Power Fault error - big red screen

[cyellen]

This is the second week in a row that my Blink has experienced a Power Fault error. I wake up to a bright red screen and a series of beeps from the unit. The car hasn't charged, and of course, because of the error, I get no message/text to indicate that anything is wrong. I'll be limping home from work tonight - can't wait for that.

Is there anything I can do to avoid the power fault problem or is it just a function of the power supply to the house/APS? I am little unsure of what it really means.

On a related note, when I powered the car on, it showed a PS error - the same power error I saw way back during the whole A/C snafu. I was ready to blow a gasket, but powering her off and waiting a bit seemed to solve whatever problem was going on. She recovered fine, started again and I was on my way. Not sure which came first - the error from the car or the error on the Blink, but I assume they are related.

Any advice?

 

[walterbays]

Call and/or email Blink. They're pretty responsive. If you haven't had your SD card replaced they will probably send someone out to do that. I'm not sure that's the whole fix, as I've had a few incidents since they replaced mine. But no more big red (orange-red?) screens. And in recent weeks I've had no incidents and have reached the point where I'm willing to trust the Blink to start charging on timer without supervision again.

 

[TonyWilliams]

Is there anything I can do to avoid the power fault problem.......
Any advice?

Buy a Leviton, AV, or any number of really "dumb" EVSE's.

 

[linkim]

Call and/or email Blink. They're pretty responsive. If you haven't had your SD card replaced they will probably send someone out to do that. I'm not sure that's the whole fix, as I've had a few incidents since they replaced mine. But no more big red (orange-red?) screens. And in recent weeks I've had no incidents and have reached the point where I'm willing to trust the Blink to start charging on timer without supervision again.

Depends what your definition of responsive is. I waited about 1 month for replacement of SD card. In the meantime, when I saw these red or orange Blink error messages, I rebooted the unit and could charge. However, the log of the charging events is very difficult to decipher. The only log I now see is about the first month (April-May) of charging dates and energy (kWh) consumed. I was told that Blink is updating their software. When I have some free time, I will contact Blink to see what my problem is.

 

[TonyWilliams]

The only log I now see is about the first month (April-May) of charging dates and energy (kWh) consumed. I was told that Blink is updating their software. When I have some free time, I will contact Blink to see what my problem is.

Same problem. Tired of calling them.

Every time I go to Balboa park, there is a Blink not working. This past Saturday, not only was one not working, but with was making weird noises!

Plus, no contact info on the units to report them.

We truly are Beta testers.

 

[leafkabob]

Cyellen,
I am having similar problems with my Blink. The problems started a few weeks ago, right about the time version 1.5 came out. I called Blink and they sent out Secon Electric (the installer) to check it out. The tech replaced my SD card and installed a powerline device in order to keep my internet connectivity up. I thought everything was OK but then got the big red squawking screen about a week later. The Secon tech came out at 6 am to check it out and found the car had failed to charge the night before and I had the big red squawking screen again. He couldn't find anything wrong and got on the phone with Blink. I heard the rep there say "I don't want to deal with this, just replace it." But the Blink rep later decided they would analyze my error log to see if they could discover the problem.

Next day I got an e-mail from Blink asking if I had a pool or spa or any large motors that come on in the middle of the night (I have my car timer set to come on at 3 am since that was the coolest part of the day in my garage during the summer). I do have a pool pump that comes on at approx. 2 am but they have not said that is the problem.

That all happened earlier this week. They said they would let me know what their engineers determine.

So far I have been unable to use the car on three occasions because the Blink failed.

 

[TomT]

I had that happen once when LADWP was losing a power transformer feeder and creating spikes and sags on the line.
It hadn't happened before, and hasn't happened again since they replaced the feeder.

This is the second week in a row that my Blink has experienced a Power Fault error. I wake up to a bright red screen and a series of beeps from the unit. The car hasn't charged, and of course, because of the error, I get no message/text to indicate that anything is wrong. I'll be limping home from work tonight - can't wait for that.

