EVSE upgrade always defaults to 16 amps after unplugging

Is this normal? It's kind of annoying to have to set it to 20 amps every time. I use it as my portable EVSE, and always plug into a large 240 volt outlet. Is there some kind of secret code I can program into it to make it default to the last setting or to 20 amps?

Is yours a 2011-2012 upgraded EVSE? Or is it a 2013 upgraded EVSE?

My understanding is that the 2013 upgraded brick remembers the settings at both 120V and 240V (according to the evseupgrade page). But I recently bought an upgraded 2011-2012 high power 20A L6-30 brick, and the instruction says is doesn't remember the setting if unplugged. I asked evseupgrade why and Mark said it's because the old brick doesn't have the memory built in but the 2013 brick does.

The car I bought was a 2013 and the evse I sent in was a 2013. I have no idea what I got back, except that it can be programmed to charge at 20 amps at 240, but it defaults back to 16 when I remove power.

Yes I believe the upgrade is designed to default to OEM specs when unplugged.

I think it would be even more annoying to have to hunt down the breaker you've tripped, should you forget to set it down to 16A in a location you're not sure can take 20A.

The only 20 amp adapter I have is a 6-20 one I built and only used once. all the others are 30 or 50. I can safely leave it set to 20 and not worry about tripping anything. I never level 1 charge.

johnrhansen said:

The only 20 amp adapter I have is a 6-20 one I built and only used once. all the others are 30 or 50. I can safely leave it set to 20 and not worry about tripping anything. I never level 1 charge.

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If you L1 charge, it's programmed to draw a max of 12 amp anyway. Or less if you program it to draw less.

You can't have a 20A EVSE with an L6-20 plug. Anything above 16A should have L6-30 plug.

smkettner said:

Yes I believe the upgrade is designed to default to OEM specs when unplugged.

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Are you sure? Below is an excerpt from the evseupgrade.com website for the Nissan 2013 EVSE high power upgrade:

"With this upgrade, Your 6kW 2013-2014 LEAF can safely and efficiently charge at up to over 4 times faster than it did on the original unit when used on any 208-240 volt 30 amp outlet! This means you will see amazingly faster 3 to 5 hour typical charge times. The unit still retains the ability to be used on a standard household outlet*, and it then charges at up to 12 amps. The advanced programming feature allows you to set the charging speed, if desired, to as low as 6 amps in 1 amp increments, and the unit REMEMBERS its amp settings for both level 1 and 2 separately."

I have a 2012 (not 2013) Panasonic EVSE high power upgrade (just bought it from them recently when they were clearing out their overstock) and mine doesn't remember the settings. I asked Mark from the evseupgrade.com directly why mine doesn't remember but it says on their web site that the 2013 remembers the settings and he said it's because the 2012 EVSE doesn't have the memory but the 2013 does.

So I don't think they design it to default to 16A for the 2013 upgrade.

It's possible that the OP was given back a 2012 high power upgrade like the one I bought. You can tell this because the 2013 EVSE is slimmer. If you indeed got back a 2013 EVSE high power upgrade and can't get it to remember the last value set, why not just call them up and ask them why it doesn't remember the setting like advertised?

I stand corrected. Send it back in?

smkettner said:

I stand corrected. Send it back in?

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Call/EMail EVSEUpgrade. They'll let him know what's what.

if you never charge at L1, why are you unplugging it? mine is also set to 20 amps and if its changed, how would I know that? I assume its charging at 20 amps still but then again, maybe its at 16 and I simply don't know any better?

I suppose I could call or email them. And I think I will. The reason I unplug it is that it is not my primary evse. I carry it around in my leaf with all of the adapters so I can chsrge away from home or a regular charging station. It's saved my butt a number of times.

DaveinOlyWA said:

if you never charge at L1, why are you unplugging it? mine is also set to 20 amps and if its changed, how would I know that? I assume its charging at 20 amps still but then again, maybe its at 16 and I simply don't know any better?

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You can tell the charging rate by counting the number of flashes on the led on the face of the brick.

johnrhansen said:

DaveinOlyWA said:

if you never charge at L1, why are you unplugging it? mine is also set to 20 amps and if its changed, how would I know that? I assume its charging at 20 amps still but then again, maybe its at 16 and I simply don't know any better?

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You can tell the charging rate by counting the number of flashes on the led on the face of the brick.

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does the flash start when you plug it in?

Yeah that's how it works. They emailed me a nice set of instructions explaining specifically what happens and how to adjust it. I cant find a link to show you though. The green ready light starts flashing the moment you plug it in. 16 times then a break then repeat over and over. Then when you plug into your car and it starts charging the charge light blinks just like that instead of the ready light. If you reprogram the charge rate, then the number of blinks changes to reflect.

johnrhansen said:

Yeah that's how it works. They emailed me a nice set of instructions explaining specifically what happens and how to adjust it. I cant find a link to show you though. The green ready light starts flashing the moment you plug it in. 16 times then a break then repeat over and over. Then when you plug into your car and it starts charging the charge light blinks just like that instead of the ready light. If you reprogram the charge rate, then the number of blinks changes to reflect.

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ya, I got all that somewhere...read just enough to program it and that was it.

I checked mine and while its sitting there in ready mode it blinks the setting continuously

FYI; I unplugged mine last night. I just plugged it back in and it is still flashing 20 times

Lucky you. You got back a good one. Its easy to program, not a huge deal. I can live with it.

Actually, the funny thing is my 2012 Panasonic EVSE high power upgrade defaults to 20A at 240V, even though it doesn't remember the current setting after you unplug it. I just tried it now, programming it to 7A, unplug and it defaults back to 20A from the clothes dryer's 240V.

I wonder why EVSE have different defaults like that (mine is 20A and yours is 16A)?

After programming, you should see the fault light flash briefly indicating that the setting was stored in non-volatile memory. If you see this on a 2013-2014 unit and the amperage isn't storing properly after a power cycle, please contact us. On 2011-2012 units the amperage setting does not survive a power cycle, as these units aren't equipped with the non-volatile memory.

-Phil

johnrhansen, Did you ever get your unit fixed? I am having the same problem, but i'm not getting much support from evseupgrade. I'm not sure why it's advertised to remember your setting, and they are not catching this after being "tested."