Portable 40A EVSE for $361 versus Leviton for $1500

[PearlRav]

Okay it's a bit off-topic but eventually I decided to pick-up a refurbished CS-60 from Ebay today.
I noticed some other owners of this unit have installed a TOU timer on the load management inputs.
Is there a particular recommended timer unit for this application?

 

[pchilds]

I tried it on my CS-60 and it didn't work with the RAV4 EV. After 10 minutes the RAV4 goes to sleep and doen't wake up to charge.

 

[PearlRav]

I tried it on my CS-60 and it didn't work with the RAV4 EV. After 10 minutes the RAV4 goes to sleep and doen't wake up to charge.

Did you tie it to the high/off or high/low input? Which timer did you try?

 

[pchilds]

I tried both. The HI/LOW drops the pilot to 6 amps. The HI/OFF is where the RAV4 goes to sleep. Tony suggested switching the pilot, I never tried that. I haven't had a timed charge fail since my last firmware update, in Dec 2013.

The timer is an older Intermatic, the EJ500 or ST01 will work.

 

[davewill]

I tried it on my CS-60 and it didn't work with the RAV4 EV. After 10 minutes the RAV4 goes to sleep and doen't wake up to charge.

That's odd. I've been using the timer on my Blink and the RAV is happy to wait hours before starting to charge.

 

[PearlRav]

I tried both. The HI/LOW drops the pilot to 6 amps. The HI/OFF is where the RAV4 goes to sleep. Tony suggested switching the pilot, I never tried that. I haven't had a timed charge fail since my last firmware update, in Dec 2013.

The timer is an older Intermatic, the EJ500 or ST01 will work.

What exactly does "switching the pilot" mean?

 

[pchilds]

What exactly does "switching the pilot" mean?

Put the timer in line with the pilot.

 

[drmanny3]

I sold my modified Leaf charger too soon. I still have another 2 months before turning in the car. So it has been kind of a pain to move the JESLA charger around. When I need to charge both the RAv4EV and the Leaf it becomes more of an issue. So lately I have been looking for another charger. I thought about purchasing a open EVSE charger like the juice box. I figured once we turn in the Leaf that I can either resell the unit, or keep it for the regular charging and load the JESLA into the trunk of the Rav4EV. Saw a couple of the Clipper Creek EVB40 units for sale. They were open box and a hundred or so cheaper than via Amazon. I saw this one that was on bid. So I followed it and got up at 6 am on last Sunday to bid. Ended up getting it for under $500 shipped. So I was very excited. I had to update the circuit from 20 amps (The Leaf only took 16 amps) to a 50 amp system. The wires were also in need of change. So I purchased some 8 gage wire and a tandem double 50 amp circuit. I was able to pull the old 50 amp/20amp out and replace it with the duel 50 amp. I then transferred the 20 amp circuits to the old Leaf 20 amp breaker. I was very proud. No sparks. Pulling the wires 16 feet through 1/2 pipe was not too bad either. The only remaining problem was coming up with a 50 amp receptacle that would match the Clipper Creek EVB40. I was able to find a surface mount that easily replaced the existing surface mount and connected to the conduit. Perfect! Then the Clipper Creek showed up. Man that sucker is big. Fortunately I had the wall space. I had decided to purchase the installation kit. I got that off of Amazon as an open box for about $45. Great Deal. Anyway got everything hooked up and plugged the unit in. The green light came on. So I hooked it up to the Leaf and closed everything up. After dinner I came out to take a look and the fault light was flashing red. I disconnect the unit and reconnected to see what happened. In short order the fault would start flashing. I decided to keep it unplugged until morning. In the morning I took the Rav4EV to Cars and Coffee but as most of you know they would not let me in with the Rav4EV. Got home and decided to check the panel to see if a circuit was kicked off. Everything looked ok but I decided to close and open the circuit just to make sure. Went over and plugged the Clipper Creek in and as usual the Green light comes on. This time no red fault light. I plugged it into the Rav4EV and it began to charge. So I guess everything is ok. Must have been the panel needed to be turned off and then on again to insure good circuit.

 

[drmanny3]

I went ahead and tried to charge the Leaf with the Clipper Creek. Again I got the fault signal. I pulled the cord and tried with the Rav4EV. It seemed to work ok. Something must be wrong with the Clipper Creek. I will need to call Tech Service on Monday.
Manny

 

[TonyWilliams]

I went ahead and tried to charge the Leaf with the Clipper Creek. Again I got the fault signal. I pulled the cord and tried with the Rav4EV. It seemed to work ok. Something must be wrong with the Clipper Creek. I will need to call Tech Service on Monday.
Manny

That's an odd failure. Good luck... Clipper Creek is a great company.

 

[drmanny3]

The Clipper Creek seemed to work with the Rav4EV then it too began flashing the red fault lite. I decided to just keep it off and contact them Monday. I don't think it was anything that I did in moving the power cord from the internal position (flush mount) to the external (surface mount) position. It just involved disconnecting the green, white and black wire and taking the plug out relocating everything. We will see. As you note I have heard good things about the company.

 

[miimura]

I think you're actually talking about a Leviton EVB40 unit, not Clipper Creek. Make sure to check the flat flex cable to make sure it is plugged in fully. If you removed it from the mainboard, make sure you put it back the correct direction. Flipping the flex cable can cause faults similar to what you described.

 

[drmanny3]

Thanks, I must have been experiencing a senior moment. You are correct it is Leviton not Clipper Creek. I will check the ribbon coupon, though I thought I put it on correctly.
Manny

 

[valerun]

firmware V8.7.2 posted on JuiceBox site at http://emotorwerks.com/JuiceBox_Public/8.7/50%20-%20Firmware/8.7.2/.

