[Rammstein94]

Good evening everyone,

So after having my 2015 Nissan Leaf 24Kw (with type 1 and chademo charging ports) for a week now i decided to splurge on a Type 1 to Type 2 cable so that I can use the Mekenes chargers that seem to be a lot more common than just the chademo rapids that I’ve been using for the first week.

The rapids I’ve found nearby have been fantastic! Notably a 50kwh CYC totally free one and a Hubsta one that’s 25kwh.

Today I tested the Type 1 to Type 2 cable on a pod point charger and it didn’t charge at all, then I tried it on a public free charging point in a local business park that doesn’t need any apps or cards and got the same thing.

I think the car has a 3.3kwh charger but surely that would mean when I plug it into a 7kwh charger point it would just charge at the 3.3? Whereas it’s not charging at all. The plug symbol comes on on the dash and I get the sound that it’s plugged in so I really don’t know where I’m going wrong.

If anyone could offer any advice that would be great thank you.

 

[Jrtev]

Plug it in and gently lift the plug till it clicks.

 

[Rammstein94]

Plug it in and gently lift the plug till it clicks.

I have connected it fine, the green plug light comes on inside the car as well.

Last night I connected it to a charger at the local train station for the 8 hours I was at work and it said ‘charging’ on the charge post with a row of green lights but when I got back from work it hadn’t charged at all.

There isn’t an issue using a type 1 to type 2 charge cable with the leaf is there?

 

[barneyd]

Is it a 16A cable? Have you tried it on a charger that has a maximum of 3.3kW? There is a debate elsewhere on this forum about how chargers behave with cables rated less than the charger.

 

[h8ten]

The car is not set to a timer schedule? I think, but could well be wrong, that the Rapid charger will over-ride the timer and charge immediately upon plug in but anything using the Type 1 (your new cable) will go through the timer setting. There is a way to check to what charger is installed in the Leaf depending on what is displayed within the dash. I don't have a Leaf but I am sure I have read it in here.

 

[Rammstein94]

Is it a 16A cable? Have you tried it on a charger that has a maximum of 3.3kW? There is a debate elsewhere on this forum about how chargers behave with cables rated less than the charger.

It is a 16A cable, it’s in perfect condition too so I’m thinking maybe I’ve hit a couple of charge points that just aren’t working correctly or it’s just not compatible with the car.

 

[Rammstein94]

The car is not set to a timer schedule? I think, but could well be wrong, that the Rapid charger will over-ride the timer and charge immediately upon plug in but anything using the Type 1 (your new cable) will go through the timer setting. There is a way to check to what charger is installed in the Leaf depending on what is displayed within the dash. I don't have a Leaf but I am sure I have read it in here.

Hi Ian,

I’ve not set a charge timer at all yet, I’m literally just charging the car when I need to. I’ve plugged it in at home on the granny charger a couple of nights over the last week with no issues. The rapid has no issues either, it’s just any of those ‘fast’ type 2 charge points that I can’t seem to get it to work

 

[h8ten]

Okay then, something else to consider (don't ask me about the specifics) could it be a 3 phase cable? The cable supplied with my Tesla is, as far as I understand it, is a 3 phase. I have tried it once on a public charger and it did not work but it works fine at my home, another cable works fine at both places. The next thing to try would be to find another local owner who could try your cable with their car and, if they have one, let you try their cable. I had this on my Ampera when my cable packed in but it had been in use at least twice a day 5 days a week for 4 years. I was able to find someone relatively local and try their public cable for their Leaf on my Ampera, worked fine. My cable on their car would start but as on as the cable was moved it cut out so we decided it was a broken wire inside the cable. It may be that your cable is faulty. There is a micro switch activated by the trigger on the type 1 plug, you could try listening and maybe hear is clicking, if it doesn't then that could be at fault , if it does it still does not rule out a fault elsewhere in the cable.

 

[Tandy0]

Could a previous owner have set the charge timer?

 

[Edd Beesley]

Look at the three lights on the dash when you plug in. If they light up one after the other in sequence then the timer is set. You can override the timer with a button by your knee with a picture of a clock and a plug on it (press once the car is off, either before or after plugging in). If you get one blinking light, or one or more solid lights plus a blinker, it’s charging.

 

[barneyd]

It is a 16A cable,

There is a clause in the IEC spec that requires the charger to protect the cable with an appropriate overcurrent device. To comply with that, controllers provide separate contactor outputs so that power is supplied by different overcurrent devices depending on the rating of the cable.
The “lazy” way of implementing it is to only fit one protection device and one contactor. If someone tries to use a cable rated lower than the charger, the controller operates its output for the lower rated contactor but as it isn’t there nothing happens and so no charge.
Alternatively, you may have encountered a couple of fully compliant chargers where the 16A breaker has tripped so although the contactor operated, no power was delivered. I am reliably informed by other contributors that the controller is somehow able to absolutely guarantee that no overcurrent will occur. If that were true, this explanation would be unlikely.

Of course the other explanation is a simple fault with the cable.

 

[Rentagas]

Do you know anyone nearby who has a cable. I’m not sure about 2015 but 2017 Leafs came with an appropriate cable. You haven’t said where in the country you are - you may find someone on here has a cable you could borrow to check whether it’s the cable or the car.

 

[i-s]

I started having a similar problem to you shortly before I sold our Leaf.

It wasn't the car - it was my Type1-Type2 cable. I tried to fix it (google for it - issues with the microswitch are common with multiple causes), but no joy. A couple of Leaf-owning friends have tried it for me (as I wanted to sell the cable), but the cable just simply doesn't want to work. See if you can borrow an alternative cable to test that that is the problem

 

[Rammstein94]

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you all, i've not been able to get online for a couple of days.

Thanks so much for all your help and advice. I used the cable yesterday on a different Pod Point charge post and it worked fine so the cable is all good I'll keep an eye on it when i use it now as i've more than likely just been unlucky with the points i've tried before hand. I have also FINALLY got Nissan to register me on the EV app so i can keep a check on everything better so its all looking up at last.

 

[freddym]

I started having a similar problem to you shortly before I sold our Leaf.

It wasn't the car - it was my Type1-Type2 cable. I tried to fix it (google for it - issues with the microswitch are common with multiple causes), but no joy. A couple of Leaf-owning friends have tried it for me (as I wanted to sell the cable), but the cable just simply doesn't want to work. See if you can borrow an alternative cable to test that that is the problem

Martin at EVBitz has some tips on how to trouble shoot and rectify some common problems with type 1 connectors.

 

[i-s]

Yes, I've done them. Still no joy.

 

[barneyd]

. I used the yesterday on a different Pod Point charge post and it worked fine so the cable is all good

Do you know what capacity the charger that worked was?

 

[Rammstein94]

Do you know what capacity the charger that worked was?

Hi Barney,

It was a 7kw Pod Point free to use charger that i managed to use in the end

 

[barneyd]

Sounds like you were unlucky with the first couple of chargers. Without testing the same chargers with a 32A cable, we can't know if the cable made the difference of if the chargers were just down.