Need Blink SD card

[AmarilloLeaf]

A recent power outage appears to have corrupted my Blink.

It no longer boots, and I get the EV Project splash screen, then "No Linux, Try CE"

Blink support says I have to have a contractor come out and fix it, they won't sell just the SD card.

Unfortunately, I am out of warranty. I have one of the very first units, # 193.

On top of that, I am in considered to be in a remote area so the EV Project didn't pay for my unit, I paid cash, and the closest Blink contractor is over 300 miles away. They would be charging by the hour.

Does anyone have a Blink SD card, perhaps pulled from a unit taken out of service or cloned somehow?

Not selling repair parts, for a unit that seems to need a lot of repairs, IMO seems to be business suicide.

Reddy

 

[Deleted member 8423]

Not selling repair parts, for a unit that seems to need a lot of repairs, IMO seems to be business suicide.

So what did you do the last time your unit needed to be repaired?

 

[TomT]

I'd likely simply turn it in to a dumber EVSE. You can do that fairly simply by unplugging a couple of connectors. There is a thread elsewhere about just that.

A recent power outage appears to have corrupted my Blink.

 

[MikeD]

AmarilloLeaf: Have you considered taking the EVSE to the contractor to minimize the costs? And how confident are you that the problem could be corrected simply by replacing the card w/o going thru any other procedures only the contractor has access to? Have most of your past problems seem to have been solved by exchanging its SD card and nothing else?

Let us know what happens, please...

 

[AmarilloLeaf]

I got a definite 'possibly' from Blink support that they might consider sending me the SD card. They are thinking about it. Nothing seems to happen quickly at Blink.

I am not sure where a 'contractor' is. I think I have two of the few EVs for hundreds of miles around. (BTW - The Leaf was my starter EV. I now have a Tesla also.)

Unfortunately the Blink COULD charge both the Tesla and the Leaf. The Nissan charger can't charge a Tesla, and the Tesla charger won't charge the Leaf.

My options now are to

1) see if Blink will step up to the plate and send me a SD card,
2) make do with the Nissan/EVSE Upgrade charger, plus Tesla charger
3) Purchase a new EVSE unit. If Blink can't help me, I certainly won't be buying a new unit from them.

My wife had taken over the Leaf, she loves it, and we now have a 99% gasoline free driving experience. It does help to have 1 unit to share in the garage. For now, Leaf has the 120v socket in the garage, and Tesla has the 240v.

 

[MikeD]

AmarilloLeaf: You wrote "the closest Blink contractor is over 300 miles away." and "I am not sure where a 'contractor' is." and "Not selling repair parts, for a unit that seems to need a lot of repairs..." and "Nothing seems to happen quickly at Blink.".

Am I correct that you have never had to repair your Blink unit before? Also did you also install your Blink yourself?

My understanding is that free "The EV Project" Blinks were available to qualified Leaf (and Volt) owners in three Texas cities: Dallas, Fort Worth, and Houston (and ~300 were distributed). Perhaps some reader can supply you with the name of a contractor they used in the first two cities closest to you (although you did not say Blink support refused to provide you with contractor information in those two cities).

 

[AmarilloLeaf]

AmarilloLeaf: You wrote "the closest Blink contractor is over 300 miles away." and "I am not sure where a 'contractor' is." and "Not selling repair parts, for a unit that seems to need a lot of repairs..." and "Nothing seems to happen quickly at Blink.".

Am I correct that you have never had to repair your Blink unit before? Also did you also install your Blink yourself?

My understanding is that free "The EV Project" Blinks were available to qualified Leaf (and Volt) owners in three Texas cities: Dallas, Fort Worth, and Houston (and ~300 were distributed). Perhaps some reader can supply you with the name of a contractor they used in the first two cities closest to you (although you did not say Blink support refused to provide you with contractor information in those two cities).

Mike, I'm betting you don't live in Texas, and don't recognize that while, yes, I am in the same state as those cities, I am nowhere close to them. I'm honored to be noted by the Blink apologist.