New features:
* Proper interface for a settings menu using the LCD and wireless remote
* Menu option 1: Current limit change at any time via a wireless remote - both for 120V and 240V operation
* Menu option 2: JuiceBox ID printout for WiFi data reporting
* Menu option 3: Clock setup at any time via a remote
* Various refactorings and minor bug fixes

This version matches kits / units V8.7.2 shipping now.

Val

 

[drmanny3]

By the way it is great that Val's EMotorWerks and Tony's Quick Charge Power are bringing great things to our EV lives. American capitalism and ingenuity at its best. Where would we be without brave entrepreneurial souls like these? Many thanks are owed.

I have been thinking at night about my dilemma of the fault red light blinking on my Leviton EVB40-P5T. I wondered if in changing the location of the plug from flush mount to surface mount in any way caused my problem. I was thinking that when I removed the twist wire nuts off of the red, green, and black wires that perhaps some strands of wire broke off and landed on the circuit board. I did the work while the unit was flat on the ground. I thought I had blown off anything that might have fallen off the wires. But, I was not really sure. The other thing I thought about was that the wires were cut short such that there was not much excess. So when I pulled out the wire receptacle and switched it to the surface mount position (bottom of the unit) I had to pull the connecting wires downward to reach. Once I had the wire twist connectors back on it seemed that the connectors were now smack in the middle near the large block of plastic (is it the internal breaker or relay?). I went ahead and used a couple of plastic ties to hold the connected wires close to the top of this block. The connectors were close to the wires connecting to this block.

So I opened up the unit again and made sure the area was clean of any copper wire strands. I wondered after making sure everything was clean if perhaps there was a magnetic field being created when current flowed and somehow that was tripping the fault circuit. So I cut the ties and then pulled the connected wires up higher away from this block. I tied them down again but they were clearly now about two inches further away. They now were parallel to other wires that I tied them to rather than at a right angle. So made sure the wall outlet worked by hooking up the JESLA and charging both the Leaf and the Rav4EV. Then I plugged in the Leviton and it blinked green and then went solid green. I connected to the Leaf and began charging. It completed the charge in a short time (car was almost full to begin with) without incident. I then hooked it up to the Rav4EV and completed that short charge (10min showing on the Rav4EV screen), again with no fault showing up. So do you think I found the problem? My old college physics class where you hold the wire with your right hand with your thumb pointing in the direction of the current flow. The direction of your fingers indicate that an electromotive force in a clockwise direction occurs. Did I get that right? This in turn could have induced a current that tripped the fault light????? Isn't science great.
Manny

 

[TonyWilliams]

The direction of your fingers indicate that an electromotive force in a clockwise direction occurs. Did I get that right? This in turn could have induced a current that tripped the fault light????? Isn't science great.
Manny

Manny,

Thanks for the kind words, particularly from our customers. I will have to give your post some thought, however!!!

 

[drmanny3]

Well, I might have spoken too soon. Last night I went out and put the connector back on the Leaf, and left it there. It is scheduled to charge after midnight. This morning I went out and took a look and the Leviton had a solid red fault light on. So even though it worked for a while the fault did come back. Maybe a trigger happy GFI circuit? I will call Leviton this morning and see what they say. I copied a tech sheet showing the insides but not sure how to load it up on this web site.
Manny

 

[drmanny3]

I contacted Leviton and they are sending someone out at 1:30 pm today. That is pretty fast. They were a little concerned that I opened up the unit and changed positions for the plug from flush mount to surface mount. But I cannot think of anything that I would have done that would result in this problem. We shall see.
Manny

 

[drmanny3]

One of the software designers of the Leviton EVB40-P5T came by to take a look at our unit. He checked all the connections then hooked up a fairly expensive scope. He was looking at a two signals that he indicated were too close to each other. If as the unit heated up the one voltage line surpassed the other than the fault would trip. I was not sure specifically what he was referencing. He did adjust a pot on the circuit board that separated the signals. He felt confident that this would fix the problem. So my hypothesis of the current draw being too close to the "relay" has been proven to be false. Nice guy, he drove a Ford CMax Energi. His other car is a 2012 Leaf. I think I turned him on to the Rav4EV. I gave him Diane's contact information. Nice to have someone who likes the stuff that they are working on. We are lucky being in California. In other States you end up sending in your unit, where as here they can come out and do the trouble shooting. He asked me to see if the Rav4EV would sometimes not charge. If the Leviton unit is hooked up to the car and charging when a power outage occurs the system will reboot after a random amount of time. Anywhere from 2 to 15 minutes. This insures that if you have several units on a street that they all don't come back on at the same time. Apparently when this happens, sometimes the car does not complete the charge. Leviton thinks that the Rav4EV software makes the charger go to sleep if it is interrupted during charging. The Rav4EV expects to see the charge come back on right away after an outage or disruption. He wanted to see if this happens to me at all. I mentioned there was a new firmware upgrade that I thought dealt with this issue? We shall see.
Manny

 

[valerun]

Manny - thanks for posting this - very interesting. We have noticed quite a few differences in how exactly the charging protocols are implemented across various vehicles... So far, the Volt and RAV seem to be the most, and Leaf is the least demanding ;-)

PS. We have just released a video manual of our Premium JuiceBox. Figured that it would take too long to describe all the features in text ;-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRKIpf2Wx_c

Thanks,
Valery