Nissan Leaf

Gumbo

unkel wrote: »

What does the big red button do? Apart from disconnect you? Will the whole charger stop working until someone from ecars resets it, or even need a site inspection?

Shuts it down and reboots the system. Should in theory power back up and function by itself.

I found some of the chademo handles very flimsy and the lever broken and I've had a few occasions where I had to apply some pressure to remove it, this was after the charging had stopped.

Gumbo

Soarer wrote: »

The last one is my own fault. I though the DRL LEDs would replace the fog lights, but they don't! Waste of 20 minutes trying to get them changed.

So if anyone want a couple of LED replacements for their DRLs, give us a shout. Will let them go cheap!

.

What went wrong?
The DRL and the fog bulbs are 2 separate bulbs.

The fogs are H11 and the DRL's are P13 bulbs. The 2 bulbs are located in the same light unit. The DRL bulb is the lower on that kinda points up.

unkel

kceire wrote: »

I found some of the chademo handles very flimsy and the lever broken and I've had a few occasions where I had to apply some pressure to remove it, this was after the charging had stopped.

I guess they've seen some use. The CCS on the other hand are barely run in

Soarer

kceire wrote: »

What went wrong?
The DRL and the fog bulbs are 2 separate bulbs.

The fogs are H11 and the DRL's are P13 bulbs. The 2 bulbs are located in the same light unit. The DRL bulb is the lower on that kinda points up.

''Tis weird.
Those bulbs are there, but aren't working or don't seem to be connected.
There was also what looked like a spare connection point for a bulb next to the foglight connection. It was into this that the DRL LED fit into perfectly, but there was no power to it when I turned on the lights.

Ah well.

zilog_jones

Are you saying the DRL bulbs are present but don't work? Not sure about the Leaf, but in my Prius the DRLs won't turn on if you start the car with the parking brake on - you need to disengage the parking brake.

Soarer

zilog_jones wrote: »

Are you saying the DRL bulbs are present but don't work? Not sure about the Leaf, but in my Prius the DRLs won't turn on if you start the car with the parking brake on - you need to disengage the parking brake.

There are 2 bulbs in each casing. One is definitely the foglight, and turns on when you turn on the foglight.
The other one points upwards as described by kceire.
When I took out the foglight, there was a second connection on the same loom with nothing connected. It was actually into this that the DRL replacement bulbs fit perfectly. They never turned on though.
But now that you mention it, I never tried put the car into drive. So maybe that would've turned them on? That said, there doesn't seem to be a fuse for them either.
Annoyed I didn't think of putting the car in drive. :mad:

n97 mini

When power is on the DRLs come on. No need to put it in D.

Soarer

n97 mini wrote: »

When power is on the DRLs come on. No need to put it in D.

Cool.

Don't feel as thick now.

zilog_jones

Soarer wrote: »

But now that you mention it, I never tried put the car into drive. So maybe that would've turned them on? That said, there doesn't seem to be a fuse for them either.
Annoyed I didn't think of putting the car in drive. :mad:

I meant disengaging the parking brake (I'm not saying "handbrake" because it's operated by a pedal ), not taking the transmission out of "P" which is a different thing. No need to put it in drive.

If you don't use the parking brake, the DRLs will come on when you start the car.

Again not certain with the Leaf as I can't find the manual online, but seems like a fairly common setup in other automatic cars (incl. other Nissans).

DRLs were only made mandatory on cars type approved after 7th February 2011 in the EU - I'm not sure if this means that if the model was type approved before that date (which the Leaf probably was) then they were not required.

If they're not working, it's possible the wiring is there and they just need to be enabled via some OBD-II command.

Water John

Zilog, even to say 'when you start the car' sounds strange on an EV. When you 'power on' those lights come on.
Not trying to be a smart ass. We just need to develop a commonly accepted terminology for EV driving, so that we don't misunderstand each other.

You are right about 'handbrake', when it's a foot brake, parking brake means what it says.

Soarer

Soarer wrote: »

Here's a map of the fuse box, in case anyone needs it for any reason.

Following on from my post 353...

Can someone tell me which fuse is for the drl? Since it seems like the wiring is already there, I'm wondering if it's just missing the fuse to complete the circuit?

zilog_jones

I'd suspect it's more likely to be a software controlled thing, and since it's just two 13W (?) bulbs I doubt they're on a separate circuit.

Soarer

Well the front fogs have their own fuse, so why wouldn't the DRLs?

zilog_jones

Actually they might do, and it may be a requirement for the EU type approval stuff. It's a 7.5A fuse in my Prius.

