Which timer to use - Leaf's or Blink's?

[andrewcrow]

Which charger do you recommend I use and why? The Blink installer says I should use the Leaf's onboard charger because Nissan put more time and effort into their software. But, I find the Leaf's timers to be more difficult to set than Blink's. Suggestions?

 

[derkraut]

I've always used the car timer because it is more reliable. The blink often "crashes", especially the 1st 6 months or so.

 

[waitingforaleaf]

I've used the Blink's timer since 1.7 software and it has worked fine. The latest software has been very stable and I wouldn't have qualms about using the Blink timers. I also have the car timer set for 24/7 80% charge and just use the timer override button before plugging in if I need a 100% charge.

 

[thankyouOB]

i use the car timers, but sometimes use the blink to shut it down in the car.
i also use the blink to check that the charge has happened overnight and how long.
in the am, i can start up for heat with the AP or add part of an 11th bar and then put a stop to it with the blink.

 

[gbarry42]

It will ultimately depend on your charging situation, but most of us fall into the "charge it every night" scenario. The timers in the LEAF are more flexible, therefore more complicated, but once you have them set you are done and can just let them do their thing. They're not that hard to set up. The menus guide you and the only "gotcha" I run into is where you have to go back a screen and hit "save" for the settings to take. Oh, and that business of 5AM being "tomorrow".

I have timers set in the Blink as well, but that's more for stunt value than for practicality.

 

[TomT]

Both Blink and Nissan recommend using the car's timers. Nissan recommends this for any EVSE, not just the Blink, since the Leaf's timers do not play well with others...

Which charger do you recommend I use and why? The Blink installer says I should use the Leaf's onboard charger because Nissan put more time and effort into their software. But, I find the Leaf's timers to be more difficult to set than Blink's. Suggestions?

 

[DarkStar]

Both Blink and Nissan recommend using the car's timers. Nissan recommends this for any EVSE, not just the Blink, since the Leaf's timers do not play well with others...

Umm... Not true. Blink doesn't "recommend" owners use the Nissan timer over the Blink timer.

As said earlier, it doesn't really matter which timer you use as it will depend on what works best for you. If you need 80% charging, you'll want to use the car timer. For someone like me that just does 100% charging and public charging, using the Blink timer is the preferred method.

For what it's worth, I've had my Blink since March of 2011 and it has charged my car every night without issue. Ironically, the only time I had a charging issue was when I used the Nissan timers and turned off all the Blink timers. When I reported the issue to Nissan they just told me that Carwings sometimes will mess up the vehicle timer...

 

[TomT]

Actually, they in fact do. Go back and look at some of the old threads on that subject here for more info... It may be better now with the software updates to both the car and the Blink but back then, both definitely did not recommend the Blink timers for a Leaf...

Both Blink and Nissan recommend using the car's timers. Nissan recommends this for any EVSE, not just the Blink, since the Leaf's timers do not play well with others...

Umm... Not true. Blink doesn't "recommend" owners use the Nissan timer over the Blink timer.

 

[philipscoggins]

I've had my LEAF for a week now & 450 miles later I'm starting to get the hang of it.

I drive about 70 miles on weekdays (kids to school, work, lunch, errands etc) & the one weekday I tried to charge to 80% was my only LBW, wasn't a big deal, but did stress me a little as at that point I have no cushion for emergencies.

So, since I'm charging to 100% on weekdays I try to have the timer finish about 30 minutes before I leave in the morning, which is 7:00am. But my masiive amount of e-mails & txt messages I get from my car & charger say that the charge finished around 4:30am or so. I know that the battery sitting at 100% isn't the best plan for long life, but I don't want to tell it to be ready @ 9:00am and not be charged.

Does everyone have the same "problem" of the car's charger finishing the charge 2+ hours early?

Philip

 

[Volusiano]

I use the Blink's timer to set up Peak/Off-Peak times, and the Leaf's timer to set 80% charge any time. This way, if I plug in my Leaf in public, it'll charge at any time, and if I plug in my Leaf at home, it'll charge during off-peak times only.

 

[davewill]

I use the Blink's timer to set up Peak/Off-Peak times, and the Leaf's timer to set 80% charge any time. This way, if I plug in my Leaf in public, it'll charge at any time, and if I plug in my Leaf at home, it'll charge during off-peak times only.

I do something very similar. I use the LEAF's timer to do all the time 80% charging, and set the Blink's to charge from 1AM to 6PM. That way if I plug into a public charger or at home during the day, it just charges. But if I plug in in the evening (like after work) it will wait until early morning.