Dead Schneider Electric 30A EV230WS Charger

Hi All,

I apologize if this ground has been covered before. I can't find another similar situation. I wonder if others might have some suggestions about what I might be able to do.

Problem: My Schneider Electric 30A EV230WS Charger Appears dead. No lights, no charging.

How I noticed the problem: In the morning today, I went to take the car from the garage and noticed the battery was only about 60% full. When I returned home. the charger had no lights and was dead. Plugged in the car, nothing. Looking at the house's fusebox, the fuse had been tripped off last night at some point.

What I did up to this point:
1. Reset the charger's fuse -> charger dead
2. Shut off fuse to entire house and restore power -> charger dead

Not much else I can do (that I can see). This charger was purchased new and installed by an Electrician in Oct of 2014. The installation was inspected shortly thereafter.

I've been frustrated all day. Finally, I just resorted to plugging my car into a 120v outlet. I can't believe a charger would go a little over a year and die. Hopefully someone has some advice.

Some of these were subject to recall. Although the fault was for something else.
I would take it apart and check that you have power on the main relay.
And inspect internally for heat issues.

My Schneider has been trouble free almost five years.

Hi smkettner,

Thanks.. I'm not electrician.. can you give me an idea of what it takes to test for power safely (tools, etc)?

No, From what I have read the problem may not be what you think.

The Leaf internal charger may not be seeing the pilot signal properly. Be sure that you get the Leaf checked first. The cases I have read about were covered on Warrantee.

Ok, so I have more details on this. Something in the box melted and that's why I'm not charging.

I pulled off the cover and saw a sizable mark on the inside like something exploded: http://i.imgur.com/mHswz28.jpg

Looking at internals, I could smell burned plastic and there was melting under a square peice: http://i.imgur.com/NXaheZ8.jpg

This is the side view of that square peice: http://i.imgur.com/NrOnAld.jpg

Any thoughts about why this might have happened? Thoughts on how this can be fixed?

I looked into product recalls and my charger is among them, but the serial number doesn't line up.

More on that: http://static.schneider-electric.us...e Charging/EV Customer Letter EV Cord Set.pdf

I would send your warranty contact the second photo and see what they would like to do.

Yes, smkettner, so far "warranty contact" is some named and faceless corporation. I've sent in a message via their web form (no image attachments allowed). I'm not holding my breath they come back in any reasonable time with an answer. And, also I'm about 19 months past my purchase date of the charger. Unless you know something I don't, I don't think this path is going to get me a working charger anytime soon.

I the meantime, my car's use is more limited.. how much is hard to tell right now.. but going out in the morning with less than full charge is not looking good.

If spending money today I would get a Clipper Creek to match the supply circuit.

For all I know the Schneider might be repairable but not really a project for a novice. Not going to be a fast turnaround either.
I will leave the repair thoughts for others to guide you.

Did you try calling? See below. Most other folks have reported fairly good customer service from Schneider.

http://www.schneider-electric.us/documents/support/dial1se-customer-care-phone-menu_v1.3.pdf

davewill said:

Did you try calling? See below. Most other folks have reported fairly good customer service from Schneider.

http://www.schneider-electric.us/documents/support/dial1se-customer-care-phone-menu_v1.3.pdf

Click to expand...

Yes, I would also give them a direct call; my unit will be also coming up on 5 years of almost daily usage and no issues at all --- I had to call them for additional info on a state level EVSE rebate and customer service was pretty helpful at the time; at one time, there was also a Schneider HQ office building close to where I leave (it has since been vacated, was formerly a Square D facility) so at least they could point you in the right direction. EVSE units have come down in price but not sure what the expected service life will be ... burnt/melted plastic and circuit boards, etc. doesn't sound good but not sure if parts are serviceable if available.

Looking at those pictures my guess is a loose connection caused heat build up and eventually melted something. Now if the loose connection is internal to the EVSE Schneider may cover it, if it's where the electrician connected your supply wires, they won't do anything about it. More than likely the replacement part wouldn't cost much(<$30??) but if you couldn't DIY the labor to replace the part could be ~$100, which would still be cheaper than the cheapest EVSE, which at this point looks to be the GE @$499(normally $399 but has been sitting at $499@Amazon for several weeks now) :?

