Burning Smell after charging

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Candera

Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2014
Messages
18
Location
Monterey, CA
Hi All,

I have recently had an issue at multiple chargers, both 220 and 110. I have yet to try a 480.

When entering the car after a charge session (windows up) the car smells strongly as though something electronic is burning.

Has anyone experienced this before? Should I take it in?

~Sara
 
Yes, take it in! These situations kind of make it seem like it would be useful for the service departments of Nissan dealerships that want to offer LEAF servicing to have DCQC equipment nearby (ideally, on-premises). It's an important feature of the car; the dealership ought to be able to test it...
 
EVDRIVER said:
Is your car new?

OP's sig line says "2011 SL Black" so I would say no. I did get my 2012 new and it didn't have any burning smells the entire 35 months and two weeks that I had it.
 
RonDawg said:
EVDRIVER said:
Is your car new?

OP's sig line says "2011 SL Black" so I would say no. I did get my 2012 new and it didn't have any burning smells the entire 35 months and two weeks that I had it.


If it's the old LEAF then it's an issue. Many new LEAFs have had that smell.
 
Dropped it off this morning. I'll try and follow up. The guy at the dealership said "I couldn't really smell anything." so I'm worried it going to be a situation where they think I'm crazy and imagining things.
 
Dealership called me back and reports they still don't smell anything. I have confirmed with 3 people I've had in my car and they've all smelled it.

I think I may need to seek a second opinion.
 
Came in this morning to the dealership. They were prepared to hand the car back to me. I asked to smell the car before taking it back. I opened the back door and could still smell the burnt smell. The person helping me and the tech both dismissed it and said there was no smell. I asked to speak with the manager.

While waiting for the manager, I ran into a friend who happened to be getting an oil change and she reported that should could smell it a little bit but it wasn't strong.

At this point the car has been unplugged and not charging overnight and the doors have been opened and closed many times so its expected to smell as bad.

Met with the manager and he admitted that both of those helping me smoke and may not have sensitive enough noses. He also admitted that one of his techs did report smelling something and there were codes in the computer.

The manager is going to drive and drain the battery and then plug it in and smell for himself. He said it's the first Leaf he's every heard of with this issue.

I am convinced something did burn, That is undeniable. Whether it is continuing to burn and if they can find out what burned is now the question.

~Sara
 
Dealership techs have remarkably poor sensory apparatus. I'm amazed by how many times I or people I know have taken vehicles in with obvious problems only to be told "We don't see (smell, hear, feel) anything wrong". I think it's a requirement for the job.

So, what were the codes?
 
Sara,

I would open a case with Nissan EV HotLine and describe it as a potential fire safety issue.

Let them know that you have a deep concern that the car may catch fire and burn down in your garage while charging. If it does that and catches your house on fire, having notified them of the issue would put them on the hook to buy you an new house or pay your heirs lots of money if anyone gets hurt or worse in your house.

That usually gets their attention and will act.
 
I haven't gotten a call from them today, my app tells me that its plugged in and fully charged. I would assume that if there was no problem they'd have called me by now and informed me.

If they say they couldn't find anything then I will do as you advise.

Flyct said:
Sara,

I would open a case with Nissan EV HotLine and describe it as a potential fire safety issue.

Let them know that you have a deep concern that the car may catch fire and burn down in your garage while charging. If it does that and catches your house on fire, having notified them of the issue would put them on the hook to buy you an new house or pay your heirs lots of money if anyone gets hurt or worse in your house.

That usually gets their attention and will act.
 
Better start off with a disclaimer: what follows is just half-informed speculation..

There's been some discussion recently in other subforums about the "pre charge" resistor, which is apparently used to limit the current that the main traction battery supplies to the motor drive electronics immediately after turn-on. Apparently, there's appreciable capacitance in those electronics, and closing the main contactor from the battery into that capacitance, if the capacitance was discharged, would result in a huge current spike. So the "pre-charge" relay is closed first, presenting a path from the battery into the capacitance that has enough series resistance to keep the initial current spike within reason. The other discussions speak of the power rating of that resistor being much too low to handle the charging current's level on a continuous basis; it only survives because the charging current pulse is brief. Well, if something were to invalidate the assumptions that the resistor selection depended on, it might easily burn out. And after it burns out, if its construction is of the type to fail open-circuit (like a fuse), then it would only emit a burning smell while it was burning out, and not after. And after it DID burn out, the car might still appear to work, if its main contactor is tough enough to handle the massive current surges for awhile. But you wouldn't want to ask it to do that very many times. Hopefully, the system's design includes the ability to verify that the drive electronics are successfully charged up before the main contactor can be ordered to close, so all this is probably unlikely.

