JuiceBox Woes

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My first JuiceBox Pro 40 went offline shortly after I first received it. I returned it to Amazon and bought another. The second one drops wifi about once every three months. It either comes back online after a short interval, or I unplug it and replug it. It continues to work otherwise.

Our garage is the furthest thing from the WiFi router.
 
Falcon_1898 said:
Hi all
Newbie here. Don't have a Clarity but found this thread because of defective JuiceboxES. Yes, plural. I'm having the same challenges with connection.

Without any reason, the unit goes offline. Slow blue light flashing. Tried to reset it, but it stopped broadcasting SSID, so I can't connect to the unit for initialization. This was about a week since brand new.
With help from eMotorweks, I had the unit replaced. It worked for about a week, and went offline again.

It was so painful dealing with their local reseller to get the replacement under warranty, that I just gave up. It took over a month to get a response and they wanted to charge me for replacement under warranty…not shady at all. eMotorwerks, if you are reading this post, reconsider some of your reseller contracts.

So now it's just a dumb charger costing over $1000.

How did everyone else fix their problem? Were you able to find the SSID after resetting?
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You can't fix it, and they won't. I'd never buy anything from this company again… Complete waste of money. Buyer beware.
 
I have a ChargePoint connected to a 40A 240 v breaker. No problems at all with wifi or charging.
I believe the Honda Clarity charger (internal to the vehicle) is maximum 32 amps. So a 40A (on a 50A breaker) would still only deliver 32A as that is the charger maximum. Here is the J1772 L2 specifications. It is the pilot signal duty cycle that lets the internal Clarity charger know what the EVSE (the equipment on the wall) can deliver. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAE_J1772

Control Pilot (Current limit): The charging station can use the wave signal to describe the maximum current that is available via the charging station with the help of pulse width modulation: a 16% PWM is a 10 A maximum, a 25% PWM is a 16 A maximum, a 50% PWM is a 32 A maximum and a 90% PWM flags a fast charge option.[23]
The PWM duty cycle of the 1 kHz CP signal indicates the maximum allowed mains current. According to the SAE it includes socket outlet, cable and vehicle inlet. In the US, the definition of the ampacity (ampere capacity, or current capacity) is split for continuous and short term operation.[23] The SAE defines the ampacity value to be derived by a formula based on the 1 ms full cycle (of the 1 kHz signal) with the maximum continuous ampere rating being 0.6 A per 10 µs (with the lowest 100 µs giving 6 A and the highest 800 µs giving 48 A).[22]
PWM duty cycle indicating ampere capacity[23]
PWM SAE continuous SAE short term
50% 30 A 36 A peak
40% 24 A 30 A peak
30% 18 A 22 A peak
25% 15 A 20 A peak
16% 9.6 A
10% 6 A
 
FWIW, I made extensive use of the ol’ late night Google-fru when researching Level 2 EVSEs back in March.
Based on reviews, blogs, forums, etc., the JuiceBoxes had by far the most negative reviews and unhappy owner posts. It seems to be perhaps a quality control issue or poor design. They work fine for some but for a significant percentage of owners they have serious problems and poor warranty support. They were the first brand I scratched the off my list.

Ultimately, I went with Charge Point and am totally happy and trouble free. I can also attest that they have excellent customer and technical service.

However based on reviews, the ClipperCreek and Siemens brands are equally as good. With electrical equipment it’s kinda like the old saying - You get what you pay for, or maybe Buy once; cry once.
 
I just returned my Mustart EVSE for a JuiceBox Pro 40. I found this thread and thought I'd update it somewhat. The JuiceBox Pro 40 is currently the Number # 1 Best seller in Electric Vehicle Charging Stations on Amazon. 77% of the reviews are 5 star. I just received and installed my JuiceBox yesterday so I have no real personal experience to share. Just trying to add perspective to real world usage. Sometimes a individual's personal experience can be weighed too heavily in other's buying decisions. I have no financial interest in the Company and if I have any negative comments to make about the JuiceBox I'll report back.
 
Tim66 said:
I just returned my Mustart EVSE for a JuiceBox Pro 40. I found this thread and thought I'd update it somewhat. The JuiceBox Pro 40 is currently the Number # 1 Best seller in Electric Vehicle Charging Stations on Amazon. 77% of the reviews are 5 star. I just received and installed my JuiceBox yesterday so I have no real personal experience to share. Just trying to add perspective to real world usage. Sometimes a individual's personal experience can be weighed too heavily in other's buying decisions. I have no financial interest in the Company and if I have any negative comments to make about the JuiceBox I'll report back.
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I agree. Mines been rock solid since December 2017 when I got my Clarity.
 
I'm on the second JuiceBox but I may have over-reacted sending the first one back. It lost WiFi communications. But my JuiceBox is about as far from my WiFi router as it could be. I know the signal is low there. The second JuiceBox also drops WiFi but if I'm patient it reconnects. I never lose any data and it doesn't interfere with the car charging process. So it is a non event in the end. Ignoring the WiFi issue, which may very well be my problem, both units have worked well to supply power to the car.
 
