Level 2 Charging at Home Stops

Our iMiev has been cutting off charging quite annoyingly many times lately. Sometimes only a few minutes into charging, other times 70% through. It always happens on our Level 2 (Schneider) home charger; we've never noticed it on the Level 1 EVSE supplied by Mitsubishi.

I've seen this thread and some conflict with the remote:

http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=531&hilit=charging+stops

but we haven't touched the remote in months (never use it). Since sometimes the charging begins, and then stops, I'm assuming that the iMiev's BMU is telling the charging to stop. But, I also wonder whether it could be the plug losing physical contact somehow.

Has anyone had these type of charging issues?

Might it be a problem specific to charging at 240v instead of 120v or specific to the Schneider EVSE?

Might the BMU recall fix this problem? (We haven't had the "fix" done yet, but it's scheduled for next week.)

Thanks for any input ...
Dan

danpatgal, that's troubling if the Remote has not been touched.

First, want to make sure that what you are seeing is not the ten-minute 'timeout' that the iMiEV charger takes at some point in the charging cycle. It does this irrespective of whether it's L1 or L2. Note, after the 'upgrade' it looks as though this time will be reduced to six minutes.

Since if it's not that, then your supposition that it may be an incomplete/intermittent connection at the J1772 plug is viable.

If it happens again, I would be inclined to nevertheless try using the Remote (e.g., zero time to turn on and maybe 1/2-hour to turn off) and let it run this cycle to its conclusion. Then put the Remote away and see if the problem recurs.

Anyone else with Schneider EVSE experience this?

I have the level 2 Schneider - no problems charging.

Thanks for the comments.

I've reluctantly pulled out the remote again, and did a charge cycle, without any problem. I'll try again tonight and see what happens.

The problem seemed to be worse after a deep discharge, but it could also be that my wife plugged it in and didn't do it as securely as I normally do. As compared to the iMiev EVSE, the Schneider J1772 plug doesn't click in place as well ... but I don't know why/how the charging could start, and then just magically become loose during the charge cycle and stop - it doesn't make sense to me.

Thanks - Dan

Sorry to hear of this. I have no such problem with both my SPX and a friend's homebuilt EVSE. No more problems with Blink residential EVSE either, as long as I stay off the remote!
In related news, I'm amazed by the mileage that some folks have accumulated on Level 1 charging only. I lived without Level 2 last week, and twice had to crank up a gasser due to insufficient recovery time- for trips that are part of my normal routine!
Now at 12,8xx miles.

jray3 said:

In related news, I'm amazed by the mileage that some folks have accumulated on Level 1 charging only. I lived without Level 2 last week, and twice had to crank up a gasser due to insufficient recovery time- for trips that are part of my normal routine!

Click to expand...

One key is where the car spends its days. If you're retired, work at home, or your employer lets you plug in your L1 EVSE, so it's effectively trickle charging whenever it's not in motion, I'd think you could sustain 50+ miles a day. For folks with such a friendly routine, L1 might be fine. I live just a couple of miles from my office, but can't charge there (yet); even so, thus far I've only used my L2 charger a couple of times in a typical week, usually for less than 3 hours each time (I'm pretty sure that's going to change come winter).

The problem is that not all my weeks are typical, and I'm guessing that's true for a lot of folks. If you don't meet the criteria listed above (i.e., you aren't able to keep the car plugged in most of the time), L2 provides much needed flexibility. A recent afternoon running some unexpected errands downtown and in a nearby suburb got me home in the evening w/18 mi RR, though admittedly I started with only about 62 RR (couple bars down). I'd Google-mapped this all in advance, was familiar with the routes, and could avoid freeways (though included a round trip on a 10-mi stretch of 50-55 mph country road), so this was not tinged with range anxiety. But I had to be in to work the next day, and I prefer not to leave the house with less than 30-40 mi. range; a L1 charger would barely have gotten me to that before I had to leave.

I value having L3 charge capability (because life can throw you some unexepected curves), but I really don't expect to use it, even when we have CHAdeMO somewhere in this state (which we don't yet). L2, on the other hand, provides a level of flexibility that I've already found useful. I wouldn't own an EV without it.

danpatgal said:

... but I don't know why/how the charging could start, and then just magically become loose during the charge cycle and stop - it doesn't make sense to me.

