Quick Charging fails - DTC code - B2820 0028

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DuncanCunningham

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 26, 2015
Messages
528
Location
Bountiful, UT
Quick Charging fails - DTC code - B2820 0028 CHARGER Quick charger VC-63

I've had my Nissan Leaf 2012 SL since May 2015. During that time I've had a few experiences at QC stations where the station tells me "cannot charge car, needs to be powered off" or something very similar. This has been at numerous stations in and around Salt Lake city, UT.

I'm pretty good at turning things off, so I know the car is off, I like to double check things. I'm not OCD but I'm very certain that I'm doing it right. Sometimes the station will just not charge at all and other times it will do it for a few minutes, stop and then tell me this message too.

I have Leaf Spy Pro so I looked up the codes.

DTC reads:
U1511 0118 BRAKE Pwr Supply Backup Unit Comm BR-184
B2820 0028 CHARGER Quick charger VC-63

anyone else had these?

I've call two Nissan dealerships who "don't have a Leaf tech on hand right now" to help me understand if the issue is something I'll need a tech to look at and know what is needing to be done. One has their "leaf" guy back next week and another wanted me to talk to a sales person as they were the best person regarding the Leaf (though he wasn't there), which I can understand because dealers don't sell them,,. interested sales people do.
 
Those error codes are all CAN bus communication errors. Low 12-volt battery will cause CAN bus communication errors so I would check for a weak battery or loose connections, then clear the DTC codes with Leaf Spy and see if they come back.

Gerry
 
I used the Leaf spy pro to reset the DTC of the QC event. I tried to connect it to a QC this morning and it did the same thing, Complained about communication error and that the car must be turned off, which as best I know, it was off.

I tried again right away and it worked the 2nd time and charged up the car without any issues. It just seems that some times the error totally blocks me from getting a QC charge.

I will look at the battery when I get home tonight, put on a mutimeter reader to see what the voltage is like. I've heard say that if you put the battery on a "battery tender' to remove it or disconnect it from the car wiring first.
 
Can you take a light and look in the CHAdeMO port of your car and see if anything is blocking things? How do the small pin sockets look?
 
I just had this failure to charge at a Blink DCQC. I tried both sides, reset DTC codes with Leaf Spy, talked to Blink customer service representative and tried resetting the Blink by cycling the power using the emergency stop switch, tried several more times, and finally gave up. The representative found a couple of L2 public chargers near by and initiated a trouble report for the QC. The amber EV system warning light was on when I drove to the L2 station on my way home because I did not reset the DTCs after the last QC attempt. The car would not charge at the Blink L2 station so I had to unplug the cable to stop the session. I cleared the DTCs with Leaf Spy and then was able to start a charging session normally. I would have been calling a tow truck if I did not have the capability to clear DTCs with Leaf Spy Pro. It appears that there were communication errors between the car and the QC unit that caused the QC sessions to terminate and also set enough error codes in the car to prevent normal L2 charging.

Edited to add: There is no apparent damage to the QC port on the car and the 12-volt battery is fine.

Edited again to add DTC codes which prevented charging:
B2802 2308 CHARGER Q/CHG Isolation Sig Err VC-56
B2820 0008 CHARGER Quick Charger VC-63
P3171 000A EV/HEV PD Module System EVC-241
P3170 000B EV/HEV PD Module System EVC-241
P316C 000B EV/HEV PD Module System EVC-238

Gerry
 
^ Just to clarify for anyone who is not as familiar with the LEAF as we are - you would have been calling a tow truck because you didn't have the range to get home when you couldn't charge, not because the car was inoperable with DTC errors, right?
 
mwalsh said:
^ Just to clarify for anyone who is not as familiar with the LEAF as we are - you would have been calling a tow truck because you didn't have the range to get home when you couldn't charge, not because the car was inoperable with DTC errors, right?

That is correct. The car drove fine with the charging error codes, it would just not charge. I don't use public charging unless I need it to get to home. When the QC failed, I was afraid I would not make it to the L2 that I used. There was no chance to make it home.

Gerry
 
JeremyW said:
Can you take a light and look in the CHAdeMO port of your car and see if anything is blocking things? How do the small pin sockets look?

I have looked at that but I see nothing blocking it. Sometimes it works sometimes not. I've had this issue since i got the car in May 2015. I am going to get a new 12v battery and see if that helps.
 
Evoforce said:
Why don't you just test your own battery? No sense spending $130 plus on a battery if you don't need one.


The battery in this 2012 is the original one from the factory with the car. I only have a very simple multi-meter at work. I tested and got 11V (doesn't look like this tester has decimals on it) I have one at home that I know will test more accurately)

The local nissan dealer wants $98 plus tax and no core exchange for a Leaf 12v battery.

I'll keep you updated as I do more... it's been cold windy and wet each night since I got some good advice on what to do.

I saw you post on another question and you mentioned a 'load tester'. I saw one at harbor frieght but out of the reviews I saw too many saying that the part would fail after a few uses, which is sad for a $20 tool, I don't want to take it to a autozone/Oriellly because I'd be afraid they'd damage the battery with a load tester expecting to get large AMPS to start a car. I'd have to read up on the specs of a Leaf 12v battery.
 
I in fact have a Harbor Freight 12 volt load tester and it has worked for years testing hundreds of times. Sometimes they are on sale or have 20% off coupons in their circulars. I don't have a clue about the bad reviews. Maybe they had a bad batch. Mine has worked flawlessly. It is a resistive coil in a metal box with a built in gauge and a toggle switch to apply the load through the resistive wire. Similar to turning on a toaster which runs current through wire coils to heat your toast.

