Fast Low Cost Charging - All EVSE Questions Answered!

[Ingineer]

I expect to be at BayLeafs meet up. I'll bring my J1772 to 14-50 adapter useful for non-J1772 EVs, like the RAV4 EV and some of the nice Camco 14-50 plugs and receptacles that have the handle molded in, making them easier to plug and unplug.

Ps. I really like Phil's EVSE mod, and will likely use it on future vehicles even though it's not 6.6 kW, when I'm visiting friends or traveling and at a place for several hours or overnight I'll still get a fair charge or even 100% over some hours. For a road trip where you're actually waiting for it to charge - you'll want the highest charge rate possible, often 6.6 kW (though Tesla goes up to 16.8 kW!), especially while we're waiting for Quick Chargers for that 30 minute charge (160 miles/hour of charging - limited to 30 minutes of 80 miles at a time) to get deployed!

FYI: We can equip any EVSE with the L6-30 instead of the L6-20 at no additional cost. Just include a VERY VISIBLE note in the box that you'd prefer the L6-30. Then you won't need any additional outlets or adapters to use the existing stuff you have for your RAV.

Also: I don't yet know how many completed EVSE's I'll be able to bring to the meeting, but the people who have paid for new ones get first crack. If I have any left over, then anyone who wants to trade (immediate upgrade) can, as long as the EVSE you wish to swap is in like-new condition. I cannot accept any that are beat up, etc.

Please be sure you have your receipt and your signed release form with you!

If you have prepaid and you cannot get an EVSE at the meeting for whatever reason, we can refund your money, or you can go ahead and use shipping to get it done after the meeting.

-Phil

 

[Coffee_Slurry]

The upgrade also substantially lowers the standby power draw. (sometimes referred to as "Phantom" or "Vampire" draw) The standby current consumption on 120v is typically 1.6 watts. (varies from unit to unit somewhat) This means the upgraded unit wastes 2.5 times less energy!

My stock Nissan EVSE draws 1.25W on standby.
My trivia contribution for today is complete.

 

[ravi100]

Just wanted to say that I'm another satisfied customer. The upgraded unit was shipped the same day my unit was sent in. Just received it and used it for my first charge

Thanks Phil

 

[waidy]

Did someone try time charging with 80% using the L1/L2 module in 120V? The reason why I use the "time charging" in L1 mod is because I only want to charge to 80%. There is no way for me to do 80% without using "time charging". Otherwise, I would have to guess the "end time" for 80%.

I tried: at 6:15, program 80% with start time at 7:00. It did charge.
I tried: at 6:10, program 80% with start time at 6:15. It works.

Your feedbacks are much appreciated.

 

[Azat]

Is there anyone in this forum who's using "Quick220"?

 

[wq2345]

Is there anyone in this forum who's using "Quick220"?

I am. I use the EVSE Upgrade along with the Quick220. The exact product I purchased from them is this:
http://www.quick220.com/Merchant5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=quick220&Product_Code=-P-102

This is our only form of charging the Leaf and it works great.
Charge time from flat is now reduced from 20 hours to 10 hours (or less). Makes the car much more usable.
Two things I have found as I have tested the system out at other people's homes:
1) the two 110V outlets absolutely need to be on different circuits or the quick220 does not provide power,
2) the outlets can be GFCI, however, if the quick220 trips the GFCI things definitely don't work.

Happy to answer any other questions you may have about it.

 

[Ingineer]

the outlets can be GFCI, however, if the quick220 trips the GFCI things definitely don't work.

The Quick220 will trip any non-defective GFCI instantly. (on either cord.)

-Phil

 

[IBELEAF]

Received my upgraded unit back and adapter cable from GeekEV. Works perfect! Thank you guys!

