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If you have a Blink station, the best thing you could do is rip it out and replace with something that works.

It looks like ChargePoint is very interested in helping you do just that.

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1087673_got-a-blink-charging-station-chargepoint-offers-up-to-2200-for-you-to-switch" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
http://www.dontblinknow.biz" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

True, but it could cost as much as $7,200 or so to buy the new ChargePoint unit, then you get back the $2,200 credit, plus you have a pay a little bit for removing the Blinks and the new station installation but the wiring is already there. So $5,000 for the station and maybe $1,000 for demo / install for a total of $6,000 for each station. Many of the hosts didn't pay that much cost share for the Blinks in the first place...And they would qualify for the 30% tax credit if done this year...

Of course, then as a host you have to pay for the ChargePoint backend subscription and the fee structure on an ongoing basis...

It'll be very interesting to see how many of these units will actually be sold and put in....
 
KJD said:
If you have a Blink station, the best thing you could do is rip it out and replace with something that works.

It looks like ChargePoint is very interested in helping you do just that.

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1087673_got-a-blink-charging-station-chargepoint-offers-up-to-2200-for-you-to-switch" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I've had mine for 2 1/2 years and it's never failed to charge my LEAF.
 
LEAFfan said:
KJD said:
If you have a Blink station, the best thing you could do is rip it out and replace with something that works.

It looks like ChargePoint is very interested in helping you do just that.

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1087673_got-a-blink-charging-station-chargepoint-offers-up-to-2200-for-you-to-switch" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I've had mine for 2 1/2 years and it's never failed to charge my LEAF.
Ditto.
 
How did I miss this. I disconnected my Blink unit 4 month ago during the move and no one from Blink bothered to ask me why yet... now I know.
 
Ingineer said:
I've figured out how to re-activate the units (with all features) in the event they shut them off. There's no need to release this information unless they do such a thing. The new owners may continue supporting them.

-Phil

i am good with that.
hope to never have to worry about it.
i do wonder if i should deactivate the internet but, as i said, i like the intranet functions.
 
Did you guys see this picture over at plug in cars ?
http://www.plugincars.com/ecotality-aftermath-128541.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

blink-charger-fire-620.jpg
 
All you blink owners that have had "no problems", be warned that if you ever try to charge at over 4kW you may end up with problems. If you ever charge a EV with a larger OBC, after 20 minutes, stop the charge and feel the parts of both J1772 connectors for anything hot. If you do find something too hot, stop charging immediately, or at least dial your unit down to 16A.

-Phil
 
I had Blink replace my 1772 cable about 4 months ago with an improved version to preclude just such an issue... They also redid the CT crimps and some other preventative maintenance at the same time, and were nice enough to give me a backup SD card...

Ingineer said:
All you blink owners that have had "no problems", be warned that if you ever try to charge at over 4kW you may end up with problems.
 
TomT said:
I had Blink replace my 1772 cable about 4 months ago with an improved version to preclude just such an issue... They also redid the CT crimps and some other preventative maintenance at the same time, and were nice enough to give me a backup SD card...
You are one of the lucky few. I'd still check for heat though!

-Phil
 
KJD said:
Did you guys see this picture over at plug in cars ?
http://www.plugincars.com/ecotality-aftermath-128541.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


OK, this weekend I will open the Blink and check the power connections. I am one of the lucky ones that did not have any problems charging for 2.5 years with charging two cars (3.3 kW) for the last year.

And, yes I will turn the breaker off and unplug it before checking the connections ;) .
 
Ingineer said:
All you blink owners that have had "no problems", be warned that if you ever try to charge at over 4kW you may end up with problems. If you ever charge a EV with a larger OBC, after 20 minutes, stop the charge and feel the parts of both J1772 connectors for anything hot. If you do find something too hot, stop charging immediately, or at least dial your unit down to 16A.

-Phil

That pic above is ugly but it was the installers connection that failed not Blink's manufacturing.

I'm getting a 25*F uptick at my blink handle with 16A at the 1 hour mark. Haven't checked my Open EVSE (Leviton) handle yet.

