We have a gentleman with a Leaf at our facility. When he plugs into 120v outlet in ANY of the outlets in our parking garage, he gets the flashing light indicating the outlet is faulty. I am a qualified electrician of 30 years and have tested the outlets and ground and all are ok. He says that it works fine at home? He says none of the dash lights come on. Any thoughts???
EVSE ready light blinking but outlet tests grounded ok
- Thread starter rdriley
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91040
Well-known member
Assuming the flashing fault light is on the box of the EVSE, the ground has been implicated in other similar situations.
Just re-read the title. Which light(s) is blinking on the dash? Likely though that this is a timer issue. Have him make sure his timer is off or set to go on at the time he is plugging in.
Just re-read the title. Which light(s) is blinking on the dash? Likely though that this is a timer issue. Have him make sure his timer is off or set to go on at the time he is plugging in.
davewill
Well-known member
Didn't Phil report that the EVSE tests the ground by passing a very small amount of current through it? If so, a questionable ground connection that tests good with a simple tester might fail with the EVSE, no? It may seem like a silly question but has the gentleman tested his EVSE with any other outlets?
Sorry bout confusion. He says the light on the EVSE box blinks and none of the dash lights come on. I have tested the grounding with a megger. This is a 4 story parking structure and he is on the 4th floor, but 2 floors are underground so I'm sure everything is well grounded. Has me baffled
Lopton
Well-known member
If you tested the ground to neutral with a megger that verifies continuity, perhaps the neutral and hot wires are swapped on the outlet? (not sure if that would cause the L1 to not function) Which light is flashing on his charging cord, the ready light or the fault light?
-Matt
-Matt
Stanton
Well-known member
It's difficult to diagnose these sorts of things remotely, but if ANY of those outlets are GFI'd (or on a GFI circuit), the EVSE won't work. I'm unable to charge on 110v in my garage because those outlets are on GFI circuit (whose reset is upstairs in a bathroom).
Well these outlets are GFCI protected according to code, but it is not tripping the GFCI. I would think that it would trip if the cord sends power through the ground as a test but it doesn't. I have tested with a GFCI tester and it trips at 7mA as it should.
davewill
Well-known member
It does trip some GFCIs out there, but works OK with most of them. Do you know if he's used the EVSE successfully at all? It could be a faulty unit.rdriley said:
Stanton
Well-known member
rdriley said:
There's your answer then: they don't have to "trip" the GFI, it just won't work on a GFI circuit (for whatever reason).
91040
Well-known member
I have had no problem charging at 120V on a GFI protected circuit with the portable EVSE.
davewill
Well-known member
Definitely not true. It works fine on most GFCIs, but will trip some, especially older ones.Stanton said:
91040
Well-known member
Owners Manual page CH-28 has info on the fault lights on the EVSE.
only the ready light is flashing and the other 2 are off- When the ground cable is disconnected
Check the grounding of the outlet being used. If the grounding is normal, contact a NISSAN certified LEAF dealer.
ready light is on, charge light is off and the fault light is flashing- When an electric leakage occurs or the EVSE (Electric Vehicle
Supply Equipment) malfunctions Stop use immediately and contact a NISSAN certified LEAF dealer
only the ready light is flashing and the other 2 are off- When the ground cable is disconnected
Check the grounding of the outlet being used. If the grounding is normal, contact a NISSAN certified LEAF dealer.
ready light is on, charge light is off and the fault light is flashing- When an electric leakage occurs or the EVSE (Electric Vehicle
Supply Equipment) malfunctions Stop use immediately and contact a NISSAN certified LEAF dealer
fooljoe
Well-known member
I saw the blinking ready light once using an old high-gauge extension cord. I then used a new #12 extension cord on the same outlet and it worked fine, so that should rule out the ground (unless the ground wire in the old extension cord was severed somehow I guess, but I think that unlikely.) I assumed the problem was voltage drop. What voltage are you measuring? Also, perhaps you can try to plug it in with ground jumpered to neutral just to make sure the ground is not the problem.
garygid
Well-known member
One difference between the Parking Structure and home might be the wire length.
Does the EVSE give the same error code when the J1772 is NOT plugged into the LEAF?
Maybe the Parking wiring has a GFI that is self-resetting, and the EVSE trips it, but it looks like it is not getting tripped?
Does the EVSE give the same error code when the J1772 is NOT plugged into the LEAF?
Maybe the Parking wiring has a GFI that is self-resetting, and the EVSE trips it, but it looks like it is not getting tripped?
highcountryrider
Well-known member
Seems like you've checked most everything. 
Is it possible that there
is a potential between the neutral and ground at the parking structure
outlets? Maybe due to other loads? Sounds like a real stumper. :?
Is it possible that thereis a potential between the neutral and ground at the parking structure
outlets? Maybe due to other loads? Sounds like a real stumper. :?
johnr
Well-known member
Until the problem can be diagnosed, there is a quick-fix if an emergency charge is needed. Tie the neutral and ground pins together with some wire, this will fool the EVSE into thinking the ground is ok and it will charge. I wonder if maybe the long length of wiring in the parking structure and a slightly deteriorated ground connection in that wiring may be to blame (but I honestly have no experience in such matters). The EVSE might be more sensitive about this than your tester.
Figured out. Thanks Lopton for jarring my brain. I was checking ground to earth ground. Evidently these send the test current through the neutral wire, since these are fed from a sub panel and by code required to have no bond to neutral ( grounds and neutrals are separated), it is showing no ground. Now we have to come up with a way to be code compliant and get these to work.