WiFi seems to not find any signal. Not a big deal to me.
At 24 amps, it worked fine and I saw no signs of overheating, but I set it to 16 amps just to be safe. I might look into that 30 amp replacement cord. Seems like a reasonable deal and I'm still at less than $250 invested at that point.
 
warrenc said:
Thanks for all the info! I did hook the system up and it seems to work just fine, although WiFi seems to not find any signal. Not a big deal to me.
At 24 amps, it worked fine and I saw no signs of overheating, but I set it to 16 amps just to be safe. I might look into that 30 amp replacement cord. Seems like a reasonable deal and I'm still at less than $250 invested at that point.
I wouldn't be concerned at 24a. There are scads of public units (virtually identical to these) running at 24a just fine.

WiFi was always a bit problematic. I've always used a wired connection, but I'll admit most people don't have a network drop in their garage. You could also use a powerline ethernet adapter, if you cared. You might want to at least try to get the unit registered to your account at blinknetwork.com.

BTW, I noticed you stated the company is bankrupt. It is not. It was bought by CarCharging and as far as I know, they are doing just fine.
 
leucadialeaf said:
I also have an early 2011 Blink EVSE that was free along with installation as part of an "early adopter" program. Blink techs did some post-installation work to fix the current sensors and it has worked flawlessly for 7 years. The default current limit was lowered from 30 to 24 amps a few years ago to deal with the overheating handle issue, but my 2011 Leaf never draws more than 16 amps. The WiFi never worked reliably, so I used a hard-wired Ethernet cable.

Got a Tesla Model 3 in April and it draws the max 24 amps without any issues. The Leaf is feeling neglected.
I'll echo everything that leucadialeaf said. I too have a 2011 Blink EVSE from the "early adopter program" and after futzing with the WiFi wound up doing a hardwire ethernet line to a WiFi range extender. Works flawlessly now.

I changed my Blink from their 24 Amp setting back up to the max 30 Amps to change my Model 3, but the first few times I used it, I used a temperature gun to monitor the handle every 30 minutes or so to make sure it didn't get too hot. I guess I got a good J1772 cable, but YMMV - take care!

Lastly, in case you want to (carefully) experiment, here's the post describing how to change the Amperage setting on a Blink EVSE.
 
My early 2011 Blink is also still working fine. Blink came out at one point and proactively replaced the charging cord and redid the crimps under warranty and I have never had any issues with it...
 
I do appreciate all the input, and I feel a little better about my impulse buy now. I've been using a OEM EVSE upgrade for my level 2 charging for the last year which is capable of 24 amps, but not really built for it. I've also been using it through the garage door until recently, so I'm putting some strain on the cord. I'm going to put into backup mode for now, and for the most part 16 amps works fine for me. It's only on rare occasion that I need to charge during the day and I have 3 other ICE vehicles to chose from!
I did research how to get into the service menu and change the amperage, so I might go back to 24 amps at some point.
Now, if you would all look at my post on installing a backup camera and help me there I'd be eternally grateful!
(OK, so eternity is a long time. Let's just say I'd appreciate the help...)
 
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