My Leviton 40A EVSE quit today

[Michael Bornstein]

I bought a 40A Leviton around November 2012 when I first got my RAV4 EV. it has worked perfectly since then, charging the RAV and also a Volt that I got in October 2013. Last night it died

It last worked perfectly Thursday morning, charging the RAV4. Thursday night, when I plugged in the Volt, the green light on the Leviton flashed a few times, but the yellow charging light didn't come on. Normally, the yellow light will come on for a few seconds until the Volt realizes that it really doesn't want to charge until midnight. The yellow light will then normally turn off and the Volt's charging indicator will flash showing that it is on a delayed charge. Yesterday, nothing. The green light on the charger flashed a few times and then stopped. The Volt gave no indication of being connected to a charger.

I tried it on my RAV and absolutely nothing happened. The yellow charging indicator lights didn't flash as they normally do to indicate a delayed charge, and I didn't hear the normal hum from the car (? battery maintenance) that occurs when the car is connected but not charging.

I eventually charged the Volt successfully with a 120V EVSE.

This morning I shut the 50A breaker off from the Leviton for a few minutes and tried it again, but no success. Called Leviton and they said to shut the breaker off for at least 15 minutes and then retry. If that doesn't work, I will have to call them again Monday morning (They are on Eastern time and I am in California so that works out ok)

Has anyone experienced this before? Is there an internal fuse in the Leviton that may have blown? How do I dismount the unit so that I can get at the hidden 6-50R in order to plug in my OpenEVSE?

 

[miimura]

How do I dismount the unit so that I can get at the hidden 6-50R in order to plug in my OpenEVSE?

There are two plastic tabs at the bottom of the unit that will allow you to remove the front plastic cover by pulling the bottom of the cover away from the wall. Then, it will look like this:

In that picture you can see the red tabs at the bottom that you had to push to remove the white front cover.
I mounted mine with hex head bolts screwed into the plywood. If you followed the instructions and used the mounting plate, then all you have to do is loosen the screw just above my lower bolt and the whole unit slides off the bracket after you've unplugged the 6-50. Good luck.

 

[jscgvnc]

Disclaimer: I've never opened mine, so I could be talking out my ass.

I have the same charger. My guess, just from listening to it, is that there are some relays inside the box(as well as other stuff). Hopefully, they are 50A relays made by a reputable company.

But the probably are not, they are probably crappy relays. I work with relays a lot, and they are often the problem. Especially if they are switching the DC and not the AC. If they are switching the AC it's not that bad, but if they switch the dc, hello arcing.

Not that this information helps at all, because you already forked over the cash for this thing, and they should replace it. So you wouldn't want to do anything silly like crack the box open and void your warranty(if that would void your warranty....I should look that up....).

 

[Michael Bornstein]

Not that this information helps at all, because you already forked over the cash for this thing, and they should replace it. So you wouldn't want to do anything silly like crack the box open and void your warranty(if that would void your warranty....I should look that up....).

Josh:
Thanks for the advice. Actually I was just about to do something stupid :roll: and remove the four small screws seen in the picture above to see what's inside.

In any event, I have to dismount the unit to get access to my 6-50 socket in order to plug in my OpenEVSE (thanks GlennD). I will leave further disassembly until I talk to Leviton on Monday morning.

I wonder how long the warranty is on this thing as it is at least 2 years and 4-5 months old. If they want something exorbitant in repair costs, what Clipper Creek unit would people recommend?

 

[eschatfische]

The warranty on the Levitons is 10 years if you had it installed through the Leviton/Toyota program and 3 years if you bought retail. You should definitely give them a call, I suspect there won't be any repair cost.

 

[GlennD]

Worst case you could convert it to an OpenEVSE. You already have the expensive J1772 cable. If it has a 3 year warranty then that would be the way to go. Free is always good!

 

[TonyWilliams]

Worst case you could convert it to an OpenEVSE. You already have the expensive J1772 cable. If it has a 3 year warranty then that would be the way to go. Free is always good!

I second this. Put in OPENEVSE is the warranty doesn't pan out for some reason.

Also, it might just be the relay, which would be an easy fix.

 

[Outlier]

When we got ours last July, it stopped working after about a week. The Leviton guys in San Diego were great. UPSed down on a Monday and got it back on Wednesday. It's worked like a champ since. And I love those NY wise guy accents when you call them back east.

