Blink / Rav4 Blows Out a Contactor Pin (with gory pics)

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evnow said:
Ingineer said:
That said, I do think Jim's Rema is bad, as not only did he have excessive rise on both pins at 16a, but also a significant delta between the pins.

Hmmm, isn't the difference between pins just 0.1 °C ? Am I reading that data wrong ... ?

17.5 °C AC Power L1, delta T = 12.0 °C
17.4 °C AC Power L2, delta T = 11.9 °C

Yeah, now I'm confused. I thought Phil said it was only bad with a 15F or greater difference between the top two pins.
Mine was only a few degrees difference, but now I'm not sure if the crimps are good or not.
 
TonyWilliams said:
Ecotality / Blink has begun changing out the charging nozzle on owners who have a Rav4 in Phoenix.
Well. So the rest of us can have ours blow up when we upgrade cars in a couple of years? Are they just doing them all, or are they waiting for complaints?
 
davewill said:
TonyWilliams said:
Ecotality / Blink has begun changing out the charging nozzle on owners who have a Rav4 in Phoenix.
Well. So the rest of us can have ours blow up when we upgrade cars in a couple of years? Are they just doing them all, or are they waiting for complaints?

So far, just the teeny tiny number of folks with a Blink and a Rav4 who are still in the EVproject (have a LEAF or Volt in the project).

I'm going to guess its a singular digit number of folks. Heck, they've only sold 270 Rav4's total.
 
LEAFfan said:
I think my Blink is ok. I charged for almost 2 1/2 hours @ 6.0kW and the left pin was 125F, right was 130F.

What was the ambient temperature? If ambient was 70 F, you have 55 or 60 degree F rise so I think both pins are marginal. By the way, what are you charging that will take 6 kW? Did you get a RAV4?

Gerry
 
LEAFfan said:
TonyWilliams said:
LEAFfan said:
I think my Blink is ok. I charged for almost 2 1/2 hours @ 6.0kW and the left pin was 125F, right was 130F.

Did you measure the current draw from the wall?

No, but it should be 32A?

No, should be 30a, since no known J1772 nozzle is rated by UL at 32 amps; 30, 40 and 75 amps, yes.... just not 32a.
 
I complained, talked to engineering, gave them some infrared temperature documentation, and they swapped out mine last week.

TonyWilliams said:
Ecotality / Blink has begun changing out the charging nozzle on owners who have a Rav4 in Phoenix.
 
TomT said:
I complained, talked to engineering, gave them some infrared temperature documentation, and they swapped out mine last week.

TonyWilliams said:
Ecotality / Blink has begun changing out the charging nozzle on owners who have a Rav4 in Phoenix.

Tom, what were your left and right pin temps?
 
Warning, don't let Blink switch out your cordset and nozzle unless you have all your EV's there to check and make sure they work. They came to replace mine today with one they said they've tested for lower temps with the RAV4 and FitEV. I had my Volt at home and worked fine, but tried to plug in the RAV and it refuses to work. Tried Volt again, fine, but RAV is no go. Very confusing.

They warned me not to use Blink public chargers anymore with the RAV until they replace those cords, so I'm a little stuck for the moment.

Update:

They came back out and replaced the new cord with an even newer cord. Works fine.
 
Just got the following email form Blink:

Hello Steven,

We are looking for the RAV4 EV drivers in our community. If you do not have a RAV4 EV, you can stop reading now.

If you do have a RAV4 EV, Blink wants to learn more about your charging experience. We need your input to ensure that you can continue to have a reliable charging experience.

Please fill out this short form and let us know the year of your RAV4 EV. We promise to only take a few minutes of your time.

Charge On.
Blink
 
And they canceled the service on my dead-in-the-water unit even though they knew what parts to replace (known issues) because the company said there was going to be some software updates.

While Under Threat From OEMs, ECOtality Turns Down The Output On Chargers To Avoid Failures
http://insideevs.com/under-threat-from-oems-ecotality-turns-down-the-output-on-chargers-to-avoid-failures/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
My blink failed because of the known issue regarding the ground fault crimp issues. I wanted them to test/verify/etc. that my unit also did not have an impacted cord set. They never really got back to me on how exactly they could test for it but eventually a tech was scheduled. I made it clear that I wanted to know how he was going to test the cordset. He didn't really know and through a mix up in communication he sent me an email saying that he had the cordset and so I had him come out. Unfortunately the cordset he had was for a different client but when he called to ask Blink about it they said they actually had ordered a cordset for me but that it was back ordered. This was last week before the recent announcements so I have a feeling I'll not be getting a new cordset.
 
Yesterday morning, my plastic tip on the car's top right J pin disappeared after charging so I thought maybe the Blink EVSE melted it. I called ECOtality and in less than 30 minutes Michael Martin arrived and replaced the nozzle and cord set. Besides fixing the crimp problem, this one has a sensor that will shut it off if it gets too hot.
 
LEAFfan said:
Yesterday morning, my plastic tip on the car's top right J pin disappeared after charging so I thought maybe the Blink EVSE melted it. I called ECOtality and in less than 30 minutes Michael Martin arrived and replaced the nozzle and cord set. Besides fixing the crimp problem, this one has a sensor that will shut it off if it gets too hot.
Manufacturer and model # that has the temperature sensor?
 
Your could install the temp sensor on the car. This way you are protected at other EVSE also:

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=10749&start=90#p246818" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
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