[true] [brag] Texas is a big state. Odds are, bigger than your state. [/brag] Amarillo (the city next to my name on the left of your screen) doesn't get hurricanes or floods like Houston, for instance. [/true]



My understanding is that that Ecotality actually did sell a few Blinks outside the EV Project, and accepted Visa, MasterCard and Discover. These purchasers were then eligible for a special TAX CREDIT.

And these Blinks were installed by state licensed electricians, who were capable of pulling wire, installing power outlets, adding circuit breakers to breaker panels, and using screwdrivers to wall mount the unit.

I'm not sure what special qualifications a 'Blink Certified Contractor' would bring to the job, but I'm sure you'll be able to tell me.

And then perhaps tell me what special skills they possess that would make it worth flying them 350 miles each way to reinstall an SD card.

 

[AmarilloLeaf]

Good news !

After a month of waiting, Blink decided it would be easier to simply MAIL me the micro-SD card with the software.

Ecotality took about 2 weeks to decide that I was OK to receive the SD card, after initially telling me that only Blink contractors could install the SD card.

Then the micro SD cards were 'out of stock'. Perhaps there has been a run on them. I offered to run by Best Buy and send them a few to burn , but before I could actually do that they shipped me one from their San Diego office.

It took me about 90 seconds to locate the card on the unit (what a holy mess this design is !) and replace. The system booted as soon as I plugged it in, and I now have a FULLY OPERATIONAL BLINK.

I really can't imagine that they would actually suggest a 'contractor' would need to come here to replace this SD card.

But I do VERY MUCH APPRECIATE the fact that they did send me the SD card AT NO CHARGE even though I was out of warranty.

THANKS ECOTALITY ! I can now charge both my cars again.

 

[MikeD]

AmarilloLeaf: Glad you got what you wanted and that it worked for you!

BTW sorry to have annoyed you -- I was just trying to understand your situation and couldn't figure out from what you wrote quite what that was... Anyway, thanks for reporting back!

 

[marfong]

Amarilloleaf,
Where is location of the SD card? Took cover off my Blink, but unable to see location of the micro SD card.

Thanks

 

[AmarilloLeaf]

It is behind the screen. on the first PC card behind the screen to the lower left. The SD card actually protrudes a little bit beyond the lower edge of the card so you can push it in to release it.

See photos above for reference.

Good luck,
Reddy

 

[marfong]

AmarilloLeaf,

Thank you, it worked. Do you think this problem will occur again?

 

[wallybucks]

I had the same thing happen to my Blink charger this morning. I called them and got the same answer. I figured my problem may be because my internet was down so I asked if I could use my charger without internet service and they said I could not. Now think about this, if you internet goes down you can not charge your car. The very idea! That motivated me to find an answer for all of us on this forum.

I opened up the charger and took a long hard look at it. Being an electrical engineer, it was obvious to me that the first circuit board behind the display was the brains of the device. It had the sd card, wifi antenna connection, connection to the power meter and such. The next board behind the processor was the control board that monitored the ground fault protection. It had the power supply, the CT connection, and the wires that controlled the coil on the main relay.

Common sense told me that this EVSE should default to work and protect users from electrical hazards if the computer failed so i disconnected it.

There are 3 wiring harnesses that connect the ground fault circuit to the computer logic board. Upon unplugging them the ground fault unit fed the control signal to my Leaf again and charging got under way. I would bet corrupted software mixed up logic board and kept the ground fault circuit locked out but it could have been a hardware failure as well.

All is well now but of course the display went blank and Blink will never see my data again. Farewell Blink, you were a pain to deal with for years anyway.

Knowing this easy way to disable the logic is handy. It really dos not matter if you got a "timely" replacement of the memory card if you can disconnect the logic completely.

I hope this helps someone.

Jeff

 

[DarkStar]

I had the same thing happen to my Blink charger this morning. I called them and got the same answer. I figured my problem may be because my internet was down so I asked if I could use my charger without internet service and they said I could not.

:?: - No, internet is not required to have a functioning Blink. I have no idea why they would have told you that.