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[codeoptimist]

I've successfully charged my 2015 S a few times at ChargePoint L1 stations with the stock charge cable. Last night, though, I had a different experience: I tried five different chargers in two locations, and every single one gave me a "Ground Fault" error after 2-3 seconds of charging.

Has anyone else experienced this issue with ChargePoint L1?

[MostlyBonkers]

Have you managed to charge at home or any other normal power source since? There's a chance your onboard charger has blown. A common symptom is the bike tripping the circuit when you plug it in.

[codeoptimist]

Have you managed to charge at home or any other normal power source since? There's a chance your onboard charger has blown. A common symptom is the bike tripping the circuit when you plug it in.

I was able to find a normal wall outlet and it charged fine for a few hours. I also plugged in when I arrived home, and have been charging ever since. I was worried about the onboard charger too, but so far it seems like it's just ChargePoint that doesn't like me.

[MostlyBonkers]

That makes me wonder if it's the cable.

[Electric Terry]

no its the chargepoint ground fault tolerance.  I get these all the time if I use level 1.  Just use the J1772 adapter and it works fine.  The charger on the Zero has too much ripple and it upsets the chargepoint stations limits for thinking some little 3 year old is being shocked. its all based on milliamps and what they determined a 3 year old could pull their hand off of if electrocuted. We had a big discussion about this in the Electric Auto Association a few years back.  In the end, it was decided it was better to have chargers fault all the time vs risking a small child not having the ability to pull away.  The J1772 uses twice the voltage so the amperage is cut in half.  Never have a problem with these.

[KrazyEd]

I had similar occurrences when I first got my 2012 XU. It would charge one time, and not another with the same error message.
This was at the same charge station. Never had the problem with my 2013 though.

[LeftieBiker]

   I've been wondering about using the adapter with Chargepoint L-2 stations myself. So I guess I'll be able to charge my 2015 SR at Chargepoint stations, with no issues? I thought the vehicle had to send a signal to the station, and didn't think a simple adapter would handle that...

[KrazyEd]

I believe the Chargepoint charger he was referring to was a Level II / Level I station. It has a standard J1772 Charge end ( Here in the US. ) with
a door below the screen that opens up to a standard 110 outlet. If not, that is what I was referring to. My understanding of the J1772 adapter from
HollyWood is that it splits the 220 volt  from the Chargepoint to 3 C13 ends that fit into the Zero, or, Zero Quick Charger. The Chargepoints here
in Vegas seem to run between 5 KW, and, 7 KW through the J1772. Probably 3  cords of 20 amp or less at 120 V.

[LeftieBiker]

I believe the Chargepoint charger he was referring to was a Level II / Level I station. It has a standard J1772 Charge end ( Here in the US. ) with
a door below the screen that opens up to a standard 110 outlet. If not, that is what I was referring to. My understanding of the J1772 adapter from
HollyWood is that it splits the 220 volt  from the Chargepoint to 3 C13 ends that fit into the Zero, or, Zero Quick Charger. The Chargepoints here
in Vegas seem to run between 5 KW, and, 7 KW through the J1772. Probably 3  cords of 20 amp or less at 120 V.

   I understand. I've never seen a Chargepoint station with the L-1 outlet box, but I know about them. I'm saying that I wasn't sure how useful the J-1772 adapter would be, since I thought the vehicle had to communicate with the L-2 charging station, and I didn't see how a simple splitter could accomplish that. What exactly happens when you remove the J-1772 plug from a Chargepoint station, and plug in the Zero, via the adapter?

[MrDude_1]

   I understand. I've never seen a Chargepoint station with the L-1 outlet box, but I know about them. I'm saying that I wasn't sure how useful the J-1772 adapter would be, since I thought the vehicle had to communicate with the L-2 charging station, and I didn't see how a simple splitter could accomplish that. What exactly happens when you remove the J-1772 plug from a Chargepoint station, and plug in the Zero, via the adapter?

The J1772 connecter is really simple. It just needs to know its plugged in, and it gets a simple square wave signal to turn on. When its on, its just a 240v plug.
So you can emulate that single with a couple parts, and connect the 240v pins to one or more wires to plug in various things. Its super simple.

I just wish some cheap chinese factory would make a ton of the connectors/pins so we can buy them for $10 instead of the $60 or whatever that EV specialty stores charge.

[LeftieBiker]

"The J1772 connecter is really simple. It just needs to know its plugged in, and it gets a simple square wave signal to turn on. When its on, its just a 240v plug.
So you can emulate that single with a couple parts, and connect the 240v pins to one or more wires to plug in various things. Its super simple."

   OK, what I'm trying to make sure of, before I invest in one, is that the adapter itself will send that low-voltage signal to the Chargepoint stations without having to do anything else to the bike. I'm guessing that it has a little built-in transformer?

[protomech]

OK, what I'm trying to make sure of, before I invest in one, is that the adapter itself will send that low-voltage signal to the Chargepoint stations without having to do anything else to the bike. I'm guessing that it has a little built-in transformer?

The vehicle side doesn't directly provide a signal at all, it provides resistance between certain pins that modifies a low voltage signal driven by the EVSE (wall side).

I wrote up a description of the sequence here:

http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=4602.msg32478#msg32478

[Electric Terry]

It will work perfectly.  Harlan Flagg has sold hundreds to Zero owners everywhere.  It will come with two extra plugs you can use to add additional Elcon chargers later if you want to charge to the max power of the J station, 6.3 kW!! 

It's a very high quality and durable unit versus lots of the cheap J1772 sockets I have used that ended up breaking over time. 

If a shop like his didn't exist, you would have to try to make your own and go through a lot of trial and error as you (like I did) buy a cheap one to start and then eventually get a higher quality unit and in the end spend a lot more, and have more headaches crimping in diodes and 1 kohm resistors that break again and again, than if you just get the right thing to start with.  As someone who uses this a lot, it's a no brainer to me.

https://hollywoodelectrics.com/product/custom-j1772-adapter/

[MostlyBonkers]

Can anyone explain why all this fast charging kit is so expensive? $400 for a cable? $1300 for the Elcon? That's a total of £1200 which in my mind would be expensive at half the price.

I'd be happy to pay about £300 for the two, maybe up to £500 considering they are of high quality and you don't hear any complaints on the forum about either.

I imagine the cost reflects the development and manufacturing costs. Also the fact that there aren't any economies of scale. I'm sure for many the cost is well worth it. Part of my reasoning is that I wouldn't get a lot of use out of it as I mostly commute.

That said, I still want one, or the Diginow when it's ready.

[LeftieBiker]

"The vehicle side doesn't directly provide a signal at all, it provides resistance between certain pins that modifies a low voltage signal driven by the EVSE (wall side)."

   Got it - thanks! I definitely want one, but isn't there a J-1772 to single on-board charger plug adapter for about $100? I don't have any external chargers.