Do you not have the owner's handbook? That should have a detailed description of the fuses.

Soarer

I do, and it doesn't from what I can tell.

Maybe I'll just throw the bulb into the socket, and pop a fuse into all the open spots in the fuse box to see if anything happens.

DrPhilG

I bought one of these bulb kits but after all this talk of blown fuses I don't know if I'll chance it!

Soarer

Tis the same fuse that blows everytime. F6.

A pack of 10no. 10A mini fuses are £4.39 in Halfords UK or €6.69 in Halfords Ireland.

Do it DrPhil, do it!!!

samih

kceire wrote: »

I found some of the chademo handles very flimsy and the lever broken and I've had a few occasions where I had to apply some pressure to remove it, this was after the charging had stopped.

The original chademo plugs (with a big lever and button on the top to release) also require the button pressed when removing from the car. Not just for releasing the lever. Took me while to figure out why they were sometimes difficult to pull out.

Luckily they are getting replaced with the newer type with a sliding release button.

Soarer

Will the SCP charge to 100% if you leave it long enough, or will it stop at 80 or 90%, and you have to restart it? Is there a setting somewhere in the Leaf that has to be switched off?

Going to use the SCP for the first time this evening, and leave the car for an hour or two. But I don't want to come back with it after switching off before 100%.

stesaurus

Soarer wrote: »

Will the SCP charge to 100% if you leave it long enough, or will it stop at 80 or 90%, and you have to restart it? Is there a setting somewhere in the Leaf that has to be switched off?

Going to use the SCP for the first time this evening, and leave the car for an hour or two. But I don't want to come back with it after switching off before 100%.

It will charge fully and balance if you leave it long enough without stopping. It won't charge if you have night rate settings on so remember to turn those off. Only fast chargers ignore those settings.

Soarer

Thanks.

I've nothing that I know of turned on, so should be ok.

goz83

Soarer wrote: »

Tis the same fuse that blows everytime. F6.

A pack of 10no. 10A mini fuses are £4.39 in Halfords UK or €6.69 in Halfords Ireland.

Do it DrPhil, do it!!!

The side lights are the F7 fuse for anyone wondering.

Soarer wrote: »

Thanks.

I've nothing that I know of turned on, so should be ok.

The previous owner may have set the timers.

Balmed Out

Few more questions if people would be so kind,

When plugging in / out does it matter if you plug in the car side or the charger side first?

Charging to 80%, is that actually best practice or not. I know newer leaf's in US at least dont have the option as nissan considered it didnt matter and that there is already a buffer ie. we dont use the full 24kw's.

That charge timer button on the right, should it light when pressed?. Mine doesnt and I'm not convinced yet it actually works. I seem to need to turn off the charge timer settings from the display panel except at a fast charger where it doesnt seem to matter.

For a 24kw leaf am I doing ok or very poorly to be using 43% of battery on a 60km journey (would work out to about 112km @80% or 139 @100% ) - normally at speed limit unless traffic?

I seem to be the only one who puts the rubber head back on the charge point at a local fast charger, presumably I should continue to do so?

oh I forgot, the buffeting noise / helmholtz ressonance. Anything that can be done. In other cars I have only heard it when a back window is down but in the leaf I can hear it when driving at speed and no window is down. This is possibly due to my poor hearing where I seem to hear things others may not while being tone deaf and needing to be looking at someone to definitely hear what they say.

goz83

Balmed Out wrote: »

Few more questions if people would be so kind,

When plugging in / out does it matter if you plug in the car side or the charger side first?

No. I tend to plug the socket in first, then the car if using a scp or granny cable, but that's just habit.

Balmed Out wrote: »

Charging to 80%, is that actually best practice or not. I know newer leaf's in US at least dont have the option as nissan considered it didnt matter and that there is already a buffer ie. we dont use the full 24kw's

If you're not going to use the car for a few days, charging to 80% may be beneficial. Otherwise, go 100.

Balmed Out wrote: »

That charge timer button on the right, should it light when pressed?. Mine doesnt and I'm not convinced yet it actually works. I seem to need to turn off the charge timer settings from the display panel except at a fast charger where it doesnt seem to matter.

I haven't seen mine light up. if I am charging at home and the timer needs to be turned off, I open the flap first, then I press the timer button and it all works fine. You could also open the flap, plug the car in and then press the timer. That works too. If the dash light are intermittently flashing on and off one at a time, the timer is still on. If there is just one light flashing, you're charging. Of course, one or two of the other lights may stay on too. This reflects the state of charge.

