Post by EVangelist on Nov 2, 2023 7:38:34 GMT 11
6 weeks ago our garage door had a catastrophic failure got completely jammed and could not be opened, even manually. It will be replaced next week.
Luckily both cars were out when this happened so were not trapped inside, however it’s also meant we’ve needed to entirely rely on public charging during this period.
Previously, our LEAF only ever had one CHAdeMO charging session in its nearly 9 years of life, so that was the first thing that changed - we had to start charging it at nearby DC chargers. Which worked OK but the Gen 1 LEAF even on a 50 kW DC charger maxes out at 38 kW and goes down from there, to only a few kW when the battery is nearly full. So it’s not very fast even though the battery is small.
The one thing that really helped was buying a Type 2 to Type 1 adaptor from AliExpress. That was the first thing I did, because there are Type 2 chargers at my workplace and that was going to be much more convenient than having to go to public DC chargers. It took only 10 days to arrive.
I got a barrel-type adapter because they are so much neater and more convenient than cabled ones. Also the cabled ones often look like junk - with a panel-mount Type 2 socket jerry-rigged into duty as an adaptor. Yuk.
Anyway, it’s been a godsend being able to charge at work and has minimised the inconvenience of not having a garage. The only thing is the adaptor I got does not have the Type 1 latch on it, so the charging session cannot be terminated by pressing the latch. So if the AC charger does not have a stop button on it (the ones I’m using don’t) and because the Gen 1 LEAF no longer has an App and there is no way to stop charging from the car’s screen, the only way to stop a live charging session is to pull the adaptor out (Type 1 end first). Seriously. And hope the proximity pin does its job and stops the AC current before the line pins disengage.
I’ve only needed to do that once and thankfully it worked 😄 no sparks or arcing, the AC was interrupted immediately.
I’ve since found a Type 2 to Type 1 adaptor on AliExpress that does have the latch on it. The only one I’ve found that does. So I would recommend getting this one if your LEAF has a Type 1 AC socket and you have a need to use public Type 2 charging. Using the latch is the “correct” way to stop charging and is much more graceful (and less scary) than pulling the plug out.
www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005614057480.html
Luckily both cars were out when this happened so were not trapped inside, however it’s also meant we’ve needed to entirely rely on public charging during this period.
Previously, our LEAF only ever had one CHAdeMO charging session in its nearly 9 years of life, so that was the first thing that changed - we had to start charging it at nearby DC chargers. Which worked OK but the Gen 1 LEAF even on a 50 kW DC charger maxes out at 38 kW and goes down from there, to only a few kW when the battery is nearly full. So it’s not very fast even though the battery is small.
The one thing that really helped was buying a Type 2 to Type 1 adaptor from AliExpress. That was the first thing I did, because there are Type 2 chargers at my workplace and that was going to be much more convenient than having to go to public DC chargers. It took only 10 days to arrive.
I got a barrel-type adapter because they are so much neater and more convenient than cabled ones. Also the cabled ones often look like junk - with a panel-mount Type 2 socket jerry-rigged into duty as an adaptor. Yuk.
Anyway, it’s been a godsend being able to charge at work and has minimised the inconvenience of not having a garage. The only thing is the adaptor I got does not have the Type 1 latch on it, so the charging session cannot be terminated by pressing the latch. So if the AC charger does not have a stop button on it (the ones I’m using don’t) and because the Gen 1 LEAF no longer has an App and there is no way to stop charging from the car’s screen, the only way to stop a live charging session is to pull the adaptor out (Type 1 end first). Seriously. And hope the proximity pin does its job and stops the AC current before the line pins disengage.
I’ve only needed to do that once and thankfully it worked 😄 no sparks or arcing, the AC was interrupted immediately.
I’ve since found a Type 2 to Type 1 adaptor on AliExpress that does have the latch on it. The only one I’ve found that does. So I would recommend getting this one if your LEAF has a Type 1 AC socket and you have a need to use public Type 2 charging. Using the latch is the “correct” way to stop charging and is much more graceful (and less scary) than pulling the plug out.
www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005614057480.html