Home Charging Station Error/Not Working

[Telubit]

Hi there,
I just bought the i3 (love it!) and installed the BMW 240 charging station in my garage.
The actual station power button blinks which tells me there is connection. However when I connect it to my car it does not charge - I can't seem to trigger it to start.
Suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[canuckjc]

Congrats on the purchase!

I have the BMW charging station too (free thanks to my dealer). The blue light will blink once or twice when first establishing the connection. You'll also hear the relay (contactor) trip back and forth. The light flashes continuously while charging. It stays solidly lit when connected but not charging.

In any case, if you're having problems getting it to start charging, the first thing I would check is the charge setting in the car. Make sure it's set to "immediately".

 

[Telubit]

I did connect the charger to my car and pressed the button many times - it just blinked and nothing happened. I didn't hear the contactor at all.
Yes, it is set to immediately.

Any other ideas?

 

[jadnashuanh]

What button are you referring to? The button on the charging handle is a release...if that plug is not inserted properly and the button up fully, the car will not charge. To start, you just push the plug fully onto the vehicle's jack - the thing should lock in place automatically unless you press the trigger on the plug, and you can't press it to release it if the car is locked (at least with the present software release).

Which light and what color, if any, is on around the charge port on the car?

What is the label of the lamp that is flashing on the EVSE?

 

[canuckjc]

Telubit, what color is the LED on the charging station? It should be steady blue if it's ready for charging. If it's red, the station is locked and will not charge. There is a key inside the compartment above the plug dock for locking and unlocking the station.

The button only serves to interrupt charging and restart it. In normal operation, charging should start almost immediately after plugging in (assuming the car is set to charge immediately, which you confirmed).

 

[Telubit]

The acutal station has a power light that flashes blue nonstop. That's all it will do - when I hold the button nothing happens. I have not seen red.
When I plug it into my car (or my other ford hybrid) the car accepts the hand charger and will flash blue for a few moments. No noise, nothing happens and eventually the color fades and the charger is plugged into the car with nothing happening.
Frustrating

 

[canuckjc]

Flashing blue means it's in the process of charging. Sorry if this is being pedantic, but here are all the color codes for the charging station LED:
Solid blue -- Ready for charging
Flashing blue -- Charging
Solid green -- Charging interrupted with Stop/Start button
Solid red -- Detected condition (fault)
Flashing red -- Detected condition with pending automatic reset
Flashing magenta -- Locked station

By your description, you have flashing blue with the car NOT plugged in (please confirm). If that's the case, I'd venture a guess that your logic board is hosed. The first thing I would try is a hard reset of the charging station (shut it down at the feeder breaker and wait a while before restarting). If that doesn't clear it up, it might be time to exercise that 3-year warranty.

Hope this helps.

 

[Telubit]

Thank you - sigh - what a pain this is BMW

 

[Telubit]

Your reset worked!
Thank you!

 

[canuckjc]

Glad to hear it. Now go back to better things like enjoying the car