Schneider EVSE

1932highboy said:

I use the immediate charge button and just plug it in and it starts up fine. i haven't used the timer yet.

Click to expand...

My instructions for the EV2430WS makes no mention of an "immediate charge button". There seem to be only two buttons: "delay" and "stop".

oops, my bad, I was referring to the button on the car.

mckemie said:

\Perhaps I spoke too soon. It doesn't start charging when plugged in. Some combination of pushing buttons on the EVSE and plugging and un-plugging the J1772 thingy eventually gets it going. Haven't yet figured out the exact string of operations needed.

Click to expand...

I have posted both here and in one other thread that I am experiencing a similar issue. I don't know if you're experiencing the same thing I am. Here is what happens when it fails:
-I plug the unit into the car
-The car does a single beep. At the same time, the EVSE flashes like it is going to go in a timer mode.
-Nothing else happens.
At that point I can do one of two things. I can unplug and plug back in, which has worked almost every time, or I can go into the car and push the cancel timer button which works every time.

I've been in communication with some engineers at Schneider. They are looking into it, but have not gotten back to me.

The problem has been getting "worse" the past week or so - I wonder if the warmer weather has something to do with it.

JasonT said:

mckemie said:

\Perhaps I spoke too soon. It doesn't start charging when plugged in. Some combination of pushing buttons on the EVSE and plugging and un-plugging the J1772 thingy eventually gets it going. Haven't yet figured out the exact string of operations needed.

Click to expand...

I have posted both here and in one other thread that I am experiencing a similar issue. I don't know if you're experiencing the same thing I am. Here is what happens when it fails:
-I plug the unit into the car
-The car does a single beep. At the same time, the EVSE flashes like it is going to go in a timer mode.
-Nothing else happens.
At that point I can do one of two things. I can unplug and plug back in, which has worked almost every time, or I can go into the car and push the cancel timer button which works every time.

I've been in communication with some engineers at Schneider. They are looking into it, but have not gotten back to me.

The problem has been getting "worse" the past week or so - I wonder if the warmer weather has something to do with it.

Click to expand...

Hey! Thanks! That sounds exactly like what is happening to me. So you get it to work by plugging the J1772 in twice? I'll give that a try without pushing any EVSE buttons.

How about some Schneider contact information? I'll report mine, too.

It's plenty hot here, over 100 every day and down to only 80 at night.

Its been over 100+°F for over 20+ days here in Wichita Falls. The heat in my garage is not causing any problems with my Schnieder EVSE.

mckemie said:

Hey! Thanks! That sounds exactly like what is happening to me. So you get it to work by plugging the J1772 in twice? I'll give that a try without pushing any EVSE buttons.

How about some Schneider contact information? I'll report mine, too.

Click to expand...

Yes, as much as I can remember, plugging in a second time has always worked for me. It is possible that I have had to do it more than once, but if so that has been extremely rare and hasn't happened in a while.

As for contact info, they ended up calling me after I submitted my info on the form here. The number that I got on my caller ID does not seem like a main business line, so I don't know how happy they would be if I gave out that number.

It doesn't start charging when plugged in. Some combination of pushing buttons on the EVSE and plugging and un-plugging the J1772 thingy eventually gets it going.

Click to expand...

You don't need to push any buttons. My wife, whose car it is, says all she does is push the nozzle into the port on the car until it clicks and then she pushes more until it stops. Thats all there is to it. She says this works first time every time.

ml194152 said:

You don't need to push any buttons. My wife, whose car it is, says all she does is push the nozzle into the port on the car until it clicks and then she pushes more until it stops. Thats all there is to it. She says this works first time every time.

Click to expand...

I've played some with this and whatever is going on it's not this. I've done super-light plug-ins where it just barely clicks, and the car charges fine. When it doesn't charge, I've tried pushing, pulling, wiggling - everything except pulling it out and reconnecting it - and nothing helps.

JasonT said:

I've played some with this and whatever is going on it's not this. I've done super-light plug-ins where it just barely clicks, and the car charges fine. When it doesn't charge, I've tried pushing, pulling, wiggling - everything except pulling it out and reconnecting it - and nothing helps.

Click to expand...

I've now charged with the Schneider 3 or 4 times. Today, for the very first time, it started charging when plugged in.

So quick question to those people having issues charging.

What behaviors do you observe when plugging into the LEAF when you have this "fail to charge" state?