 

[Michael Bornstein]

Thanks Glenn. I am already using the OpenEVSE "we" built together last year, and it seems to working fine. Tony's cable is much lighter than the behemoth on the Leviton; I only wish I could switch out that cable :roll: Since the Leviton is covered by warranty, I just dismounted it and will deal with Leviton Monday. Thank you for supplying such a high quality product. So far I haven't had any problems, but this is really the first time that I have actually used it besides some minor testing.

 

[GlennD]

Thanks Glenn. I am already using the OpenEVSE "we" built together last year, and it seems to working fine. Tony's cable is much lighter than the behemoth on the Leviton; I only wish I could switch out that cable :roll: Since the Leviton is covered by warranty, I just dismounted it and will deal with Leviton Monday. Thank you for supplying such a high quality product. So far I haven't had any problems, but this is really the first time that I have actually used it besides some minor testing.

I think you are OK. I used some over sized blue lugs on yours. They should have good crimps. On the one you sold I used rated 12-10 yellow lugs on #12 wire and the crimps were not secure and burned. In any event whenever you are in the area I would like to check the crimps and solder them.

 

[jscgvnc]

I think you are OK. I used some over sized blue lugs on yours. They should have good crimps. On the one you sold I used rated 12-10 yellow lugs on #12 wire and the crimps were not secure and burned. In any event whenever you are in the area I would like to check the crimps and solder them.

The best compression lugs I have used are Thomas and Betts lugs. If you are using a proper crimping tool, soldering is unnecessary and may be against the manufacturers recommendation.

Also, any insulated lugs should use nylon insulation, not that vinyl that comes on regular insulated lugs from the hardware store.

 

[GlennD]

I think you are OK. I used some over sized blue lugs on yours. They should have good crimps. On the one you sold I used rated 12-10 yellow lugs on #12 wire and the crimps were not secure and burned. In any event whenever you are in the area I would like to check the crimps and solder them.

The best compression lugs I have used are Thomas and Betts lugs. If you are using a proper crimping tool, soldering is unnecessary and may be against the manufacturers recommendation.

Also, any insulated lugs should use nylon insulation, not that vinyl that comes on regular insulated lugs from the hardware store.

I have a number of crimpers I use Scotch Highlander terminals normally. For normal use I have never experienced over heating but an EVSE is a continuous load. Soldering is not a good idea if you require flexibility. since the solder tends to migrate up the wire but that does not apply here.

By the way, the absolute worst terminals I have ever encountered were same 1/4 inch red push on connectors from Ebay. I swear tin cans have better metal!

 

[Michael Bornstein]

In any event whenever you are in the area I would like to check the crimps and solder them.

Thanks Glenn. Next time I go shopping in Torrance (probably in 3 weeks), I will give you a call.
Mike

 

[Dsinned]

Perfect place for rats to make a nest and chew on your insulated cables behind the box. might be worth taking a look-see if that's what happened.

 

[Michael Bornstein]

Perfect place for rats to make a nest and chew on your insulated cables behind the box. might be worth taking a look-see if that's what happened.

Two legged or four legged? :lol:

Actually, the wiring is perfect, and my cats will keep the rats at bay. (My lovable pit bull will do his part with the 2-legged variety). :twisted:

Called Leviton and they will send a box and a return shipping label. The repair will be FREE!!

Until then I will be using the OpenEVSE I got from Glenn.

 

[Michael Bornstein]

Great service from Leviton

The box arrived last week and I shipped it out on Thursday. Monday it was back. I re-installed it and it works

 

[Larry_in_Seattle]

Well, my 2011 vintage 30A Blink charger (got with my LEAF) stopped charging last night after about 20 minutes. Got a charge interruption notice from Entune. Hmmm... Went out, unplugged it, flipped the breaker for about a minute, plugged it back in and it started working again....for another 20-30 minutes. Then stopped

Frustrated, I grabbed my JESLA and it worked fine to complete the charge. Tonight, same story. Blink quit twice, JESLA working perfectly. The Blink never has overheated.

Any Thoughts or ideas?

 

[TonyWilliams]

I would open it up and start the charge with an IR thermometer and see if something is getting hot (like the relay).

 

[Larry_in_Seattle]

Thanks, Tony. I'll give it a try this weekend.