Nissan/AV L2 EVSE not charging

garygid said:

I forgot, did you try "immediate" charging (not by timers)?

Did the EVSE relay still click On, then Off?

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Yep. Originally, I wasn't using a timer but the symptoms made many think I had one set accidentally. But I didn't. I later tried with a timer and that didn't work either. Nor did trying to start charging through the iPhone app or owner's portal...

Then, the AV EVSE's relay clicks On, and a second or two ckicks back Off?

If that were caused by a faulty or too-sensitive GFI in the EVSE, it would either show a fault or retry some while later, creating another pair of clicks, I would think.

Let us know if you find out any more. Thanks.

I would have thought so too, and they think it's a defective J1772 plug. They think the pilot wire is working, but the communication wire isn't. I just now got a call from AV, and I guess both Nissan and AV have suddenly decided this is a big deal. They informed me that I'm the first one (yay!) to have issues and return it, so they really want to make sure it gets handled right. They're now asking if I'm open to having them send a team of engineers from both Nissan and AV to install and test the new one for me. I said sure, but I really don't think it's necessary. They're talking about Tuesday, and the replacement should arrive on Monday. I'm tempted to just reinstall it myself on Monday and, if it works, call them up and say don't bother. It really isn't rocket science (the hooking up part anyway)...

MrZorg said:

They're now asking if I'm open to having them send a team of engineers from both Nissan and AV to install and test the new one for me. I said sure, but I really don't think it's necessary.

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Well, if they are going to take back the old AV unit, that saves you the hassle of packing & shipping it. From their side, they can check to see what is happening.

BTW, did your 3rd party installer have a J-1772 tester ?

evnow said:

Well, if they are going to take back the old AV unit, that saves you the hassle of packing & shipping it. From their side, they can check to see what is happening.

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Alas, I already did that yesterday with the prepaid label they sent me.

evnow said:

BTW, did your 3rd party installer have a J-1772 tester ?

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No, he didn't. We figured if it passed the built in self-test it was probably fine. Guess not. Where do you get a J1772 tester and how much do they cost? He may be interested in that info if he plans on installing more of these...

MrZorg said:

They're now asking if I'm open to having them send a team of engineers from both Nissan and AV to install and test the new one for me. I said sure, but I really don't think it's necessary.

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And we thought Nissan had stopped reading the forum!

MrZorg said:

They think the pilot wire is working, but the communication wire isn't.

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1. L1 wire
2. L2 wire
3. Ground
4. Pilot
5. Proximity

All "communication" is through the pilot pin, so maybe they mean the proximity pin?

DarkStar said:

All "communication" is through the pilot pin, so maybe they mean the proximity pin?

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Perhaps the other way around then (it's possible I misunderstood). Must be the proximity pin that's working and the pilot pin isn't, since everything recognized it was plugged in.

The Proximity pin just connects between the "nozzle" and the car, and has no wire or connection to the EVSE.

The EVSE relay should not activate at all if the Control Pilot is not connected, but perhaps the EVSE is not generating a proper "Max-Current" square wave.

I dunno. All I know is they kept calling it a "communication problem". Not sure which pin(s)...

Where's Strother Martin when you need him?

LakeLeaf said:

Where's Strother Martin when you need him?

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Why, he's right here!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWiVtoRAgCo&feature=related

I'm out pushing the limits tonight and came to the conclusion I wasn't going to make it home, so I stopped at the nearest Nissan dealer to add some juice. Their Nissan/AV unit is working fine, so it's definitely not the car.

Zorg - that's good news. Hopefully they'll get your EVSE fixed up and you'll be all set.

soooo, your installer did check out the install, but without having a car to plug in? maybe we need to get him back out?

He wasn't so much an "installer" as just an electrician who wired it up for me. Correct, I didn't have the car at the time, and, not being an installer, he didn't have a simulator. But I'm convinced, as is AV, that there's nothing wrong with the wiring or the hookup. That stuff is pretty much a no-brainer. Plus we checked all the line voltages and grounds with a multi-meter. It's GOT to be the EVSE. We'll find out on Monday.

Had a failure to charge last night. Here's what I saw this morning:



We had wind and rain last night. Looks like rain was blowing in and landing on the LEAF's hood and running down toward the charge port. I found no trace of water in either part of the J-connector.

When I plugged the car back in, it went through all the usual beeps and clicks, and the EVSE says that it is ready to charge. Ground fault during the rain storm? That's just a guess at this point.

-Karl

Where is your car located with respect to your breaker panel?

What can happen is a voltage differential between the local ground the EVSE is using and the actual place where your ground rod is driven for your property. If there is any current flow from your wet car into/out of the ground that is greater than a few milliamps, it could trip the GFCI protection. (depending on how the EVSE monitors for faults)

If these "nuisance trips" continue, you should check for a voltage differential. If it exists, you may have an inadequate ground system in your house, or the ground rod may be too far away from your charge location. If that is the case, you may have to install a local ground rod.

It could also be a nearby lightning strike that ionized the air enough to create current flow through the ground.

Of course it could also be that the AV EVSE sucks! =) So far there has been one failure documented, and from the looks of the insides, I would not doubt this.

In my opinion, on GFCI fault the EVSE should immediately shutdown then sound an audible alarm, wait a minute or so, then try to restart. If after a few attempts the fault is still present, then it should go into lockout until a user resets it. The audible alarm should continue however. This would probably eliminate a lot of nuisance trips and upset owners finding their car uncharged in the morning.

Ingineer said:

What can happen is a voltage differential between the local ground the EVSE is using and the actual place where your ground rod is driven for your property. If there is any current flow from your wet car into/out of the ground that is greater than a few milliamps, it could trip the GFCI protection. (depending on how the EVSE monitors for faults)

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Why is the EVSE using a local ground? At what point in the EVSE or the car's charger is there a connection to local earth?

Cheers, Wayne

wwhitney said:

Ingineer said:

What can happen is a voltage differential between the local ground the EVSE is using and the actual place where your ground rod is driven for your property. If there is any current flow from your wet car into/out of the ground that is greater than a few milliamps, it could trip the GFCI protection. (depending on how the EVSE monitors for faults)

Click to expand...

Why is the EVSE using a local ground? At what point in the EVSE or the car's charger is there a connection to local earth?

Cheers, Wayne

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"Local ground" is the grounding conductor that's connected to the EVSE, and thus the car. In a residential application, they only require a ground rod at the point of service entrance. Let's say your entrance is on the opposite side of your house, and your driveway is actually much closer to your neighbor's service entrance. There could be a Delta-V between your car and the ground if your neighbors ground system is not at the same potential as yours. The fact that the EVSE is NOT connected to "local earth" could be the reason for the nuisance trip!