The tools that I previously mentioned are still good to have on hand in any case. AutoZone or O'Reilly can tell you if your battery is good and is performing as to it's rating. Others that I know, say that the warranty is not as good on the Dealers battery as a replacement from AutoZone. You more than likely have a 3ish year old battery. Did you put it on the charger to top it off to see it's readings? Attach your 12 volt, charger with black lead to good metal ground (not battery) red to battery positive, check your settings, then plug it in to the wall. When done, unplug from the wall first then remove charge leads.
 
I couldn't find my other meter to test it and since the battery was at least 4 years old and reading 11v on my limited tester, I got a replacement. $98 from my Nissan dealership. I cleared the codes, using Leaf Spy Pro, like I used to do each time before testing the QC and all the DTC would return. This time they have all gone and I've been using QC down the street on three different days for the past week and I've not any the DTC come back. Either I'm on a good luck run and those codes, including something about brakes, are just waiting to pop back up again at any moment or the original responder was right, they were all related to my accessory battery.

I update this post if i get the DTC codes back and QC charging complains about "car must be turned off: when it was off.
 
I am getting error code on a quick charge station; "cannot charge car, needs to be powered off

However, If I move the Leaf to the next quick charge station, it works fine, every time.

Other EV's seem to have the same issue on the same charging station, but not all.

The station owners refuse to send someone out, because the station works for 'some' cars, so they blame my 2016 Nissan Leaf.

Why would the problem be the car, when I can move over to the next station 10 feet away, and that one always works fine?
 
straats said:
I am getting error code on a quick charge station; "cannot charge car, needs to be powered off

However, If I move the Leaf to the next quick charge station, it works fine, every time.

Other EV's seem to have the same issue on the same charging station, but not all.

The station owners refuse to send someone out, because the station works for 'some' cars, so they blame my 2016 Nissan Leaf.

Why would the problem be the car, when I can move over to the next station 10 feet away, and that one always works fine?

I think you've nailed it, the cars do testing on the line for ground and pilot things, stuff I don't understand. but if more than 1 car fails on it, it's not your car. you're follow the scientific method here and found that the owner is not. UNless each of the cars have a weak, 12v batteries, I don't know what you can say. the true is that this station is the issue, or the wiring to that station.
 
DuncanCunningham said:
I couldn't find my other meter to test it and since the battery was at least 4 years old and reading 11v on my limited tester, I got a replacement. $98 from my Nissan dealership. I cleared the codes, using Leaf Spy Pro, like I used to do each time before testing the QC and all the DTC would return. This time they have all gone and I've been using QC down the street on three different days for the past week and I've not any the DTC come back. Either I'm on a good luck run and those codes, including something about brakes, are just waiting to pop back up again at any moment or the original responder was right, they were all related to my accessory battery.

I update this post if i get the DTC codes back and QC charging complains about "car must be turned off: when it was off.

Thanks for the update and that a new 12v battery has you going again.
 
humaniowa said:
Did GerryAZ ever find out what was wrong with his leaf? Mine is doing the same thing.

I believe the issue was with the DCQC unit. I had failures to charge on DCQCs once in a while with communication errors or error messages saying "car must be powered off" and I was never able to pinpoint a definite cause. I probably had more QCs than average so some of the communication errors may have been caused by loose connections due to wear of the contacts in the port and charger connectors.
 
GerryAZ said:
humaniowa said:
Did GerryAZ ever find out what was wrong with his leaf? Mine is doing the same thing.

I believe the issue was with the DCQC unit. I had failures to charge on DCQCs once in a while with communication errors or error messages saying "car must be powered off" and I was never able to pinpoint a definite cause.

I've seen this occur a number of times. It's likely that the previous DCQC user didn't properly power-down the DCQC before unplugging it.
Typically, it requires that the DCQC be reset (switched-off) to prevent the error message from re-occurring and to start the charging session.
 
lorenfb said:
GerryAZ said:
humaniowa said:
Did GerryAZ ever find out what was wrong with his leaf? Mine is doing the same thing.

I believe the issue was with the DCQC unit. I had failures to charge on DCQCs once in a while with communication errors or error messages saying "car must be powered off" and I was never able to pinpoint a definite cause.

I've seen this occur a number of times. It's likely that the previous DCQC user didn't properly power-down the DCQC before unplugging it.
Typically, it requires that the DCQC be reset (switched-off) to prevent the error message from re-occurring and to start the charging session.
All of the DCQCs I have ever used lock the connector to the car and cannot be unplugged without properly stopping the charging session. EVgo replaced the cable and connector on one unit that was giving the "car must be powered off" error frequently to fix the issue on that unit (unit was repaired only after many users reported the issue).
 
GerryAZ said:
lorenfb said:
GerryAZ said:
I believe the issue was with the DCQC unit. I had failures to charge on DCQCs once in a while with communication errors or error messages saying "car must be powered off" and I was never able to pinpoint a definite cause.

I've seen this occur a number of times. It's likely that the previous DCQC user didn't properly power-down the DCQC before unplugging it.
Typically, it requires that the DCQC be reset (switched-off) to prevent the error message from re-occurring and to start the charging session.
All of the DCQCs I have ever used lock the connector to the car and cannot be unplugged without properly stopping the charging session. EVgo replaced the cable and connector on one unit that was giving the "car must be powered off" error frequently to fix the issue on that unit (unit was repaired only after many users reported the issue).

So it's related to DCQC unit and not the vehicle, right? Possibly some of those "bad" DCQCs could be unplugged prior to the DCQC notifying
the user to remove the plug.
 
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