I had a similar problem with an earlier model Schneider charging station (EV2430WS). Prior to having the problem, I contacted Schneider to see if my unit was on the recall list, and was told that it wasn't. I did ask that they document that I called about this particular issue, in case the unit had this particular problem later when it was outside of the warranty period. A year or so later, I happened to move the charging station to another location and when I did, I saw damage similar to what was described in the recall. I stopped using the unit, and contacted Schneider again. Even though the unit was out of warranty, they sent me a replacement unit, no questions asked.

FYI, here's a mention of the particular issue on this forum:

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=2630&p=314198&hilit=ev2430ws#p314198

...and on the RAV4EV forum:

http://www.myrav4ev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=522&start=15

My first Schneider started humming, emailed them, they told me it was likely dirty contacts, but they sent me a new one free anyway, a year past warranty's end. Didn't expect that. Can't beat that kind of service.

kcostain said:

Ok, so I have more details on this. Something in the box melted and that's why I'm not charging.

I pulled off the cover and saw a sizable mark on the inside like something exploded: http://i.imgur.com/mHswz28.jpg

Looking at internals, I could smell burned plastic and there was melting under a square peice: http://i.imgur.com/NXaheZ8.jpg

This is the side view of that square peice: http://i.imgur.com/NrOnAld.jpg

Any thoughts about why this might have happened? Thoughts on how this can be fixed?

I looked into product recalls and my charger is among them, but the serial number doesn't line up.

More on that: http://static.schneider-electric.us...e Charging/EV Customer Letter EV Cord Set.pdf

Click to expand...

Looks like the load side of the relay connection feeding the J1772 cord developed a loose connection and burnt , and judging by the second picture, MAY have been caused by close proximity and/or physical contact jarring it loose with one of the supply lines installed by the electrician( the white wire),
Great picture. Check the pdf following link: http://products.schneider-electric.us/technical-library/?event=detail&oid=09008926807d0d93&cat=0b008926806b2bef
I suggest see if that is the case and discuss it with him/her accordingly. ( after e-mailing Schneider with that picture to concur )

First off, wow. Thank you for all these responses. I had been resigned to failure, and I return to see all this. Amazing.

Let me update you on what's been happening. I contacted Schneider and their support has been useless so far. The charger is close (or perhaps over) to the 18 month warranty limit and I've emailed pictures, but have gotten no response from them. I really feel like they aren't going to do anything to help me. The charger may be "just" out of warranty and "just" past the recall range of serial numbers.

I have looked for that specific Square D part online and can't find the thing anywhere.

I have contacted the electrician who installed the charger (Amped Electrical - http://ampedcontracting.com/electrical/) and they are essentially ignoring me.

I don't want to buy a new charger - being in Canada, I don't have access to all chargers on the market, and the prices here tend to be much higher than what's found in the U.S.. I certainly don't plan on disposing my EV charger every 18 months. That's fu*$ing stupid.

@mikeEmike, it does seem like the recall problem. It seems very close to that.. but I have no idea how the hell to get Schneider to do something about it

So, I'm kind of in limbo.. really frustrated and, frankly, pissed off. Thinking about how much easier having a gas car would be right now

Try this guy directly, but be nice and polite and explain everything thoroughly with your photos.

[email protected]

He is: Craig Wallace | Schneider Electric | North America Operations | Senior Technical Support Engineer

Thank you DNAinaGoodWay, I appreciate the contact. I have emailed him the details of this. Hopefully it leads to some progress.

Good luck, he was very kind to me. Engineers like to see how things can fail, as well as how electricians in the field may be installing things wrong.

DNAinaGoodWay said:

Good luck, he was very kind to me. Engineers like to see how things can fail, as well as how electricians in the field may be installing things wrong.

Click to expand...

One of the high lights of my day is doing failure analysis.

It's a little hard to tell, but looking at the photos, I'd say the contactor (the big square thing) didn't fry, it was the spade connector crimped on the black wire. It looks like there are screw terminals that could have been used instead. I'd be tempted to cut the burnt part off, and cut the crimp connector off the other leg (the big white wire) strip both wires and terminate them using the screw terminals instead. The smaller wires connected to the same place probably supply the electronics and can stay attached using spade connectors. I think everything would be OK at that point.