charger works sometimes

[moneythat]

Hi,

Just got my miev about a week already.

I plug in the level 1 charger (cord) and sometimes it charges overnight sometimes it doesn't

I plug it into the outlet box that's been "extended" from another box. Not sure if that's the problem.

Anyone can help?

Thanks,

Tri

 

[JoeS]

moneythat, sorry about what appears to be intermittent charging.

Attempting to define your problem: is the problem that the car doesn't charge fully overnight or is it that the charger simply stops working at some time during the night, leaving the car partially charged? i.e., in the morning, is the EVSE still plugged into the car with only a green light on the EVSE glowing and yet the car is still not fully charged and not charging?

When the car is charging, the amber light on the EVSE is lit in addition to the green light, and presumably that's the case when you first plug the car in and start charging.

2) Have you attempted to program the charge times using the Remote or have you simply plugged the car in and not done anything with the Remote?

It would help if you could answer the above questions before we go tackling your possible wiring issues.

Otherwise, hope you're enjoying your new iMiEV.

 

[moneythat]

the green and amber light is lit. So i think it's charging overnight. I wake up in the morning only to find the charge (how many bars and miles left in the battery) is the same. I'm bewildered and frustrated.

i plug the charger in and not do anything with the remote.

I do notice the outlet i plug into is "extended" from another outlet. I know they recommend not using extension chords but i'm not sure if my case is an extension chord case. What I mean by extended is there is an existing outlet and I notice wires coming out of that outlet box to create another outlet box. I plug the charger into the 2nd outlet box.


So now, i'm trying to plug my charger straight into a wall outlet.

weird thing is during the day i haven't had problems with the "extended" outlet.

moneythat, sorry about what appears to be intermittent charging.

Attempting to define your problem: is the problem that the car doesn't charge fully overnight or is it that the charger simply stops working at some time during the night, leaving the car partially charged? i.e., in the morning, is the EVSE still plugged into the car with only a green light on the EVSE glowing and yet the car is still not fully charged and not charging?

When the car is charging, the amber light on the EVSE is lit in addition to the green light, and presumably that's the case when you first plug the car in and start charging.

2) Have you attempted to program the charge times using the Remote or have you simply plugged the car in and not done anything with the Remote?

It would help if you could answer the above questions before we go tackling your possible wiring issues.

Otherwise, hope you're enjoying your new iMiEV.

 

[jennrod12]

Does someone else have control over the "extended outlet"? Is it possible that it's turned off at night through some automated process? I guess in that case the lights on the EVSE would not be lit, though.

Does the red "plug" icon light up on the dash to indicate the car is charging?

Jenn

 

[joev]

Are you close to a full charge when you are attempting to recharge? The owners manual says not to recharge if its almost full. Maybe the charger see it as "almost full" and the charger turns off with out topping it off?

 

[moneythat]

the red light turns on and then i go to sleep. I wake up to check on the charge and it's at the same charge level. No one has control over the extended outlet that I know of.

The way I would describe the extended outlet is there's a wire out of the wall to setup a box of 4 outlets, then another wire comes out of that box to setup a box of 4 more outlets. I plug the charger into the 2nd box.

Last night I just plug my charger directly into another wall outlet and it charges up. It's just the 2nd box outlet is more convenient.

Does someone else have control over the "extended outlet"? Is it possible that it's turned off at night through some automated process? I guess in that case the lights on the EVSE would not be lit, though.

Does the red "plug" icon light up on the dash to indicate the car is charging?

Jenn

 

[moneythat]

I'm nowhere near a full charge at 25 miles. On a full charge, I see it at 80 miles.

Are you close to a full charge when you are attempting to recharge? The owners manual says not to recharge if its almost full. Maybe the charger see it as "almost full" and the charger turns off with out topping it off?

 

[JoeS]

Hi Tri (moneythat),

Is this still a recurring problem?

I do not think that your extension is the problem if you have a properly-grounded three-wire power connection that's of a decent wire gauge (e.g., at least #14AWG, depending on wire length), since the 8A load of the iMiEV Level 1 EVSE is relatively low and, especially, since it has already worked for you with a green and amber lights properly displaying. If the power cable had other problems, then you'd either have a blinking green light (ground disconnected) or a blinking red light or a red light showing. You can easily check by using one of those cheap plug-in circuit testers. I would go a step further and get a Kill-A-Watt to actually measure your line voltage and verify that power is being transferred to the car.

Soon after I purchased my iMiEV, I had a single experience similar to yours. I surmised that my problem was attributable to my having played with the Remote previously. At that time, in reading the Owners' Manual Page 1-57 I had noted that "Charging Timer cannot be canceled by disconnecting the charge connector before the time set by the ON timer. The Charging Timer will resume when the charging connector is again connected to the vehicle." I've never had the problem recur. If you didn't turn ON the car itself (thus canceling the timer) and simply continued trying to charge it again, maybe that's the problem area.

