Clipper Creek HC-40 broken?

[jdunmyer]

For the 4 years of Leaf ownership, I used a Schneider EVSE; when I got the Bolt in November of 2017, I upgraded to the CC HC-40, just to get a bit faster charging. Not that I needed it, but... Anyway, it's been working fine for about a year, but recently has developed a "sometimes" problem:

Plug it into the Bolt in the evening, charging schedule set to finish at 10:00 AM, meaning no charging is to take place at the moment. The car and CC go through their handshake, then the contactor drops out. A few seconds later, the CC errors out, with both red lights (Power Fault and Charge Fault) on and blinking.

At first, I cycled the power (breaker box is adjacent to the EVSE) and everything was OK. However, the other night, the fault repeated for 3 or 4 tries, so I gave up and plugged in my portable charge cord. Next day, I swapped out the CC for the Schneider and sent an email to CC. The tech wants me to reconnect the CC and count the flashes of the lights in order to see if he should ship a replacement under warranty.

Reconnecting is going to be a PITA, and might not prove anything if the CC decides to NOT error out. Remember, it started out as every now and then, so it may revert to "then".

My question is: might there be something in my installation, only cropping up after a year of faultless operation? Of course, the Schneider was faultless for about 4 years and is working fine now, after sitting on the shelf for over a year.

FWIW: inside installation, unheated garage, 60-amp electrical sub-panel fed from 200 amp panel in adjacent building via 30' of #6 wire, separate 8' ground rod on subpanel, KWHR meter feeding EVSE from 40 amp breaker in subpanel.

 

[BarfOMatic]

OK, this sounds really bizarre, but it might be your coffee maker. Not kidding.

It could really be interference from any number of other electrical sources ....

( From https://www.chevybolt.org/forum/82-charging-batteries/21905-potential-solution-clipper-creek-keurig-problem.html )

As the owner of both a Clipper Creek EVSE and a Keurig coffee maker, I've encountered the "power fault" issue described in this Volt forum post:

My LCS-25 EVSE was working fine for 3 weeks and then, like clockwork, it started to PF around 8/830 am every weekday morning (Volt would start its "blipping" horn thing). I called Clipper and the support guy had an interesting theory: Without telling him what I had in the house, he basically said the EVSE is *extremely* sensitive to noise on the ground / neutral bar for the whole house. He literally called out two appliances known to throw off the EVSE...I can't remember the first one, but the second was Keurig coffee makers. It sounded completely ridiculous, but the timing made sense since that's when I make my coffee.

In our case, our Keurig generates enough noise in our home's electrical system such that the Crystal Creek EVSE power faulted each and every time we made a cup of coffee.

After some tinkering, I was able to solve the problem by plugging the Keurig into a surge protector, and adding a ferrite core to the Keurig's power cord, as shown in the attached photo. In the two weeks since applying these fixes, we've not seen a single power fault.

The ferrite core I used can be ordered from Amazon (search for Ferrite Core 1/2 Cord Noise Suppressor), and costs a less than six dollars. The core has a hinge, so you can open it up to run the power cord through it. The surge protector I used is the standard type used to protect home electronics.

Your mileage may vary. In our house, the Keurig is about as far away from the garage as one can possibly get, so it's possible we only needed a small reduction in noise generated by the Keurig to solve the problem. But hopefully, others out there can benefit from this solution.



Or ... https://www.chevybolt.org/forum/505-charging-stations-discussion/29855-problems-juicebox-pro-40-a-2.html

Or ... https://gm-volt.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-179778.html

Or ... https://gm-volt.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-224921.html

 

[jdunmyer]

Thanks for those links! I see at least one or two things to check after I reinstall the CC.

Lotsa reading there!

 

[paulgipe]

Thanks for those links! I see at least one or two things to check after I reinstall the CC.

Lotsa reading there!

Yes, that was a very helpful tip.

Our CC trips off periodically too. It's not consistent but it has happened often enough I keep an eye on it while charging with the Chevy App.

We don't have a coffeemaker, but we do have a microwave.

Paul

 

[jdunmyer]

Update:

CC tech wanted me to reinstall the CC and count the flashes of the 'failure' lights. Upon reporting the number (4), he said he'd have a replacement on the way. It arrived a few days later; I had to wait a few more days for the extreme cold to leave and give us a day above 40 degrees. Swapped them out, packaged the old unit in the box and affixed the pre-printed label and sent it off. Interestingly, the old unit failed immediately upon re-installation, but then proceeded to work fine for the next week plus. Go figure.

Anyway, Kudos to Clipper Creek! I can see why they're considered among the best. And, thanks for the 3-year warranty!