Is there anything I can do to avoid the power fault problem or is it just a function of the power supply to the house/APS? I am little unsure of what it really means.

 

[davewill]

It seems tied to the 1.7 release. I've had it happen twice since it came out. I contacted support both times, and they said they were working on it and to call if it keeps happening. It's been over a month since the last time.

 

[TomT]

Are you sure about that? 1.7 is current.

It seems tied to the 1.5 release. I've had it happen twice since it came out. I contacted support both times, and they said they were working on it and to call if it keeps happening. It's been over a month since the last time.

 

[Ingineer]

This is the second week in a row that my Blink has experienced a Power Fault error. I wake up to a bright red screen and a series of beeps from the unit. The car hasn't charged, and of course, because of the error, I get no message/text to indicate that anything is wrong. I'll be limping home from work tonight - can't wait for that.

Many of our customers order our upgrade as a "backup" for their Blink, so when it's on the "Blink", you can still drive to work.

FYI: From my testing the Power Fault error is what happens when the GFCI is triggered. It's probably set too sensitive on their unit, and in any event, it should at least automatically attempt to recover like all other EVSE's do. Are you listening Ecotality?!?

-Phil

 

[davewill]

Are you sure about that? 1.7 is current.

It seems tied to the 1.5 release. I've had it happen twice since it came out. I contacted support both times, and they said they were working on it and to call if it keeps happening. It's been over a month since the last time.

Oops! A minor brain meltdown. Yes, I meant the current 1.7 release. I'll edit the above to avoid further misinformation.

 

[LEAFfan]

Since the SD card update and the 1.7 firmware update, the only problem I've had so far is it often recycles (the screen stays on), and I have to unplug it to finish the recycle. It's always charged my car though, even when we had that '502' error. And, I've never used the Blink timer. I don't trust it.

 

[TonyWilliams]

.... in any event, it should at least automatically attempt to recover like all other EVSE's do. Are you listening Ecotality?!?

-Phil

When they powered up the 4 Blinks today at California Center for Sustainable Energy, 3 of 4 wouldn't work.

 

[leafkabob]

Are you sure about that? 1.7 is current.

It seems tied to the 1.5 release. I've had it happen twice since it came out. I contacted support both times, and they said they were working on it and to call if it keeps happening. It's been over a month since the last time.

Oops! A minor brain meltdown. Yes, I meant the current 1.7 release. I'll edit the above to avoid further misinformation.

My problems started when 1.5 came out. That version quickly became 1.6 and I still had the problem. Now 1.7 is out and the problem continues.

FYI: From my testing the Power Fault error is what happens when the GFCI is triggered. It's probably set too sensitive on their unit, and in any event, it should at least automatically attempt to recover like all other EVSE's do. Are you listening Ecotality?!?
-Phil

Phil, when the tech was looking at the error log on my unit, I saw several "GFCI event" entries. The Blink rep also asked me if the Secon tech "found anything wrong with my home ground or if he altered it."

 

[walterbays]

I've never used the Blink timer. I don't trust it.

Good news: I always use the Blink timer and have never had any problem with it. Bad news: why I'm using the Blink timer. I've had enough malfunctions that I am not 100% sure each time I plug in that my car will be charged. So if I really need it the next day (often I don't) then I start the charge manually before going to bed instead of waiting for the timer to start it at super off-peak. To do this with the Leaf timer either forces me to charge to 100% or requires a lot of clumsy button pushing. To start it manually with Blink is just a single button press. I leave the Leaf set with a 24-hour per day "timer" to 80% and turn it off when I want 100%.

Ingineer's suspicion that many malfunctions are ground fault related seems consistent with the problems I have seen which include two circuit breaker trips. I haven't had any problem for weeks now. I don't know why not; I don't think they've changed anything in the firmware. Anyway, I would be a bit annoyed if I had paid full retail price for the Blink, but since I got it free I'm willing to hang in there with them longer while they track down bugs.

