J1772 Won't Charge until 30+ minutes after driving

[Mrbrock]

I am having some issues with charging from a Mustart Level 2 Charger at work. It is plugged into a 6-50 outlet to give the full 32A the car can handle. This combination worked fine for a couple weeks but the last week I have been having issues with being able to plug the car in immediately after arriving to work. The light near the port is darker blue like it is ready to go but once I plug in the J1772 and adapter, the light goes out. The car says check connection or something to that effect but I have and there is nothing wrong with it. it appears ready to go. I have unplugged and plugged back in, reset the breaker, everything I can think of. If I wait 30+ minutes and then plug in it seems to work fine with no issues.

Is there something in a recent software update that doesn't let J1772 charging occur until after the battery has a chance to cool down or something? That is the only thing I can think of in combination with the recent warmer weather we have been having that maybe the battery is too warm to charge? Unfortunately it doesn't say wait for cooling and then charging will start automatically so I have to leave unplugged and remember to go back after some indiscriminate amount of time and try again.

Thanks.

 

[toolman335]

You have to eliminate some variables.
Does it do this at a Supercharger?
Does it do this at home?
Does it do this with 110 charging?

My amateur opinion is that I thought the battery actually charged better when it was pre-conditioned(meaning quite warm). I don't think that's the issue.

 

[Mrbrock]

Only charged at a supercharger once and no.
Last time I charged at home with UMC was before it started doing this at work so no.
I have never charged via 110.

 

[TW14 9LF]

Do you have a co-worker that also has an electric car, preferably a Tesla? If so, have them try the same outlet and see if they are having the same problem. If they do, then the problem is with the outlet/charging station. If no, then suspect something is happening with your car.

 

[KenC]

Does it start to charge after 30mins, on its own?

 

[user212_nr]

Since it is plugged into the 6-50 outlet, then you can purchase a 6-50 adapter for the Tesla mobile connector and see if the problem is with the car or with the mustart.

You are being fooled by this "30 minute wait time". I don't want to speculate, but something is obviously broken or partly broken. Broken wall connectors are a common problem. I had one that wouldn't work sometimes after a very humid rain storm, not directly exposed. I took it inside and it worked after a few hours, but finally it broke for good. Trying to make it work just increases the chances that you will be stranded.

 

[toolman335]

Since it is plugged into the 6-50 outlet, then you can purchase a 6-50 adapter for the Tesla mobile connector and see if the problem is with the car or with the mustart.

You are being fooled by this "30 minute wait time". I don't want to speculate, but something is obviously broken or partly broken. Broken wall connectors are a common problem. I had one that wouldn't work sometimes after a very humid rain storm, not directly exposed. I took it inside and it worked after a few hours, but finally it broke for good. Trying to make it work just increases the chances that you will be stranded.

Exactly. This issue isn't going to fix itself.
Eliminate variables first. Like it was mentioned, have someone else try the same thing with their car.
Try charging at home.
Find a 110 outlet.
Then report back so we all can learn something. Good luck!

 

[Mrbrock]

Toolman, as I answered your questions before, it charges fine as long as I am not using J1772. UMC and Supercharger work fine. I have a 10-30 adapter for UMC use at home and bought a 6-50 to 10-30 adapter to use the UMC at work and that works fine. No one else at work has a Tesla or other electric car currently so I can’t test with other cars. I have provided you all the information I can.

Ken, I don’t leave it plugged in if it doesn’t work on initial insertion, just come back later and try again.

user212, how am I being fooled? By wall connector do you mean plug? The Mustart has a plug wired to it. It is not a removable adapter like the UMC. I also fail to see how something is “obviously broken” because it works after waiting a certain amount of time. Its not like if works after I spend 30 minutes playing with the adapter and plug, etc. I recoil the cord and go work for at least 30 minutes, come back, open charge port, plug in and it works fine.

Today, drove to work, let car sit for an hour. Drove across the street, parked car for 45 minutes, drove back to work and car wouldn’t charge even after that 30 second trip. Tried plugging in at random intervals, no luck at 5 minutes or 20 but worked at 40. maybe something to do with going to sleep? It senses the cord being plugged in but that is all.

