Leaf not charging for second time

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materwelon

Member
Joined
Oct 4, 2012
Messages
6
So last week, my Wattstation stopped working at the same time my Leaf's OBC stopped working. I didn't know (nor was I informed by Nissan at the time) about the apparent issues with the Wattstation and the Leaf. Leaf spent a week at the dealership and got a new OBC. Talked to GE, replaced the fuses in the Wattstation. I was assured by GE that it's not a GE problem. I was assured by Nissan everything was resolved. Ha! Charged it overnight last night, no apparent problems, plugged it in today, got all the right lights and "clunk", walked inside, hit the light switch and lights didn't come on in my house - went back out to the garage, charger was dead again, Leaf won't charge even with the trickle charger (again), breaker to the Wattstation tripped, and my outside "big" breaker flipped. Leaf towed again, in the same rental (that I hate!) from yesterday, and I've had multiple looooong conversations with GE and Nissan.

The Nissan tech said that he was hoping to call me today with a "resolution" about the charger unit - haven't heard yet, so if he doesn't call today it will probably be Saturday apparently.

GE says it's not possible for it to be their problem. They will send me a new unit, but I've also contacted Amazon (seller) for an extension on the 30 days to return (I've had it 55 days maybe?). GE talked to an electrician I had at the house today - electrician concurred with GE's explanation that the wattstation is just a switch (which, honestly, is over my head). GE has asked me to send the unit to them at this point just to make sure that it's not a faulty unit. From there - I don't really know - if I'm not going to use a wattstation again and I'm going to have to buy a new one, I'm going to work on someone refunding my money. Amex, Amazon, GE, Nissan - somebody!

I love the Leaf - but I can't deal with repeat issues of the same thing. And I don't know at this point if it's really not possible for it to be a GE issue at all? It's been a long day dealing with companies, rental cars, and electricians. :(

Larisa
 
so sorry to hear about your frustrations.
if the LEAF charges at the dealership, then it aint the LEAF.

I have no idea what OBC is. (the first reference after i google it, is obviously off base. try it, you might get a giggle out of it.)
 
update! Nissan is going to install an Aerovironment (sp??) charger. At least if it happens again (apparently it's happened with 5 Leaf / Aerovironment chargers), we've eliminated the charger as the cause...right?

OBC = on board charger. I didn't google it yet. ;)

It won't charge anywhere, even the dealership.
 
I'm also sorry to hear about your hassles with charging. I would never trust the GE EVSE, based upon posts here on the forum so far. Except for two on-site technician visits to do minor adjustments, my Blink EVSE has performed very well for the past 17+ months.
 
thankyouOB said:
I have no idea what OBC is. (the first reference after i google it, is obviously off base. try it, you might get a giggle out of it.)
This isn't the first use of OBC here on MNL. I've see that acronym used many times before.
materwelon said:
update! Nissan is going to install an Aerovironment (sp??) charger. At least if it happens again (apparently it's happened with 5 Leaf / Aerovironment chargers), we've eliminated the charger as the cause...right?

OBC = on board charger. I didn't google it yet. ;)
Your Wattstation isn't a charger, nor is the unit you reference from AV. Those are EVSEs. The unit under the hump in the back is the OBC.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=9543" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and probably other threads mention the claim that the problem can be fixed via updated software. I and others have been wondering awhile about an ETA for the fix. You're not the only one who has blown more than one OBC while charging via a GE Wattstation. Seems like a waste of $ for Nissan to get letting them get damaged.

If I got a Leaf, I sure wouldn't want a GE Wattstation.
 
Nubo said:
Tripping the main breaker is a rather spectacular failure.
Yeah, no kidding. First time I've heard of that happening.

That's at least 100A and could be up to 200A - would have though the fuses in the Wattstation or the 40A breaker would have tripped fast enough to prevent the main breaker from tripping.
 
I also have the GE Wattstation and it has performed well for 7700 miles and probably close to 200 cycles. I hope it is not a ticking time bomb. I have a 200 amp service and commercial grade TVSS/surge protector on it.
 
Nubo said:
Tripping the main breaker is a rather spectacular failure.

Yes, the electrician who came out said the same thing. He initially said it had to be something with the Wattstation, but after the 30 minutes talking to GE on the speaker phone said it must be the car.


cwerdna said:
Your Wattstation isn't a charger, nor is the unit you reference from AV. Those are EVSEs. The unit under the hump in the back is the OBC.

I know. I used the wrong word.

At this point, I'm clearly not plugging the Wattstation back in, and my LEAF isn't going to be plugged into another Wattstation - I don't have the patience or time to deal with another failure. The GE guy desperately wants me to plug it back in - he wants to be able to say that it wasn't their product causing the malfunction.

Just to be clear, from both Nissan and GE - this has happened across multiple manufacturers of EVSEs - as of July (so clearly not updated numbers) 11 Wattstations / LEAFS, 5 Aerovironment / LEAFs, 3 Blink / LEAFs, and 1 "unknown" / LEAF. It seems like a higher rate on the Wattstations, but I don't have numbers of LEAFs sold / what they are plugged in to each night.

