How to tell if stock EVSE has been upgraded?

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Jam8

Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2018
Messages
9
Location
Santa Barbara, CA
I bought a used 2011 LEAF last week. It appears that the provided Nissan EVSE has been modified so that it ends with an L6-30 or L6-20 and included an adapter to a standard 120V outlet plug.

So far charging from 120V has been no problem. Is there any way I can tell exactly what modification was done, and whether it is 20 amp or 30 amp? I have an 10-30 (pre-1996 dryer outlet) nearby and could get an adapter for quicker charging (would need an adapter like http://evseupgrade.com/?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=17 or pull a dedicated circuit for EV charging), but want to figure out exactly what was done to the stock EVSE and whether it is safe before attempting to charge at 208 or 240V.

It could have been performed by http://evseupgrade.com? Any way I could tell for sure? The owner I purchased the leaf from was the second owner, and never used 240V to charge.

Thanks.
 
If it was done by EVSEupgrade I believe they all put a different sticker over the amperage nameplate.
If EVSEupgrade, they changed quite a bit over the years, some stopped at 16a and some at 20a. If yours has a L6-30p it's probably a 20a 240v upgrade but even older upgrades with the L6-20p would also charge at 20a on Leafs with the 6.6kWh built in charger.
If it were me I'd simply plug it into the proper outlet and do a amp reading on what your getting, 20a should be the max but could also be 16a. Note if a old EVSEupgrade it might also give you 20a @ 120v(if you have a 6.6kwh Leaf) so keep that in mind if plugging into a standard 120v outlet. Older Leafs only charged at 16a @ 240v and 12a @ 120v. What year and model is your Leaf and do you know if it has the "charger" package?
Never mind, reread your post, and '11 will only charge at a max of 12a @ 120v and 16a @ 240v, no matter how high your EVSE goes.
 
If you are in the Disneyland area I will be happy to read the pilot info on both voltages. Otherwise you can buy a kit for $40 that will display the Pilot from Nick Sayer. I have one set up in my load tester. With no loads it just reads out the info.
 
The Nissan EVSE shows the amp current during charging by a series of green blinks on the module housing the electronics. This behavior is unchanged in the upgraded unit by evse.upgrade.com but will flash more times in 240v mode. Each blink is 1 amp; when it reaches the amp setting there is a pause and then the series starts again.
 
Thank you for the replies - this has been helpful. I checked the back of the brick, and there is a sticker specifying new specs:

INPUT VOLTAGE AUTO-ADJUST
120V 12A - 208/240V 16A - 60HZ

So I should be set for home level 2 charging, I'll just need to figure out whether I want to use my existing 10-30 dryer plug (and buy, or make, an adapter to L6-30) or pull a new dedicated circuit. Or possibly just make do with 120V charging until my next EV purchase. Some things to think about.

With the reduced battery capacity on my used 2011 leaf, it shouldn't be a problem to fully charge overnight even on level 1 120V.
 
EVSEupgrade.com sells a variety of pig-tail adapters. Whatever you decide, I advise against any choice that requires daily insert into a receptacle. The fit wears down and a fire becomes more likely.

I bought this adapter off Amazon for a couple of dollars for my occasional 120v use to reduce the weight of the EVSE pulling on the connection at the outlet

uc


L2 is a whole lot more useful than L1 for those times when you want to take the car out again and need a small to moderate sized charge.
 
You are much better off using a 240V outlet than a 120V, if you must use 120V be sure it is a dedicated circuit and the outlet is in excellent condition and on a proper circuit with proper wire size. I would not use an adapter to change the angle as that introduces more failure points particularly if your 120V outlet is not up to snuff. When in doubt call an electrician. You would likely be better using the dryer with a proper adapter that is not hand made and has welded connections and then getting a circuit put in after that as the dryer outlet has far more headroom.
 
An adapter is also for sale that adds an extra outlet to home dryer outlets. I think it is devised to only allow use of one outlet at a time to avoid overloading the circuit.
 
SageBrush said:
An adapter is also for sale that adds an extra outlet to home dryer outlets. I think it is devised to only allow use of one outlet at a time to avoid overloading the circuit.

