ECOtality Level 2 charger : Blink

[Randy]

EVNow,
If you set your Intranet password at the Blink itself, it will let you access the Settings screen remotely with that password. It's must easier to type in the rates and stuff remotely. The only feature that doesn't appear to be available on the remote screens is the network setup.

 

[DeaneG]

For us tiered-TOU utility customers (PG&E), we'll have to re-enter the billing rate numbers several times per year as we move into higher or lower rate tiers with the seasons.

 

[evnow]

EVNow,
If you set your Intranet password at the Blink itself, it will let you access the Settings screen remotely with that password. It's must easier to type in the rates and stuff remotely. The only feature that doesn't appear to be available on the remote screens is the network setup.

Yes - you can set the pwd only at Blink. So, that is what I've done.

But, the weblink doesn't like that pwd.

 

[TomT]

It appears to be working fine for me. However, they did do a firmware upgrade on mine the day before they installed it...

Is the "settings" screen working for anyone ? CSR said this feature is not completely rolled out yet - so in effect a WIP.

When I go to the settings screen I get asked to enter a password - which always results in invalid password.

 

[Randy]

Yes - you can set the pwd only at Blink. So, that is what I've done.

But, the weblink doesn't like that pwd.

I set the PIN and the Intranet password to be the same, and that password works on the Settings page for me when accessing remotely....

 

[DarkStar]

Looking over the manual, the largest issue for me will be programming charging (and to a lesser extent, programming in my TOU rates).

ECOtality really needs to revamp how programming is done since not everybody has the same schedule Monday through Friday and then again Saturday and Sunday. Ditto for the TOU rates...

For example, since Sunday's are off-peak all day, I should be able to program the Blink to immediately charge my car when plugged in, but Saturday's have mid-peak and off-peak rates and I don't want the vehicle to charge during mid-peak rates...

So, the Blink should have a screen to program any various TOU rates and to select which days of the week they are applicable. On a separate screen they should allow you to pick the TOU rates (you programmed in) that you want to allow the car to automatically start charging under.

 

[bodengroden]

We had our Blink installed on Monday and it worked fine until last night. When I came home my wife had already plugged in the car but neither the Blink or the car was registering the connection. First I made sure the plug was in good because the connector is a bit different from the clipper creek. That was fine. I went to the Blink next and the screen was slow to respond then after a minute it rebooted on me by itself ( I found out later that it rebooted when I cut the power and rebooted it myself.) After that the car still wouldn't register even after I reinserted the plug.

I fixed it by pushing the timer off button inside the car. Then the dash lights finally came on and indicated it was charging. I then unplugged and replugged and the timer sequence lights began.

Has anyone else seen this? I assume the timer was causing the bug any other ideas?

Mike

 

[TomT]

I'm becoming more and more happy that I don't have to use a timer based on all the timer issues I've been hearing about with EVSEs and the car in general...

We had our Blink installed on Monday and it worked fine until last night. When I came home my wife had already plugged in the car but neither the Blink or the car was registering the connection. First I made sure the plug was in good because the connector is a bit different from the clipper creek. That was fine. I went to the Blink next and the screen was slow to respond then after a minute it rebooted on me by itself ( I found out later that it rebooted when I cut the power and rebooted it myself.) After that the car still wouldn't register even after I reinserted the plug.

I fixed it by pushing the timer off button inside the car. Then the dash lights finally came on and indicated it was charging. I then unplugged and replugged and the timer sequence lights began.

Has anyone else seen this? I assume the timer was causing the bug any other ideas?

Mike

 

[Spies]

I'm becoming more and more happy that I don't have to use a timer based on all the timer issues I've been hearing about with EVSEs and the car in general...

Just wanted to note I have had ZERO issues with the timer in the Leaf when using the L1 EVSE that came with the car.

Once I do have the Blink EVSE installed if I do have problems with the timers and charging I will simply stop using the Blink until I get reasonable answer or solution why either the Blink or timers in the Leaf are not reliable. I suspect this is all about reliability of the Blink EVSE personally.

 

[evnow]

Has anyone else seen this? I assume the timer was causing the bug any other ideas?

Switching the power off to the EVSE and on is the only solution at this point. Ecotality is aware of this issue and apparently working towards a solution. Apparently Nissan did not include then in the loop about the timer and 80% charging etc ...

 

[Spies]

Apparently Nissan did not include then in the loop about the timer and 80% charging etc ...

I really don't understand why Nissan would need to keep them in the loop about timers in the car especially since the Leaf timers, at least from my perspective, work just fine with a "dumb" EVSE like the one that came with the car. Seems like the issue is the Blink EVSE just does not work well as a "dumb" EVSE.

I am still excited to be part of the EV project but I am getting more and more concerned about the reliability of this Blink EVSE that they will be installing very soon.

 

[Skywagon]

There is a failure mode that will even cause a no-charge condition in a "dumb" EVSE. If you have a power outage after plugging in, and when the car is set to charge, when the power comes back on the car will not charge as you have bypassed that exact time window. That is a Nissan issue. Also, there is no way for the Blink to fully control the LEAFs charging as the only way to obtain an 80% charge is through the car's system.