 

[starry]

I got my modified unit back within a week (Monday--Friday) including 4 days for UPS ground. Thanks for the fast service!
I used Garygid's modified #2 unit while mine was gone. My unit works fine with a heavy duty (12AWG x 3) fifty foot extension cord to the 120vAC 15A wall socket. I have put in a dryer type plug on the garage wall under the breaker box for the 240vAC L6-20 cord adapter. It works better than fine!
Gregg

 

[Harv]

I had gotten my Nissan EVSE upgraded bu Ingineer in mid March itself. But so far I was only using 120 component for the most part. I did get some more adapters through GeekEV and finally tried 240 components with the dryer outlets as well as with Quick 220 unit. Flawless function!!
Thanks once again to Ingineer and GeekEV.

 

[DarkStar]

Just wanted to post that I made a trip Saturday that started at the 200 ft. elevation and ended up at the 1400 ft. elevation level (after 60 miles) for a day-long green living expo. I started with 100% and arrived with 21 "Nissan Miles" remaining.

The modified EVSE came in very handy since I was able to charge on a 240 volt plug for a couple of hours before the event started and then charged on 120 volts for the remainder of the event.

Made it home with 21 "Nissan Miles" remaining again, so being able to do the 240 volt charging was definitely a benefit (vs. staying for a couple extra hours charging on 120 volts)!

 

[Christopher]

I just received my modified EVSE from Ingineer at the Bay LEAFs meetup and 240V dryer socket adapters from GeekEV yesterday and I've discovered this evening that charging at 240V with this arrangement is generating very audible electrical noise through any powered speakers in my condo (two flights up from the garage). Both my computer display's built-in speakers and my home theater system's speakers generate this noise when they're powered up. The noise does not occur when charging at 120V with the same modified EVSE.

It's a constant noise level -- it's not reduced or amplified by changing volume but it's loud enough to discourage me from using 240V charging unless I really need it. Also, hopefully it's only affecting devices on my electrical system and not my condo neighbors as well.

So is this an unavoidable side-effect of the modified EVSE? Or is this a sign of a problem with my EVSE, my 240V socket adapter or my condo's wiring?

 

[GeekEV]

Wow, that's an interesting one. I'm not sure how the adapters could be the cause, they should either work or not. I take it this didn't happen before the upgrade (on 120v)? Does it happen now on 120v as well? I'll have to defer to Phil (Ingineer) on this one... If he doesn't see and respond to your post here, send him an email and let him know about your post. He should be able to help you figure it out. I've not noticed anything like that at my house.

 

[planet4ever]

What kind of a noise are you talking about? Is it a 60-cycle hum? And I have no idea whether this would give any clues, but is it an old-style 3-prong dryer outlet or a new-style 4-prong? Would it be possible to plug your computer into a different circuit (like maybe a kitchen circuit) to see if it still happens?

Weird ideas for the EEs among us to think about: Could it be caused by something in the breaker box? Like a rusty contact or arcing in one of the dryer breakers? Or even dryer wires that are parallel to and next to wires for the house circuit involved.

Ray

 

[ElectricVehicle]

Use the outlet tester to verify the outlet wiring.

The quick 220 uses the line of each outlet and not the neutral, so the 60 Hz radiatoin from the wiring will be stronger. Normally, the current in the neutral helps to cancel out some of the radiation. Shielded electronics should be fine. Sensitive audio curcuits that aren't properly shielded might be picking up some of the 60Hz radiation.

Do some experiments with plugging in at different plugs. You can also move the speakers around while their in th e same plug. That may give you a clue if it's radiated noise or noise coming in the powerline.

 

[Ingineer]

I just received my modified EVSE from Ingineer at the Bay LEAFs meetup and 240V dryer socket adapters from GeekEV yesterday and I've discovered this evening that charging at 240V with this arrangement is generating very audible electrical noise through any powered speakers in my condo (two flights up from the garage). Both my computer display's built-in speakers and my home theater system's speakers generate this noise when they're powered up. The noise does not occur when charging at 120V with the same modified EVSE.

It's a constant noise level -- it's not reduced or amplified by changing volume but it's loud enough to discourage me from using 240V charging unless I really need it. Also, hopefully it's only affecting devices on my electrical system and not my condo neighbors as well.