Click to expand...

It's exactly the symptom you'd have if the remote has been played with

jray3 said:

I'm amazed by the mileage that some folks have accumulated on Level 1 charging only. I lived without Level 2 last week, and twice had to crank up a gasser due to insufficient recovery time for trips that are part of my normal routine!

Click to expand...

If you have a 12 amp Level 1 charger, it's possible to get a 100% recharge from one or two bars in just 12 hours, so if your car is in the garage early enough in the evening, it's all ready to go by the next morning no matter how far you drove it the previous day

I have a Level 2 charger now, but all I used for the first 4 months was Level 1 and it didn't affect how we use the car at all . . . . we lived the first couple months with only the 8 amp OEM EVSE and it really wasn't a problem either, as we seldom ran the car down much more than 50% or so. We have 5K on the car the first 6 months

With both hanging on the wall, I've found we use Level 1 more than 90% of the time

Don

Another update:

It stopped again. I looked at the remote, :evil:, pressed a few buttons, and got an "ERROR" message as I attempted to restart charging. I tried again, and then it began charging, and is still going now.

So, with that kind of behavior, I'm ruling out any physical connection problem. My wife asked me how far does the remote work ... and I said 300 ft. She wondered where we could put it so that it doesn't have an effect on the car charging (in a safe ?). It just seems to me there should at least be a foolproof way to stop it from communicating ... if that's even the problem.

We could probably be fine with the level 1. But, I like to have it in the car for any opportunity charging or sometimes at work, and it's a pain to coil it up / bag it each morning on the way out. Besides, I did actually buy the level 2, so I'd like to use it, and sometimes we need to use it after an early morning of errands and a busy afternoon. If the iMiev had a 12 amp Level 1, it'd be better, but at 8 amp, it's painfully slow to recharge.

danpatgal, I agree that physical insertion of the J1772 connector does not seem to be your problem. I also don't think there's any relationship between the actual physical proximity of the Remote and the vehicle itself when the Remote is inactive. Simply be sure you're close to the car when actually using the Remote.

Any button-pushing on that Remote should be in the very specific sequence identified in the Manual.

Back at the end of last year we had some discussions about the peculiarities of the Remote. Among other things, it was pointed out that the charger has some logic in it to continue charging for the preset time period after a power outage.

Two posts may be pertinent to the issues we're seeing:

1. From MtnViewMark (one of the very first to take an iMiEV delivery in this area) http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=454#p454 where it's pointed out that the charger stores information from the previous programming.

2. From Quixotix http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=512#p512 where he speculates as to possible reasons for the Remote's programming peculiarities.

All that notwithstanding, there is certainly a difference in responsiveness of the car to the Remote between using the Mitsubishi L1 EVSE and a number of different L2 EVSEs.

I now continue to use the Remote timers when charging using the Mitsu L1 EVSE (it works perfectly every time), but avoid the Remote timers when using my SPX L2 EVSE (lots of errors…).

Edit 12 Nov. 2012:
Discussion on pre-heating using Remote is here: http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=762&start=0

RFI could be the problem. It is not your remote but somebody elses. It could be hamradio, CB-Radio, RADAR or any sort of radio transmitter that accidently triggers the i-MiEVs receiver. It gives an error. That is why it stops.

If the remote has a battery, removing it might tend
to eliminate the remote as a suspect.

Or, shielding the remote might work.

If the car's receiver for the remote, and the corresponding
antenna, can be shielded, that might cut down other interference.

peterdambier's explanation seems the most plausible in my case at the moment. I have a PV inverter in the garage that has RF communication with an indoor unit. And though I'd not think wireless networks would disrupt the remote, those are not far either. Also, our TV remotes are not too far, our family room is directly behind the garage where the iMiev charges. (I don't think it was the iMiev remote acting up since we hadn't touched it in months.)

I specifically tried to disrupt charging last night with the PV inverter RF signal ... but it kept going. In fact, last night was the first time in a week or so where I got a complete charge without any additional intervention.

