Chattanooga Murphy Express Eaton DCQC Removed!

[TimLee]

I tried the Eaton DCFC at Murphy Express in Chattanooga this afternoon 05-21-2012 @ 16:30 and it is dead in the water.
I turned the power off to it at the local disconnect and waited two minutes.
It rebooted, but showed Close Main Circuit Breaker fault during the restart, and the screen reset fault did not work and it went back into Out of Order Status.
It may be that the Eaton has a circuit breaker inside the Eaton DCFC that is tripped.
But is a bad idea to start opening a 480V panel that has capacitors in it, unless you're wearing the proper personnel protective clothing for arc flash protection and have the right training.
I didn't check to see if the Eaton 480V panel was locked though.
It wasn't locked early on before it went into service when I took the early internal pictures of it.
If DCFC is this unreliable to have internal circuit breaker that requires a technician visit to repair, then the technology needs a lot of work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Is the Blink DCFC breaker that is being reset inside the Blink DCFC panel?
Are the Cracker Barrel personnel trained / properly protected to open that panel and reset that breaker?

 

[TimLee]

Eaton DCFC is back in service and worked today on 05-29-2012 @ 17:17.
Station personnel advised it was repaired several days back.
I started DCFC with 3/12 bars on LEAF display (~40% on Eaton DCFC) display.
Hit 4/12 bars in 30 seconds.
Was at 8/12 bars in ~10 more minutes.
Was at 9/12 bars in 6 more minutes.
After a total of 23 minutes of charging, with 9/12 bars on LEAF display, % 90% on Eaton display, charging stopped automatically, similar to the action reported by others when using Blink DCFC when charge starts with LEAF at < 6/12 bars displayed.
Restarted charging after turning car off, and LEAF display hit 10/12 bars in ~ two more minutes, slightly greater than 90% on Eaton display.
Overall kwH in the two charging periods, 9.5 kW. Total duration 24 minutes, 53 seconds.

 

[TimLee]

Used the Eaton DCFC at Murphey Express on 07-23-2012 @ 17:15 EDT and it worked well.
Started with 4/12 bars, 23 miles DTE. DCFC began with 386V, 120A.
5th bar: 3 Minutes ; DCFC @ 394V, 120A ; 36 miles DTE
6th bar: 2 Minutes ; DCFC @ 395V, 95A ; 45 miles DTE
7th bar: 3 Minutes ; DCFC @ 394V, 73A ; 52 miles DTE
8th bar: 4 Minutes ; DCFC @ 394V, 53A ; 59 miles DTE
9th bar: 3 Minutes ; DCFC @ 394V, 40A ; 64 miles DTE
LEAF automatically stopped the DCFC after a total of 21 minutes with LEAF display still at 9/12 bars.
After 9.3 kWh of DCFC.
Shut car down, restarted DCFC.
10th bar: 2 Minutes ; DCFC @ 392V, 25 A ; 72 miles DTE
I stopped the DCFC at this point, additional 0.5 kWh of DCFC.
Total DCFC of 9.8 kWh.

Only concern with this DCFC from 4/12 bars to 10/12 bars nominal 80% was that the battery temperature bars did go from initial 6/12 to 7/12 bars late in the charging. Trip this day had started with garage temperature of around 83F.
Ambient at time of DCFC was around 93F.

 

[TimLee]

Worked well again for me today.
4.3 kWh in 12 minutes, 48 seconds from 7/12 bars to 10/12 bars.
Would be nice if previous user had put the cord back in place better.
Had to stop and move the cord back out of the parking spot to pull in. Connector also hadn't been put back into the spot it goes in.

 

[stevedj98]

Tim:

I attended the East TN Clean Fuels meeting Friday in Chattanooga. I'm not sure the message I left for you went through, so I'll let you (and anybody else) know that fellow LEAF owner, Jim Dilliard is organizing a local group for the September 23 "Plug-In America" day, which is a nationwide event.

Jim has already contacted the Chattanooga Market, for a display and group arrival, plus test drives from local dealers. And then later a "parade" to the solar charging station at GreenLife Grocery at 2 North Shore.

