Mods for the Blink EVSE ! (was Fix)

I ran my Blink for the first time while reading data from the SDG&E meter, and it appears that an L2 charge draws a steady-state 3738 Watts. The fluctuation is very small.. 3735 to 3740.

My unit's standby/idle draw is 12.45W

Rake said:

Spies said:

Rake said:

Eventually IMO you could weaken some soldered connections on the boards by heating and cooling, but what WILL wear out is your circuit breaker. They are not "switch rated", meaning they have the duty rating to be reset in the event of a trip, but is never intended to be a "snap switch". If you feel it start to get sloppy or mushy, it needs to be replaced.

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Thanks for the tips however the breaker wearing out is not an issue for me since I am using an actual switch. The Blink replaced my old EVSE and this circuit still has an Intermatic 40 amp timer switch on it and I have been using that. The timer was used to charge off peak back when neither the cars nor the EVSE had timers built in.

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That's good to hear
For other folks, it is possible to have a 2 pole snap switch installed, if that is your wish.
Your friendly union (yes, that was a shameless plug) electrical contractor will fix you right up.
cheers!

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With it having standby power of <16 watts, as long as its not charging and is just standby power, what's wrong with just unplugging the cord from the 240V outlet? Why the need or desire for a 2 pole snap switch for the occasional need to reboot the Blink EVSE?
I'm not sure how often rebooting will be needed though. The first time I used mine it was failing to recognize that it was plugged into the Leaf, and I had to reboot. But only used it twice so far.

TimLee said:

With it having standby power of <16 watts, as long as its not charging and is just standby power, what's wrong with just unplugging the cord from the 240V outlet?

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ECOtality could come and take away their Blink anytime during the project participation period. That's the risk. Part of the agreement states that it will stay connected (http://www.etec.stage.nissanusa.com/participant-agreement/form.php):

(g) Will provide and maintain electric power to the EVSE

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For that, I plan on keeping mine connected... at least until December 31, 2012.

TimLee said:

...what's wrong with just unplugging the cord from the 240V outlet? Why the need or desire for a 2 pole snap switch for the occasional need to reboot the Blink EVSE?

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For the occasional need, absolutely nothing. For daily shutdowns like were being discussed, you will eventually wear out the receptacle. Which could cause arcing and other bad results.

davewill said:

TimLee said:

...what's wrong with just unplugging the cord from the 240V outlet? Why the need or desire for a 2 pole snap switch for the occasional need to reboot the Blink EVSE?

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For the occasional need, absolutely nothing. For daily shutdowns like were being discussed, you will eventually wear out the receptacle. Which could cause arcing and other bad results.

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Thanks, the occasional shutdown required for rebooting the Blink when it hangs up and quits functioning correctly as all computers do occasionally is what I was referring to.
I recognize eV Project agreement requires "continuous" connectivity.
I don't see much reason for shutting it off daily even after that requirement expires. Most computers have better reliability if left on all the time.
As discussed earlier in the topic, the standby power is pretty high on the Blink and probably could be markedly improved. The new software for LCD auto turnoff helped a bit.

I see the new firmware has an option to blank the display after a selectable time (5 min => hour). Anyone measure the power with this new firmware when the display is blanked?

Turbo3 said:

I see the new firmware has an option to blank the display after a selectable time (5 min => hour). Anyone measure the power with this new firmware when the display is blanked?

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Yes, that was discussed in on this topic: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=4059

What's everyone's experience with the Blink failing to recognize that it has been plugged into the car?
In about 10 uses I've had the Blink fail to recognize it was plugged in twice, and had to unplug the Blink to get it to work.
The last time it appears I might have plugged in while the Blink was starting some internet communication, and that its not configured correctly to do two things at once.

TimLee said:

What's everyone's experience with the Blink failing to recognize that it has been plugged into the car?
In about 10 uses I've had the Blink fail to recognize it was plugged in twice, and had to unplug the Blink to get it to work.
The last time it appears I might have plugged in while the Blink was starting some internet communication, and that its not configured correctly to do two things at once.

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My Blink has never failed to recognize when I've plugged it completely into the car. There was one time it didn't seem to think it was plugged in, but I just needed to push it a touch more to secure the latch.

My blink has always provided a charge to the Leaf when plugged in except:

#1: The the Leaf's charge time is outside the time period programmed to charge.
#2: When the Blink is rebooting itself (this seems to happen every once and a while, perhaps for firmware updates.)

