Charging shutting off when using Upgraded EVSE

I've had my i-MiEV for two months, and for the past week have been using the Mitsu EVSE that I got back from EVSE Upgrade. The unit works flawlessly at 120V giving me much faster charges than when it was stock.
However, on two occasions now it would not charge at 240V. I have installed an L6-20 outlet on a dedicated 20A circuit, and last night when I plugged it into this outlet, everything seemed normal with the unit flashing the green light 13 times followed by a pause. When I plug it into the car, the fan starts on its usual on-off cycle but shuts off very quickly, after about 1 second as opposed to the normal 4-5 seconds, and this is followed a few seconds later by the orange charge light on the EVSE shutting off as well as the charge light in the car shutting off. I've tried resetting the evse by unplugging it, and resetting the car by cycling it on and off, but it makes no difference.
I've contacted Mark at EVSE Upgrade and he said that if the green charge light remains on the EVSE, then its not the EVSE's fault that the charging is interrupted, the car is shutting the charging off.
I've checked the voltage that I'm getting at the L6-20 outlet, and it was 256V last night. My regular 120V outlet beside it confirms the high voltage, as it was reading 128V. I am suspecting now that the high voltage is causing the car to shut off charging. My big question is - is there something I can do about it? Is it a fault in the car? Or is my i-MiEV not compatible with the Toronto Hydro electric system?
To further add to the mystery - I've never had the charging shut off like that at public L2 charging stations, which presumably should supply the same voltage as my L6-20 outlet, and I've used two of them (one on a regular basis) since buying the car, although i'm sure they are not supplied by the same feeder line as my home.
Is there anyone who had the same issue? Anyone with ideas as to how to solve it?
I'd really like to be able to rely on the upgraded EVSE to reliably charge the car at Level 2, since I have no access to any other L2 charger close to home.

Has the upgraded EVSE ever worked properly on L2?
Is the bare wire in your outlet properly grounded in the power panel?

I would be surprised if it turns out to be a voltage problem. Mains voltage variations of 10% are not that uncommon and most devices will allow for a 10% variance in input voltage and still function properly - Your car does charge on L1 with this same variance, doesn't it?

If it has never worked properly on L2, I would double check your wiring and connections. I believe the folks at EVSE Upgrade test each unit before they ship them, so I would be surprised if the problem was in the EVSE

Don

Yes, the upgraded EVSE has worked properly at L2 since I got it back. I have attempted to use it at L2 a total of four times, and twice it worked with no issues, and twice the charging immediately disconnected. I'm pretty sure its the car that is doing the disconnecting, because the green light on the EVSE remains on, which indicates that there is nothing wrong on that end. I have double checked the wiring, and all seems correct, I have no ground issues. I think if there was no ground, the EVSE would not light up the green ready light anyway.
L1 charging works with no issues at all, but at that point the EVSE is plugged into 128V, so there is definitely no over-voltage there - the label that is affixed to it now (by EVSE upgrade I assume) states max 250V.
i can't really complain to Mitsubishi about it, because it works at L1 without issues, which is what they designed the stock EVSE for. If the car shuts off at 240V, of course they will say that is not their problem.
I'm just wondering if there is an easy way to reduce the voltage to below 250V, but still remaining at L2, so that I could test if that is indeed what is causing the car to shut down charging. I guess I could just wait for the day it does work at L2 and measure the line voltage then. But that still leaves me with the problem that I can't count on the EVSE working at L2.

I've used two different EVSE upgrade units on both of my I-MiEV's. Both were ex-Nissan units (one is a 2012 style and the other is a 2013 style). I haven't had a problem with either unit on either car. The question is if your I-MiEV will charge on other L2 EVSE's or not (i.e. a public EVSE). The next test would be to see if there is someone in your area that you know that would let you try your EVSE on their car and see what the results are. Have you contacted EVSE upgrade about your issue to see if they might have a answer? I know the charging system in the I-MiEV does a lot of checks to make sure the charging levels are correct and if there is any problem, the EVSE is disconnected. BTW my line voltage is 245 at the EVSE.

