ALL POSTS about Charge Timer Failure

[jzj]

Hi, I'm new to this forum, but I'd like to add my experience.

I have had my car for 2 weeks, I am using the Ecotality Blink EVSE that performed flawlessly for the past two years with my now-traded Leaf, and while everything works fine while charging, the EVSE and the car lose their "handshake" 10-15 minutes after being plugged in when charging is scheduled on either or both the car's or the EVSE's timer. Very frustrating to have to manually plug it in around midnight every night. The car is going back to the dealer in a few days to investigate the issue, but I now clearly see that this is not a unique problem -- and hopefully Toyota is well-aware of this forum and the issues so many of you have thoroughly presented.

 

[pchilds]

Do not use a Blink EVSE with the RAV4, the plug on the Blink can melt and damage your RAV4.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?t=10749

 

[jzj]

1. The damage to the Blink is concerning.
2. The damage should primarily concern Toyota and Ecotality, as the Blink is listed with Toyota as compatible (which, of course, every J1772 EVSE ought to be). That said, it would very much of concern to me if there is a fire danger.
3. I've used the Blink without issue for a couple of weeks: did the damage depicted occur on the first use, or after many uses?

Thanks.

 

[TonyWilliams]

1. The damage to the Blink is concerning.
2. The damage should primarily concern Toyota and Ecotality, as the Blink is listed with Toyota as compatible (which, of course, every J1772 EVSE ought to be). That said, it would very much of concern to me if there is a fire danger.
3. I've used the Blink without issue for a couple of weeks: did the damage depicted occur on the first use, or after many uses?

Thanks.

That was my Blink that melted, and Toyota had to drop the battery to change the charge cable.

Happened in Nov, a short while after I got my car. It had been charging the LEAF with the usual Blink reliability (never 100%) for about 5-6 months previously.

I just had a reoccurance of a Blink trying to melt the pins at Macy's in North County Fair, Escodido, CA. I measured 160F on the left pin and 145F on the right after 1 hour of charging.

 

[jzj]

My Blink (like all Blinks?) is on a 40A breaker and I think it can only pull 32A, which I assume to mean that it limits the amount of juice the 10KW RAV4 charger can actually take down to about 7.6KW. Given this, and given that it performed flawlessly for 2 years with the (3.3KW) Leaf charger, is there still reason for concern?

The next time I charge it, I'll check the temperature of the plug. By feeling how hot it gets with my carefully calibrated fingers.

 

[SeaMonster]

"Tail" light. On the turn signal lever.

No, I have not been able to get mine in diagnostic yet either. I intended to have a tech at the dealer show me, but when I asked, of course he just said that he uses the Toyota shop computer for that stuff. I'm going to guess that he hasn't done it either, particularly when he stated that mine has been the only Rav4EV in his shop.

Well, I can't get into Diagnostic Mode.

However, I did find some version numbers in Settings -> General Settings -> Software Update
They are:
Navigation: VB503102
Bluetooth: 21.202

It seems unlikely that these are relevant, but that's all I can find. What are these values in other cars?

 

[SeaMonster]

Also the car did successfully charge last night. (Yes, one sample really means nothing.) The only thing of interest is that it completed at 5:41 for a scheduled 7:00 departure. So they definitely haven't fixed the issue of poorly estimating the charge time.

 

[TonyWilliams]

Also the car did successfully charge last night. (Yes, one sample really means nothing.) The only thing of interest is that it completed at 5:41 for a scheduled 7:00 departure. So they definitely haven't fixed the issue of poorly estimating the charge time.

My car picked last night not to charge.

 

[TonyWilliams]

My Blink (like all Blinks?) is on a 40A breaker and I think it can only pull 32A, which I assume to mean that it limits the amount of juice the 10KW RAV4 charger can actually take down to about 7.6KW. Given this, and given that it performed flawlessly for 2 years with the (3.3KW) Leaf charger, is there still reason for concern?

The next time I charge it, I'll check the temperature of the plug. By feeling how hot it gets with my carefully calibrated fingers.

What you're describing above was exactly my scenario (BTW, Blinks only pulls 30 amps, however). Caveat Emptor.

 

[Bassman]

Got home last night with 24% of battery capacity, plugged in and the car started charging, but it's only 8:30 PM and my Monday departure time is 6:00 AM and the timer says it will start at 12:40AM. So I unplug and replug it in. The car starts charging, but then stops, so I think okay. Well, I woke at 3 AM and checked and ofcourse the car didn't start charging, so I had to manually start the process with the entune app. Luckily by 5:30 I had enough charge to get to work. Toyota really needs to get the timer issue fixed!! :evil:

 

[mikeEmike]

The next time I charge it, I'll check the temperature of the plug. By feeling how hot it gets with my carefully calibrated fingers.

You might want to pick up something like an infrared thermometer (~$50). Here is where I got mine: http://www.thermoworks.com/products/ir/irgun.html. I have used it for all sorts of stuff, like measuring how hot a cast iron skillet gets, where a leaky hot water pipe was in my slab foundation, and how much difference a radiant barrier made on my garage door. It should do the job here, certainly better than a finger can. You certainly don't want to touch the pins with your finger, unless you want to brand yourself.