Here are my observations when initially using the EVSE;


--With the car in the ready to charge state (if a schedule is set, it is currently within the allowed charging schedule), plug the J1772 connector into the car.
--The top left green light on the EVSE will flash.
--You'll hear a loud click from the EVSE(what you hear is the contactor switching, very similar to a relay sound).
--After the click, you should observe about a 10 second delay before the top left green light on the EVSE is no longer illuminated.
--Once the top left green light goes off, the top right green light on the EVSE should illuminate.
--At this point, the car will start charging.


As some pointed out, make sure you plug in the connector securely and all the way to ensure the proper connection.

As a side note, with the Schneider Electric EVSE, the bottom button is a "Delay Charging" button. So be sure NOT to press that if you want "immediate" charging. Even without pushing the Delay button, there is always about a 10 second delay.

I hope that helps! Let me know if you observe anything different.

I've been using the Schneider EVSE for a few weeks now, charging every night. I have a 12am to 8am timer (M-Su) setup in the LEAF, and no timers setup on the EVSE.

I plugin the EVSE to the LEAF, both the EVSE and LEAF make a few noises, but essentially nothing happens. I get an email around 5am saying charging is complete, and I repeat the process the next night.

There have been a couple times where I have overridden the charge timers in the LEAF, and that worked without problems too.

I'm sure those of you having charging issues have fully investigated the LEAF timers. However, I was caught off-guard initially when I was 110v charging. I setup a timer for weekends, so it'd charge to 80%, and didn't setup a timer for the weekdays. Turns out, I had to setup a timer for the weekdays too, to charge to 100%. Perhaps there is a single day within your LEAF timer schedules that isn't included?

Anyway, hope you all are able to solve the EVSE charging issues.

I charged my new Leaf quite a few times with the 110v EVSE with no issues. Plug it in and it starts charging. The first several times I plugged in the Schneider, it failed to start on the first try. More recently, the Schneider HAS started without incident. Maybe three times. Today, it failed to start again, a single beep from the Leaf, then nothing else. No blue dashboard lights. I then unplugged the J1772 and plugged it back in. And it started.

Until today, it has been hot. Maybe over 100 deg when I charge. Today, it was only about 85. It does not seem to be temperature related.

I've never messed with delayed charging.

TNleaf said:

--With the car in the ready to charge state (if a schedule is set, it is currently within the allowed charging schedule), plug the J1772 connector into the car.
--The top left green light on the EVSE will flash.
--You'll hear a loud click from the EVSE(what you hear is the contactor switching, very similar to a relay sound).
--After the click, you should observe about a 10 second delay before the top left green light on the EVSE is no longer illuminated.
--Once the top left green light goes off, the top right green light on the EVSE should illuminate.
--At this point, the car will start charging.

Click to expand...

I believe you have your steps wrong. The loud click doesn't happen until your next-to-the-last step. I'm sure I posted earlier in the thread, but here is what happens:

• Plug car in
• Car does single beep, briefly flashes single blue light
• EVSE displays left green light and timer
• After a delay, EVSE goes dark

That's it. What SHOULD happen is after the delay, you get the clunk, car should beep twice, right green light should start flashing, and blue light on car should start flashing.

I can assure you it is not a matter of getting the connector in correctly. I remember someone having that problem with another EVSE but this isn't the case here. In trying to repro the problem I've gently pushed in the connector and not used the button at all. Even with this super-light plugging in the EVSE worked fine.

danmeljeff said:

I've been using the Schneider EVSE for a few weeks now, charging every night. I have a 12am to 8am timer (M-Su) setup in the LEAF, and no timers setup on the EVSE.

Click to expand...

I would guess that anyone using the car's charging timer would not have the problem. The car knows it is plugged in, and pressing the "charge now/cancel timer" button makes things work. It's just a guess though.

My problem has gotten worse - I know there are others that say it isn't heat related, but I just don't have another explanation. I used to have the failure maybe... once in ten tries. I've been paying more attention, and four of the last five tries have failed initially.

Another stab in the dark. I suspect the issue is with the delay that the EVSE has before it starts charging. When I plug in the 120V EVSE, the car goes straight from one beep to two beeps. Again, I'm guessing, but I would imagine there is a slight variance in that delay which is why A)it is intermittent and B)some are seeing it and not others.

