Nissan/AV L2 EVSE not charging

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GeekEV

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 18, 2011
Messages
1,825
Location
NorCal, USA
I just picked up my LEAF today, and so tried to charge it for the first time tonight. I'm having some problems. I tried to call Nissan support, but it's apparently not a 24hr support line! :(

I'll try calling them again in the morning, but was wondering if any of you have any ideas. The Nissan/AV L2 EVSE was installed by a third party electrician, but all the voltages were checked at installation. The "power present" light is on, as is the "ready to charge" light. When I plug the car in, the "vehicle connected" light comes on, I hear the relay click and the "vehicle charging" light comes on. About 10 seconds later, I hear the relay click again and the "vehicle charging" light goes off but all the other lights stay on. The "trouble" light does NOT come on. The EVSE passes it's built in self-check. The dealer successfully charged the car before delivery, and the Nissan L1 EVSE works just fine, so I know it's not the car.

Any ideas?
 
Do you have a charging timer set? If so, is it past the set time for it to start? If it does have a timer set, and it is past that time, push the timer bypass button left of the steering wheel on the dash (clock with a plug that says off under it - upper middle button spot). Otherwise I am at a loss.
 
I agree with Skywagon...it sounds like you have your timer set. Either change it or press the bypass button and you should be golden.
 
If it turns out not to be the timer - there was another thread where the poster believe he had the connector plugged into the Leaf correctly, and I believe he had the lights expected, but it turned out he didn't actually have the complete contact needed.

It would take me forever to find that thread - but he posted some lessons learned.

But it's probably the timer.
 
No timers are set. I tried hitting the timer off button just for fun, same thing happens. I tried unplugging and replugging several times. I guess we'll see what Nissan says in the morning. In the mean time, I'm using the 120v EVSE tonight. :x
 
Does the owners portal show the car plugged in when it's on the L2? If it does, you may want to try the charge now button on the portal and see if that works. Maybe a long shot, but worth a try.
 
MrZorg said:
Yeah, it does. Same behavior. Getting ready to call Nissan shortly.

Did AV install your EVSE? I'd like to see their response time to fixing the broken charge station. This same day repair was their big selling point for having them do the installation.
 
He said that the AV EVSE was installed by a 3rd party, so no quick-response from AV is expected.

However, AV might want to look at this unit (quickly) for PR and QC purposes. :D

Have you tried turning Off the breaker that supplies power to the EVSE, and turning it back On after about a minute, so that the EVSE will reboot?
 
Yeah, I tried resetting the breaker too. No luck. I called Nissan this morning, they transferred me to AV. AV ran me through their checklist and sounded stumped. The guy I spoke to took my info, said he'd talk to some folks and get back to me. I'll be sure to post a followup when I hear more.

Thanks for all the suggestions!
 
It doesn't seem like AV gives a crap about PR... At any rate, they did give me a few more things to look at and try, but otherwise gave me the option of mailing it back for replacement (they do NOT cover return postage), or paying to have their installer come out and replace it (~$300). Guess which option I'll be going with if their suggestions don't pan out? I could ship it back several times for $300, many more times if you factor their original $1200 labor quote into the mix... :lol:
 
Maybe AV made your EVSE so that it would NOT automatically re-activate (resume) after being "used" (charge On and Off).

Some older car (I forget which) required this "patch" to the old-EVSEs that fed it. So, maybe your AV unit accidently has that no-resume "feature" as an option, either a jumper or a firmware version?
 
I would ask another Leaf owner to try before I sent it in.
Where do you send it? Is it in range to drop off?

That is a bit of BS if it never worked once. I would be tempted to ask for a refund and let them keep it.
 
This is precisely why I will survive on L1 for awhile. I think if people can get by without L2 then there will be a much greater selection, lower prices and more competitive service for EVSE's in the not to distant future. Besides, after getting the EsFlow stuck in my head, I now want an EVSE unit with TWO J1772 plugs for my garage head wall. Any manufacturers listening out there????
 
smkettner said:
That is a bit of BS if it never worked once. I would be tempted to ask for a refund and let them keep it.
I'm inclined to agree. But I have yet to see any other EVSE that's even available for me to buy, let alone in this price range...

TRONZ said:
I think if people can get by without L2 then there will be a much greater selection, lower prices and more competitive service for EVSE's in the not to distant future.
Either that or the market will tank because nobody's buying them... ;)

garygid said:
Maybe AV made your EVSE so that it would NOT automatically re-activate (resume) after being "used" (charge On and Off).

Some older car (I forget which) required this "patch" to the old-EVSEs that fed it. So, maybe your AV unit accidently has that no-resume "feature" as an option, either a jumper or a firmware version?
You kind of lost me there. How would that be a feature? It does have a delayed retry in the event of a power failure, but...
 
MrZorg said:
but otherwise gave me the option of mailing it back for replacement (the do NOT cover return postage), or paying to have their installer come out and replace it (~$300).

To give AV some credit, that is a much nicer option than was previously being offered. Thumbs up from me on that!
 
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