[GJO]

For the last six months, our house has been in the hands of builders for major renovation. During this time we have been living on our boat and charging the Ampera using the "Granny Charger" on a long extension lead from our shore supply.
I was surprised that this would work because our shore supply is notoriously shaky and the extension lead to reach the parking spot is over 30 Metres long. Nevertheless it has worked very well and I have been able to charge the car every night.

Yesterday, our house was handed back to us by our builder who had completed the job at last. I plugged the Ampera into the EO Mini that we had installed last year but there was no orange or green light illuminated on the dash top so I powered the car up and got the usual beeps and message on the info screen to confirm that the charge cable was connected.

When I powered down, the info screen displayed the message "Unable to Charge". I suspected that the builders may have disturbed the earth rod so I had their electricians back to check - they fitted a brand new earth rod and tested it to confirm that it was significantly more efficient than the old one. They also confirmed that all the power connections to the EO Mini were functioning as they should. Unfortunately, despite several more tries, the car remained "Unable to Charge".

Just to be sure - I took the Ampera back to our mooring and it charged up fine using the "Granny Charger" on the extension lead.

So I have a challenge! Is the problem:
a. The EO Mini charger?
b. The cable that I use to connect the charger to the car?
c. The car?

I have the car booked in to Bellingers next month so this will answer question c.
I have tried to contact the manufacturer and the installers of the EO Mini charger to see if it can be checked out but, so far, I have been unsuccessful with this line of enquiry.

My plan is to try and get the charger and the car checked out before I shell out on a new charging cable.

Have other forum members seen this "Unable to Charge" message? If so what was the cause?

 

[h8ten]

Only once on a public charger. Can you check your cable at a public charger, borrow someone else's cable (assuming yours is not tethered) to check or even have them attempt a charge at your EO mini? When my original GM cable stopped working it was intermittent and I put it down to a broken strand in the cable somewhere as wiggling the cable, not at the plugs, would start/stop the charge.

 

[Marli]

Anyone you know can pop by with an ev and cable to test.... Banbury is a bit far for me.

 

[Dethleffs]

I'd a wall charger fail. It was the coms unit in it that packed up - so, there's electricity available but the info that tells the car to accept a charge wasn't getting through. Buy the time the company that fitted the wall charger got round to sorting it under warranty, specs had changed and my cabling wasn't 'good enough', so it took in total three visits before they fitted a like-for-like (their term) unit. It's been OK since.

...one thing you can try is plug the car in then give the wall unit a good thumping. Sometimes it worked - either way it feels good...

Good luck.

 

[Cjl160]

Is it an EO Mini Pro, ie a ‘smart’ charging point? I had one fitted about a year ago and have a vague recollection that the installer told me that until I’d connected the associated EV JuiceNet app it wouldn’t work properly. No idea if that was true or not but if you are using that app there might be some indication in the ‘Charging’ dashboard if there is anything getting through.

 

[freddym]

As. per replies above, eliminate the car and cable by charging at a public post. If the car charges OK there, it must be the EO unit.

 

[Spiny]

Spiders and bugs nesting in the unused EO wallpoint socket can prevent the cable going fully home. Torch and a bamboo skewer to dislodge them may effect a cure

 

[GJO]

Thanks for all the ideas - the electrician who installed the charger has now been out and has confirmed that the charger is defunct. I am now waiting for EO to contact me . . .

 

[Richard Gledhill]

That's (relatively) good - my first thought was "Oh, it's the charger ECU on its way out". Hopefully you can get EO to replace it free of charge as it can't be that old?

 

[GJO]

An update on the EO Charger failure: After several emails flying back and forth, I am still awaiting a response from EO Chargers and they say that they are waiting for a response from the installers (EV Charging Points Limited) which all means that I am still only able to charge with the good old 'granny charger' . . .

 

[GJO]

Final update on this saga! The replacement EO Mini arrived by courier and the electrician turned out to install it.
So far, so good! But when I connected it to the car nothing happened!
It would appear that my charging lead had somehow deteriorated (possibly damp?) after being in storage for more than six months. So a new one was quickly obtained via Amazon and everything now seems to work fine.

This is the one that I bought from Amazon:
EV/Electric Vehicle Charging Cable | Type 1 to Type 2 | 16 Amp(3.6kW) | 5 Meter | Free Carry Case |
£124.99 and delivered in less than 24 hours from placing the order!
I have to say that I am very impressed with what I received - it appears to be very well engineered.
And, it works!

 

[h8ten]

I've had two cables go bad. The first was the original Vauxhall one that managed to intermittently stop the charge then restart so I assume it was a broken cable internally as you could wiggle the cable and it would start and stop. The second one just stopped working after being used on a daily basis for two years (just out of warranty).

 

[GJO]

I have sent my failed charge cable to Martin at evbitz.uk for analysis. It is part of my make-up that, when something goes wrong, I need to know why! Martin runs his business from the Isle of Colonsay so I have entrusted my failed cable to the Royal Mail.

 

[h8ten]

I have sent my failed charge cable to Martin at evbitz.uk for analysis. It is part of my make-up that, when something goes wrong, I need to know why! Martin runs his business from the Isle of Colonsay so I have entrusted my failed cable to the Royal Mail.

When my first cable started acting up I contacted Martin too for advice and we came to the conclusion that it would be better just to replace it. I made the mistake of going for a 32 amp cable, with the intention of changing the plug when the time came only for it to 'die' before surgery could be undertaken.

 

[Ampera2012]

Original EVSE cable stopped working today. Intermittent single beeps, orange light in vehicle going on and off, until going dark completeley. Indicator lights on the cable handle thingymibob are both green, no problem there. Our new public charging cable works fine.

I dissasembled the handle that goes into the vehicle. Found an odd protruding thing that looked like gravel, see picture:

After scraping it turns out this is some metal thing that looks like a fuse???

 

[h8ten]

Not knowing very much about the insides of it but it looks as though it has been moulded over the cables and either these component parts have been to close to the edge or it has overheated and allowed the plastic around it to soften then these parts forced their way to the outer edge. Is it like a hard rubber that has been set inside the outer plastic case?

 

[Ampera2012]

Yes this is a rubbery mould inside the plastic casing. We drove over the handle by accident a year ago, but I doubt it is related.

There are some visible wires on the other side also.

I'm thinking it might be possible to replace the fuse, if that is the problem, and get it working again. New evse:s are a bit expensive.

 

[h8ten]

It may just be part of the manufacturing process that the whole lot is encased in the rubber and allowed to set then the plastic case fixed around it. Perhaps trimming it carefully will allow you to see what that is. Here in the UK EVSEs can be bought fairly readily for around £150 from some hardware/electrical suppliers.

 

[Ampera2012]

I suspect there is a bunch of junk in the mould, there are lots of dead end wires in there. Doesn't look right to me. I cut a couple of them myself, but not all of them.

 

[h8ten]

Anything here of any use?