Did L1 Charger Kill My Fridge?

[pncguy]

Short: Last night the controller board went out on my refrigerator. It may or may not have happened at the same time as my L1 charging started on a timer. Do you think the charging on a separate circuit could have killed the fridge?

Longer: I have had my new 2015 leaf for two weeks now. I have charged it with the L1 EVSE at least three times without a problem. I have it hooked up to a circuit that is not absolutely dedicated, but only powers the garage doors as well. When the charging starts, I do see the lights in the garage dim momentarily.

Last night we lost the control board on our refrigerator. It might have happened when my charging started, but I am not sure. My refrigerator is on its own 20A circuit, which is far away from the garage circuit (but still in the same breaker box.)

Has anyone seen something like this happen?

My plan is to bring home an oscilloscope from work and see if the voltage at the fridge goes wonky when the charging starts, but I am worried that the problem may be systemic in the house. If so, that means installing a dedicated circuit out of the same box won't help. Will installing one from a sub box help? It doesn't seem like it would because the sub box uses the same supply from the power company...

 

[Roostre]

Sounds like you need a capacitor bank!


J/k

Hard to believe it's much more than a coincidence. The refrigerator should be designed to handle inrush. I have heard of situations where the power company was actually delivering too high or too low of voltage, especially in rural areas. Be worth checking.

 

[2k1Toaster]

I'd say no. The Leaf L1 charger is not that big of a load. Go plug in a hair dryer or turn your house's air conditioner on and you have a bigger load.

 

[Firetruck41]

I've been using my L1 charger since I got the Leaf 3-4 months ago, it is on the same circuit as my frost free freezer, no problems.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

+1^
Nothing lasts forever. How old was the fridge? What brand?
Do you have a whole house surge protector? Worth the cost, especially if you're in a frequent lightning zone.

 

[pncguy]

Thanks for the quick responses! I am hoping it is a coincidence; the fridge is 10 years old (although it IS a Maytag!).

I'll post up my results if I actually get a scope hooked up to look at any transients I see when the charger starts.

 

[TomT]

Maytag frigs actually don't have that good a reliability history... Check out CR.

Thanks for the quick responses! I am hoping it is a coincidence; the fridge is 10 years old (although it IS a Maytag!).

 

[powersurge]

From what I understand about electricity, the only problem you could have encountered by using both in the same line was that you can blow your circuit breaker. Remember that the standard level 1 charger that you get with the Leaf uses a constant load of about 1100 watts, kind of running your microwave or air conditioner for the 10 or so hours that you may charge. That is why they say to use a dedicated line, because that long time of a load can heat up the wires.

 

[pncguy]

Maytag frigs actually don't have that good a reliability history...

Wait, are you telling me that those wonderful "Maytag Repairman" ads aren't accurate?!? :lol:

 

[BrockWI]

I would think it's very unlikely and most likely a coincidence. My only guess, and this is very unlikely, would be that you neutral / ground is going and if the car is on the opposite side of the 240 you could have pushed up the voltage on the refrigerator. That is really easy to check though if you have a meter, just put it on the fridge outlet and start charging the car, if the voltage jumps way up, you have a bad neutral. But if that is the case I would think you would have see other problems before now. A toaster or hair dryer or any sized motor would have caused lights to get noticeably brighter or dimmer.

 

[srl99]

Please be fully aware of the voltage(s) you may encounter on your electrical circuit before just applying scope probes to it. You may roast yourself, or worse - the 'scope.

Short: Last night the controller board went out on my refrigerator. It may or may not have happened at the same time as my L1 charging started on a timer. Do you think the charging on a separate circuit could have killed the fridge?

Longer: I have had my new 2015 leaf for two weeks now. I have charged it with the L1 EVSE at least three times without a problem. I have it hooked up to a circuit that is not absolutely dedicated, but only powers the garage doors as well. When the charging starts, I do see the lights in the garage dim momentarily.

Last night we lost the control board on our refrigerator. It might have happened when my charging started, but I am not sure. My refrigerator is on its own 20A circuit, which is far away from the garage circuit (but still in the same breaker box.)

Has anyone seen something like this happen?

My plan is to bring home an oscilloscope from work and see if the voltage at the fridge goes wonky when the charging starts, but I am worried that the problem may be systemic in the house. If so, that means installing a dedicated circuit out of the same box won't help. Will installing one from a sub box help? It doesn't seem like it would because the sub box uses the same supply from the power company...

 

[Stanton]

Do you think the charging on a separate circuit could have killed the fridge?

Short: No

Long: After 10 years, it was time for the fridge to go (they don't build things like they used to--especially energy efficient fridges/freezers)

Warning: I wouldn't mess with your sub box unless you do that sort of thing for a living (even though you sound like an engineer...that doesn't mean you're a power engineer).

 

[pncguy]

Thanks for the advice and warnings! I am actually a physicist by training, so I have to guard against the arrogance of thinking that EVERYTHING is just applied physics, which means I should be able to do it all. I am working with a buddy of mine, though, who IS an engineer who designs electrical systems for stadiums and arenas for a living. He and I have had lots of chats about what's going on and how to check it safely.

But, yeah, safety first. And second.

 

[powersurge]

I believe that the charger he is referring to is a 120 volt line not 240v. And I can tell you for a fact that if your ground is not right, the charger will not work... It happened to me when I first brought home the car, it did not charge the first night because I had an open ground...

 

[pncguy]

I hooked up a 'scope to the refrigerator outlet last night. I was looking at the 120V signal with respect to the ground. Nice and steady. My wife then plugged in the Leaf and said there were all sorts of clunks (which is normal) and I saw NOTHING change on the scope - not even a flicker. I removed and replaced the probe and saw the signal disappear and reappear as it should.

Conclusion: My L1 charger did not kill my fridge.