misterbleepy
Well-known member
clovi said:
My Peugeot Ion makes the fan noise as soon as I plug it in to charge (Level 2 charging, as we don't have 110v in the UK, just 240v). It is CHAdeMO equipped.
My second IMIEV does not make the normal fan noise.
- Thread starter clovi
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My Peugeot Ion makes the fan noise as soon as I plug it in to charge (Level 2 charging, as we don't have 110v in the UK, just 240v). It is CHAdeMO equipped.
PV1
Well-known member
That doesn't make much sense for non-CHAdeMO cars to not have a battery fan (or maybe it has it, but doesn't run on plug-in). Either way, if the batteries get too warm, you want some way to cool them. Our battery pack doesn't have liquid cooling, so forced air is the way to go.
The coolant pump runs coolant through the charger and motor controller, and maybe the DC-DC converter(?) to keep the electronics cool. The battery pack is air-cooled, and thus the reason for most of us having the fan.
As far as sounds, there seems to be confusion on what the different sounds are. If your car behaves like mine (with CHAdeMO), on plug-in of level 1 or 2, you'll hear clicks and thunks of relays and contactors in both the car and EVSE. Those will be followed by a fan whoosh for about 5 seconds. After the fan shuts off, you'll see power consumption ramp up if you meter your charging or if you have the old disc utility meters. About every 5-10 minutes, you'll hear a little motor turn on, and maybe hear fluids circulating. This is the coolant pump. It makes a quiet whir, but can be heard either inside or outside of the car (louder inside). Likewise, the fan can be heard both in and out. The brake pump only functions in the ON position, either with or without READY. This produces a noticeable buzz sound (unless you have the new style pump).
Check back here. When I get home, I'll upload a video with the different sounds to avoid confusion.
The coolant pump runs coolant through the charger and motor controller, and maybe the DC-DC converter(?) to keep the electronics cool. The battery pack is air-cooled, and thus the reason for most of us having the fan.
As far as sounds, there seems to be confusion on what the different sounds are. If your car behaves like mine (with CHAdeMO), on plug-in of level 1 or 2, you'll hear clicks and thunks of relays and contactors in both the car and EVSE. Those will be followed by a fan whoosh for about 5 seconds. After the fan shuts off, you'll see power consumption ramp up if you meter your charging or if you have the old disc utility meters. About every 5-10 minutes, you'll hear a little motor turn on, and maybe hear fluids circulating. This is the coolant pump. It makes a quiet whir, but can be heard either inside or outside of the car (louder inside). Likewise, the fan can be heard both in and out. The brake pump only functions in the ON position, either with or without READY. This produces a noticeable buzz sound (unless you have the new style pump).
Check back here. When I get home, I'll upload a video with the different sounds to avoid confusion.
clovi said:
No CHadeMO here. I do not hear a quick "Whoosh" of a fan when connecting to L1 or L2 charger. I do hear the cooling pump for the onboard charger run from time to time.
I HAVE heard the fan "whoosh" when stopped on a hot day at a stop light. So I do have a fan, and it does cool my battery.
Sounds like CHadeMO version of the car has an extra diagnostic step to test the fan when you engage a charging session.
jray3
Well-known member
Yes, my non-CHAdeMO ES cycles the fan for a few seconds on plug-in to any make of EVSE, L1 or L2. I'd have to double- check with a quick disconnect/reconnect, but I'm pretty sure that the fan comes on with every connection, no matter how high the State of Charge or low the battery temperature.
Then again, I almost never plug in before at least two bars of discharge, and only then if I've got a long trip next on the agenda...
Then again, I almost never plug in before at least two bars of discharge, and only then if I've got a long trip next on the agenda...