Contact me directly if you want more info:

[email protected]

Steve

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

if you need the charge to get to where you are going then not much to say but if you dont, i find it not the best use of my time to charge the top half of the pack.

i have 2 DCFCs within 30 miles of my home that i use but generally charge up to about 60-65% SOC. reason? i get almost the same amount of charge in half the time.

when SOC is low, i can get a KWH every 75-80 seconds. i have only charged above 65% SOC 3 times out of 20+ DCFC events and twice was because i needed the charge which is ok and once just because which was my first DCFC charge event.

but i found that waiting 25-30 minutes really sucked if i didnt have something to do while waiting. so, i started just charging the bottom half of the pack. average charge time 10-12 minutes, average charge gained 6-8 KWh which was more than enough to get me to the next charge station.

a few weeks ago, i got up and LEAF was charged to about 35-40% SOC. i was expecting a light driving day and if anything came up i could just plug in for a few hours at home before i left. well, something came up that required a 40 mile drive which would take me past both the DCFCs in my area. i was in a time crunch (SO forgot something she needed for work appointment) so i hopped into the LEAF, stopped at Tumwater, charged 8 minutes (which was the longest i could charge and still drop off her paperwork to her in time) and left. got there with very little time to spare i am guessing (when someone is standing in parking lot by the car when i pulled in...) so i dropped it off, then went back up the road a few miles to the Centrailia DCFC. charged up there for 10 minutes and left since my Son had his class to go to as well. made it there with plenty of time to spare. dropped him off but now i had my stuff to do, so back to Tumwater (about 3 mile detour) charged again for 10 minutes, did my errands, picked up Son about 4 hours later and then met SO back in Centrailia for lunch (she had good news) then went home.

was able to do all that without being prepared. i traveled 5 cities, 2 counties, and over 100 miles all without really being inconvenienced by having to charge. (keep in mind, 10 minutes of sitting is always welcome since it allows me to catch up on important stuff like FB and MNL!!)

 

[TimLee]

I agree with you Dave.
Most time efficient use of the DCFC is to only charge the lower two thirds of the battery.
It is really quick when below 7/12 bars.

I used the Eaton DCFC again today, 08-13-2012 at 16:00.
Worked well. 3.2 kWh in 11 min 6 seconds from 8/12 bars up to 10/12 bars.
Only inconvenience was wasted about 8 to 10 minutes waiting for ICE to move out of the spot. :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:
But this was the first time I had found it ICE'd in the last five times I've used it. It is well marked, and most ICE operators don't park in it.
Not sure why this person parked in it, as they had a handicapped placard, and the Murphy Express has two handicapped spots right at the door that hardly ever have anyone parked in them.
The Eaton DCFC is spot furthest from the door.
But still not too bad 20 minutes spent for pit stop that was needed, drinking a nice inexpensive $0.68 quart Diet Mountain Dew, and listening to Leo Laporte on XM radio.
The free, no RFID card required Eaton DCFC is really GREAT!!!!

 

[stevedj98]

BLINK to start charging "as low as" $1.00 per hour in Chattanooga starting August 29. From the email I received:


As a driver of an electric vehicle, you're a member of a pretty exclusive club. Why not go all the way and become a Blink Plus member and enjoy miles and miles of savings and privileges? Unlike most exclusive clubs, for a limited time Blink Plus is FREE!

Here's what you get when you join:

Blink Plus members charge at commercial locations for as low as $1.00 per hour (that's 50% off non-member pricing!)
Merchant discounts and special offers

Best of all, sign up now and we'll waive the annual membership dues, normally $30. This exclusive offer is only available for a limited time, so sign up for a membership today.

We'd also like to let you know that on August 29th, the trial of fee-free charging will end, but with Blink Plus you can lock in super low charging rates!

Thanks,
Blink



Steve Schmidt

 

[TimLee]

The free Eaton DCFC at Murphy Express still working well on 09-10-2012 at 14:30 EDT.
6.4 kWh charge in 18 minutes and 34 seconds.