So is this an unavoidable side-effect of the modified EVSE? Or is this a sign of a problem with my EVSE, my 240V socket adapter or my condo's wiring?

This has nothing to do with the EVSE, but probably being caused by the on-board charger module in the LEAF. I suspect it doesn't create audible noise when on 120v, as the power is lower, and the disturbance would be limited to only 1 leg.

There is a noise filter on board the LEAF in the trunk that's supposed to stop any switching noise from radiating back into the power line, but apparently enough is getting through to create the audible interference in your speakers.

I haven't seen any unusually high noise levels from the LEAF, so my best guess is that your speakers just don't have good power supply decoupling. Can you try plugging the speakers into different outlets around the house and see if it has any bearing?

-Phil

 

[copdoc]

It'll be a long time before I get my leaf in NC, so I haven't been as careful as I might be later to read all the threads about the best EVSE to buy. But I'm curious: is the charge time different on the permanent wall-mounted EVSE models vs the L1/L2 mod? (I'm not an EE, can you tell?)

btw, thanks Ingineer - the modified EVSE arrived back yesterday (1 calendar week turnaround from SoCal with 4 business days chocked up to UPS). I used it for the first time last night and it worked GREAT!

Oh, and I finally have a use for my Blink's cord reel (to support the modified Nissan EVSE brick!)

 

[garygid]

With a "typical" L2 EVSE, the 2011 LEAF uses 16 amps for charging. With the Mod-L1 EVSE on 240v power, only 12 amps are used.

Thus, Mod-L1 charging (on 240v) is only 75% of the speed of the "full" L2 rate, but 200% of the L1 (120v) rate. Good enough for most all overnight charging needs!

 

[Christopher]

I just received my modified EVSE from Ingineer at the Bay LEAFs meetup and 240V dryer socket adapters from GeekEV yesterday and I've discovered this evening that charging at 240V with this arrangement is generating very audible electrical noise through any powered speakers in my condo (two flights up from the garage). Both my computer display's built-in speakers and my home theater system's speakers generate this noise when they're powered up. The noise does not occur when charging at 120V with the same modified EVSE.

This has nothing to do with the EVSE, but probably being caused by the on-board charger module in the LEAF. I suspect it doesn't create audible noise when on 120v, as the power is lower, and the disturbance would be limited to only 1 leg.

There is a noise filter on board the LEAF in the trunk that's supposed to stop any switching noise from radiating back into the power line, but apparently enough is getting through to create the audible interference in your speakers.

I haven't seen any unusually high noise levels from the LEAF, so my best guess is that your speakers just don't have good power supply decoupling. Can you try plugging the speakers into different outlets around the house and see if it has any bearing?

Well, the two devices I checked are an Apple LED Cinema display in one room and a Sony ES receiver/amp in another room connected to a set of seven speakers. However, when I next need to charge, I'll try a bunch of different kinds of devices (that have speakers) in different circuits around the house as well as capture and share a video recording of the noise. I've got a powered speaker set that can also be driven off of battery which I'll try too.

 

[ElectricVehicle]

Well, the two devices I checked are an Apple LED Cinema display in one room and a Sony ES receiver/amp in another room connected to a set of seven speakers. However, when I next need to charge, I'll try a bunch of different kinds of devices (that have speakers) in different circuits around the house as well as capture and share a video recording of the noise. I've got a powered speaker set that can also be driven off of battery which I'll try too.

Please characterize the noise for us. Is it a low frequency 60Hz hum or more of a white noise, high frequency, shrill, hash or static? You might also check the grounding of your outlets. You should not see any voltage on the ground pin. (relative to other ground pins, the earth itself, continuous metal water pipes or the unloaded Neutral wire unless you have a severely unbalanced load in your house.)

If you have any good line noise filters, you can try using the various devices with and without the
line noise filters to help diagnose the issue. (Is it radiated noise (free air RF) or powerline noise? Is it 60 Hz - probably wiring or grounding issue - or shrill / white noise - RF radiations that needs filters or shielding.)