The Mustart was purchased for greater compatibility so I am seeing if they can return it as not working and get something else instead. Hopefully a UMC since currently my Tesla is the only car using it at this time.

I was mainly seeing if someone had a similar issue and could offer quick advice. Since no one does, I am not going to be a Guinea pig to satisfy some of your curiosities. Outside of disassembling the adapter, I have tried everything that I can.

 

[toolman335]

Toolman, as I answered your questions before, it charges fine as long as I am not using J1772. UMC and Supercharger work fine. I have a 10-30 adapter for UMC use at home and bought a 6-50 to 10-30 adapter to use the UMC at work and that works fine. No one else at work has a Tesla or other electric car currently so I can’t test with other cars. I have provided you all the information I can.

Ken, I don’t leave it plugged in if it doesn’t work on initial insertion, just come back later and try again.

user212, how am I being fooled? By wall connector do you mean plug? The Mustart has a plug wired to it. It is not a removable adapter like the UMC. I also fail to see how something is “obviously broken” because it works after waiting a certain amount of time. Its not like if works after I spend 30 minutes playing with the adapter and plug, etc. I recoil the cord and go work for at least 30 minutes, come back, open charge port, plug in and it works fine.

Today, drove to work, let car sit for an hour. Drove across the street, parked car for 45 minutes, drove back to work and car wouldn’t charge even after that 30 second trip. Tried plugging in at random intervals, no luck at 5 minutes or 20 but worked at 40. maybe something to do with going to sleep? It senses the cord being plugged in but that is all.

The Mustart was purchased for greater compatibility so I am seeing if they can return it as not working and get something else instead. Hopefully a UMC since currently my Tesla is the only car using it at this time.

I was mainly seeing if someone had a similar issue and could offer quick advice. Since no one does, I am not going to be a Guinea pig to satisfy some of your curiosities. Outside of disassembling the adapter, I have tried everything that I can.

Before your last post you said you've never charged via 110, have used a supercharger once, and haven't charged at home since you started having this issue. My suggestion was to go try those methods NOW so you can completely eliminate your car being the issue.

 

[toolman335]

When it didn't charge yesterday did you get an error message or did the car say "starting to charge" and not begin charging for 40 minutes?
The fact it worked fine for a few weeks and now isn't is odd. I still say you have to try the other charging methods to make sure the car is ok.
There have been times that my car refuses to charge at public Chargepoint stations. It doesn't like the connection and/or senses something wrong. I've never had a problem with 110 power, my Juicebox at home, or at a SC. I've heard a lot of issues about public L2 chargers. I don't blame Tesla cars for being picky lol.

 

[Mrbrock]

There is not really an error message per se. It just says Check power source on the app. And shows 1V, 0A. Mustart has a green light and ready to charge with no errors.



So this morning, I tried a few different things. I plugged in and left it plugged in for an hour. It did not start charging on its own. I then tried unplugging and resetting and still nothing. Then I waited another 30 minutes and still nothing. Finally, i left the J1772 adapter plugged in and walked away for 10 minutes so the car would lock and go to sleep but it would leave the charge port open. Came back after 10 minutes and plugged in a everything works as normal.

I think looking back, the times it worked, I had left the adapter in when I left it for 30 minutes. So now I think it needs to go to sleep with the adapter in (and charge port open) so when it wakes up it sees something different than an adapter being plugged in? If there was an issue with power or something in the connection, it shouldn't work at all regardless of when/how it is plugged in which is why I think it is something with the car/software that is causing this strange behavior. Whatever is wrong, it is annoying but hopefully I can facilitate the switch to a UMC so I wont have to worry (or pull out the J1772 adapter all the time).

There is a free Volta J1772 charging station I can hit on the way home if I remember to do that. And a couple Tesla destination chargers so I can try those as well.

 

[animorph]

Can't say I've ever read of anything like this. I didn't see that the car had been reset. The MCU does control at least some aspects of charging, so a glitch there can cause strange charging behavior.

 

[ZOMGVTEK]

I’d say the J1772 charger you’re using is most likely the issue. Try another public charger and see if that works. The next most likely candidates are the J1772 adapter, and then the car, but I don’t think it’s either of those. I’d say it’s an issue in the handle for the J1772.

