smkettner
Well-known member
Still sounds like a GE issue.
GE WattStation Problem Thread (Was: Dead on Day 2 of use.)
- Thread starter jms
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Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:
Now I understand why I have never had a problem with my GE Wattstation. I NEVER use the off and on switch on the Wattstation. I leave it on all the time. Just plug in when I get home. Unplug it every morning.
Notice that your trickle charger does NOT have an off and on switch. Plug it into the wall first. Connect the J1772 to the car second.
When you are done charging reverse the process and no problem.
Notice that your trickle charger does NOT have an off and on switch. Plug it into the wall first. Connect the J1772 to the car second.
When you are done charging reverse the process and no problem.
jpokoraw1 said:
siai
Well-known member
I've been watching this thread for a while and still don't understand what's going on. The Wattstation (like any other EVSE) is just a contactor whose closure is initiated by the charger in the vehicle. When it closes and provides power to the vehicle it can't do anything else---it has no control over the vehicle charger. I am at a loss as to why the Wattstation is causing problems--or are there other EVSE's that also might also causing random failures but nobody has picked up on it yet? I have a Wattstation and that is the only thing I have used to charge my LEAF. I have had it connected through power failures, brownouts and rapid fluctuations in voltage caused by storms. I have a backup generator that has kicked on after a power failure. I have charged the LEAF off the generator and still the LEAF is still on it's original charger. It seems that in normal operation the LEAF charger ramps up line current draw slowly, not all at once so where is the "surge" coming from. The Wattstation cannot create a surge by itself nor can any other EVSE---a 600 amp surge would quickly blow the 40 amp fuses in the unit. It's got to be something in the charger, not the EVSE, when this finally all comes out.
smkettner
Well-known member
siai, how often do you use the wattstation power button?
Nubo
Well-known member
jpokoraw1 said:
You can't "push" amps. The device (LEAF charger in this case) "pulls" amps. From your description of the waveform, it sounds like there maybe a very brief voltage spike. You can push volts.
cwerdna
Well-known member
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2012/07/dead-leafs-and-ge-chargers/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;siai said:
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=9543" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://insideevs.com/investigation-complete-nissan-software-issue-to-blame-for-ge-wattstation-damaging-leafs-fix-is-coming/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
financeguy
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Too early to give a full report but I just blew my second charger. It's at the dealer now and I've had long talks with the dealer, GE tech. and Nissan Corp. headquarters. Just a quick heads up Nissan's firmware update I recieved just 6 weeks ago, it has been updated as of 2 weeks ago. So if like myself you got a fix just 6 weeks ago it's not a fix and you'll need another. I'll post a full report on what I've been told and what was done later next week. I can tell you that according to GE those of you thought this was just a GE problem, when the problem was first reported they had 5 nissan chargers, 2 Blink chargers, and 22 GE Chargers. Of course this number has changed over time but this was the reports early on.
financeguy
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Well here is the short story of an update. Tech said it's be called the GE charger update when I got it home and plugged it in the only thing I noticed was that double beep after the hook up takes a longer like 4 or 5 seconds rather than right away. If it works I'm happy
surfingslovak
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Very interesting to hear this level of detail. Thank you for keeping the thread updated.
hill
Well-known member
Has anyone heard how the 6kW / 2013 works with the Wattstation? It'd be a sick irony if the fix was never implemented.cwerdna said:
Oh well - at leat they finally got their Android app working (right ... gingerbread only :roll: )
smkettner
Well-known member
financeguy said:
Odd name for not being a GE issue :roll:
sub3marathonman
Well-known member
smkettner said:
Wow, I can't believe this is STILL trying to be blamed on GE. They could call it the Obama update, but that doesn't mean he's responsible no matter how much Nissan tries to imply it.
I corresponded with a Nissan representative a few months ago, and their response was "no comment." So a few days ago I talked to an apparently higher up GE person. He confirmed what has previously been made public over in this thread: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=10773" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; , post #9 by materwelon; 11 GE Wattstations, 5 Aeroviroment, 3 Blink, and 1 "unknown." DEFINITIVE PROOF that it was not a Wattstation specific problem.
As was explained to me, and correctly surmised by ingineer in post #16 of that thread, quoting ingineer, "It sounds like there may be some timing issues with how fast the GE Wattstation applies current to the OBC. Many EVSEs delay a bit after the pilot is asserted. There may be a race (rare I think was the word intended) condition where the OBC is not ready for the inrush current right at the particular time the Wattstation provides it.". This only happens after a power outage restart. As I understood, the OBC changes to a different "mode" after a power interruption. But when the power comes back on, and I don't know if the length of the outage mitigates it, the OBC is "shorted" if I understood him correctly.
It is very unfortunate that Nissan was not more forthcoming with truthful information, instead of allowing people to guess what the problem was.
Deleted member 3147
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FYI, "race condition" is likely what he said. This is a common term in computer engineering: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_condition. Basically, it's a bug that depends on the exact sequence that events occur.
financeguy
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Sorry my report was so short, my bad. No one really was willing to share much with me. I should add I was really pissed off because when I got in my Leaf and like the last time my stand-alone Sirius radio wasn't working (lifetime membership). They keep bolting the seat on top of the antenna wire, and a plate and some tools where on my car's back floor. So they broke the radio twice and hadn't put my car back together. They are nice enough guys, so the first time I ran a new antenna wire and said nothing the second time I kind of blew up. They put the missing plate back on and we were lucky when they unbolted the seat the antenna worked, a bit flattened wired though. I know the whole job cost over $2200 because this time I got a quick look at their paper work. When I asked if that is what they get paid I was told yes, in Florida Nissan has to pay full rate for warranty work. So in just 6 weeks Nissan paid at least $4500 for all this. That was part of my problem, though everyone GE, Nissan Corp., and the dealer have been very nice and helpful but other than GE they pretty much say nothing even when questions. I asked both Nissan Corp. and the dealer tech guy just what does this new update to the update does and you saw my answer in the first post. There is no way I could keep this car if I was fixing it on my dime.
As far as the 2013 chargers I don't know how they are doing with the GE chargers but I will share this: I happen to be at the right place at the right time and actually talk to an engineer who has worked on the development of the Leaf and other electric cars. I asked him about the batteries and the 80% thing and the charging twice as fast. First he thought they where being very conservative about the batteries that I should only charge to 80%. He felt they should easily hold up to the 100% charge level and still last a long time. I asked about the bigger chargers coming out and would they shorten the batteries life. He said yes that would probably wear them out faster. Like I said that's just one man's opinion but a very experienced and knowledgeable man.
As far as the 2013 chargers I don't know how they are doing with the GE chargers but I will share this: I happen to be at the right place at the right time and actually talk to an engineer who has worked on the development of the Leaf and other electric cars. I asked him about the batteries and the 80% thing and the charging twice as fast. First he thought they where being very conservative about the batteries that I should only charge to 80%. He felt they should easily hold up to the 100% charge level and still last a long time. I asked about the bigger chargers coming out and would they shorten the batteries life. He said yes that would probably wear them out faster. Like I said that's just one man's opinion but a very experienced and knowledgeable man.
I've just noted this last weekend that we've got a group of public GE stations at a local college (Chapman University). What is the consensus...should these be avoided?
Stanton
Well-known member
I have used a (public) GE WattStation near me many times without a problem; it is also in a very "stable power" environment (part of a hotel/motel). However, the fact remains that the issue may not be specific to GE, so attention is being (unjustly) focused on that particular EVSE. If the real issue is power stability and what happens during and after power outages, then EVERY EVSE is at risk without the software fix (which I'm pretty sure I've never had).