Plenty of other possible scenarios for a temporary bad smell, though. For example, I understand that the newer LEAF models use a direct-to-air electrical heating element in their heating systems; those can get hot enough to burn debris that comes in contact with them. If the debris is small enough, it'll stop smoking after it finishes scorching. But that presumes that the heater was run at the time the smells were noticed.

Just some idle speculation.
 
I appreciate the response. Today is day 3 of it in the shop. Yesterday before 5 they called me to tell they hadn't forgotten about me but they said they didn't have as much time as they wanted to pay attention to it. They said they were going to charge it overnight and smell in the morning. That is a good test but I'm worried they won't discharge the battery enough to have a significantly long enough charge session to cause the issue.

Levenkay said:
Better start off with a disclaimer: what follows is just half-informed speculation..

There's been some discussion recently in other subforums about the "pre charge" resistor, which is apparently used to limit the current that the main traction battery supplies to the motor drive electronics immediately after turn-on. Apparently, there's appreciable capacitance in those electronics, and closing the main contactor from the battery into that capacitance, if the capacitance was discharged, would result in a huge current spike. So the "pre-charge" relay is closed first, presenting a path from the battery into the capacitance that has enough series resistance to keep the initial current spike within reason. The other discussions speak of the power rating of that resistor being much too low to handle the charging current's level on a continuous basis; it only survives because the charging current pulse is brief. Well, if something were to invalidate the assumptions that the resistor selection depended on, it might easily burn out. And after it burns out, if its construction is of the type to fail open-circuit (like a fuse), then it would only emit a burning smell while it was burning out, and not after. And after it DID burn out, the car might still appear to work, if its main contactor is tough enough to handle the massive current surges for awhile. But you wouldn't want to ask it to do that very many times. Hopefully, the system's design includes the ability to verify that the drive electronics are successfully charged up before the main contactor can be ordered to close, so all this is probably unlikely.

Plenty of other possible scenarios for a temporary bad smell, though. For example, I understand that the newer LEAF models use a direct-to-air electrical heating element in their heating systems; those can get hot enough to burn debris that comes in contact with them. If the debris is small enough, it'll stop smoking after it finishes scorching. But that presumes that the heater was run at the time the smells were noticed.

Just some idle speculation.
 
They found out what it was!!

It was the charger under the backseat. It had a "thermal incident" and is being replaced under warranty.

Phew!! So happy I wasn't going crazy and imagining it.
 
I just smelled this burning smell today, it was so strong after short charge (2h) even all windows were open an inch. Couldn't cit in the car till it vented out. Charged it again a few hours later. Again burning smell but not that strong. I stinks the strongest at driver seat and at diagonal-right rear seat, where the charger is. No smell in the trunk. No extra smell when I start the car.
My Leaf in Jun 2011 so it is out of warranty (50k on it. A year ago I had whole 24kWh battery replaced, under warranty, dropped under 9 bars and I had only 45 miles range, at the time, With new battery I get 65-78 miles, jfyi). Does anybody know how much charger replacement can cost, and can it be repaired instead of replaced?
Thanks, wish me good luck :-(
 
imaric said:
I just smelled this burning smell today, it was so strong after short charge (2h) even all windows were open an inch. Couldn't cit in the car till it vented out. Charged it again a few hours later. Again burning smell but not that strong. I stinks the strongest at driver seat and at diagonal-right rear seat, where the charger is. No smell in the trunk. No extra smell when I start the car.
My Leaf in Jun 2011 so it is out of warranty (50k on it. A year ago I had whole 24kWh battery replaced, under warranty, dropped under 9 bars and I had only 45 miles range, at the time, With new battery I get 65-78 miles, jfyi). Does anybody know how much charger replacement can cost, and can it be repaired instead of replaced?
Thanks, wish me good luck :-(

I "do" wish you luck!

Pls keep us posted. I am similar to you, had 24kWh battery replaced.

Hope this charger issue doesn't start flaring up on the older Leafs.
 
imaric said:
... Does anybody know how much charger replacement can cost, and can it be repaired instead of replaced? ...
$2,400
See http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=22568&hilit=diode#p469966.
Possible a knowledgeable non-Nissan service shop could repair.
But I have not seen any reports of such shops yet.
Nissan dealer will only replace entire charger.
 
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