I'll have to take to an electrician, but this idea worries me as the 10-30 dryer plug I have (pre-1996 home) has two 120V hots and a neutral - no ground. If the leaf were charging on the same circuit and used the neutral as ground (the neutral should be grounded at the panel, so no problem as long as a single appliance is using the circuit) while someone turned on the dryer whether that could cause problems.

It sounds like whether I stick with level 1 or attempt level 2, I'll need/want a dedicated circuit.
 
Jam8 said:
SageBrush said:
An adapter is also for sale that adds an extra outlet to home dryer outlets. I think it is devised to only allow use of one outlet at a time to avoid overloading the circuit.

I'll have to take to an electrician, but this idea worries me as the 10-30 dryer plug I have (pre-1996 home) has two 120V hots and a neutral - no ground. If the leaf were charging on the same circuit and used the neutral as ground (the neutral should be grounded at the panel, so no problem as long as a single appliance is using the circuit) while someone turned on the dryer whether that could cause problems.

It sounds like whether I stick with level 1 or attempt level 2, I'll need/want a dedicated circuit.

There are many threads on this, it's not an issue. You can't turn the dryer on either as you can't share the circuit or plug two plugs in the same outlet :)
 
Jam8 said:
SageBrush said:
An adapter is also for sale that adds an extra outlet to home dryer outlets. I think it is devised to only allow use of one outlet at a time to avoid overloading the circuit.

I'll have to take to an electrician, but this idea worries me as the 10-30 dryer plug I have (pre-1996 home) has two 120V hots and a neutral - no ground. If the leaf were charging on the same circuit and used the neutral as ground (the neutral should be grounded at the panel, so no problem as long as a single appliance is using the circuit) while someone turned on the dryer whether that could cause problems.

It sounds like whether I stick with level 1 or attempt level 2, I'll need/want a dedicated circuit.

Here is the device I was thinking of to share the outlet
https://www.bsaelectronics.com/collections/dryer-buddys/products/copy-of-dryer-buddy-12-30a-240v-splitter-5ft-cable-nema-10-30before-1996-to-one-10-30-and-one-6-20-outlets-with-optional-volt-ammeter?variant=21696538305

You may wish to ask your safety related questions of the vendor who is I think quite approachable and the maker of the devices.
 
Jam8 said:
It sounds like whether I stick with level 1 or attempt level 2, I'll need/want a dedicated circuit.

You absolutely want a dedicated circuit for any L2 charger. Doing otherwise is dangerous and just foolish IMO.

Also, "You should always upgrade the wiring rather than downgrade the plug." The NEMA-10 (3-wire 'dryer plug') has been super-ceded by the NEMA-14 (4-wire) for safety reasons. 240V can be dangerous so why take chances just to save a few $$.

https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/104503/what-do-the-neutral-and-ground-connectors-in-outlets-connect-to
 
goldbrick said:
Jam8 said:
It sounds like whether I stick with level 1 or attempt level 2, I'll need/want a dedicated circuit.

You absolutely want a dedicated circuit for any L2 charger. Doing otherwise is dangerous and just foolish IMO.

Also, "You should always upgrade the wiring rather than downgrade the plug." The NEMA-10 (3-wire 'dryer plug') has been super-ceded by the NEMA-14 (4-wire) for safety reasons. 240V can be dangerous so why take chances just to save a few $$.

https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/104503/what-do-the-neutral-and-ground-connectors-in-outlets-connect-to

10-30 wiring is 10G, 14-30 is not safer it is just a newer dryer outlet with a neutral, an EVSE does not use a neutral so it's moot.
 
According to Wikipedia (FWIW....)

"Modern practice is to require a separate safety grounding conductor whose only purpose is to divert unsafe voltages, and which does not carry significant current during normal operation. Relying on the neutral conductor was a legal grounding method for electric ranges and clothes dryers, under the National Electrical Code from the 1947 to the 1996 editions. Since North American dryers and ranges have certain components (timers, lights, fans, etc.) that run on 120 V, this means that the neutral wire indirectly used for grounding would also carry current, even under non-fault conditions. Although this is contrary to modern grounding practice, such "grandfathered" installations remain common in older homes in the United States.[15]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEMA_connector

And yes, I realize that most (all?) EVSE will not use the neutral to implement a 120V circuit but I still think that having a separate, dedicated ground wire increases safety. Apparently so does the NEC.
 
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