If money is no option, a thermal imaging camera is even better ($1000+). Here's one in action: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=10749&hilit=gory&start=116. I'd love to have one of these but I have a hard time justifying the cost since I haven't really outgrown the infrared thermometer. You can actually rent them at Home Depot for about $45/4hrs, or $70/day if I remember correctly.

Other members of the forum might have better suggestions for tools that might be better suited.

 

[Dsinned]

I don't trust a "scheduled" charge at all anymore. It is just too risky, so I usually just initiate a charge manually via Entunes on my iPhone right around midnight (on week nights or after 9pm on weekends). Unfortunately, even this method is seldom successful on the first couple of tries. However, once the status changes to "charging" on the Entunes display, it does in fact start charging, and continues charging until completion.

 

[Brandy]

Just wanted to mentioned my observations and comments on my charge problems.

Some observations;
* Pre-climate, as long as it's scheduled to run it will; even if the car is not plugged in. This came a surprise as it's not the way the 2002 worked.

* Pre-Climate, when initiated from the Entune will draw power from the EVSE if plugged in. There is an exception; unless a scheduled pre-climate has just finished a new cycle will not start, there appears to be xx-minute wait required.

* On 240 12Amp charge the car always recognizes the UMC EVSE as 120v so it calculates the times wrong. I've had my UMC modded for 120/240V.

Scheduled departure time for me is 7:30AM and the charger use to start anywhere from Midnight to 4AM. I have been letting the schedule just run to see what happens. The last few days that I've payed attention the start times have been about the expected 40A charge rate plus 30mins.

Lesson here is there seems to be a learning algorithm and the more you play with manual start during a schedule the more confused the charge algorithm becomes. I'm fortunate, if I miss a charge I'm not going to be stranded.

=D~~ Brandy

 

[Bassman]

Second day in a row, the car failed to charge. This is getting really frustrating. :x Luckily, I work from home on Tuesdays and don't need the car to get to work.

 

[jzj]

I appreciate the suggestions re temperature gauges and the like. However, fundamentally, while I enjoy the Tesla powertrain, I am not readily accepting these charging and Entune failures (especially in a $50,000 vehicle). I would like to receive feedback as to where people on this board think these matters are in terms of achieving permanent resolution through Toyota (and not through work-arounds).

Thanks.

 

[FreshAndClean]

I've had numerous issues with entune (not charger timer issues specifically) on my Rav and had been working with one of the head tech experts at Toyota for over 2 weeks. He mentioned that a new software update is imminent and will address a lot of issues... specifically in regard to the charger timer failures. No time frame was given but it's supposed to happen "soon". Toyota is aware of this situation if that makes you all feel a little better. I wouldn't waste time trying to find workarounds.

 

[jzj]

I've also been informed by a Toyota rep that the third party provider is due to shortly improve Entune. However yesterday when he shared a portion of an email alleged to support his statement, it merely stated that they are "considering" a software change. I remain unimpressed.

 

[SeaMonster]

Well, even with the new firmware, my car failed to charge last night. This was after using the 110 charger during the day, and they did tell me that they had specifically NOT fixed the issue with scheduled charge failures after a 110 manual charge.

I think Toyota is quite serious. I have now dropped the term "Lemon Law" a few times to make it clear that failure is not an option.

 

[Kohler Controller]

For the past week, I've been logging my "Est Start Charge" vs Actual Start Charge time.
Day 1: Started 3 hours 50 minutes before it said it was going to (1:50 AM Estimate, vs 9:59 PM actual)
Day 2: Started 3 h 22 min early
Day 3: Started 2 h 20 min early
Day 4: Started 3 h 4 min early
Day 5: Started 3 h 22 min early
Day 6: Started 16 min early (first time to charge using Standard instead of Extended)
Day 7: Started 2 h 15 min early (still charging using Standard charge setting)
Day 8: Scheduled to charge at 3:40AM, but never did.

To be fair, I had opportunity charged the car using "charge instantly" feature earlier that day on 120VAC, but am pretty sure I set it up for normal delayed Standard charging before I went to bed (to be finished by 7:10AM, and normally finishes between 4-5 AM). Days 1-7 were all charged using 240VAC. Day 8 was plugged into 240VAC when I went to bed. I don't know if previously charging at 120VAC or previously selecting "charge upon plug in" feature had any affect on failing to charge as scheduled this time as a previous person has suggested.

I don't mind it starting earlier than it says it is going to, but am not sure why it is random (somewhere between 2h to 3-1/2h early).

Someone else suggested that the estimated charge time is based on a 40A charge. But mine seems to estimate the charge time (i.e. 180 minutes) quite accurately. After it has charged, it usually reaches that estimated charge time within ~10 min or so, even though I'm charging with a 30A EVSE. Perhaps it remembers and estimates charge time based on previous charge current.

Since the charging almost always starts 3 hours before it says it will, I'm going to adjust my "Charge By" time up a few hours so that it starts around 11 pm before I go to bed, that way I can make sure it comes on.

 

[yblaser]

I am dealing with a bit of a special case because my Level 2 charger is only 16A (and thus the RAV4 wants to think it is Level 1 for some reason), but wonder if others see the following. If I plug in the car quickly while the center display is still showing the estimated start and stop times, the estimated times update and for me at least the newly calculated start time has been very accurate. While it still finishes way before my set departure time I can at least use the estimated start time to change my scheduled departure time to get the car to charge during super off peak rates.