Phil I need to tap your knowledge if you could be so kind...

[Roadburner440]

Not sure if you saw, but my Volt has been afflicted with some kind of issues since using the Aerovironment charger. See here for video, and all that: http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?11814-Volt-won-t-charge-after-charging-in-public" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. Now I have been charging the Leaf just fine. After looking at the internet for hours and hours it would appear that in fact the Nissan's unit cannot charge the Volt without some kind of modification by you. So since you appear to be the resident expert in both cars my question is what is different between the Volt and Leaf's charging sequence? I used all 3 chargers sucessfully on the Leaf (SPX 240V, and Voltec/Panasonic 120V from a GFCI outlet outside).. None would charge the Volt however. Not going to get in to details here since there are other threads on it, but I am just curious if maybe you would be able to shed some light? Whenever I plug in the Volt to either 120/240 I could hear clicking inside both chargers, and it would quite charging. I got nothing out of the Panasonic charger, but just figured it was missing the relay. With the Leaf charging just fine I assumed everything was good, but I just want to double check. If not then I want to give the Volt techs anything I can to get the car fixed. I assumed plugging it in to the AV charger did something to the charge module in the car as I have never had any problems before.

Took readings all over the place including in my main panel. Got 122.8-123.7 on the mains (under charge load with the Leaf, and not under load). All the grounds are tight. I am going to look in to getting something tomorrow to measure the amperage/resistance in my main panel. Just after reading about this mod to the Leaf's portable cord it makes me think the Volt has some kind of extra step it goes though that the Leaf does not. Especially since the Leaf charges immediately when I plug it in, where the Volt kind of pauses and goes through some kind of sequence it seems before the light goes green to charging. I thank you in advance for any help. I do understand though as well if this information would be considered proprietary.

 

[Roadburner440]

Of course after I make a post I find somewhat of an answer here after Googling (not using the forum search as I wasn't getting anything). http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=3378" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Says the Volt is looking for a -12 ground where the Leaf is not. Hmm.

 

[Nubo]

I'd take the Voltec and test charging at someone else's house (on a different transformer), just to rule out your house wiring. Or even take it back to Nissan and try the AV again. Have you tried disconnecting the 12V battery for a few minutes as a reset? Make sure its terminals are tight as well.

 

[GeekEV]

I believe the issue you are referring to is the included Panasonic L1 unit doesn't work with the Volt, and nothing to do with the AeroVironment EVSE... If I recall correctly from another thread, it had something to do with the Panasonic unit taking longer on its self-check than the Volt was willing to wait.

 

[Roadburner440]

Only thing I can find is that there is mention of the Leaf not being fully compliant with the SAE J1772 spec. That it is only checking for the ground to be near 0, where the Volt is looking for -12V. Whenever I plug the Leaf it will just start charging almost immediately it seems. Where the Volt always takes a few moments like it is searching for something. I am waiting to hear back from the dealer. Apparently the problem still persists as I am getting messages from the car saying that "charging has been interrupted." So it looks to me that they are having issues with it at the dealer as well. I need to turn the text alerts off so I don't keep getting blasted with them.

 

[Roadburner440]

Just so you guys know I got confirmation on what took out my Volt's ability to charge. Water got down in to the charge wire harness and broke it. Apparently it is an issue that has occured on a couple cars, and GM is already in the works on an engineering fix. However they are coming to look at my car. I am going to assume the reason it coincided with me using the AV charger is there is a lot of pot holes around here in VA, and that probably aggrivated the wear/breakage on the wiring. Either way the AV charger has been cleared, and my house has been cleared. Thanks for all the responses and help.

 

[lpickup]

Just so you guys know I got confirmation on what took out my Volt's ability to charge. Water got down in to the charge wire harness and broke it.

Weren't you just saying in another thread how getting water into your charge port didn't bother you?

 

[Roadburner440]

LOL.. Yeah. I use electronic contact cleaner in the physical plug. What broke is actually not the plug. I guess water was getting in to the actual assembly that the plug is in, and that it froze inside of the harness and broke the wiring (that is on the other side of the plug).. So the plug itself where I thought was the only place that was getting water (and had no issue with) when in fact there was water getting in to other places in the assembly behind it. I just spray the contact cleaner in there to keep the corrosion out, and displace the water in the pins. I arrowed the piece below. It is something that GM is already working on a fix for. It is entering through somewhere else in the housing apparently though, and not the plug contacts (that thread was about someone worried about water getting in the contacts of his Leaf, which after having one for 2 days I see what he means as they are angled up slightly toward the sky where the Volts is parallel to the ground). So they are going to be getting me that harness assembly and replacing it on my car. Good catch though. Part of the fun of being an early adopter. In other news the Leaf has been trouble free, and it has over 1000 miles on it now with 150 or so of those belonging to us now. I kind of like not having to plug in everytime I am in the driveway to max out my EV miles. Can just do what I want all day, and charge it over night.

It was a good exercise though. In the last 30 some odd hours I have learned TONS just about the charging systems on both the Volt and Leaf. Their differences, and how they interact with the charger. Also how my SPX charger is different from other chargers. So I thank everyone for the inputs. Now if only we could upgrade the Volt and current Leaf's to 6.6 charging.

 

[Stanton]

I know this sounds biased, but I'm starting to be amazed at the number of design flaws showing up in the Volt. After 6+ months, I'm very impressed with how many (new) things Nissan got RIGHT with the Leaf.

 

[Roadburner440]

Hardly biased. If we didn't like our cars why would we buy them? Personally this is the only problem I have ever had with my Volt in 5000 miles. Not a hint or lick of anything else. This one just came out of nowhere too.. The Leaf does feel like Nissan put more effort in to it, but I think they kind of had to seeing as they were building a 100% EV car. I think it has its little quirks too, but nothing that I could find in any other car on the road. Then again my Volt is the base model. So I do not experience a lot of the problems face by other Volt owners. I think 98% of the Volts rolling off the line are premium models which are not worth the money in my eyes. Pay $7000 for heated seats, leather, and a built in nav? My base model came with free navigation through OnStar, so I must say overall I am an extremely happy Volt customer. Ironically we are odering a Leaf SL, but for only $2000 more you get the QC port among other things. So I think going SL in the Leaf has more benefit.