 

[TomT]

There have been some reports of timer issues with the AV EVSE as well... I think part of the problem is that Nissan did not plan out the timer in the Leaf nearly as well as they should have...

I'm becoming more and more happy that I don't have to use a timer based on all the timer issues I've been hearing about with EVSEs and the car in general...

Just wanted to note I have had ZERO issues with the timer in the Leaf when using the L1 EVSE that came with the car.

Once I do have the Blink EVSE installed if I do have problems with the timers and charging I will simply stop using the Blink until I get reasonable answer or solution why either the Blink or timers in the Leaf are not reliable. I suspect this is all about reliability of the Blink EVSE personally.

 

[Spies]

Perhaps I am not seeing these issues since I always set a start time and an end time for the timers in the Leaf. I believe if one does this with the Leaf timers it will start charging again after a power outage or if the EVSE is disconnected and reconnected as long if its between the two times. I do think if it is past the start time when the Leaf is reconnected and the Leaf thinks it does not need to start charging immediately based on the stop time the Leaf will wait to start charging again.

I do agree the Leaf timers should be more sophisticated and there should certainly be an option to only charge to 80% when using the charge now function or external timers.

 

[AmarilloLeaf]

A couple of you have messaged me about availability of the Blink. Apparently some are being told that there is a backlog.

Perhaps it helped when I told ECOtality that my Leaf delivery date was April 4, but I ordered a Blink on Wednesday afternoon, and it arrived Friday. It was drop shipped from Austin, TX.

 

[evnow]

I really don't understand why Nissan would need to keep them in the loop about timers in the car especially since the Leaf timers, at least from my perspective, work just fine with a "dumb" EVSE like the one that came with the car. Seems like the issue is the Blink EVSE just does not work well as a "dumb" EVSE.

Ofcourse they should. To give an example - cellphone operators need to co-ordinate more with smart phone vendors compared to "dumb" phone ones. There are more scenarios to test - and they should be tested.

I am still excited to be part of the EV project but I am getting more and more concerned about the reliability of this Blink EVSE that they will be installing very soon.

I've had problems with networking and the UI on the screen - but not with charging itself. That has worked reliably for me. I do mostly timed charging using Leaf timers. Also I got the feeling that the firmware upgrade that addresses many of the issues we have been discussing are close by.

 

[sparky]

I've had problems with networking and the UI on the screen - but not with charging itself. That has worked reliably for me. I do mostly timed charging using Leaf timers. Also I got the feeling that the firmware upgrade that addresses many of the issues we have been discussing are close by.

Another firmware upgrade seems due. I'm generally happy with the Blink and like being able to configure and get stats via web browser. But, mine needs to be physically reset via the touch screen at least once a week. This is to re-set a power fault error. When this happens, charging stops. If I was needing 100% charge every day, this bug would be a real issue. For now, I just check my email in the morning and if I don't see a LEAF email saying "charged to 10 of 12 bars" I know the Blink has gotten stuck. I reset it and the LEAF starts charging.

The other issue is with the WiFi connection. Twice a week it fails (loses connection) and the only way to recover is to power-cycle the Blink.
Fortunately, this bug doesn't prevent the charging from happening.
These two bugs persist with the Blink in two different configurations; Charge Now and Scheduled Charge. I am assuming this is all software and the power fault could be some ground current setting that's too low I guess. Still looking forward to being able to ignore it for a month and know it's doing its job.

 

[Jimmydreams]

After only 2 days with my Blink unit, there are more issues than I expected. If it was merely a case of learning the idiosyncrasies of the unit, that'd be one thing, but it's not.

I know about the "charging timer" counting down even when it's not charging. That's annoying, but not a big problem.

Day 1, I told my Leaf to be finished charging at 7am. This worked perfect with the Clipper Creek unit. The Blink started that annoying countdown, and then listened to the car for it's start-time. It charged about an hour and then shut off without the Leaf showing 10 bars instead of 12. No weird screens or anything....it just stopped on it's own.

The next night, I let the Leaf determine the start time. The Blink started charging around midnight for about 1/2 hour and then turned itself off. No weird screens or anything. So I manually started charging (by using the "bypass timer" button. The Blink charged for almost 3 hours, but then had a "press any key to calibrate screen" message. After calibration, it was unable to find my wifi network. I had to unplug it to reboot. After calibration, it worked just fine. I then manually charged to 100% on the car.

I'm going to try setting a "charge timer" START time as well and see if that changes anything. I'm going to be very upset if the unit keeps turning itself off at night for no reason because I need that charge to get to/from work.

 

[evnow]

After only 2 days with my Blink unit, there are more issues than I expected.

Are you using Leaf timer or Blink's ?

If you are charging to 100%, you could just use Blink's timer instead of Leaf's. That is what Ecotality recommends.

 

[Jimmydreams]

After only 2 days with my Blink unit, there are more issues than I expected.

Are you using Leaf timer or Blink's ?

If you are charging to 100%, you could just use Blink's timer instead of Leaf's. That is what Ecotality recommends.

I do charge to 100% I'll give that a shot. I haven't tried Blinks timer, so that will be my next move tonight. Thanks for the suggestion.