[Ira]

Does anyone have any experience with this charger?

 

[Sandy Eggo]

Make sure you get the "Enhanced Version" which is tested and known to be compatible with the Karma. Home Depot will sell it to you online and it ships pretty fast. I just received mine yesterday - 2 days ahead of schedule.

 

[Sigurd]

I've had mine for maybe a year now. Love it. Trouble free and very predictable. No big bells a whistles though like some other units though such as the Blink unit.

 

[Ira]

Let me know if the charging delay feature works. This has been an issue and doesn't work with the unit I have. It appears to be a software issue in the handshaking between the unit and the Karma.

 

[Sigurd]

Yes, my delayed charging works. I used this feature last summer when I came home and the fans were on. I just hit the delay one hour button, hooked up and went into the house.

 

[Ira]

EVlink Procedure for Delayed Charging

Thanks. Your post inspired me to try something else to get delayed charging to work. (I only had the opportunity to try this once before leaving on a trip.)

I plugged the EVLink into the Karma with no delay set and verified that the Charging LED on the wall unit was active. I then pressed the delay button once for a one-hour delay and noted that the corresponding Delay LED on the wall unit was flashing.

About 1.5 hours later I observed that the wall unit had switched to the charging mode and that there was another 5 miles of range in the Fisker's batteries. So based on this one test, I think it's working.

Does this allow the car and charger to handshake before setting the delay procedure sound right to you? Or can you set the delay first on your EVLink and then plug it in?

BTW: My Karma has the latest software rev.

 

[Sigurd]

I hit the delay button first, then I plug it in. Always worked for me.

 

[Ira]

Very interesting. If you get a chance, let me know the serial number of your unit. Perhaps there's a firmware difference between the units. I'd like to talk to Schneider Electric about this. Thanks!

 

[8AVGMPG]

Thanks. Your post inspired me to try something else to get delayed charging to work. (I only had the opportunity to try this once before leaving on a trip.)

I plugged the EVLink into the Karma with no delay set and verified that the Charging LED on the wall unit was active. I then pressed the delay button once for a one-hour delay and noted that the corresponding Delay LED on the wall unit was flashing.

About 1.5 hours later I observed that the wall unit had switched to the charging mode and that there was another 5 miles of range in the Fisker's batteries. So based on this one test, I think it's working.

Does this allow the car and charger to handshake before setting the delay procedure sound right to you? Or can you set the delay first on your EVLink and then plug it in?

BTW: My Karma has the latest software rev.

FYI, when the karma is off, the battery's computer only wakes up once an hour to check and see if a charger is plugged in, so it can actually take up to 1 hour to start charging from whatever time you set on the wall unit.

It could be 5 minutes after or it could be 55 minutes after.

 

[Ira]

Wow! That explains a lot. Thank you!! Ira

 

[Sigurd]

Ev2430ws

 

[Ira]

This is from a tech at Schneider Electric. It explains how the handshake works for the delay feature. However, it doesn't directly address the Karma's 5-60 minute wake-up feature discussed above. I'll test this with my EVLink and Karma tomorrow when I'm back in California and let y'all know. I like the EVLink since it's feature-set is between the rebranded Clipper Creek (no delay) charger and the Blink web-enabled smart charger.

_______________________________________________________

A technical explanation of the communication issue between the Karma and the EVLink charger was explained to me by Paul Reid.

The EVLink charger goes in to time delay mode by turning off its contactor and changing the 1KHZ pilot signal from EVSE READY state to NOT-READY by turning off the 1kHz signal.

Paul visited Fisker in May, 2012 and saw first hand that the Karma would "go to sleep" after a while if the EVlink charger was in its time-delay mode but the Karma did not wake up immediately when the 1kHz pilot signal resumed. It didn't matter if the time delay was applied before plugging in or after. From comments in the forum, it appears the Karma wakes up every hour to see if the charger is ready. This could add up to an hour to our delay feature.

The EVlink charger follows exactly the protocol in SAE J1772 for a charger with a time-delay feature. It turns off its "pilot 1 kHz signal" while keeping a DC pilot voltage to inform the car that the charger is present but not ready to charge (used for time-delay feature). Most other EVs go to sleep at this point but wake-up when the pilot signal resumes at the end of the time delay. The Karma in May 2012 did not wake up and required a manual unplug-plug cycle to resume charging.

From the Fisker user forums it appears some owners have successfully applied the time delay and others have not. It will take a Karma employee to explain if their firmware or hardware can be updated. It can be expected that other charger manufacturers with time delays will see a similar wake up issue with the Karma.

Paul said the Coda EV also has a similar problem with chargers with time delays.
Time delay features for EVSE are not explicitly defined for the SAE J1772 standard. Its up the EV maker to decide what to do when the EVSE turns on or off its availability by another control such as a time-delay or utility demand response or Start/Stop control.


Regards,
Gary Scott

 

[Ira]

After several days of problem-free charging, here is my 2 cents:

The EVLink works exactly as Sigurd and others have said. Set the delay, plug it into your Karma, and walk away. Pros: Attractive pricing, available at Home Depot and other major retailers, 18-ft charging cord, ability to plug into a 220VAC socket, easy to hang on the wall, and easy to use. Cons: None so far.

 

[Grebechini]

I concur with Ira....I have two of these units and they seem to work nearly flawlessly.
I use the time delay on my home unit every night and set it for 3 hour delay.

Only twice have I come out to find a red warning light and no charge had taken place.
I have been using these for 15 months.

 

[Sandy Eggo]

Mildly off-topic but thought you might enjoy it nonetheless.

I finally got my freebie "vinyl sticker" in the mail from Schneider and took a few moments to slap it onto my EVLink unit. It's a picture I took of my own Karma and think it's quite fitting for the application. The only problem is that of course the filler cap in the picture is for gasoline.

Sorry, no idea why the forum SW rotated the picture. Just turn your head 90 degrees to the left and all is well.

 

[Ira]

All this time I've been trying to plug the charging cable into the wrong port.

 

[doug]

Sorry, no idea why the forum SW rotated the picture. Just turn your head 90 degrees to the left and all is well.

I assume you took it with an iPhone.

 

[Fabulist]

All this time I've been trying to plug the charging cable into the wrong port.

Not to mention all the mess from trying to put gas in the electrical port.

 

[Sandy Eggo]

I received a product recall notice from Schneider Electric yesterday. There is a batch of charging stations made from Dec 2012 to Mar 2013 that are defective and could create a "situation" resulting in personal injury and/or property damage.

They recommend discontinuing use immediately if yours is affected by the recall. The good news is that they will send someone to make the repair at no cost to the owner.

Affected units have a serial number starting with the first 5 digits in this range 12494 to 13117.

The Product Recall Bulletin is PRB-51283 and you can call the response team at 877-283-7647 if you have any concerns.

 

[Ira]

Thanks S.E. Fortunately, my unit is outside of that serial range.

However, I understand they are going to change the charging connector.