Another peculiarity that might confuse you is that sometimes at some point in the charging cycle the Battery Management System does a ten-minute time out whereby it turns off the input power and (I think) does an internal battery cell assessment before turning its power back on and continuing the charging process. I've seen this happen a lot of times (on my T.E.D. power monitor). What I would be inclined to do in your shoes with your new car and battery is, if it is charging, to let the car fully fully charge until it turns itself off - the last hour of charge (when it's at 16 bars) is a cell-balancing routine. That will ensure all the cells are brought up to the same level and (I think) the BMS has properly calibrated itself. In my case, my battery gets fully charged at least once every couple of weeks - usually just before taking off on a longer trip.

Do let us know what your troubleshooting steps are, and what happens, and we'll continue trying to help you figure it out. Presumably, by now you've gone off for a drive and come back and plugged it in and it's working ok?

 

[moneythat]

Thanks for the advice. I think it's may be my playing around with the remote.

I'll test again and report to the forum.

Tri

Hi Tri (moneythat),

Is this still a recurring problem?

I do not think that your extension is the problem if you have a properly-grounded three-wire power connection that's of a decent wire gauge (e.g., at least #14AWG, depending on wire length), since the 8A load of the iMiEV Level 1 EVSE is relatively low and, especially, since it has already worked for you with a green and amber lights properly displaying. If the power cable had other problems, then you'd either have a blinking green light (ground disconnected) or a blinking red light or a red light showing. You can easily check by using one of those cheap plug-in circuit testers. I would go a step further and get a Kill-A-Watt to actually measure your line voltage and verify that power is being transferred to the car.

Soon after I purchased my iMiEV, I had a single experience similar to yours. I surmised that my problem was attributable to my having played with the Remote previously. At that time, in reading the Owners' Manual Page 1-57 I had noted that "Charging Timer cannot be canceled by disconnecting the charge connector before the time set by the ON timer. The Charging Timer will resume when the charging connector is again connected to the vehicle." I've never had the problem recur. If you didn't turn ON the car itself (thus canceling the timer) and simply continued trying to charge it again, maybe that's the problem area.

Another peculiarity that might confuse you is that sometimes at some point in the charging cycle the Battery Management System does a ten-minute time out whereby it turns off the input power and (I think) does an internal battery cell assessment before turning its power back on and continuing the charging process. I've seen this happen a lot of times (on my T.E.D. power monitor). What I would be inclined to do in your shoes with your new car and battery is, if it is charging, to let the car fully fully charge until it turns itself off - the last hour of charge (when it's at 16 bars) is a cell-balancing routine. That will ensure all the cells are brought up to the same level and (I think) the BMS has properly calibrated itself. In my case, my battery gets fully charged at least once every couple of weeks - usually just before taking off on a longer trip.

Do let us know what your troubleshooting steps are, and what happens, and we'll continue trying to help you figure it out. Presumably, by now you've gone off for a drive and come back and plugged it in and it's working ok?

 

[jray3]

I had similar issues during my first month of ownership- definitely attributable to that retro-dork remote. Though a Luddite at heart, this cheapskate would now pay for a connection to his smartphone like our LEAFy bretheren have! :mrgreen:

 

[MLucas]

I had similar issues during my first month of ownership- definitely attributable to that retro-dork remote. Though a Luddite at heart, this cheapskate would now pay for a connection to his smartphone like our LEAFy bretheren have! :mrgreen:

I'd have to counter that I'm glad Mitsubishi devised this remote instead of having a SmartPhone app. I'm not interested in forking out $80.00 a month in data access fees so I can have a gee wiz app. If I got the Leaf, I would be without a method to control the features on my car remotely.

I'm cheap and I'm proud of it. And I can't stand that everyday some company out there is trying to make it harder to be without one of those things. And trying to force me to pay for something that I don't need or want.

 

[tonymil]

Well, it's too bad companies don't offer both, a remote like the MiEV or an app like the Leaf. Make everybody happy! For those of us with smartphones, it would be nice to be able to control the car from our offices.

 

[fjpod]

I don't mind the remote. I use it when I don't want a full charge. Actually, I find it refreshing to have something NOT dependent on my smart phone. I could easily carry it to work with me, but i dont charge anywhere but at home and at night. I can't see monitoring it all the time. I also have an outlet in my garage with a commercial type timer on it and I tend to use that a lot. But, to each his own.

 

[danpatgal]

And I can't stand that everyday some company out there is trying to make it harder to be without one of those things. And trying to force me to pay for something that I don't need or want.