From another thread:
I think that about summarizes it. I've never had the battery cooling fan kick in on my non-CHAdeMO SE iMiEV.
jray3, you'd better double-check. You vintage and mine are very close, although mine is an SE.
clovi, you need to temper your expectations from the dealer :roll: If and when they do get back to you, could you please ask them to verify that all the cars have a battery fan and that only the one in the CHAdeMO-equipped vehicles gets this diagnostic test. While you're at it, could you ask them if running the aircon will push cold air through the battery even if the battery fan is not running.
clovi said:...Bianco is ES with Quick charge package, and Vino is SE without navigation system.
iDriver said:
I think that about summarizes it. I've never had the battery cooling fan kick in on my non-CHAdeMO SE iMiEV.
jray3, you'd better double-check. You vintage and mine are very close, although mine is an SE.
clovi, you need to temper your expectations from the dealer :roll: If and when they do get back to you, could you please ask them to verify that all the cars have a battery fan and that only the one in the CHAdeMO-equipped vehicles gets this diagnostic test. While you're at it, could you ask them if running the aircon will push cold air through the battery even if the battery fan is not running.
jray3
Well-known member
Wow, that's quite interesting that the cars behave so differently. :? My blower definitely does an air purge lasting several seconds just about EVery if not EVery time I plug in- am sure of that, perhaps it doesn't blow in very rare instances. It's done this since new. Again, most of my drives are 16+ miles, I rarely turn on the car and go fewer than 5 miles, and probably have never plugged in after such a short trip. This could mean that everything gets warmer than it would for somebody who's just running a local errand.
The clicking contactor and gurgling coolant pump are very different (and quieter) sounds. The coolant pump is quieter than the vacuum pump, but the blower is louder than both.
Wife has the i today, otherwise I'd have run out and done some more checks, and don't have time right now to check the service manual for fuse block references, etc..
The clicking contactor and gurgling coolant pump are very different (and quieter) sounds. The coolant pump is quieter than the vacuum pump, but the blower is louder than both.
Wife has the i today, otherwise I'd have run out and done some more checks, and don't have time right now to check the service manual for fuse block references, etc..
No 'air noises' from my car when you plug it in . . . . EVer! The coolant system runs every few minutes while the battery is charging, but never any fan blowing air
Don
I don't think so - The vacuum pump for the brakes is very quiet and hard to hear, but the same exact cooling system you hear in your garage when charging also operates when you're driving the car - It liquid cools both the A/C drive motor and the inverter which powers it. You'll hear that pretty often when driving (if you don't have the stereo on and the environment is quiet enough) and it's easily heard when stopped at a light . . . . even with the radio onMLucas said:oahumiev said:
That is your air pump for the brakes.
Don
kps70
Member
Yes mine always makes the fan noise.
Kieron
Kieron
peterdambier
Well-known member
When I plug in during the selftest before really charging it always comes on and makes enough noise to not mistake it for something else. It stops very soon but comes on time and again.
Karin owns one of the first 2010? ones and we are always charging L2.
Karin owns one of the first 2010? ones and we are always charging L2.
I have an ES with Chademo. It always runs the fan when I first plug in. Even in the winter. I generally always plug in right when I park after a trip. Often my trips are less than 3 miles, and at very low speeds. The batteries couldn't possibly be hot.
jray3
Well-known member
Well then, we seem to have a consensus that the battery ventilation fan behaves very differently on different cars. With the very short duration of my car's fan upon every plug-in, I had assumed it was a precautionary purge against any hydrogen accumulated from regen, even though there should be none from a lithium pack. The blower certainly doesn't run long long enough to provide meaningful cooling to the cells. The blower also comes on when a timer-delayed or remote-commanded charging sessing starts.
Once again, I am i-less, having driven the Karmann Eclectric on a sunny day in order to give an EV orientation and demonstrate EV burnouts for the High School Auto Shop classes. Most of those kids had no clue that an electric car could do such interesting things. :twisted:
It may be a stretch, but I'm wondering if the non-CHAdeMO cars that do a ventilation purge could be those that included some of the CHAdeMO hardware, but Mitsu just omitted the big inlet at the last possible moment? Shouldn't get my hopes up, but this is based on my theory that it's cheaper to disable some options rather than inventory two different wiring harnesses, etc. My car has a release cable for the CHAdeMO port tucked away inside the quarter panel, but no charging inlet or DC cables... Manufacturers make minor tweaks to assembly practices all the time... I'll add my car's build date rather than acquisition date to my sig line, and suggest that others do the same. This practice could help define variances within the production run, as well as remind us of relevant recalls.