Is it possible you have the remote timer engaged? The charging indicator inside the vehicle shutting off sounds like what happens when I engage the remote timer to start charging at a later time. It confuses me almost every time I have tried to use it because the green light on the EVSE will remain lit and the yellow charging light will come on. The i-MiEV will make it's fan-blowing sound and the vehicle's charge indicator will flash. Within a couple of seconds, the yellow charging light on the EVSE will click off, the fan noise stops, and the vehicle charge indicator and "fuel" gauge turn off. To all appearances, it appears to have have stopped charging, which it has, but it is simply in stand-by mode until the scheduled charge time.

siai47 said:

Have you contacted EVSE upgrade about your issue to see if they might have a answer?

Click to expand...

He said he did - Mark confirmed that it's not the fault of the EVSE

RobbW said:

Is it possible you have the remote timer engaged? The charging indicator inside the vehicle shutting off sounds like what happens when I engage the remote timer to start charging at a later time.

Click to expand...

Good point. I recall the doggone timer being the culprit a couple other times when someone had the exact same symptoms as this

Don

I had a problem with a Schneider unit similar to what you're experiencing, see this thread:

http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=5026

I suspected either RF interference or that our AC line, with a 6.2kw solar array grid-tied, might be to blame. We now have a Clipper Creek EVSE, and there have been a couple times it has stopped, but generally speaking it is working for us now.

Incidentally, I also had an EVSE Upgrade unit for maybe a month or two in that time, and it too would stop charging (though not like our original Schneider unit did).

Do you have solar or some possible RF nearby as interference? It could also be the car needs a software update; some situations may have been out of specification originally (higher voltage or GF leakage) may have been dialed back because of these problems (and understanding of no additional risks in doing so). I have no idea what goes into the software updates, so this could be way off base, but maybe you should take it to the dealer and see. Or try your EVSE at the dealer, see if they can reproduce the problem there.

Just some thoughts.

Thanks for your responses.
The timer is definitely not the issue, since once I plug it at 120V, the charging works fine. Switching back to L2 I still get the shut-off problem.
As for RF interference - i don't have a solar installation nor anyone else within a few blocks of me. I can't think of anything else that could be causing RF interference or localized over-voltage.
I still have to do the recalls on this car - the selling dealer did not do them prior to delivery because his i-MiEV mechanic was on vacation. When I take it to the dealer I will ask them if there are any software updates that they can look into, and I will try to ask the mechanic if he knows or can check for me what the over-voltage cut-off is on the charger.
In the meantime, when it does work fine at L2, I will check my line voltage to see if it is below 250V.

I'm not sure about the Toronto Hydro electric system, but in New Jersey the maximum allowable voltage for electric utilities is 125/250V on a 120/240V nominal system. Your 128/256V is a little high. Electric utility voltages fluctuate during the day. Most electronics will run at voltages higher or lower than nominal. It wouldn't hurt to call your electric company and get them to check. They might have a piece of equipment on their line that is malfunctioning. High voltage, like 128V, will also shorten the life of the light bulbs in your house.

HParkEV, I realized that I had not tested my recently-EVSEUpgraded unit on 240v, so I just tried it: with the powerline sitting at 239.6vac and the default 13A EVSE setting, my power draw is 2.906kW. Fuel gauge at 8 bars. No problem, everything acting normally.

I, too, suspect your 240vac sitting at that very high upper limit may be the issue. I'll measure mine during the day, as between my neighbor's 11.1kW solar and my own 6.6kW solar (and we're both at the end of the line and feeding off the same power pole) we tend to bump up our grid into your voltage region - I had to have a solar inverter replaced (under warranty) as it was shutting down due to excessively-high voltage (also ~256v).

I just checked our Manual and there is no tolerance spec on the 240vac.

Agree with RobertC and ask your utility to verify the line voltage. They should do it for free.