EVSE ready light blinking but outlet tests grounded ok

[91040]

Thanks for letting us know what you found out. It will help the next time something like this occurs.

 

[DarkStar]

Evidently these send the test current through the neutral wire, since these are fed from a sub panel and by code required to have no bond to neutral ( grounds and neutrals are separated), it is showing no ground.

But they're bonded at the main panel? How much resistance do you show between neutral and ground at the outlet?

 

[highcountryrider]

Can you provide details on the fix?

Figured out. Thanks Lopton for jarring my brain. I was checking ground to earth ground. Evidently these send the test current through the neutral wire, since these are fed from a sub panel and by code required to have no bond to neutral ( grounds and neutrals are separated), it is showing no ground. Now we have to come up with a way to be code compliant and get these to work.

 

[DarkStar]

Can you provide details on the fix?

Sounds like they have a high-resistance ground situation (hopefully not a floating ground) and manually bonded neutral and ground at the outlet.

 

[nerys]

hello brand new leaf owner owner hereI just bought one last night

just a test drive and drove it home

I scored a nicely equipped 2012with 4800 miles on it for 17000dollars

I could not get it to charge

this post helped me finding out a garage outlet is a GFI outlet change. Changed outlets charging fine

will have to wire a dedicated outlet in the garage for it

cheapest way to get to 240v?

thank you very much for the answer I needed I never would have guessed gfi or that garage outlets are gfi or that gfi is a problem at all.

my commute is almost 60 miles one way so tomorrow will be a good test (I stay overnight and will charge at work)

 

[fooljoe]

will have to wire a dedicated outlet in the garage for it

cheapest way to get to 240v?

Cheapest way to get 240v is to either upgrade the included evse, or get/build an openEVSE or a Juicebox. If you're going to wire a dedicated outlet you might as well make it a 240v outlet, since it's effectively the same effort/cost (although of course the more amperage you go for the thicker/costlier wire you'll need.

 

[nerys]

Juicebox costs as much as a normal charger so I might as well get a normal charger (when you add assembly input and output wires its the same roughly $600 as the other chargers on the market)

I don't want to mess with the one that came with the car since if I pooch a charger the car is a paperweight till I get another one

Outlets are no big deal I plan to install a dedicated 110 and 240 outlet just for the car (so I can use either charger just in case once I get a 240v charger)

 

[fooljoe]

Juicebox costs as much as a normal charger so I might as well get a normal charger (when you add assembly input and output wires its the same roughly $600 as the other chargers on the market)

I don't want to mess with the one that came with the car since if I pooch a charger the car is a paperweight till I get another one

Outlets are no big deal I plan to install a dedicated 110 and 240 outlet just for the car (so I can use either charger just in case once I get a 240v charger)

True, if you add all the options Juicebox can get pricey. But if you just stick to the basics and possibly get/make your own cables from other sources you can still come in under $400. You can also get a pre-assembled openEVSE with lots of cool features from GlennD right here in the forum for ~$400. EVSEupgrade remains the cheapest path to 240v at $287, but of course you don't get the benefit of having a 2nd EVSE that the other options give you - many prefer to keep one EVSE in the car. That said, I'd get your included one upgraded anyway - as it's much more useful on the road if you can plug in to a 240v source as well as trickle charge. Also both of these options are not just cheaper than a "normal" EVSE, they're better, as they offer a combination of portability and adjustability that's unmatched among commercial EVSEs.

As far as "pooching" your EVSE, there's no reason to worry about that. EVSEupgrade offers an advance replacement plan where you pay a deposit to have them ship out an already upgraded unit first, then you ship your stock unit back and your deposit is refunded. Also, you could probably find somebody here in the forum whose lease is up soon and wants to swap his already upgraded unit for your stock one.

As far as outlets, if you just install one 4-wire circuit/receptacle (like a NEMA 14-50 or 14-30), you can use it for either 240v or 120v - you just need to make an appropriate adapter for either.

 

[nerys]

WOW. hot swap is off the table. they want $1200 to hotswap !!!

if I had $1200 I would just buy a $649 240v charger from them!

wow. ($287 plus shipping plus $75 fee plus $800 security. ouch)

I might just have to suck it up and not drive the car for a week so I can send in mine and order theirs with rapid return shipping or something.

 

[fooljoe]

Of course you'll get the $800 back, but that is a lot to fork out up front. And the $75 is kinda steep. If I were you I'd just buy this openEVSE from Glenn for $425, then after you're charging on that you can send in the included one to get upgraded at your leisure if you want to have a 2nd 240v EVSE to keep in your car or at work.

 

[nerys]

got to HAVE the $875 extra to pay out! I don't

Sent a message about the open evse one. I can just drive the other cars I have for a week since either way I have to wait till I Have sufficient cash to make a go of one of them.

which do you guys think is better? I DO like the open evse one since them at least I will have a backup charger and can later when funds allow convert that one as well.

I can also do the same with mine. upgrade it and later buy another and upgrade that one when funds allow (can get the l1's for under $300)

 

[billg]

I might just have to suck it up and not drive the car for a week so I can send in mine and order theirs with rapid return shipping or something.

Or borrow a trickle charger for a week from a LEAF friend who doesn't need it because they have a 240v EVSE in their garage.

 

[nerys]

I am starting to think even attempting to use this daily for work is a bad idea till I have 240v charger AND 240v outlets. I will try it tomorrow and see what happens (usually only 10-15 deliveries friday night since I only work 6 hours)

the primary issue is not range oddly enough (80 miles should be enough 60 for work 10 each way to get to and from work)

on busy days I can drive 125 miles in a single day. not so good for that without charging

its TIME TO RECHARGE. at 21 hours from dead even if I drive straight home plug in. it will not have enough time to recharge before I have to goto work again.

so I might just have fun with it and drive it locally and to my second job (54 miles one way but its a one shot and I can charge at work so no problem in good weather) and just wait (ie keep driving gas car) till I get the 240v charger and convince work to let me install a 240v outlet