Balmed Out wrote: »

For a 24kw leaf am I doing ok or very poorly to be using 43% of battery on a 60km journey (would work out to about 112km @80% or 139 @100% ) - normally at speed limit unless traffic?

Sounds like you're doing fine there.

Balmed Out wrote: »

I seem to be the only one who puts the rubber head back on the charge point at a local fast charger, presumably I should continue to do so?

Yes. Even if everyone else is being an @ss, you shoukd continue to show respect and decency.

Balmed Out wrote: »

oh I forgot, the buffeting noise / helmholtz ressonance. Anything that can be done. In other cars I have only heard it when a back window is down but in the leaf I can hear it when driving at speed and no window is down. This is possibly due to my poor hearing where I seem to hear things others may not while being tone deaf and needing to be looking at someone to definitely hear what they say.

Can't help you there. Maybe put on the radio.

KCross

goz83 wrote: »

I haven't seen mine light up. if I am charging at home and the timer needs to be turned off, I open the flap first, then I press the timer button and it all works fine. You could also open the flap, plug the car in and then press the timer. That works too. If the dash light are intermittently flashing on and off one at a time, the timer is still on. If there is just one light flashing, you're charging. Of course, one or two of the other lights may stay on too. This reflects the state of charge.

Just to add, IIRC, when you press the override timer button the center light of the 3 blue lights should be on and the other two off. That indicates its ready to start charging as soon as it senses an EVSE connected.

I believe the override button wont do anything until you power the car off. Thats the only thing you need to do before pressing it. It doesnt matter if the flap is open or cables are or are not connected.

And the timer is only for AC. The timers and the override button have no effect when charging DC.

Water John

On one of the other threads, someone said car first always, both connecting and disconnecting.

Found it, from Fiery Mutant

When I was getting the charge point installed at home, the guy doing the install said 'always plug the car first, then the point. Same when taking out, always the car first, then the point.'

grogi

How to read the charts from LeafSpy? What to look for?

KCross

grogi wrote: »

How to read the charts from LeafSpy? What to look for?

All you need to know is here:
http://www.electricvehiclewiki.com/Leaf_Spy_Pro#Screen_1

The state of health % or the Ahr figures are the important ones. That gives some indication of when you are likely to lose a health bar.

Its also good to run the car to very low battery warning and then look at leafspy as it will then tell you if all the cells are ok or not at the bottom of the screen.

If you are looking to buy a Leaf another thing to look at in LeafSpy is the number of quick charges(i.e. rapid). Lower the better.

DrPhilG

KCross wrote: »

the number of quick charges(i.e. rapid). Lower the better.

Isn't that accepted as irrelevant now?

Bear in mind , at least for the current gen 24 Kwh Leaf the reported AH and Health can vary.

For instance, if I leave the leaf sit with little use on my days off shift I can see the reported figures drop, say it reports one day I've 65 Ah (which was the reported capacity brand new) and a few days idle can see 61 Ah being reported.

The Health can also vary from 100% to 91%. So I wouldn't read too much into it. The health shows the internal resistance which represents an overall condition of battery health, as it ages it's internal resistance grows and makes it harder for all the electrons to move around causing increased heating and greater voltage dips when a high load is applied ( harder acceleration and fast charging or regen braking) .

When the battery has lost a few bars it won't be able to fast charge at the same level of power and regen won't provide all 30 Kw as has been observed in the original battery that suffered far greater capacity loss than the current gen 24 Kwh Leaf battery. What's happening now is that it's a lot harder for energy to get in and out of the battery and on top of that the batter can't store as much energy due to capacity loss.

The GOM may show you have xx kms but when driving because the battery is under more stress it can't deliver the same level of power due to the voltage dips when under load so the GOM will end up reducing it's reported Kms as you drive because the BMS will think that due to the voltage dips there is less energy in the battery than there is it's just the battery can't get the energy out as fast now due to the greater internal resistance and so the voltage of the cells drops.

The GOM will vary anyway as you drive due to changes in terrain etc , the same principle applies here, if you're now climbing a long steep hill for instance the voltage will drop under load and the GOM will report less available Kms but, in the updated Gen Leaf you have a battery % reading, and this won't drop like the GOM and so most people learn over time on average how many Kms they will get per % of battery.

Improvements in battery tech will mean that you can get many more kms before all this happens such as in the current Gen 24 Kwh Leaf.