ECOtality Level 2 charger : Blink

[thankyouOB]

Hello,
The Blink is 10 times more stable when connected via LAN. I'm posting these bugs because I know Ecotality and EVP members monitor this board for data. When I called in my "trouble ticket" they already knew who I was and what I had been posting. They asked permission to distribute my post as an official work around. Anyway, that's why the bug posts to make sure they know about the programming error. I want this next firmware update to be a good one.

via LAN means not wireless but with an ethernet cord, in your case.
or do you mean something else, Bowthorn?

I thought LAN = Local Area Network and is independent of whether you use Cat5/6 ethernet or wireless. It is just your local network; ie. in your house.

 

[bowthom]

LAN = cat5e cable / ethernet in my case 10/100 baseT, if there is a distinction.
WAN = wireless area/access network

 

[TomT]

It's weird... I'm trying to figure out why I have had absolutely no problems with my Blink, the 80% timer always works they way it should, I don't get multiple emails, I've never had a WiFi failure, etc. I'm on WiFi (N, WPA2) with it and not doing anything special that I am aware of. The only thing I can thing of, and I honestly can't see it making a difference, is that when I remodeled a few years back and redid the power panel, I put in a whole house surge suppressor and filter. Maybe I just got one on the good side of all the tolerances... FYI, I'm running a Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH WiFi router behind a hardware firewall on a Cisco cable modem with TW.

Hello,
The Blink is 10 times more stable when connected via LAN. I'm posting these bugs because I know Ecotality and EVP members monitor this board for data. When I called in my "trouble ticket" they already knew who I was and what I had been posting.

 

[davewill]

LAN = cat5e cable / ethernet in my case, if there is a distinction.
WAN = wireless area/access network

Actually:
LAN: Local Area Network (regardless of wiring or wifi)
WAN: Wide Area Network

The ports on your home router will be labeled WAN (to connect to your broadband) and LAN to connect to everything in your house.

 

[bowthom]

LAN = cat5e cable / ethernet in my case, if there is a distinction.
WAN = wireless area/access network

Actually:
LAN: Local Area Network (regardless of wiring or wifi)
WAN: Wide Area Network

The ports on your home router will be labeled WAN (to connect to your broadband) and LAN to connect to everything in your house.

OK, I stand corrected. Thanks

 

[thankyouOB]

i talked to EcoT about wired and wireless. They said they have cat5 on the truck, otherwise I was going to buy 50 feet of cat5 with plugs at Best Buy for $20.
I also am upgrading and replacing my existing router to the newer linksys 4100, or something like that.
we have been having some degradation in signal as it is 6+ years old.

 

[Jimmydreams]

It's weird... I'm trying to figure out why I have had absolutely no problems with my Blink, the 80% timer always works they way it should, I don't get multiple emails, I've never had a WiFi failure, etc. I'm on WiFi (N, WPA2) with it and not doing anything special that I am aware of. The only thing I can thing of, and I honestly can't see it making a difference, is that when I remodeled a few years back and redid the power panel, I put in a whole house surge suppressor and filter. Maybe I just got one on the good side of all the tolerances...

DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING!!!!
:lol:

 

[Jimmydreams]

i talked to EcoT about wired and wireless. They said they have cat5 on the truck, otherwise I was going to buy 50 feet of cat5 with plugs at Best Buy for $20.
I also am upgrading and replacing my existing router to the newer linksys 4100, or something like that.
we have been having some degradation in signal as it is 6+ years old.

Once the unit is installed, they put a 'seal' on the case so you can't open it. I assume if I wanted to hardwire my Blink to my router to stabilize the performance, I would have to have the installer come back out with a new seal and 'connect' it for me? I can't see any port on the outside of the unit to plug in a CAT5 cable.

???

 

[bowthom]

Hello,
There is a port with a black plastic cover (looks like a power port) dead center on the bottom. Pop it open and you will find the ethernet connection.

 

[Jimmydreams]

Hello,
There is a port with a black plastic cover (looks like a power port) dead center on the bottom. Pop it open and you will find the ethernet connection.

Wow, THAT sucker was hard to find!! But I found it, thanks. My project for next weekend will be to hardwire my Blink and see if that helps with the stability.

 

[avilent]

Posted information about a successful Dual Blink Installation in SF Bay Area

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=3134

 

[bowthom]

Hello Blinkers,
OK, so I have to post this.
I just tried to log onto the Blink Network, it recognized my login but has forgotten the link to my charger I can not see my dashboard etc. I tried to re-register my charger but it says it cannot because it is registered to another user, presumably me. I'm sorry but this just seems like a continuation of buggy programming on the part of the Blink organization. Some person/people's job(s) is at stake here and they better step up. The more I encounter this kind of poor execution the more I want to build my own charger and tell them to take this Blink unit back and to heck with the EVP. :roll: :evil:

On edit: So I'm venting again, seems to happen every weekend.

 

[evnow]

I just tried to log onto the Blink Network, it recognized my login but has forgotten the link to my charger I can not see my dashboard etc.

Haven't had that problem yet - atleast it remembers me and I don't have to login every 5 minutes once. Ofcourse, currently the charge data is is missing most of my charges ...

 

[garygid]

No progress messages from Blink?
What problems are they working on fixing?
What problems have they not yet begun to address?
What problems do they not even acknowledge yet?

 

[evnow]

No progress messages from Blink?
What problems are they working on fixing?
What problems have they not yet begun to address?
What problems do they not even acknowledge yet?

Few companies, if any, share that kind of information. Gary, which planet do you live in ? :twisted:

ps : I was told some of that info, but have been "sworn" to secrecy.

 

[garygid]

OK, fine.
Based on currently available information, I would not accept a Blink EVSE without a reliable backup.

 

[evnow]

My new plan :

Leaf timer - 12:10 PM to 12:00 PM
Blink timer : Off

I made these changes and plugged in just now (well, 30 minutes back). Leaf started charging right away.

Update : For the first time, while charging, Blink is connected to the network. I can browse it on the intranet. So, I wonder whether the network problem had something to do with the Leaf connecting & then disconnecting ?

 

[perpetualstudent]

For those of you that had a charge interupted, do you see an EV System warning light when you first turn on the vehicle. It looks like we get the warning when the EVSE was interupted. However if I restart the charging (I have been using the blink to restart the charge process) and we unplug while battery is still charging (or if it has successfully completed) we do not get the warning. We will be taking the car into the dealer tomorrow just to make sure it isn't the car, but the only time we used a public EVSE everything worked fine.

 

[Azrich]

OK, fine.
Based on currently available information, I would not accept a Blink EVSE without a reliable backup.

Mine is working fine. Charges every night when I tell it to. I needed to have the firmware updated by the Blink Network tech but everything else is working. I prefer to use the LEAF charging schedule because I can choose to only charge to 80%, but I imagine Blink will add this to their firmware.

 

[evnow]

I prefer to use the LEAF charging schedule because I can choose to only charge to 80%, but I imagine Blink will add this to their firmware.

Blink doesn't know the charge SOC at any point - so it can't do that. Leaf has to do that 80% charging.

What Blink firmware update will do is to play nice with a timer set on Leaf.