Tim66 said:
I just returned my Mustart EVSE for a JuiceBox Pro 40. I found this thread and thought I'd update it somewhat. The JuiceBox Pro 40 is currently the Number # 1 Best seller in Electric Vehicle Charging Stations on Amazon. 77% of the reviews are 5 star. I just received and installed my JuiceBox yesterday so I have no real personal experience to share. Just trying to add perspective to real world usage. Sometimes a individual's personal experience can be weighed too heavily in other's buying decisions. I have no financial interest in the Company and if I have any negative comments to make about the JuiceBox I'll report back.
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Thanks for the chance to serve your charging needs. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.
 
jdonalds said:
I'm on the second JuiceBox but I may have over-reacted sending the first one back. It lost WiFi communications. But my JuiceBox is about as far from my WiFi router as it could be. I know the signal is low there. The second JuiceBox also drops WiFi but if I'm patient it reconnects. I never lose any data and it doesn't interfere with the car charging process. So it is a non event in the end. Ignoring the WiFi issue, which may very well be my problem, both units have worked well to supply power to the car.
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@jdonalds, I had a similar connectivity problem with my Charge Point since I have very poor WiFi Signal in my garage. I solved it by putting a WiFi extender in the utility room next to the garage that has an acceptable signal from the router. Now my EVSE never drops out of WiFi. Yea!!
You can get them for $30 to $70 and that’s a lot cheaper than the new mesh WiFi systems.

One caveat though, my cheap extender is slower than my router’s speed but very acceptable for communications with the EVSE. So it works very well but my phone sometimes connects with it if I’m in the garage for extended periods. Then the slower speed is noticeable when downloading from the internet on my phone. I solved that by having my phone “forget” the WiFi extender. Hope that helps.
 
I have two Juicebox Pros that have been working great for 8 months. Only had a bunch of wifi disconnects on one of them over Christmas but that’s expected with all the wifi congestion and no extender being used and the wifi needs to punch through a concrete wall. It self resolved after a few weeks. The smartphone app and web access have been very useful and consistent. I pull the history each month to track kWh usage. I agree with @KentuckyKen and would connect via an extender if it kept dropping since this is expected for an “outside” device. The heavy duty power cables are so thick and connector handles solid with aluminum (I think) rocker levers.


Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
 
I purchased a Juicebox Pro 40 in late December. It worked great for about six weeks, and then triggered a "system error" (long beep, all three lights blinking) when I unplugged the Clarity in the morning after charging during the night. Cycling the power off and then on cleared the error, but it happened again one week later, and then again after a few days. The last time it happened, cycling the power didn't clear the error until the 12th try (over a period of three days). I contacted eMotorWerk's customer support after the third error and their response was great! Mary D-P (eMotorWerk's support representative) was very responsive and helpful; she shipped a new replacement unit to me ASAP (it arrived in two days) along with a shipping label to return the defective unit. I was back up and running very quickly, and the replacement unit has worked without any errors. I am very impressed with their customer service (thanks, Mary!) and also with the performance of the unit. I really like the WiFi access and data tracking that is included with the Pro version. I will buy a second unit when we eventually get our second EV -- the ability of multiple Juiceboxes to coordinate the use of a single 50 amp circuit was one of the reasons I chose this EVSE.
 
JuiceBox Pro 40 owner here. Bought and installed in December and it has been operating and maintaining network connectivity flawlessly ever since. I’d consider myself a very satisfied customer at this time.
 
Noticed on Amazon that there are two different faceplates on the 4 available Juicebox EVSE's. Beyond plug-in vs hard-wired, are there any operational differences, or is it just cosmetic?
 
eMotorWerks said:
Thanks for the chance to serve your charging needs. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.
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Since you are on this forum - My web based dashboard on the status page shows the temperature to be in the red at 94 degrees celsius. What is being measured? Should I be concerned. My system is a JuiceBox plug in Pro 40. My car is a Honda Clarity Touring PHEV.

Tim
 
Mowcowbell said:
Noticed on Amazon that there are two different faceplates on the 4 available Juicebox EVSE's. Beyond plug-in vs hard-wired, are there any operational differences, or is it just cosmetic?
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The replacement unit they sent me had the newer faceplate (i.e., "JuiceBox" in the large orange background band). Functionally, I haven't noticed any differences compared to my prior unit.
 
Mowcowbell said:
Noticed on Amazon that there are two different faceplates on the 4 available Juicebox EVSE's. Beyond plug-in vs hard-wired, are there any operational differences, or is it just cosmetic?
Click to expand...

Hi, and thanks for asking. We introduced a new design for the faceplate a couple months ago, and we still have some JuiceBox Pro 32 inventory at Amazon with the old design, which is why we haven't updated the picture. We didn't want to display the new graphic, and ship the customer something that looked different.

Once we clear out the inventory that has the old design, we'll update that model as well. The new graphic is shown on the JuiceBox Pro 40 models.
 
NorCalPete said:
The replacement unit they sent me had the newer faceplate (i.e., "JuiceBox" in the large orange background band). Functionally, I haven't noticed any differences compared to my prior unit.
Click to expand...

That's correct, there's no difference inside. It's just a refreshed look for the outer casing. Thanks for your support!
 
Tim66 said:
Since you are on this forum - My web based dashboard on the status page shows the temperature to be in the red at 94 degrees celsius. What is being measured? Should I be concerned. My system is a JuiceBox plug in Pro 40. My car is a Honda Clarity Touring PHEV.

Tim
Click to expand...
Hi Tim,

It's nothing to be concerned with. It's just an error in reporting the internal temperature of the unit, and it's a known issue that we're working to correct. If there was truly an overheating issue, there's built in hardware to deal with it. If the temperature was really that high, the unit would shut down.
 
Is anyone else bogged down with setting up slowest possible charge times in the EV JuiceNet app?

So many hoops to jump through to get 100% charge at the exact time I want it to be ready. Bouncing back between the Maximum Rate (amps) setting, estimated completion time and smart charge setting is not ideal for such an otherwise well made app.
 
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