TESLA is demonstrating this 'built-in but disabled' approach by not even bothering to build Model S 40 kWh packs, and rather just software-limiting the 60 kWh packs for those skinflints who were too cheap to pay for a 60 kWh pack!! Those 40 kWh cars should have a nice bump in resale value, with packs that have never been discharged more deeply than 66% and can be upgraded via e-mail!
Once again, I am i-less, having driven the Karmann Eclectric on a sunny day in order to give an EV orientation and demonstrate EV burnouts for the High School Auto Shop classes. Most of those kids had no clue that an electric car could do such interesting things. :twisted:
It may be a stretch, but I'm wondering if the non-CHAdeMO cars that do a ventilation purge could be those that included some of the CHAdeMO hardware, but Mitsu just omitted the big inlet at the last possible moment? Shouldn't get my hopes up, but this is based on my theory that it's cheaper to disable some options rather than inventory two different wiring harnesses, etc. My car has a release cable for the CHAdeMO port tucked away inside the quarter panel, but no charging inlet or DC cables... Manufacturers make minor tweaks to assembly practices all the time... I'll add my car's build date rather than acquisition date to my sig line, and suggest that others do the same. This practice could help define variances within the production run, as well as remind us of relevant recalls.
TESLA is demonstrating this 'built-in but disabled' approach by not even bothering to build Model S 40 kWh packs, and rather just software-limiting the 60 kWh packs for those skinflints who were too cheap to pay for a 60 kWh pack!! Those 40 kWh cars should have a nice bump in resale value, with packs that have never been discharged more deeply than 66% and can be upgraded via e-mail!
aarond12
Well-known member
I wonder if the fan turning on for a short while is just a diagnostic -- kind of like some PCs do immediately after powering on. The PCs at work turn on the fan to high for a few seconds, then throttle the fan speed down to a normal level.
JoeS said:
OK. The dealer called me back . Bianco (my first IMIEV , the white one) is ES with fase 3 (CHAdeMO). So, have the fan to cool the batteries when using Fase 3. Vino,(my wife's IMIEV, the raspberry one) it is SE , DOES NOT have the fase 3 (CHAdeMO) charger, so , no fan. Regards to the service manager from my dealer , all fase 3 equipped should start the charge with the fan working for few seconds. Then the fan shuts down. This does not happen with the non fase 3 equipped cars.
nsps
Well-known member
In case anyone's keeping track, my SE (which is premiere so includes cold air package) always runs the fan for a few seconds when I plug it in.
clovi, thank you for that. Incidentally, we usually refer to J1772 EVSE Levels of charge (e.g., Level 3) rather than phase ("fase").clovi said:
So, it seems agreed that a CHAdeMO (Level3)-equipped iMiEV has a battery fan that turns on for about five seconds when the car is first turned on and then presumably runs when needed when actually charging at Level 3.
To my mind there are still two unanswered questions:
1. Does a non-CHAdeMO-equipped car have a battery fan? An earlier post indicated that such a fan had indeed turned on in a hot driving situation. One would think that if such a fan exists that it would also undergo the power turn-on self-test.
2. Does the air conditioning and heating in a non-CHAdeMO-equipped car actually force cabin air through the battery compartment? Thus, on a hot day, would it not make sense to run aircon and crank up the fan?
JoeS said:
JoeS. Excuse my typos. To make it simple , let's use level 1 (120v) , level 2 (240v) and level 3 (CHAdeMO). Actually, as far as I know, level 3 it is not SAE J1772, what is a reference for levels 1 and 2 . Level 3 is CHAdeMO, what is a Japanese standard, and delivery DC instead AC to the car. Please correct me if I'm wrong!
The answer to the question 1 is NO, according to my dealer's service manager. Therefore Vino does not turn on what the owner's manual called "cooling fan", on level 3 equipped.(Owner's manual page 1-33).
For the question number 2 , sorry , I don't know. I'll talk with the dealer (I still need to go there to do the recall service). On the owner's manual page 1-26, they talk about "Main drive lithium-ion battery warming system (if so equipped)". Take a look. I hope I've helped.
