Why would 110V charging cause strange behavior and errors?

Please forgive me if this has been covered in another thread. I couldn't find anyone with this same problem.

I was house-sitting for some friends this week, and had to use my Nissan level1 EVSE every day. I used a 12gauge extension cord to connect to a 110v outlet on the outside of their house. I have periodically used the leaf EVSE, but not on a regular basis. I've not encountered this before.

So I park and turn off the car. My EVSE is already plugged into the house, and the green "ready" light is on. When I plug in, I first hear a single beep and the orange "charge" light turns on. Less than a second later I hear a "beep, beep", and the orange "charge" light turns off. Carwings sends me a "charging stopped" email. The leaf indicates that it is plugged in, but not charging.

I've discovered two methods to get my car charging after encountering this. First, I can simply unplug the EVSE from the car, and plug it back in. Second, it seems to get the "charge" light back on if I hit the "timer override" button inside the car. Interestingly, I verified I do not have either charge timer set, or turned on, in the car. Once I get the "charge" light back on, the leaf will charge normally to 100%. However, when I unplug the evse and turn on the leaf, I get the yellow "<!>" warning light on my dash. That light goes away once I power-cycle the leaf. I've been playing this game with my car all week!

Concerned that this was a defect with either the leaf, or the EVSE, I attempted to replicate the problem at my own home on a different 110v outlet. Of course, at my house, the trickle charge proceeds normally. I don't have to hit the timer override, or power-cycle the leaf to get rid of any error lights. Note, I didn't have to use the extension cord at my house so I guess it was not an exact replication.

I don't know if the 110v outlet I used at my friend's house is on a dedicated circuit, but I don't think that I ever tripped any breakers. If there is some reason why this problem would occur at this particular outlet, and not another, I have no idea!

Has anyone else encountered this, or have any suggestions?

Thanks.
-David

It's the wiring in your friend's house. You need a continuous 12-13 amps, not peak. You should try a 20 amp outlet. It could also be a wiring issue in the house. It could be the line and neutral are reversed, the outlet is improperly grounded, or an appliance is kicking in and you don't have enough amps. Being that it is an outside outlet, it could be heavily oxidized and not providing a good connection. You'ld be surprised how many houses have screwed up wiring. Ever watch "Holmes Inspection" on HGTV?
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+1. It is the house not providing adequate power to the LEAF. The first night I brought home our car I plugged it into the side outlet in our garage. No dice. Plugged into the main outlet at the head of the garage and then it worked perfectly. Try different outlets and see what happens.

It's the wiring in your friend's house. You need a continuous 12-13 amps, not peak. You should try a 20 amp outlet. It could also be a wiring issue in the house. It could be the line and neutral are reversed, the outlet is improperly grounded, or an appliance is kicking it and you don't have enough amps

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I had assumed that it may be the outlet, and not my car or EVSE. My brother-in-law has flipped breakers plugging his leaf into random outlets, but neither of us have ever encountered this error. Is there any danger in "overriding" what I assume is a protective feature of the leaf or EVSE? I feel bad, now that I kept making my horse sip water from a dirty pool!

The whole point of the EVSE is to protect the charger, which is actually in the vehicle. You are probably fine. I'd buy a circuit tester and test the outlet before I would plug in there again.
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Most likely the voltage is a bit low and the socket is at the long end of its circuit, maybe there is one or more poor (slightly resistive) connections, and you are going through an extension cord.

All of these things tend to reduce the voltage at the car's charger when current starts to flow, causing the charger to abort the charging session, perhaps partially aggravated by a larger inrush current when the connection is first made.

Probably other places where you plug in do not have all/some of these problems.

I had a similar problem today using 240v from two 120v extension cords and my new homemade 120 to 240 adapter at my parents' house. I found two out-of-phase outlets and was charging fine for about an hour when my mom started the microwave and then a breaker tripped (curiously, I'm pretty sure the microwave was not on either of the circuits I was using).

I reset the breaker and then charging resumed on its own (also curious, since I had a timer set I thought I'd have to push the override button again). I let it charge about 10 more minutes then I had to go pick up some food and I got freaked out by the EV system warning light. However, after a power cycle it was gone, and I successfully continued charging up to 80% when I got back.

I get how transient low voltage / current events could stop charging, as was explained to OP, but any idea why the ephemeral EV system warning light?

You need the meter box I built, which not only shows the line voltage under load, but the current the LEAF is drawing. I built this to use with the modified EVSE and 240V, but it works fine on 120V, too.

I'd buy a circuit tester and test the outlet before I would plug in there again.

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Thanks for the tips. I got an inexpensive outlet tester at Home Depot. The outlet in question tested as "correct", so it must be an insufficient power problem.

I love TPS's meter box. Home Depot had a lot of testing devices, but they seemed a little intimidating to the non-electrician. It would be cool to having something allowing you to "scout" outlets without actually plugging in the leaf.

How about a parts list and links to the products wherever you bought them?

1. Box
2. AC Volt Meter
3. AC Amp Meter
4. Connection cables, plug and socket
5. Misc parts

Thanks!

I run into a lot of worn out sockets, most likely low quality cheap ones to begin with. The corrosion formed on copper or brass is conductive (and soft) and usually does not present a problem if you plug it in a couple of times to wipe the contacts clean.