32A vs 40A charger for Clarity

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Yes, we found the same thing. Even our 240v 16A charger is very easy to insert and remove. My sense is that the 40A charger is getting a 'bit' easier with repeated cycles. My wife was hysterical earlier as she tried to remove it and almost crashed into the garage wall behind her as it finally came out. I'm trying to develop a 'technique' for her to brace herself with one hand against the car and remove the handle with the other.
 
Ken7 said:
Yes, we found the same thing. Even our 240v 16A charger is very easy to insert and remove. My sense is that the 40A charger is getting a 'bit' easier with repeated cycles. My wife was hysterical earlier as she tried to remove it and almost crashed into the garage wall behind her as it finally came out. I'm trying to develop a 'technique' for her to brace herself with one hand against the car and remove the handle with the other.
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Mine is not anywhere near that tight...
 
It's too bad there isn't an objective way to measure the force required to remove the handle. My wife is small & petite.
 
Maybe a little lube on the outside of the plug in the form of soap (the hard kind - no liquids) would help?
 
Thanks bfd, not a bad idea and maybe worth a try. :)

Now that I'm thinking about it, maybe even a wax on the outside.
 
Unfortunately my JuiceBox Level 2 EVSE gave it up today. It was plugged into the car, just finished a full charge, and the three lights on the front of the JuiceBox started blinking together, and a beep sounded, all repeating every one second. There are no reset buttons or any other kind of controls. I unplugged it and shut down the 240V 40A circuit breaker at the power panel. I then switched the 40A back on and plugged the JuiceBox back in. No joy. Same problem.

I looked at user comments on Amazon but didn't see anyone else having the same issue. I sent email to the vendor who responded by email within two hours. They said that was a rare condition that may indicate a ground fault interrupt issue. I started a return through Amazon and ordered a replacement.

So until Wednesday we are back on the 120V level 1 charge cord that came with the car. I'm sure we will burn some gas between now and then.
 
Our 240V 40A connector isn't difficult to insert or remove. But both our 7 year old and my wife have had trouble with it. In our case it's all about having the right angle when pushing or pulling on it. If it is lined up well it goes in easily, just an extra little muscle for the final "click" of the latch.
 
Ken7 said:
Just make sure the ground fault (if real) is not elsewhere in your circuit.
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Good point. As far as I know there is no ground fault other than what is inside the JuiceBox. The circuit is a new one, only an eight foot run from the plug in the garage, right into the house power panel. It's a dedicated circuit for the car (like most I would suppose).
 
Just as an update to this thread, the ClipperCreek website how has the Clarity PHEV listed. It shows the battery size, recommended charger etc. It shows no difference in charging time for the 32A vs the 40A units. Not a big surprise, but just a confirmation of what many of us thought.
 
bfd said:
Maybe a little lube on the outside of the plug in the form of soap (the hard kind - no liquids) would help?
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The outside of the plug on the Jekayla charger is not the thing causing it to be hard to plug in and remove. If you look inside the plug, there is a rubber O-ring that does not exist on the 110 volt charger. Once you hit that rubber O-ring, you have to push hard to get it in. I guess it was put there to keep water out when charging outside. I hope with time it will get easier to insert and remove. Maybe I'll try a little silicone lube on the end of a cotton swab.
 
bpratt said:
The outside of the plug on the Jekayla charger is not the thing causing it to be hard to plug in and remove. If you look inside the plug, there is a rubber O-ring that does not exist on the 110 volt charger. Once you hit that rubber O-ring, you have to push hard to get it in. I guess it was put there to keep water out when charging outside. I hope with time it will get easier to insert and remove. Maybe I'll try a little silicone lube on the end of a cotton swab.
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My Prius PHEV had a similar o-ring. It wore out after a few years from normal use and made it almost impossible to plug in - unfortunately after the warranty period - so I just removed the o-ring. Problem solved. I suspect it was there to provide an extra level of weatherproofing, but it really didn't create any problems once it was removed - even during inclement/wet weather charging. YMMV
 
bpratt said:
The outside of the plug on the Jekayla charger is not the thing causing it to be hard to plug in and remove. If you look inside the plug, there is a rubber O-ring that does not exist on the 110 volt charger. Once you hit that rubber O-ring, you have to push hard to get it in. I guess it was put there to keep water out when charging outside. I hope with time it will get easier to insert and remove. Maybe I'll try a little silicone lube on the end of a cotton swab.
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Good find, I’ll have to take a look. Maybe there’s no harm in removing it as bfd reports, especially if you’re using it in a garage.
 
bpratt said:
The outside of the plug on the Jekayla charger is not the thing causing it to be hard to plug in and remove. If you look inside the plug, there is a rubber O-ring that does not exist on the 110 volt charger. Once you hit that rubber O-ring, you have to push hard to get it in. I guess it was put there to keep water out when charging outside. I hope with time it will get easier to insert and remove. Maybe I'll try a little silicone lube on the end of a cotton swab.
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So I see exactly what you were talking about, an orange o-ring. You're right, it looks like that's what's causing the difficulty when inserting the connector. There's also difficulty in removal, but I guess the o-ring could be causing that too. I'm not sure what harm could be done by removing it.
 
I'm wondering if a 24 Amp/5.8kW EVSE (like the ClipperCreek LCS-30P) would have the benefit of prolonging battery life over a 32 Amp/7.7kW EVSE? My Clarity PHEV is purchased, and I'm looking for ways to maximize it's life for as long as possible. Most of the time the car will be charged overnight so the extra speed of the 7.7kW capable EVSE isn't as important, while the 5.8 kW can still provide a fast enough charge during the day if we need to go out again in the evening. Also wondering if charging efficiency would be a bit higher for a lower speed charge?
 
Kendalf said:
Also wondering if charging efficiency would be a bit higher for a lower speed charge?
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Actually, from information I have found, the faster charge rates are more efficient. Here is some info I found on the internet:
size of charger / overall efficiency / efficiency if charge is LT 4 KWh
120 volt charger / 83.8% / 74.2%
240 volt charger / 89.4% / 87.2%
But your talking about 24 Amp vs 32 Amp, so I doubt there would be much difference in prolonging battery life. Mostly the battery life is controlled by what type of anode and cathode the lithium ion battery has and how the logic in the Clarity's charging circuit charges the battery. I hope the Honda engineers did a good job designing the charger for a long battery life.
Here is an article that will give you more information you could ever want about lithium ion batteries. Unfortunately the life of the batteries is beyond something we can control.

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_lithium_ion_batteries
 
Yup, it makes sense that 240V charging is more efficient than 120V, as there is lower current and thus less energy loss due to resistive heating. I've read several of the articles on Battery University in the past while researching the most effective use of rechargable batteries for my devices. The general recommendation seems to be to charge at the lowest rate that you can stand for maximum battery life, hence I tend to avoid using Quick charge on my phone and use lower charge rates when recharging Eneloops. That's why I'm thinking that the lower speed charging might have better results on extending battery life long term (talking about 5 years or more down the line)
 
The JuiceBox Pro WiFi level 2 charge station is programmable from the Android app. The max amperage can be set, but not for a given time of day.
 
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