Thanks for all the comments ... If I eventually come to some conclusion, I'll share it here.

Dan

I also have the Schneider/Square D EVSE with no problems.

Maybe its just a bad unit. It would be worth it to try another one and see if you get the same results.

Interesting TED (The Energy Detective) graph data this morning. I came back last night [40-degF (4degC)] from a 40+-mile(65km) spirited drive up and over the local 2300ft (700m) "mountains" from Capitola where I had visited friends and fully recharged using my SPX L2. At home I plugged into the Mitsu L1 EVSE a little after 11pm. At almost exactly midnight the car had stopped charging and had what I refer to as a 'timeout' for exactly sixteen (NOT six) minutes and then resumed charging normally. I had not touched the Remote, and the car was at four bars when I started charging. She was still charging normally this morning. Had I been awake and seen this happen, I'd have been "concerned".

Just another data point to add to our body of knowledge regarding the iMiEV's charging characteristics, as it shows that even when using the Mitsu L1 EVSE that charging can suspend for other than the nominal ten or six minutes.

So, it appears that the "normal" pause during charging
can be 6, 10, or 16 seconds?

Does there appear to be any pattern in when this pause
happens, in relation to the Start, End, or Length of the
charging sessions?

I have seen the pause in the Log data, but I have only
seen one charging log.

Observing manually is so tedious, that it is almost impossible.

However, Logging every night is quite easy, and fairly
inexpensive to do. The OBDLink SX is about $50 and
then logging with CAN-Do just requires a Windows PC.

garygid, the normal pause during charging, which occurs only once per charging cycle and seems to start randomly, is either ten minutes (pre-cell upgrade) or six minutes (post-cell upgrade). I have only seen that sixteen-minute 'timeout' occur once - I'm glad I was asleep when that happened.

Just an update on my problem. I wanted to make sure the remote wasn't interfering with the charging, so removed the battery. On the next full cycle the charging still stopped right at the beginning of charging. So, I'm ruling out any direct interference from the remote.

I'll admit that I didn't set a timer (for 16 minutes ...) to see if it would come back on by itself, but the charging had barely even begun (maybe 20 mins max) which would seem odd to me to have a timeout that early in the cycle. Unless, someone can explain why that might be. Besides, there were other times I had set a timer or forgot to check to make sure it was charging until the next morning where charging hadn't resumed/completed on it's own.

Though MLucas has a Schneider too ... perhaps I did get a bad one or bad version with software compatability issues that's causing this (not unlike what we just heard about with the Clipper Creek chargers ??). Or I'm still wondering if there is an RF interference of some sort that could interrupt charging. Even if it seems unlikely that I would be the only one with such a problem - unless I've got some ham radio fanatic neighbor I just don't know about.

If anyone has any other debugging ideas, let me know. For example, garygid suggested sheilding the receiver antenna on the iMiev ... does anyone know where that might be to try that?

Thanks - Dan

danpatgal said:

... For example, garygid suggested sheilding the receiver antenna on the iMiev ... does anyone know where that might be to try that?

Click to expand...

Its behind the right sail panel glass.

...also, for what its worth - Sandange also has the Square D EVSE and is not having any troubles using it with the remote. 2 Good and 1 Bad, I'm still thinking possibly the EVSE is ginked.

...another thought on this problem, the Squared D does have a GFCI built in to the unit. Is your EVSE on a dedicated circuit? That could be tripping the circuit.

Simply another datapoint regarding seemingly-random stopping of charging (as seen on my T.E.D.): last night we were down to three bars (after a little over 50 miles) and plugged into the Mitsu L1 EVSE (no Remote). After an hour, the timeout occurred but it lasted almost exactly 20 minutes. Temperature was around 50degF. I'd be interested in knowing what their criteria are for the timeout duration. Maybe the CAN deciphering will eventually allow us to figure this out.

Not sure if the OP is still having problems with their EVSE. If so, I found this thread on the Volt site about problems with the Schneider EVSE. The Volt owner was able to get a replacement with no hassles. If you read further down, Schneider admits the Volt owner had a faulty unit.

http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?19199-Schneider-EVlink-level-2-indoor-chargers