 

[Mrbrock]

To throw some more weirdness in, disconnected from car leaving adapter on charger, went to the store for lunch (5 minute drive, 5 minute shopping then 5 minute drive back) and plugged in when I got back (opening charge port from screen, leaving door open while plugging in) and started charging right away...

I was expecting to have to go through the whole wait for car to sleep with adapter plugged in, etc. but not this time...

Oh well, got them to order a UMC to replace and Amazon is accepting the Mustart as a return as not working 100% so looks like I won't have to deal with this anymore.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will still try plugging in at a public J1772 on my way home and see what happens.

 

[bedoig]

Is that picture showing 215 volts to the EVSE? Have you monitored voltage when it does/doesn't charge? That's a big drop and may indicate a problem in the circuit that swapping out the EVSE isn't going to fix (and could even be dangerous).

Edit - maybe your on 208v power? Not sure if 215 would be within normal range in that case.

 

[EVNation]

Is that picture showing 215 volts to the EVSE? Have you monitored voltage when it does/doesn't charge? That's a big drop and may indicate a problem in the circuit that swapping out the EVSE isn't going to fix (and could even be dangerous).

Edit - maybe your on 208v power? Not sure if 215 would be within normal range in that case.

I tried to look up the specs on mustartsolutions.com but there wasn’t much. Their own photo shows 213V delivered to the car during charging, but also warns that it must be plugged into a GFCI outlet. From memory, my last couple portable EVSEs warned against plugging into GFCIs. I suspect that there’s an EVSE communication issue going on here, and that after replacing the Mustart with a UMC, the OP’s problem will be gone. The Mustart is also indoor rated only, so good riddance.

 

[swaltner]

I think you EVSE (the Mustart) is the issue. for whatever reason, it takes 30 minute to “boot” before it works. This was confirmed by you leaving it plugged in and then being able to immediately charge.

The 1V indication on the Tesla is the indication that the Mustart isn’t actually providing power to the car. The mechanism is very simple here, the Mustart just needs to close a relay to provide the lAC line voltage to the car. That isn’t happening at first.

No need to always disconnect the Mustart EVSE from the wall. Just leave it plugged in and you should be fine. If it’s new, the manufacturer should replace it for free. That or replace it with the different EVSE you ordered from Amazon.

 

[toolman335]

I agree with the last several posts and let us know how it plays out!

 

[user212_nr]

user212, how am I being fooled? By wall connector do you mean plug? The Mustart has a plug wired to it. It is not a removable adapter like the UMC. I also fail to see how something is “obviously broken” because it works after waiting a certain amount of time. Its not like if works after I spend 30 minutes playing with the adapter and plug, etc. I recoil the cord and go work for at least 30 minutes, come back, open charge port, plug in and it works fine.

There is nothing normal about waiting 30 minutes to use the unit. The fact that it works after 30 minutes is not a sign that there is hope for repair, it is a sign that something is going wrong. Since you don't know what that something is, you should cease to use the mustart and replace it with something else.

It is not advisable for anyone to open an EV supply equipment such as mustart and attempt to service it. In fact, many such units are factory sealed and can be opened only with a saw.

By "wall connector" I meant the mustart as one unit. You should have been given a "mobile connector" with your car. You can purchase a 6-50 adapter and use this in place of the mustart. If for some reason you do not have it, it is sensible to immediately purchase one.

Gen 2 NEMA Adapters

 

[Mrbrock]

Thanks for the obvious. And I am not sure when it was discussed to take apart the Mustart? As far as the UMC, I didn’t want to leave it plugged in at work or pack and unpack it every day. So I enquired about getting one at work but as stated before, they wanted it to be more widely compatible so went with a J1772. However, it is apparently faulty so we were able to return it and luckily was able to get it replaced with a UMC.
As far as trying other chargers, the free J1772 was full on my way home so couldn’t try that but was able to try a Destination charger and that worked fine. The UMC arrived Thursday night so I was able to use that at work without issue on Friday. I think the consensus that the Mustart was faulty is valid so hopefully I won’t experience any further issues should I need to use J1772 in the future. Thanks for all the suggestions.