Again, it seems agreed that a CHAdeMO (Level 3)-equipped iMiEV has a battery fan that turns on for about five seconds when the car is first turned on and then presumably runs when needed when actually charging at Level 3. No such noise emanates from a non-CHAdeMO-equpped iMiEV.
Just in case someone wasn't following, here are clovi's iMiEVs:
Bianco = CHAdeMO
Vino = non-CHAdeMO
An aside, but pertinent to this discussion: Ben (who is disassembling a water-damaged iMiEV), was kind enough to respond to my request and has provided a video of the fan in his (CHAdeMO-equipped) battery pack. It is substantial, and I bet you can unmistakenly hear it when it runs! Here's the link to that video of the fan:
http://300mpg.org/?p=2382
Regarding whether or not there is a fan in the non-CHAdeMO iMiEV, we have a conflict, because:
We know that on CHAdeMO-equipped cars that not only does it have a fan but, according to the manual page 1-37, "Since the main drive lithium-ion battery cooling system uses cool air from the air conditioning system, the air conditioning will automatically be operated". If they have no fan, could it be that on the non-CHAdeMO cars that it is the air conditioning that is turned on? - the fan at MAX is pretty noisy!
EDIT: Another possible explanation when charging (Manual warning page 1-18): "Keep away from the cooling fan under the hood during charging. During charging, the cooling fan may automatically be operated even if the electric motor switch is in the LOCK position." This is the coolant radiator fan(?), not to be confused with the coolant pump.
On a hot day or hot drive or charging when hot, has anyone else without CHAdeMO heard a fan turn on by itself?
Thanks for bringing up this whole topic and contributing to it.
clovi, thank you for correcting me, as Level 2 and Level 2 do indeed pertain to J1772, whereas Level 3 = DC Quick Charging which for the iMiEV = CHAdeMO.clovi said:
Just in case someone wasn't following, here are clovi's iMiEVs:
Bianco = CHAdeMO
Vino = non-CHAdeMO
An aside, but pertinent to this discussion: Ben (who is disassembling a water-damaged iMiEV), was kind enough to respond to my request and has provided a video of the fan in his (CHAdeMO-equipped) battery pack. It is substantial, and I bet you can unmistakenly hear it when it runs! Here's the link to that video of the fan:
http://300mpg.org/?p=2382
Regarding whether or not there is a fan in the non-CHAdeMO iMiEV, we have a conflict, because:
JoeS said:
clovi said:
Here's a possible explanation:iDriver said:
We know that on CHAdeMO-equipped cars that not only does it have a fan but, according to the manual page 1-37, "Since the main drive lithium-ion battery cooling system uses cool air from the air conditioning system, the air conditioning will automatically be operated". If they have no fan, could it be that on the non-CHAdeMO cars that it is the air conditioning that is turned on? - the fan at MAX is pretty noisy!
EDIT: Another possible explanation when charging (Manual warning page 1-18): "Keep away from the cooling fan under the hood during charging. During charging, the cooling fan may automatically be operated even if the electric motor switch is in the LOCK position." This is the coolant radiator fan(?), not to be confused with the coolant pump.
On a hot day or hot drive or charging when hot, has anyone else without CHAdeMO heard a fan turn on by itself?
JoeS said:
Clovi, you might again ask him to absolutely verify that there is no fan in non-CHAdeMO-equipped cars?clovi said:
Thanks for bringing up this whole topic and contributing to it.
The mystery continues... from the battery-replacement thread:
So, on the non-CHAdeMO iMiEV, is it simply that the battery fan does not turn on (self test?) for five seconds when the charger is first enabled?RobertC said:
PV1
Well-known member
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p30lMFfVPI&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Battery fan on plug-in
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-JwaR4GIlE&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Coolant pump during charging
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNxcDcLgWV0&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Brake pump while pumping the brakes
As promised, here are videos with the different sounds of the car. For the record, I have a white ES with the quick charge package, and my fan runs for 5 seconds on every plug in.
Battery fan on plug-in
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-JwaR4GIlE&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Coolant pump during charging
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNxcDcLgWV0&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Brake pump while pumping the brakes
As promised, here are videos with the different sounds of the car. For the record, I have a white ES with the quick charge package, and my fan runs for 5 seconds on every plug in.