I'm with MLucas on this. I was so put off by the fancy features in the Leaf that I just want to drive and be able to turn a couple knobs for some tunes and a little airflow if I need. All the other things are, in my opinion, "Solutions in search of a problem". Corporations are just selling us stuff by making us feel unsafe, uncomfortable, or behind the times. For example, is the remote cooling/heating thing REALLY that useful? I mean, you save at most 1/2 mile in range for the 30 seconds it takes to condition the car from ambient to 70 degrees and you're a little warmer or colder for those 30 seconds too. Big deal. Even people with some sensitivty to temperature extremes can handle that and the range loss is not significant. But the companies try to make you feel absolutely need that feature, when in fact it's kind of pointless.

Sorry, a bit OT. I also had one instance where my charger just stopped after charging for about an hour. I suppose it could have been the remote (I might have been playing with it - I don't remember [it's just a toy really {see above}]), but I also wonder if the plug might have had a little side strain and pulled itself out.

 

[Don]

Well, it's too bad companies don't offer both, a remote like the MiEV or an app like the Leaf. Make everybody happy! For those of us with smartphones, it would be nice to be able to control the car from our offices.

Generally, the more such options you're 'offered' the more the vehicle costs - 'Offered' in quotes because many times the buyers has no option . . . . it comes with the car whether you wanted it or not and you must pay for it

Thank heavens we don't all get stuck with the CHAdeMO port, the BlueTooth phone controls, a sunroof (or a near useless solar panel on the roof) or anyone of half a dozen other 'gizmos' that so many manufacturers stick on nearly every car they offer just so they can grossly inflate the cost

I think Mitsu got it about right for what they are trying to sell - A mostly urban econo-box EV with few frills and a price tag to match. If they had stuck another $2500 worth of 'take it or leave it' crap on the car I wouldn't have been a customer, I can assure you

Since juice costs the same here day or night, I really don't even need a way to charge the car beginning at a certain hour, so I've never even *tried* using the wireless remote . . . . after reading pages of complicated instructions, I didn't want to risk running into something like Tri is fighting now - I *hope* I didn't pay $500 for it . . . . . :roll:

Don

 

[MLucas]

I don't use the remote much either. I know how it works and I've gone through the manual and understand it well enough. Mostly I use it in the morning to see if I got a full pack before going to work, so I don't have to go out into the garage to look at my EVSE. I'm still new with this that I need that reassurance. But, the delay timer - I just use the EVSE, so much simpler on the Square D - another no frills product that I trully enjoy. To set the delay the user simply pushes the clock button in for the number of hours to delay. The little ring around the controls shows the number of hours to delay - no 1/4, 1/2 or 3/4 hours just hours. Good enough for me. I have set the pre-cool to see what it does and I get geeked about it but how much it saves me I'm not so sure. Lots of times I forget to pre-cool and take off with a slightly warm cabin, plenty of fan helps cool it down. I don't use A/C on my daily to commute.

For the little I use all of this wiz-bang stuff that I know Mitsubishi probably felt they had to include because the other guys have it, is very little. Why would I want to pay $80 a month for the data access fee for a smart phone and then after three years of the complimentary CarWings subscription pay another fee on top of that?

I agree, Mitsubishi got this car right. With the right balance of features and put the money where it counted in the actual driving components of the car. After having read the owners manual cover to cover several times, I'm thoroughly impressed with the components in this car. I'm glad to not have to pay for fancy instrumentation with crummy looking trees to show me how good I'm driving. I can figure that out on my own and put the money to paying off the car.


Just my simple and humble opinion.

 

[fjpod]

LOL. I like the simplicity of it too. My biggest complaint is how you have to keep hitting the button eight or ten times to toggle between the temperature and range remaining. They could have at least put the button in a more convenient place rather than behind the steering wheel. but guess what, almost very car I've ever owned put it there.

 

[Don]

I agree - For the most part, I like what they included . . . . as well as what they left out

Your comments on the RR meter really strikes a chord with me though. If I can't delete the junk on there that I'll never use (like the months or miles to the next scheduled 'service') then I would think that for very little extra money they could at least have provided a 'menu' where you could put the 2 or 3 functions you do use the most on the screen at the same time. Range remaining, trip meter and temperature all displayed at once would be nice . . . . how hard could that be to do and what would it cost??

Don

 

[sandange]

Just a thought that occurred to me--
Is it possible you have a switch inside to control the outside plugs
At our home we have an wall switch that controls the outside plug - installed that to control outside Xmas lights

 

[fjpod]

Just a thought that occurred to me--
Is it possible you have a switch inside to control the outside plugs
At our home we have an wall switch that controls the outside plug - installed that to control outside Xmas lights

I have one of these also. It controls the plugs in my garage. Its also is a good location to put a timer if you don't like fiddling with the Mitsubishi remote.