JuiceBox Woes

[Ken7]

For @Ken7:
I find no need to have to insert the handle into the base to end a charging session. As soon as I unplug from the car, the session stops (blue glow at base turns green) and all data/graphs are available on the app. In fact, the base doesn’t know if the handle is even stored in the base or just lying around unplugged which is happening lately for me while a piece of furniture prevent access to the wall mounted base. Also the holster part of the wall unit swivels and I can find no way it could have a sensor.

You’re right about the car controlling the CP EVSE. It stops the charge when full no matter how long you set the session in the CP app. The CP let’s me schedule a start and stop time which I only use to shift charging to early morning and to stop the CP from recording. Other wise it keeps recording a flat line (0 charging) and the charging part of the graph is too compressed to be readable.

It also notifies me when the car has fully charged or if the session is interrupted. You can choose any or all: email, text msg, or push notification.

And I can charge any time by just plugging in, removing, and replugging the handle within a few seconds.

Thanks, Ken. It sounds like both the CP & JB have similar capabilities. The one thing I need a bit of clarification on is your comment that "I can charge any time by just plugging in, removing, and replugging the handle within a few seconds". Why is there a need to do that as opposed to just inserting it in the car the first time?

One other question. If you set the charge time to 2 hours and the unit only charges for 1 1/2 hours as per the car's needs, does that mean the recording stops at 2 hours with 1 1/2 hour of real recording and 1/2 hour of 'flat line' or does the recording continue until you remove the handle from the car?

As an aside, I just got my advance replacement JB, and so far so good...but the original unit worked initially too, so we'll see. One thing I did do, as per bfd's advice, I put the new one on my Guest Network. Although that approach didn't help in me reconnecting my original unit, I thought there was no harm in starting the new one off on the Guest Network.

 

[KentuckyKen]

Thanks, Ken. It sounds like both the CP & JB have similar capabilities. The one thing I need a bit of clarification on is your comment that "I can charge any time by just plugging in, removing, and replugging the handle within a few seconds". Why is there a need to do that as opposed to just inserting it in the car the first time?

One other question. If you set the charge time to 2 hours and the unit only charges for 1 1/2 hours as per the car's needs, does that mean the recording stops at 2 hours with 1 1/2 hour of real recording and 1/2 hour of 'flat line' or does the recording continue until you remove the handle from the car?

As an aside, I just got my advance replacement JB, and so far so good...but the original unit worked initially too, so we'll see. One thing I did do, as per bfd's advice, I put the new one on my Guest Network. Although that approach didn't help in me reconnecting my original unit, I thought there was no harm in starting the new one off on the Guest Network.

I’ll try to clear things up.
Charging starts whenever I plug in unless there is a schedule set in the CP. Then the easiest way to temporarily override the set schedule is to unplug and replug. The CP has a nice soft glowing ring around the spot where you store the handle that tells you the status so you always know at a glance what is going on.

You do get the flat line after charging is over and it would go on forever if you didn’t set a stop time. So with a start minus stop of 2.5 hours, I see the charging and then a short amount of flat line. But I get notified as soon as charging goes to zero as opposed to when the schedule is set to stop.
Here’s an example of a 10.4 kwh session. On the app, you can hover over any point to get the kWs. Max is always 7.2 to 7.3 kW.

 

[Ken7]

Not to jinx myself, but after about a week all is well with the new JB. It’s working perfectly. So maybe tech support was correct and I just had a bad unit.

 

[MrFixit]

Thanks for reporting back. There are many satisfied JuiceBox users (I am one of them).
Sometimes the forums can attract more complaints than positive comments, and it's tough to determine the true story.

 

[bfd]

It's helpful to know when problems arise, particularly within a small group like this. People search online for issues like this. If some of the things that get discussed here can be helpful to those searchers, then it's worthwhile. In any sample there will be variability, and indeed this is a very tiny sample. So making generalizations based on a few data points isn't recommended. Despite that, it's important to know that some issues - that appear to be similar - can crop up with these boxes.

 

[bfd]

I tried deleting my current JB and reinstalling it on the new guest network. Unfortunately the behavior was exactly the same. The app went through the steps and claimed the setup was successful. But I still have the same slow blinking blue light and the same 'idle' status on the JB app regardless of the actual activity.

It looks like I can stand on my head and spit nickels and this thing won't transmit the necessary info. The only good thing thus far is that PSEG is paying for it. I don't think they'll be happy though if they can't communicate with the box.

Seems like a good validation that there wasn't some kind of network nonsense keeping the data gummed up. Glad to hear that a new unit did indeed solve the communication problem. Did you install the new unit on your guest network or on the network where you installed the original box?