 

[TimLee]

The free Eaton DCFC at Murphy Express still working well on 10-22-2012 at 14:45 EDT.
8.2 kWh charge in 29 minutes and 39 seconds. From 4/12 bars to 10/12 bars. LEAF stopped the DCFC after 28 min and 21 seconds, with 9/12 bars. I restarted DCFC, but probably wasn't worth doing, as was only 0.2 kWh till had 10/12 bars after only 1 min and 18 seconds of additional DCFC.
Only drawback is temperature rise. Battery temp was 5 bars at start, 6 bars at finish.
The excellent performance of the Eaton DCFC is marvelous compared to the pathetic performance of the Blink DCFC units.
The last two times I tried to use the Blink DCFC at the East Ridge Cracker Barrel in the past month, it wouldn't work either time. They had repaired the broken touch screen on the left unit since the first try. But neither side would work early last week, even though electrician had serviced the unit and replaced the left touch screen. The Blink DCFC units are terrible compared to the Eaton unit.

 

[philipscoggins]

Is there an Eaton app like Blink that will give me up to the minute status of charging stations?

I ask because I live in Tullahoma & my family lives in Cleveland, so that Eaton station is a must on my drive (especially since the Blink level 3 in Chattanooga seems to never be online)

Thanks,
Philip

 

[nogajim]

Is there an Eaton app like Blink that will give me up to the minute status of charging stations?

I ask because I live in Tullahoma & my family lives in Cleveland, so that Eaton station is a must on my drive (especially since the Blink level 3 in Chattanooga seems to never be online)

Thanks,
Philip

I don't think so. Plugshare seems to get live feeds from some providers, but not for this one AFIK. Thanks to Tim for keeping us updated! By looking at the Blink app, I had assumed that East Ridge had been running. Someday I still hope to visit!

 

[stevedj98]

Since I haven't seen it anywhere else, I thought I'd let everyone know that the TVA EPRI SMART solar powered, battery storage charging facility is now up and running at the Chattanooga Theatre Center parking lot on River Street.

Six EVSE's there, and one appeared not to be working. No fee at the present time. These are Eaton Level 2 units.

I charged for about 45 minutes while my wife and I had lunch at the River Street Deli.

Steve

 

[toasty]

Since I haven't seen it anywhere else, I thought I'd let everyone know that the TVA EPRI SMART solar powered, battery storage charging facility is now up and running at the Chattanooga Theatre Center parking lot on River Street.

Six EVSE's there, and one appeared not to be working. No fee at the present time. These are Eaton Level 2 units.

I charged for about 45 minutes while my wife and I had lunch at the River Street Deli.

Steve

$1 fee per 2hrs for the parking, (no fee on the charge).

 

[TNleaf]

...
The excellent performance of the Eaton DCFC is marvelous compared to the pathetic performance of the Blink DCFC units.
The last two times I tried to use the Blink DCFC at the East Ridge Cracker Barrel in the past month, it wouldn't work either time. They had repaired the broken touch screen on the left unit since the first try. But neither side would work early last week, even though electrician had serviced the unit and replaced the left touch screen. The Blink DCFC units are terrible compared to the Eaton unit.

I was let down by the Blink DCQC at the Manchester, TN location last week. The unit's touch screens are completely fried. Otherwise, it appears to be operational... which doesn't help since you cannot get a charge to start.

I called Blink and reported the issue. No idea when/if that will be resolved.
Something Blink needs to do is install a Sun Screen type of thing like they have at Redbox.
(ala google image search: Redbox)

Luckily I was able to pickup an hour on L2 and hypermile the rest of the way. One of the downsides of having a Plan A that includes an operational Blink.

