Leaf dead after two week vacation

[TomT]

I've been through all the diagnostic screens available with the "secret handshake" and haven't seen anything for the 12V battery...

Anyway, I wonder if there is a way to diagnos/read the Leaf 12 Volt battery state through the Leaf Display.

 

[amtoro]

A lot of posts since yesterday....

The story with the charger while the battery is connected to the vehicle is because if the battery is extremely low, the electronics in the charger could put more current than the DC/DC converter is fused for and blow the fuse in it.

It may not happen, but this is one on the things I was careful of doing when I had my conversion. I had to replace a DC/DC once.

Maybe the jumper in the roadside assistance truck is designed for situations like this, that is good to know.

 

[garygid]

It would seem that disconnecting the negative side of the 12v battery (during a long vacation, or during 12v-charging) could not hurt, and might help?

 

[smkettner]

I would charge that little 12v battery with a portable charger (removed from LEAF) and then let it sit disconnected a couple days and see if it holds 12.6+ volts. If it holds voltage I would assume operator error and if voltage sags well I would be back to the dealer for a warranty replacement. I might also drag out my hydrometer and check for cell variation that indicates a bad battery.

 

[TomT]

The way the Leaf is designed, this is highly unlikely! Jumping the battery properly with a charger or another vehicle will simply not hurt the Leaf or the converter.

The story with the charger while the battery is connected to the vehicle is because if the battery is extremely low, the electronics in the charger could put more current than the DC/DC converter is fused for and blow the fuse in it.
I

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

In thinking about it, though, it does make me wonder: Why would the LEAF's 12-volt battery need frequent charging when the vehicle is not being used?

u guessed it.

estimated increase in power needed with minimal/blocked cell signal; 250-400% and reason why is your phone is designed to be "connected" when it is not receiving a signal, it will constantly search for it, hence the greater power drain. Carwings is essentially cell service and OP stated he had poor cell service

**perhaps a disabling option when on vaca is needed? a timeout option i would think not a good idea as it could be a result of extenuating circumstances of the owner.

** in all this, i think the first thing i would do is disconnect the 12 volt battery for a few minutes then try to start. if that does not work; disconnect the 12 volt battery and charge it for AT LEAST ONE HOUR at 6 amps or higher. if the battery is dead, a jump most likely would not work in the traditional sense so a charge deep enough to bring the voltage back up would be needed.

i just came back from vaca granted only 6 days, but my Leaf was probably at 6-7 white bars (dont remember? never thought to look) and it suffered no ill effects that i am aware of...but then again, its only day 2 back to civilization

 

[TomT]

This is one of the reasons why the Carwings Telematics in the vehicle shuts down if the car has not been turned on for two weeks.

estimated increase in power needed with minimal/blocked cell signal; 250-400% and reason why is your phone is designed to be "connected" when it is not receiving a signal, it will constantly search for it, hence the greater power drain. Carwings is essentially cell service and OP stated he had poor cell service

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

This is one of the reasons why carwings shuts down after two weeks of no car use.

estimated increase in power needed with minimal/blocked cell signal; 250-400% and reason why is your phone is designed to be "connected" when it is not receiving a signal, it will constantly search for it, hence the greater power drain. Carwings is essentially cell service and OP stated he had poor cell service

already a few incidents reported here with others we dont hear about no doubt. sounds like "compromised" programming at work. hard to believe that designers would have programmed carwings assuming a good signal (it is ATT after all!!)

 

[planet4ever]

sounds like "compromised" programming at work. hard to believe that designers would have programmed carwings assuming a good signal (it is ATT after all!!)

Was it really designed for AT&T? Do they even have AT&T in Japan?

Ray

 

[surfingslovak]

Was it really designed for AT&T? Do they even have AT&T in Japan?