 

[Ken7]

Seems like a good validation that there wasn't some kind of network nonsense keeping the data gummed up. Glad to hear that a new unit did indeed solve the communication problem. Did you install the new unit on your guest network or on the network where you installed the original box?

I took your advice and played it safe by installing it on the guest network even though that approach didn’t straighten out the original box.

 

[bfd]

Hope it keeps working well. Mine dropped off the network this week, but it reconnected within 30 minutes.

 

[chris davis]

Just received box THREE, and it doesn't work either. Unbelievable.

my JB40PRO worked for 2HRS AND 45 minutes before dyeing with all lights flashing AND RESTARTING, AND WILL NOT CHARGE. BUT THE POWER COMES UP ON THE APP AND YOU CAN SEE VOLTAGE AND FRQ. BUT AS SOON AS IT GOES TO CHARGE IT SHOWS ERROR. AND SHUTS OFF
THEY ARE SENDING ME A REPLACMENT UNIT UNDER WARRENTY
VERY CONCERNED...2017 VOLT

 

[KentuckyKen]

I hate to mention this, but there may be a reason why there is a long thread titled Juice Box Woes and not one titled ChargePoint Woes. Just saying...

I bought CP instead of JB because after a lot of Internet searches, the JBs seem to have a much higher failure rate.

 

[bfd]

It's worth noting that it seems only a small percentage of the JB's appear to have QC and/or "play nice/connectivity" issues. But for those out there looking for answers on the vast internets highway, it's a good thing the thread is here. Doesn't hurt the click count, either.

FWIW, since figuring out the problem here, the box has only gone AWOL twice. Yesterday should've been a problem as we had a brief outage. In the past, that would've meant sending the JB back into la-la-land for a few weeks. But the connection held, it found its new DLNA-less network after the router rebooted, and all remains well.

 

[Kerbe]

I have been shopping around for an affordable and reliable level 2 evse in anticipation of the arrival (date unknown yet ) of my Clarity. Have been intrigued by the Juicebox and at one point was top on my list. Hearing about your experience and the fact that out of all the makes of evses, Juicebox is the only brand that I have encountered that sells "refurbished" units on Ebay.

Thanks for the warning, have scratched off Juicebox from my shortlist.

FYI - Siemens sells refurbished Versicharge units at Home Depot.

 

[Ken7]

Since getting my JB replacement, it’s been 100%. No outages and perfect reliability. So it can happen.

If you look at Amazon, the JB got a 4.5 rating from 668 reviewers. Not a small sampling. The ChargePoint got a 4.4 rating from 408 reviewers. That’s essentially the same quality rating and I’d assume indicative of similar failure rates.

I don’t think this thread accurately depicts the failure rate of these devices. However over 1,000 reviews between the JB & CP does a more accurate job than a handful of us here.

I will also say that I got better pre-sales info from JB than CP. Nobody at CP could give me accurate info on the questions I asked. I got much better info from KentuckyKen.

 

[Mike Triassi]

JuiceBox Pro 40 ... bought refurb unit directly from the manufacturing (through ebay) and has been flawless for one year. It came with a one year warranty so hopefully it keeps going strong. Compact design. Great reports.

 

[NorCalPete]

My first JB Pro 40 had an issue within one month of purchase, but the replacement box they sent me has been flawless over the past 7 months. We've experienced numerous power outages (due to PG&E intentionally cutting power whenever fire risks are high - I'm in northern California) but my JB always has powered up and reconnected to wifi without any problems.

 

[llamallamaredpijama]

Hello! While I am not a Clarity owner (have a Tesla Model 3), I do have a JB40Pro and wanted to mention that I am on my 3rd unit within the past 3 months. Sequence of events is like this:

• Bought unit in May of 2019 - NEMA 14-50 plug version.
• Wired a 14-50 outlet that is 4 ft away from the subpanel. 40 amp circuit peak capacity. Using Romex 6/3 cable - that's some quality stuff.
• First unit had a GFI Auto Test Circuit failure (one long beep) - happened twice and after the 2nd failure, I reached to support who requested it back.
• Second unit had multiple GFI trips (3 beeps), all but one happened while the car was no charging - i.e. no load situation. I don't have any high load appliances - my dryer is electric and my A/C has a dedicated branch off the main panel. At that point I started looking at my circuit and discovered that one of my hots in the breaker was loose but still making contacts. Changed the breaker (to be on the safe side), re-tightened everything and made sure everything was buttoned. That helped for 48 hours or so but then the charger tripped again while idling (i.e. no breaker).
• Third unit came in last week; installed on Saturday - and I also used this time to replace the outlet itself (out of abundance of caution though it didn't seem to need to be replaced). Worked fine for 5 days - idled, charged up the car and then... today it tripped again.
• Went through my sub-panel again but cannot find any faults.

