[Alex Dee]

Hi

So i just got an original (old) 240v voltec charger for my 2012 volt, and after about 60% of charging i threw the three codes P0D3F P1EE6 and pending P1E00. i looked them up, all seemed generic. so i wiped the codes and the plugged her back in, and had a green light. looked at the car 10 min later and the charging indicator light in the car is off, so i am assuming that the same codes came up.

I used to charge with the 120 charger all the time before it broke, and i charge at work with a charge-point charger every business day, so why the heck is the charger that was bought at the dealer givin me trouble? anyone else have this problem?

thank you

 

[Steverino]

What colors are the lights on the round, wall mounted, Voltec 240V EVSE?

 

[Bern]

See dealer for TSB PIC5803D (May applied to your concern) A new software package was released for the K57 Battery Charger Control Module (BCCM) .

 

[Alex Dee]

What colors are the lights on the round, wall mounted, Voltec 240V EVSE?

Green

I suspect that there was too much perpendicular force on the charger, as you probably know the cable on this charger is spun around so it can be stretch to its required length, and when i had it plugged in, it did not seem like it was loaded up too much, but i went out again cleared the codes, anchors the cable so that the plug to the port would not have any load in any direction, and the car just finished its charge.

I'll keep the situation up to date.

 

[Upper5Percent]

P0D3F Battery Charger Input Voltage
Sets when the reported AC Voltage is less than a voltage threshold


P1EE6 Battery Charger AC Voltage Not Present
Sets when CHARGER AC INPUT Voltage is less than a voltage threshold

Sounds like there is a problem with your vehicle NOT seeing enough AC voltage

 

[Alex Dee]

See dealer for TSB PIC5803D (May applied to your concern) A new software package was released for the K57 Battery Charger Control Module (BCCM) .

So every night I been clearing the same generic codes, and its to the point now where it barley charges, Do you know if this is typical of this TSB?
Once again this charges at any other station just fine. its defiantly something to do with this voltec 240 charger, I wonder if the breaker I got is defective? like the install is pretty straight forward. so I cannot imagine anywhere else but the breaker that there would be a problem with the install.

 

[2VoltFamily]

From what Upper5Percent posted, it looks like you have an AC voltage drop at your house. That might be something to look at.

 

[Alex Dee]

So what causes voltage drop at a house

 

[Alex Dee]

I just walked into the garage as the fault has happeneing. The light on the car was yellow and the charger was clicking, several times. Ive unplugged the charger and flicked the breaker off for the night.

 

[CCIE]

Sounds like your old Voltec EVSE has an issue. They were never very reliable, though they usually just die outright.

 

[Alex Dee]

i was hoping for a more Technical answer. like the clicking is coming from the relays within the unit because they are faulty. something to that nature. Does anyone Know these things, if its hardware i can repair it, if its "software" then i might as well throw it away.

 

[Steverino]

i was hoping for a more Technical answer. like the clicking is coming from the relays within the unit because they are faulty. something to that nature. Does anyone Know these things, if its hardware i can repair it, if its "software" then i might as well throw it away.

You can try opening the unit, but the only thing you can test (unless you are an electrical engineer) are the two fuses or a lose wire/connection. But if the fuses were shot you'd get no current at all. Test at a public charge station (it sounds like you have).

If the car charges fine, you likely have something outside the car causing the issue (the electric service or the EVSE).

If the car has an issue charging at a public charge station, it's likely an issues with the charge port, or charger (Not the thing every mistakenly call the charger), or the traction battery or a BCM or some software.

 

[Alex Dee]

Thank you Steverino.

I opened the unit last night, plugged in the car, it tripped after 25% charge, so i cleared the code, removed the cover and sat and watched like a psychopath. after 30 min i got board and left. The car ended up charging 100%.

The thing i did notice was a small resistor on the left side of the circuit board has silicon covering 40% of it. So my far fetched theory is that the resistor is not doing was resistor do, by converting electrical energy into heat in a effort to create a required resistance in the line. this is creating too much electricity in the circuit, causing the relays to make the clicking noise i mentioned earlier. i removed the face cover while the final 75% of the battery was charging that would of allowed for more of this cold Canadian air to circulate helping this resistor.

I know this is a bit crazy, i was hoping amounts the thousands of these that were sold someone would of figured this out.

thoughts

 

[Upper5Percent]

Thank you Steverino.

I opened the unit last night, plugged in the car, it tripped after 25% charge, so i cleared the code, removed the cover and sat and watched like a psychopath. after 30 min i got board and left. The car ended up charging 100%.

The thing i did notice was a small resistor on the left side of the circuit board has silicon covering 40% of it. So my far fetched theory is that the resistor is not doing was resistor do, by converting electrical energy into heat in a effort to create a required resistance in the line. this is creating too much electricity in the circuit, causing the relays to make the clicking noise i mentioned earlier. i removed the face cover while the final 75% of the battery was charging that would of allowed for more of this cold Canadian air to circulate helping this resistor.

I know this is a bit crazy, i was hoping amounts the thousands of these that were sold someone would of figured this out.

thoughts

Yes...the average user thinks, "It stop working, throw it away and get a new one"...

It is shocking how many products that are manufactured and sold today as throw-away items...

 

[CCIE]

Yes...the average user thinks, "It stop working, throw it away and get a new one"...

It is shocking how many products that are manufactured and sold today as throw-away items...

That’s our “Made in China” world. You can’t get a good product that lasts a lifetime anymore, but you can buy a new cheap one very year. I’d prefer the former, but it’s usually not even an option.

In the case of the original Voltec EVSE, I’ve yet to see anyone repair anything inside except the fuses. Usually the components are all potted and soldered in a way that makes troubleshooting and repair extremely difficult. Never mind trying to find the correct replacement components.

 

[Alex Dee]

So.... i left the charger cover off and the car for the very first time charged entirly without tripping a code. So i may figure this out.

 

[Alex Dee]

Second night in a row where the car completly charged. Which means the unit is definatly havong somekind of air flow problem.

 

[fishhawk]

Hi Alex. I had one of the orange-corded 240 Voltec units that stopped working but would work again if I reset the breaker. I left the cover off and it stayed working, so similar experience to yours. I replaced the circuit board with an OpenEVSE board and it has been working for 5 years so far.

If you want to try this route, Steverino put together a tuturial that you can find here in the forums, or maybe he can link it for you.

EDIT: Found the link top Steverino's post:
http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?25513-Voltec-240v-Conversion-to-OpenEVSE