Ray, very valid question. I worked on a team once that designed a cellular client server system, which had similar design constraints. It deployed at several carriers worldwide, including DoCoMo, Verizon, T-Mobile, Chunghwa Telecom, etc. Ironically, AT&T was not among them, although it was not for the lack of trying. The system had a fairly elaborate back-off algorithm to accommodate spotty network coverage. You cannot assume consistent mobile reception if your system is to be deployed worldwide. I would be surprised if Nissan's engineers did not take that into consideration.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

sounds like "compromised" programming at work. hard to believe that designers would have programmed carwings assuming a good signal (it is ATT after all!!)

Was it really designed for AT&T? Do they even have AT&T in Japan?

Ray

no; AT&T is strictly american as is all cellular service providers we are familiar with. Japan is on a modified CDMA technology so they would be more compatible with Sprint or Verizon but unfortunately, the carwings is using the AT&T network.

but considering Carwings only really runs on sms (text messaging) i would think it "could" run on nearly anything.

 

[evnow]

You cannot assume consistent mobile reception if your system is to be deployed worldwide.

Funny thing is - mobile reception is probably more spotty in US than in rest of OECD.

 

[surfingslovak]

Funny thing is - mobile reception is probably more spotty in US than in rest of OECD.

:lol:

I only have anecdotal data, but it's definitely better in both Germany and in Japan.

 

[Packet]

Japan is on a modified CDMA technology so they would be more compatible with Sprint or Verizon but unfortunately, the carwings is using the AT&T network.

FOMA is more of a cousin to CDMA than a descendant; they're both derived from an early draft of the CDMA specification. </pedantic>

Sorry, I used to have to work with cellular tech when I worked at a microchip company some years back.

 

[bowthom]

Hello,
One thing you guys may be overlooking. The car was plugged in so the system was up and running drawing current from the 12 volt batt. We may not notice any effect overnight during regular charging. Those of us who have left our cars for long periods, unplugged, seem to not have had any problems. I parked mine at 50% charge and saw no degradation of charge or problems after 2 weeks.

 

[GoSolar]

After my 2 week trip to Japan with LEAF unplugged, the charge was still at 100% when I got back.

Green with envy on the number of L3 chargers throughout the Tokyo-Yokohama area where I was.

Also saw a LEAF taxi in Oppama and was told a few more are operating around Yokohama station (where, BTW, Nissan's Global HQ is located.)

 

[mxp]

After my 2 week trip to Japan with LEAF unplugged, the charge was still at 100% when I got back.

Green with envy on the number of L3 chargers throughout the Tokyo-Yokohama area where I was.

Also saw a LEAF taxi in Oppama and was told a few more are operating around Yokohama station (where, BTW, Nissan's Global HQ is located.)

Yeah, After reading this thread so far, perhaps charging to either 80% or 100% and just leaving the car *unplugged* probably sounds like the best thing for do. I may have a 6 week overseas trip next year and I am also interested to know what's the best option...

 

[amtoro]

I might have found a possible explanation... Maybe....

The manual says in EV-4, that the 12v battery is charged when necessary if the power button in in Ready to drive position; however, when the car is OFF, the 12v battery gets charged for 5 minutes every 5 days.

Now, the timer resets to 5 days with no charging if either the car is placed in Ready for more than 5 minutes or when the Li-ion battery receives charge for more than 5 minutes.

My guess is that the on board charger was topping-up the battery every day, or few days, but then that reset the charging schedule for the 12v battery and it never received charge from the DC/DC converted while the telematics and sensors drained it.

 

[garygid]

With the charger connected, there could be a lot more electronics "on", but the possibility remains that you left something on, the hatch not fully closed, etc.

Normally, OFF and not connected to anything, AND in an AT&T good-signal area, the LEAF just "sits" fine, for many weeks.

 

[surfingslovak]

Yeah, After reading this thread so far, perhaps charging to either 80% or 100% and just leaving the car *unplugged* probably sounds like the best thing for do. I may have a 6 week overseas trip next year and I am also interested to know what's the best option...

It appears that the rate of self discharge is minimal, unless something was left on. It might be a better idea to charge to half full, that should leave a wide enough safety margin.
I didn't think that telematics would be a problem though, and I'm wondering if the 12V battery should be disconnected to make sure that it cannot be drained.