DarkStar said:

TimLee said:

What's everyone's experience with the Blink failing to recognize that it has been plugged into the car?
In about 10 uses I've had the Blink fail to recognize it was plugged in twice, and had to unplug the Blink to get it to work.
The last time it appears I might have plugged in while the Blink was starting some internet communication, and that its not configured correctly to do two things at once.

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My Blink has never failed to recognize when I've plugged it completely into the car. There was one time it didn't seem to think it was plugged in, but I just needed to push it a touch more to secure the latch.

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1) I've had my Leaf recharging every day (sometimes more than once a day) for over 2 months and it has never failed to charge.

2) The Blink does seem to reboot about every 7 - 10 days, for no apparent reason. If I'm fully charged, but still plugged in at the time, I get a text message that the charge is complete. The Leaf sees the Blink come back online, and assumes that I have just plugged in. It then realizes that the battery SOC is already full, so turns off the charging and texts me.

How is the custom/"done the right way" firmware coming?

TimLee said:

What's everyone's experience with the Blink failing to recognize that it has been plugged into the car?
In about 10 uses I've had the Blink fail to recognize it was plugged in twice, and had to unplug the Blink to get it to work.
The last time it appears I might have plugged in while the Blink was starting some internet communication, and that its not configured correctly to do two things at once.

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This has happened once with me in the two weeks I've had the unit. Unplugging from the LEAF and plugging back in resolved the issue.

I've had this problem (and its converse: the Blink station apparently believing the car was plugged in when it wasn't) several times during the couple months I've had a Blink station at home. On just one occasion, the problem was severe enough that it failed to provide a connection for a timed (by the Leaf; I'm not about to trust the Blink) charging cycle. As luck would have it, I'd done some extra errands the previous day, and finding the indicated SOC was still depleted the next morning was something of a dissappointment. I will say that it's behaved itself pretty well for the past three weeks, though. (Imagine that: Automatically detecting when a massive connector is mated! We've lived to see some marvelous things..)

Even when the onscreen messages were nonsensical, the Blink often behaved as if some unsung, simpler machine were buried inside, still tending to the $100 job that the $1200 GUI takes the credit for; I'd hear the contactor cycle on & back off when I plugged the car in even if the screen stayed blank. So my current policy is not to be too concerned unless I fail to hear the "klunk...Klunk" cycle. If that fails to occur, I plan on snapping the Blink station's breaker off for a minute or so, then back on.

Levenkay said:

Even when the onscreen messages were nonsensical, the Blink often behaved as if some unsung, simpler machine were buried inside, still tending to the $100 job that the $1200 GUI takes the credit for; I'd hear the contactor cycle on & back off when I plugged the car in even if the screen stayed blank. So my current policy is not to be too concerned unless I fail to hear the "klunk...Klunk" cycle. If that fails to occur, I plan on snapping the Blink station's breaker off for a minute or so, then back on.

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Yeah, the GUI and monitoring seem to be some what independent systems so hopefully it'll take a lot more than some v.1 software bugs to keep it from charging.

I have the commercial Blink charger and needed it to switch on without having to use the RFID card each time.

Thanks to Darkstar who turned me on to Ingineer's thread about dumbing the blink I have disconnected the top 5 pin connector and although the screen shows "Out of order use another charger" it has been charging my car for over 90 mins and not shut off and without having to use the RFID card.

The Blink app shows unplugged but that is not really an issue as the purpose was to be able to turn on the AC to pre-cool the car using power supplied by the Blink and not the car. (I could not acomplish this as I needed a card to power up the Blink)

I plan to let it charge to 100% to make sure it is not going to quit before it reaches full charge and tomorrow I will try to use the car timer to switch on the Blink and then try to set the A/C timer as well.

I am not clear as to why I would disconect the 3 pin to "Shut Hal Down" any help?

Brightonuk said:

... I am not clear as to why I would disconect the 3 pin to "Shut Hal Down" any help?

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Just to save power and extinguish the "night light". Glad to see this is working for you. Keep us posted.

Ok charged to 100% over three+ hours

Brightonuk said:

Ok charged to 100% over three+ hours

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Awesome, great to hear! Now we just need to work on understanding the software a bit better. I've looked at my SD card and it seems to be just a basic scripting language, so maybe we can figure this out...

Gonna try to use the Leaf timer tonight to see if it will charge also going to kill Hal as the screen is usless anyway with the "Out of Service" warning