The way I see it...the possibilities include

1) I got a bum LEAF - maybe there's a "batch" of bad LEAFs particularly susceptible? Are these all LEAFs of more recent manufacture and delivery? I got mine 2 months ago, it was sitting on the dealer lot since July
2) I got a bum Wattstation
3) There is something between the Wattstation and LEAF that makes failure a higher probability than with other chargers

The fact that my "fix" didn't work really bothers me - supposedly the OBC was replaced and the software was updated. Both GE and Nissan mentioned the "electrical storm or low voltage" situations - it certainly wasn't an electrical storm in either case, and I can't begin to speak to a "low voltage" situation that's so low that it's not perceptible by any other device in my home.


Anyway, thanks for the responses. Obviously, if it happens again with a different EVSE, then it probably wasn't the Wattstation.

Larisa
 
I just want them to either roll out a fix, or announce extended coverage before the first LEAFs go out of warranty. This would be a hellishly expensive repair if it weren't covered under warranty.
 
That's what my neighbor has with his Volt and has never had an issue either. I'm inclined to think it is a Leaf OBC issue...

Rauv said:
I also have the GE Wattstation and it has performed well for 7700 miles and probably close to 200 cycles. I hope it is not a ticking time bomb. I have a 200 amp service and commercial grade TVSS/surge protector on it.
 
materwelon said:
- electrician concurred with GE's explanation that the wattstation is just a switch (which, honestly, is over my head).

Except it is not just a switch. The evse also sends a pilot signal to the vehicle and must coordinate with the OBC properly to let charging begin.

I recommend Leviton & Schnider
 
davewill said:
The part of this that bugs me is that the replacement OBC should have had this fix. Either it didn't for some odd reason, or it did and the fix failed.
The replacement OBC Nissan has been installing doesn't have the fix because it's not ready yet. They're simply getting owners back on the road.
 
It sounds like there may be some timing issues with how fast the GE Wattstation applies current to the OBC. Many EVSE's delay a bit after the pilot is asserted. There may be a race condition where the OBC is not ready for the inrush current right at the particular time the wattstation provides it. Another other possibility could be excess voltage spikes being coupled into the pilot which could result in a local bus overvolt spike in the OBC depending on how it was designed.

Either way, this is happening way too often to be a fluke.

The tripping of both the main and branch breakers indicates a hard short in the OBC, wattstation, or both.

I could properly analyze this problem if I ever get someone locally with a fault that's willing to let me have a look.

-Phil
 
drees said:
The replacement OBC Nissan has been installing doesn't have the fix because it's not ready yet. They're simply getting owners back on the road.

Wow. That's news to me, and I wish they'd told me that Wednesday when I picked up the car.

Ingineer said:
It sounds like there may be some timing issues with how fast the GE Wattstation applies current to the OBC. Many EVSE's delay a bit after the pilot is asserted. There may be a race condition where the OBC is not ready for the inrush current right at the particular time the wattstation provides it. Another other possibility could be excess voltage spikes being coupled into the pilot which could result in a local bus overvolt spike in the OBC depending on how it was designed.

Either way, this is happening way too often to be a fluke.

The tripping of both the main and branch breakers indicates a hard short in the OBC, wattstation, or both.

I could properly analyze this problem if I ever get someone locally with a fault that's willing to let me have a look.

-Phil

I wish Berkeley was local to Austin. ;)

Zero contact from Nissan today. Working on shipping the wattstation back to GE for testing.

Larisa
 
materwelon said:
Just to be clear, from both Nissan and GE - this has happened across multiple manufacturers of EVSEs - as of July (so clearly not updated numbers) 11 Wattstations / LEAFS, 5 Aerovironment / LEAFs, 3 Blink / LEAFs, and 1 "unknown" / LEAF. It seems like a higher rate on the Wattstations, but I don't have numbers of LEAFs sold / what they are plugged in to each night.

Anyway, thanks for the responses. Obviously, if it happens again with a different EVSE, then it probably wasn't the Wattstation.

Larisa

I knew there were other EVSEs involved, but never was able to provide specific examples. Nissan refused to comment when I asked them and they replied on 8/28/2012.

It cannot be specifically a Wattstation problem, since other brands have also had incidents, and it cannot be stated that the Wattstation is more suspect, based on the numbers, since it is unknown what percentage of EVSEs are Wattstations. It could even be a local electrical issue, with the Wattstation more prevalent in that area.

I've had a Wattstation sitting in the box for months waiting for Nissan. Apparently there is going to be a resolution in the near future.
 
I second the recommendation for the Leviton unit. The plug-in version is actually portable--hangs on the wall and plugs into a 240v outlet. Sells for $799 on homedepot.com. I recommend getting the installation kit as well, even though it's overpriced. The wall bracket is necessary for a clean installation.
 
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