Here is my trouble log. Incidents which would have prevented charging are marked ***

DATE     EVENT
5/26     car delivered. Blink firmware V1.6A
7/4  *** while using Leaf timer. circuit breaker trip
8/8  *** while using Leaf timer. Blink frozen, chirping
        like cricket. Leaf "EV system error"
        plugin: 8:02pm - 8:37am
        Manual Blink reboot & car off/on
        charge: 2:20am - 8:37am. 4.8 kWh
8/9  *** while using Blink timer. circuit breaker trip
        plugin: 5:48pm - 8:10pm
        charge: 5:48pm - 5:49pm. 0.1 kWh
        Manual circuit breaker reset
        plugin: 6:40am - 10:21am
        charge: 6:43am - 9:34am. 4.3 kWh
8/17     auto upgrade to firmware V1.7a)
8/18 *** while using Blink timer. Leaf "EV system error"
        Blink responding normally. Manual car off/on
9/1?     Ecotality replaced SD card in Blink unit.
        Back to V1.6A
9/2      Last Carwings charging notification email received
        Since then I've received no notices from Carwings
9/2      auto upgrade to firmware V1.7a
9/7  *** Using Leaf timer. Blink frozen, chirping like
        cricket. Leaf "EV system error"
        Manual Blink reboot & car off/on
9/8      Big SoCal blackout. No problem. (Not plugged in)
9/12 *   Leaf "EV system error"
        Blink and car work normally. Charging completed
        normally. Car off/on cleared error as usual
        9 auto Blink reboots at charge completion
9/19*  while using Blink timer. Charge completed normally
         When I unplugged the J1772 connector, Blink froze: "processing"
         After 45 minutes (to see if it would recover) I unplugged Blink and plugged it back

 

[lambert]

I just experienced the orange screen and power fault error (is this the Blink equivalent of Microsoft Windows' blue screen of death?) yesterday morning. This is the second time it's happened, and the first time the Blink was locked up and I had to unplug it to recover. Don't recall having this problem before the 1.7 upgrade...

I am about to report this to Blink/Ecotality, but I was wondering if there's been any other resolution by others on the forum since the last post?

 

[linkim]

I just experienced the orange screen and power fault error (is this the Blink equivalent of Microsoft Windows' blue screen of death?) yesterday morning. This is the second time it's happened, and the first time the Blink was locked up and I had to unplug it to recover. Don't recall having this problem before the 1.7 upgrade...

I am about to report this to Blink/Ecotality, but I was wondering if there's been any other resolution by others on the forum since the last post?

After 4 straight orange screens on the Blink, while attempting to charge, the last two times no problem. I called Blink to inform them of the problem (after 4 orange screens). They said I should receive a call back by Friday (tomorrow). So we shall see. Most of these problems have occurred after they replaced the original SD card earlier this month, and the upgrade to 1.7 a few months ago.

 

[lambert]

Someone from Ecotality came out last week and swapped out the SD card. So at the moment my Blink is running 1.6 firmware again. There were the usual startup issues getting connected to wifi, but it seems to be behaving OK otherwise. No power faults so far, anyway.

Not surprisingly, I did lose all of my settings - rates, display settings, etc. - with the SD card swap. I assume the configuration data as well as the firmware image are stored on the SD card.

One glimmer of hope: The tech on the phone promised brand new firmware (operating system on up) coming soon that I assume our fearless beta testers are evaluating right now. I remain optimistic that version 2.0 resolves more issues than it creates, but the reality will probably be that we need to wait for 2.3 or 2.4 before we have a truly production quality Blink EVSE...

 

[SharonaLA]

My blink has been on the blink for a few days now. It charges, even though the screen says "not charging" or "processing." Waiting until I have nothing to do and I'll power cycle it.

 

[Gonewild]

I as well had the power fault issue many times they swapped the sd card and did not fix the issue. I called them back after it had been going on for months they replaced the whole unit with a new one. :mrgreen: