Charging cable life?

I checked everything and even opened the plug to see if there’s anything visually out of place. Removed the spring under the black trigger button and expanded it a bit so as to increase tension but it made no difference....will check with a multimeter later meanwhile this is what the plug looks like:

 

I just thought of something. Did you try to manually push the locking lever into place after plugging it in? Does it go down? If so, does it start to charge when you force it down? Perhaps that test will help you chase it down.

 

I did try to push it down but it does not go down any further. I'm inclined to think that the problem is with the little blue switch under the button - if it malfunctions then the current won't go through. I tried going to the dealer to see if they had another EV that I could try my plug in but it seemed like an impossible task I guess I'll just have to buy a new L1 or L2 charger and try it out. Below is how the plug looks like in the car:

 

I thought about that little blue switch and it would be a show stopper if it wasn't working. But, that little switch won't stop the latch from moving. Something is mechanically keeping the latch from engaging.

 

If you can't solve this, I might have a cheap-ish solution for you.

I personally build charging adapters for people, I have also tested out multiple EVSE units (chargers) that I bought for testing. I own a Nissan EVSE unit that I disassembled for experimental reasons, before doing this I personally used this EVSE on my Prime for over a month & it worked perfectly.

I could cut the cord off of this EVSE & ship it to you for $69 dollars. You'd get a perfect working charge handle & cord that you could add to what you already own.


Rob43

 

Thanks Rob and Jerry for all your help. I will keep you posted but for now I just purchased a Megear/Zencar L1/L2 which should do the trick for now. I do have solar panels in the house too and I've seen that they can provide an EV port so I might look into that.

 

Sounds good.

One thing though, your new EVSE unit is a "Duosida" variant, you really aren't going to like how very tight the charge handle fits into your Primes charging port. Connecting and disconnecting is a real PITA.


Rob43

 

True dat about the Duosaida being tight. I put a tiny bit of dielectric grease on each pin and it helped a lot, but it's still pretty snug.

 

So the new cable arrived and it still did not click or charge. I tried 2 different ChargePoint stations today and in both I could hear and feel the click when the plug reached the desired position. It seems unlikely that there would be a difference between the portable cable’s plugs and the L2 stations.

Car is scheduled to go to the dealer on Monday and hopefully we’ll figure out whether it’s from the plug or the receptacle in the car. Open to suggestions at this point....

Btw was told that the car warranty covers the EVSE but at this point that doesn’t the problem.

 

I think at this point we'ed all be guessing...

I will say that I've always found the tolerances on those public chargers to be loose.

Take good care of your new china EVSE, after Monday when this is probably figured out it might be going back.


Rob43

 

That's just bizarre!! Please let us know what you find out.

 

Yes I will ...it certainly is a bizarre issue. Just now when I went to pick up the car which I left at a free L2 station (luckily only 20 minute walk from my house) I inserted it multiple times and the click was there. It also felt pretty snug so I guess we’ll have to wait and see what the dealer says.

 

Glad to hear you are getting clicks from the chargepoint plugs. I'd previously thought there might be something wrong with the socket on the car, due to not getting clicks when inserting the charger cable plug of both the OEM cable and the chargepoint cables.
It still could be the socket that is at issue though, so it will be good to hear what you find out from the service visit.

 

A fresh thought based on your open charging handle picture:

You should "consider" opening it back up so that you could insert it into your chassis the way it looks in your pic. (wear rubber gloves)

This way you can manually insert it & manually operate that micro switch. If it works (charges) under these conditions, you of course have a working EVSE unit. Now the only thing that you'd need to do would be to file off a tiny bit of material from the black hook so it can engage and disengage. If you do this, try hard to maintain the hooks angle so that it still locks in place.


Rob43

 

So I brought the car to Toyota and the technician was able to make both my OEM cable and the new one work! He asked me if I had been into any accident since he had to force the plug in. It seems the issue is with the socket. Since this is covered by the warranty I’m not really worried. It’s currently charging on L1 normally so in a couple of days I will bring it back to the dealer for replacement of the socket something they say will only take a couple of hours...

Thanks Rob for the suggestion on filing the hook and vvilovv you seem to be right on the issue being the socket!

I will keep you posted after the replacement is completed

 

It was just a guess, much like most every other post with advice and suggestions. Nothing comes close to physical access while troubleshooting, most of the time. Good to hear you're getting a new socket.

 

Just an update - the Port was replaced (it took Toyota of Nashua about 1 hour) and now the OEM EVSE clicks when you plug it in. It feels a little loser than before but it's working fine. Have not tried an L2 Station but will do it tomorrow. Will keep you posted.

 

Just tried a ChargePoint station and it seems normal now. Plug goes in nicely and it’s quite snug. I’m yet to get feedback from the technician that replaced the port on Saturday really curious to find out what caused this.

 

The only way to know for sure is to have the old part in your hands and figure it out yourself.

 

I had the same problem as described above - I could not charge my Prime with my Toyota EVSE, but I could with ChargePoint chargers at work. The symptom was that I got no click when inserting the Toyota EVSE plug into the receptacle on the Prime. The solution for me was as described by @Rob43 above in this thread. I filed a small amount off of the hook, and I was then able to charge my car again.