Recent content by nsayer

My general impression of the commercial ones is that they're the worst of the worst. I wouldn't give a used one to my worst enemy. If you're at all handy, I encourage you to consider OpenEVSE. You can learn a little about EVSEs and design and build one to your exact specifications.

You're right. I completely forgot about that. It's just more wear and tear on the contactor for no good reason whatsoever. This happens anytime the car wakes up - any key fob button, interrogating it via CarNet...

Thanks. I do see the eGolf increase it's draw when the pilot goes up. There are other whacky idiosyncrasies, too. When the other plug becomes active and the pilot drops in half, sometimes the eGolf will toggle charging off and on really fast - like milliseconds fast. That makes the contactor go...

Oh, that's just goofy. How on earth did you discover that? The spec says that an EVSE that wishes to communicate a permanent error condition can hold the pilot at -12, and that holding at +12 (well, actually it would be +9 given that the car would be adding 2.7 kΩ of impedance) indicates a...

LOL. It's perfect - it's not hard to reach back to grab a tissue when I need it, but it's out of the way otherwise - even of the back seat vents.

Don't know the best way to add a picture here, so I'll just link to a tweet: https://twitter.com/nwsayer/status/725016277710831617

I do have the quick charger option, which was only available in the more expensive trim, whatever that was called.

I had a chance to test the behavior of my 2016 SE eGolf in the face of proximity transitions. I was using an EVSE that had a broken latch and also had an ammeter. The latching end had been physically broken off, but the proximity button still works. Because of that, I was able to both push the...

Well, the silence is deafening. Let's try the opposite tack. There's a wifi menu too to connect to external networks. What do I get from connecting the car up to the Internet via wifi?

I don't recommend doing that. The proximity signal from the latch switch to the car is the signal that the car needs to reduce the current draw before either the contactor opens because the pilot line breaks as the plug is withdrawn, or the hot lines break open. Either of those occurrences...

It's particularly difficult (I haven't been able to at all) find any DPST 12v coil relays with contacts rated for > 30A that are UL Registered. The 30A ones I've found have QD terminals, which means you really can't use them north of 24A because of the QD terminals. It's much easier to get...

The most likely cause for the fault I can think of is excessive ground impedance. Have your electrician check to make sure the connection of the ground wire on both ends is good and that your building's incoming neutral and ground connection is good.

Using a GFI outlet for an EVSE is redundant. EVSEs have their own ground fault interruption capabilities. Moreover, EVSEs are supposed to have ground continuity monitoring functions that in general are incompatible with upstream GFIs (though the leakage current can be limited to an amount that...

If you own your home, you can attempt to do some shifting around of appliances to "make room" for an EVSE. If you have natural gas or propane service, then switching out an electric dryer, oven and/or range might be enough to make it work. Of course, natural gas piping is an even bigger hassle...

I would think not. It's another 30 miles from Santa Clara to Santa Cruz, so the one-way trip is something like 80 miles, and even if you take 101 to the South Bay, the mountain pass summit on CA-17 is ~1800 feet. If I were doing it, I'd hit up a quick charger in the South Bay for 10 minutes on...