Charging with the Included Level 1 Aptiv EVSE

Discussion in 'Cooper SE' started by h-dogg, Mar 28, 2022.

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  1. h-dogg

    h-dogg Member

    Hi,
    I tried charging with the Included Aptiv EVSE and I keep getting the solid red light Fault. I then tested by plugging it into my outlets in the house and get the same issue.

    Has anyone encountered this issue before? Does my old house need an electrical check?

    Thanks!
     
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  3. Puppethead

    Puppethead Well-Known Member

    Try charging at a different location with the Level 1 EVSE, to confirm it's not the EVSE.
    Try charging at a public charger to confirm it's not the SE.

    It's possible your house wiring is failing the GFCI check or something similar.
     
    SameGuy likes this.
  4. h-dogg

    h-dogg Member

    Thanks, I'll test the SE at a public charger first.
     
  5. teslarati97

    teslarati97 Well-Known Member

    Is your house using aluminum wires? Could be some voltage issues between hot/neutral and the EVSE is not happy with it.
     
    SameGuy likes this.
  6. Rexsio

    Rexsio Well-Known Member

    Before you call electrician get from Home Depot a $10 tester which show you if your outlets are wired correctly bc going to level 2 public station is not solving your house outlets problems with factory 120 v. Charger. I talk to BMW genius and he was telling me there was a problems with factory chargers which they replace for free through dealer .But your household outlets first for start. 203EC051-251A-4275-9961-7DDE63CABBD5.jpeg
     
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  8. SameGuy

    SameGuy Well-Known Member Subscriber

    YUL
    I like this possible answer. Gardner-Bender and Klein Tools (and others) sell inexpensive GFCI testers at big box stores and on the South American rainforest site. Very handy to have, especially if you live in an older house or building.
     
  9. SameGuy

    SameGuy Well-Known Member Subscriber

    YUL
    Dagnabbit I didn’t refresh before sending my last post!
     
  10. h-dogg

    h-dogg Member

    Thanks for the tips. I'll drop by a Home Depot to get a tester. I did test my SE at a ChargePoint at work and it works great! I also tested the L1 charger at work in my cubicle and the Power light comes on.
     
  11. Carsten Haase

    Carsten Haase Well-Known Member

    If you have a multimeter already, it does the same thing as the tester (you just need to know which part of the socket to put the leads in for each test)
     
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  13. Darrell Hayes

    Darrell Hayes Member

    I have a Fiat 500e. It will not charge if the ground wire is not connected. Could be the issue here
     
  14. My house has aluminum wire and the socket was original, I guess. I had no problem charging the car from the get go, but I was cautious about the wiring, so I started off from the lowest setting. Then I noticed that there was humming noise coming from the socket indicating the connection was not great. I also noticed that the input wire of the EVSE is a bit warm to the touch. So I changed the socket to a new CO/ALR type socket and the humming noise was gone, the temperature of the wire remained the same as the ambient temperature. After monitoring the noise/warmth over a few charges and now I am charging with the highest amp the EVSE can handle; even though it is only 10 Amp.
     
  15. h-dogg

    h-dogg Member

    Cool, I have one and tried it out. Everything seems to be in the 120V area..strange.
    These outlets look pretty old in the garage. They don't have the GFCI button.
     
  16. Just came to my mind that in some old houses there was no requirement to have a grounded outlet and the house only had two pongs outlets. Your previous home owner might changed them into 3 pongs against the codes in order to use modern appliances. So your outlets might not have a ground wire connected even though you have 3-pong outlets.
     
    Last edited: Mar 28, 2022
    F14Scott likes this.
  17. Puppethead

    Puppethead Well-Known Member

    The EVSE has GFCI protection in it, which may be failing. There is no "reset" other than fixing the grounding issue (if that's the problem).
     
    Urbanengineer and h-dogg like this.
  18. Carsten Haase

    Carsten Haase Well-Known Member

    There's more to test than just existence of 120V, this seems to be a good overview.

    Just because the outlet isn't GFCI, doesn't mean that it isn't protected. Outlets are typically wired in series (1st outlet is feeding a 2nd which is feeding a 3rd, etc...). To protect the whole string, you only need a properly wired GFCI outlet in the 1st position (between the breaker box and the rest of the outlets).

    You can look for other outlets nearby that are GFCI and use the test feature to see which others are attached (which ones shut-off when test button is pressed)

    You can also buy a "breaker finder" which is a transmitter you plug into an outlet, and a receiver that will make noise near everything that is directly connected (any wires, other outlets, or the breaker)
     
  19. Rexsio

    Rexsio Well-Known Member

    You brave run a Cooper wire 12 gage to a panel with at least 15-20 amp breaker to be safe to your garage to charge Se with L 1 factory charger you don’t need any fire you charge a car for 12-20 HR those wires get hot when you sleep . Friendly advice not by electrician just common sense !
     
  20. Thanks for your advice.
     
  21. h-dogg

    h-dogg Member

    Thanks for the info. I'll have to look into this. We're just renting, so I'll bring this up to the landlord.
     
  22. h-dogg

    h-dogg Member

    Thanks, I tried that troubleshooting a few times, but the same Fault LED results.
     

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