I want to emphasize again that Schenider IS on this. I have so far gotten three or four calls from a Schneider rep, with two or three of those calls having engineers conferenced in. They have access to a Leaf, are talking with US Nissan reps (who then talk to Japanese Nissan reps). I am confident that Schneider will get this fixed. Until then - if this happens just unplug/replug, or hit the cancel timer button in the car.

JasonT said:

I want to emphasize again that Schenider IS on this. I have so far gotten three or four calls from a Schneider rep, with two or three of those calls having engineers conferenced in. They have access to a Leaf, are talking with US Nissan reps (who then talk to Japanese Nissan reps). I am confident that Schneider will get this fixed. Until then - if this happens just unplug/replug, or hit the cancel timer button in the car.

Click to expand...

Hopefully something gets resolved, good to hear Nissan is in the loop too. At least the workaround is pretty simple, although less convenient, I hope your issue gets resolved.

TNleaf said:

Hopefully something gets resolved, good to hear Nissan is in the loop too. At least the workaround is pretty simple, although less convenient, I hope your issue gets resolved.

Click to expand...

I remain satisfied with my Schneider as long as it doesn't take too much time to get it going. Mine seemed to have started off poorly and improved with time. I expect that Schneider will get it fixed.

Rant: all these compatibility problems raise my ire because they are so completely unnecessary. Why have a frigging costly J1772 connection? Why not just plug it in like an RV? See also the incompatibility between the Panasonic EVSE and the Volt. HORSEHOCKY!

Well, I have some "non" news that I still feel is good news. On Friday my Schneider contact let me know that they did some testing with a Leaf and they were able to reproduce the problem. It doesn't sound like much, but this was my biggest concern. Intermittent issues can be a real pain to figure out. Schneider being able to repro is the first step on them finding the solution. I will keep everyone updated in this thread as I am updated.

mckemie said:

Rant: all these compatibility problems raise my ire because they are so completely unnecessary. Why have a frigging costly J1772 connection? Why not just plug it in like an RV? See also the incompatibility between the Panasonic EVSE and the Volt. HORSEHOCKY!

Click to expand...

I can not answer to the "why" - I'm not technical enough, but I would bet others here could answer that better (maybe a new thread if there's not already one on this topic?). As to the incompatibilities - welcome to early adoptor-land! Anyone remember how bad HDMI was when it first came out? It was a guessing game as to whether different brands of TVs, Recievers and DVD Players would all talk to each other or not.

mckemie said:

Rant: all these compatibility problems raise my ire because they are so completely unnecessary. Why have a frigging costly J1772 connection? Why not just plug it in like an RV?...

Click to expand...

The J1772 is safe enough to hand to a ten year old to plug in during a rainstorm, the RV plug is not. That's the main reason and it's a good one. You want more? You wouldn't be able to plug your car into a low amperage source without the signaling in the J1772 spec. Sure, you could include a dial-a-current feature in the car, but people would constantly be getting it wrong and blowing breakers on public chargers. I'll stick with the "friggin" J1772 which is actually not that bad. The EVSEs WILL come down in price unless EVs fail again.

Unfortunately the mechanical dimentions of the J1772 are standardized but not all the communication protocalls. This is demonstrated by the fact Volt will not work on the Nissan included evse brick. Possibly the Leaf will not work on the Voltec? Hopefully this gets worked out as a proprietory difference will cause hardship for all EVs.

smkettner said:

Unfortunately the mechanical dimentions of the J1772 are standardized but not all the communication protocalls. This is demonstrated by the fact Volt will not work on the Nissan included evse brick. Possibly the Leaf will not work on the Voltec? Hopefully this gets worked out as a proprietory difference will cause hardship for all EVs.

Click to expand...

That wasn't a signalling problem, it was a timeout they chose problem. The Volt was timing out and retrying when no such timeout was included in the J1772 spec. It turns out the Nissan L1 EVSE takes longer than the timeout to start supplying power. Some idiot programmer at GM took it on himself to decide that if power wasn't there by a certain time, he should just try again! Had he followed the spec, all would have been OK. It's a very minor issue, and all the retail EVSEs will simply react faster (there really isn't a good reason for them to be slow, either). These things are bound to happen, and this is not a case of being "proprietary". It's mostly a lack of ability to cross test this stuff in the early going. The Panasonic guys almost certainly didn't get a Volt to test on!

I've been using L1 since 4/13, just got the Schneider hooked up today. L2 charging right now, it's nice to have a faster option.