 

[TimLee]

Murphy Express Eaton DCFC working well on 11-14-2012 @ 16:21. I charged from 3/12 bars with 28 miles non-Eco range when I arrived, to 8/12 bars and 68 miles non-Eco range in 16 minutes, 53 seconds with 7.1 kWh of charging.
I don't think there is any on line information about the Murphy Express Eaton DCFC. It is a trial installation by Murphy Express, may be the only one they've done in the country.
One option is calling the station at (423) 893-2298; but they might not really know the unit status, unless someone has tried to use it and reported a problem.
The unit had a couple breakdowns in its first 4 months or so of operation. But they put on a new cable and did some repairs to the unit, and to the best of my knowledge it has been in service continuously over the past 6 to 9 months or so.
I often report its status here when I use it.
You cannot depend on the Blink DCFC units.
I tried the East Ridge one about 8 weeks back and neither side would work. The touch screen on the left unit had been broken by someone. I reported the problems to Blink.
They did some service to the unit, because when I tried it three weeks ago they had replaced the left touch screen.
But neither one of the two units would work, I meant to report to Blink, but gave up after waiting on hold for over 15 minutes, and forgot to try again later.
The Blink DCFC units are completely unreliable at this point, and they seem to be unable to fix their problems. They appear to have corrected the reliability problems with their L2 units which was mostly an inadequate power supply wiring to the RFID card reader. But so far they appear to have been unable to make their DCFC units reliable.
Plus the location selected at many of the Cracker Barrels is a very bad choice. The ones at East Ridge are right across from the handicapped parking, and 90% of the time are ICE'd. When I tried to use them three weeks ago, I wasted 20 minutes to even get to try using the units.
Appreciate the update from Steve on the new Eaton L2 EVSE at the Chattanooga Theater Center. I looked at them several weeks back when they were doing the construction. Look like nice units. As reported, the only charge is for the parking. Some cost for all the parking.

 

[philipscoggins]

I was let down by the Blink DCQC at the Manchester, TN location last week. The unit's touch screens are completely fried. Otherwise, it appears to be operational... which doesn't help since you cannot get a charge to start.

The Cracker Barrel DCQC in Manchester is working fine now. I used it Monday & Tuesday this week.

The Cracker Barrel DCQC in Murfreesboro on the right side, couldn't get a data connection to my car, but the left side worked fine. Was my first day with LEAF, so it mighta been me....

The Blink DCQC seem to be very sporadic, but the Blink app has always been correct on whether a station was functional or not. Has anyone been told one was working and found it down when they got there?


Philip

 

[TimLee]

I don't know about the accuracy of the Blink app. Don't have a smart phone yet and have never used the Blink app.
I do know that the past two attempts at the Blink DCFC in East Ridge, that standing at the Blink there was no indication that it wasn't functional, other than the one side where the touch screen was broken and I was very doubtful that it would work.
If the local display doesn't reflect that the unit isn't functioning, I don't really see how the Blink app could be accurate and reflect that it wasn't working.
I'm highly skeptical that you could trust the Blink app.

 

[TimLee]

Murphy Express Eaton DCFC working well on 11-19-2012 @ 17:15 EST.
Charged from 3/12 bars DTE indication of 29 miles non-Eco to 9/12 bars DTE of 78 miles. 9.8 kWh in 31 minutes and 11 seconds.
LEAF stopped the charge automatically, which it does short of reaching 10/12 bars when the DCFC is started at a very low battery charge level.
I didn't restart charging to get to 10/12 bars, because past experience has shown that the LEAF stops charging just a bit short of 10/12 bars, usually less than 0.3 kWh. Just not worth the trouble to turn the LEAF off, restart charging, and wait another 2 to 3 minutes, just for 0.3 kWh.
Started DCFC with LEAF temperature indication of 5/12 bars. Was still 5/12 bars when DCFC ended, but battery temperature rose to 6/12 bars as I drove the remaining 8 miles to home.

 

[philipscoggins]

Hope to finally make a run to Cleveland this weekend and get to use the Eaton in Chattanooga.

I did look on the Blink map & the Cracker Barrel DCQC in Chattanooga & the one in Farrigut have been down for what seems like 6 months. You can log on to http://www.blinknetwork.com/blinkMap.html to see the status of all Blink network charging stations. It seems to be pretty accurate, although I'm not sure if they can tell one is messed up and take it off automatically or they wait to be notified, but I'm sure they know when they go back online.

Philip