I am at a loss here and justifiably, so is Enel/eMotorWerks. My house is relatively new (built in 2002) and the wiring is spot on. I have no evidence of arcing, heat damage (melting) or any mis-wiring. None of my GFI outlets trip; none of my non-car equipment malfunctions and there is no evidence at all that there is any type of electrical issues at home. Also worth mentioning that when these issues happen - there is no overheating; the wiring does not feel warm; the plug does not feel warm and neither does the panel.

At this point this is escalated to Level 3 support but... yeah... that's where I am :\

 

[Ken7]

Wow, that’s nuts. I had a wifi issue with the first one, but the replacement has been flawless. Even the original unit was fully functional in terms of charging. Your particular issue is one I haven’t heard about. You should ask tech support what they found with the units you returned.

Did you do the wiring or an electrician? If an electrician, I’d call him back in and have him double check his work from the box to the outlet.

I also wonder if there could be an issue with the car itself. Do you have access to another 14-50 outlet/charger at a friend’s house? I assume you’ve tried a Tesla SC during this period with no issues?

 

[llamallamaredpijama]

Wow, that’s nuts. I had a wifi issue with the first one, but the replacement has been flawless. Even the original unit was fully functional in terms of charging. Your particular issue is one I haven’t heard about. You should ask tech support what they found with the units you returned.

Did you do the wiring or an electrician? If an electrician, I’d call him back in and have him double check his work from the box to the outlet.

I also wonder if there could be an issue with the car itself. Do you have access to another 14-50 outlet/charger at a friend’s house? I assume you’ve tried a Tesla SC during this period with no issues?

Right?? They did receive the defective units but so far, they have not provided any disposition. I am able to charge without any issues using superchargers, chargepoint stations and even the mobile connector. Ironically, my neighbor has a JB40Pro too, but both of ours are installed in a way where we cannot easily swap them around (his is running behind cabinets and mine snakes through the wall - it's a pain).

Support did find something interesting with demand response events - possibly incompatibility when loading the tesla profile. But I am not sure how that explains GFI trips when it is not plugged into the car and just idling...

 

[Sandroad]

Hello! While I am not a Clarity owner (have a Tesla Model 3), I do have a JB40Pro and wanted to mention that I am on my 3rd unit within the past 3 months. Sequence of events is like this:

• Bought unit in May of 2019 - NEMA 14-50 plug version.
• Wired a 14-50 outlet that is 4 ft away from the subpanel. 40 amp circuit peak capacity. Using Romex 6/3 cable - that's some quality stuff.
• First unit had a GFI Auto Test Circuit failure (one long beep) - happened twice and after the 2nd failure, I reached to support who requested it back.
• Second unit had multiple GFI trips (3 beeps), all but one happened while the car was no charging - i.e. no load situation. I don't have any high load appliances - my dryer is electric and my A/C has a dedicated branch off the main panel. At that point I started looking at my circuit and discovered that one of my hots in the breaker was loose but still making contacts. Changed the breaker (to be on the safe side), re-tightened everything and made sure everything was buttoned. That helped for 48 hours or so but then the charger tripped again while idling (i.e. no breaker).
• Third unit came in last week; installed on Saturday - and I also used this time to replace the outlet itself (out of abundance of caution though it didn't seem to need to be replaced). Worked fine for 5 days - idled, charged up the car and then... today it tripped again.
• Went through my sub-panel again but cannot find any faults.

I am at a loss here and justifiably, so is Enel/eMotorWerks. My house is relatively new (built in 2002) and the wiring is spot on. I have no evidence of arcing, heat damage (melting) or any mis-wiring. None of my GFI outlets trip; none of my non-car equipment malfunctions and there is no evidence at all that there is any type of electrical issues at home. Also worth mentioning that when these issues happen - there is no overheating; the wiring does not feel warm; the plug does not feel warm and neither does the panel.

At this point this is escalated to Level 3 support but... yeah... that's where I am :\

What do the folks in the Tesla forum say about this? Common Tesla problem with JB? I assume you know Tesla makes a plug-in version of their EVSE that has a 14-50 plug and charges the Model 3 at 32A. Just go with that and be done with the JB/Tesla problem?

 

[llamallamaredpijama]

What do the folks in the Tesla forum say about this? Common Tesla problem with JB? I assume you know Tesla makes a plug-in version of their EVSE that has a 14-50 plug and charges the Model 3 at 32A. Just go with that and be done with the JB/Tesla problem?

Funny thing is that the Tesla folks were smart and didnt buy a JB lol... everyone has the Tesla branded charger but I decided to go the altruistic route and buy a universal charger so my friends could charge too... and look what it cost me!!