Don
 
bowthom said:
That pic above is ugly but it was the installers connection that failed not Blink's manufacturing.

I'm getting a 25*F uptick at my blink handle with 16A at the 1 hour mark. Haven't checked my Open EVSE (Leviton) handle yet.

Don
I don't agree, it was Blink's engineering that specified a crappy low-cost terminal block. It's a marginal part for 20A, let alone 30A! On top of that, it was not installed correctly.

Several people personally inspected Berman's unit, I was one of them. One of the factory screws was not very tight, and the middle one was loose enough you could actually see a gap in-between the pressure plate and the conductor. I'm not even sure it was tightened at all. I think this is what started it down a path of overheating. The overheating looks like it eventually carbonized the plastic and then an arc-over event occurred on the input side.

pic

This is the factory side, which looks to me where the problem began. The middle screw was not tight at all. You can clearly see the gap.

-Phil
 
Hello,
Well........ I don't agree from the pictures I see. The right side (assembled by Blink) was passing just as much current and didn't burn as much or as far. Same connector, same current, different people making connection.
That pic above looks like transfer compared to this earlier pic where the wire is burned, plastic housing melted and insulation melted several inches away. The right hand screws aren't discolored like the left side.


Maybe it's all in the perspective, I've not seen it in person. The problem with post mortem inspection is that copper will relax and screws will seem loose. It's hard to tell if it was loose "pre failure" Unless you see the screw in the position where unused terminals reside.

Don
 
bowthom said:
Hello,
Well........ I don't agree from the pictures I see. The right side (assembled by Blink) was passing just as much current and didn't burn as much or as far. Same connector, same current, different people making connection.
That picture doesn't even show the other side which had extensive damage. I performed a total teardown, including slicing open the terminal block. It's very obvious to me. The massive charring on the left side was from an arc-over event. The two conductors arced between them so much that it melted away significant copper on the inlet wiring.

A "psychic diagnosis" doesn't carry much weight with me, you have to take it apart in order to draw proper conclusions.

-Phil
 
Yeah, I have, and my infrared thermometer shows all is doing well.

Ingineer said:
TomT said:
I had Blink replace my 1772 cable about 4 months ago with an improved version to preclude just such an issue... They also redid the CT crimps and some other preventative maintenance at the same time, and were nice enough to give me a backup SD card...
You are one of the lucky few. I'd still check for heat though!-Phil
 
drees said:
+1. Generators are the standard method of bringing in large amounts of temporary power.

Nissan did the same thing when driving around for the LEAF tours a few years back when they were doing all the ride-and-drive events. Diesel generator powering QC stations on the back of a diesel truck.

If they actually had some competent engineers, they could have borrowed some portable solar panels from another company and made that work.
 
coolfilmaker said:
drees said:
+1. Generators are the standard method of bringing in large amounts of temporary power.

Nissan did the same thing when driving around for the LEAF tours a few years back when they were doing all the ride-and-drive events. Diesel generator powering QC stations on the back of a diesel truck.
If they actually had some competent engineers, they could have borrowed some portable solar panels from another company and made that work.
You've got to be kidding. It would take a huge array, plus a battery backup system to keep up with QC'ing cars all day...it sure as hell wouldn't have been portable. Plus a cloudy day could have ruined the event.
 
davewill said:
coolfilmaker said:
drees said:
+1. Generators are the standard method of bringing in large amounts of temporary power.

Nissan did the same thing when driving around for the LEAF tours a few years back when they were doing all the ride-and-drive events. Diesel generator powering QC stations on the back of a diesel truck.
If they actually had some competent engineers, they could have borrowed some portable solar panels from another company and made that work.
You've got to be kidding. It would take a huge array, plus a battery backup system to keep up with QC'ing cars all day...it sure as hell wouldn't have been portable. Plus a cloudy day could have ruined the event.

Nope. You just would need to have a controller set up to modify the J1772 pulse on each EVSE so that demand would match supply. With 3 days to charge all of the cars it would require less square footage of panels than the cars took up in parking space.
 
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