How can we help you today?

Start a new topic
Discussions OpenEVSE Forums Report a problem

Open EVSE won't charge

Advanced kit diy assembly. After assembly, tried charging. EVSE boots fine goes into ready, 12A. Tried changing to 15A, only changes on a restart Before plugging in, EVSE said ready. When plugged into car, contactor " clunk" is not heard , EVSE says connected but charging did not start. Have double, triple checked wiring, pilot definitely connected to correct terminal, coils definitely connected correctly, have had sparkie friend who has a assembled a few of these check my work. We connected 12v to the contactor coil and it activated , so contractor works. Have checked all continuity, earth is connected via the backplane , all wires are correct. Have tried on two cars, same issue. Could this be a dud controller? Do I have to order another one to check?
42 CommentsSorted by Popular

The OpenEVSE store is not at all familiar with the EU versions of firmware you are running. 


We would suggest going back to the version 7.1.3 as shipped on your hardware, located here:

https://github.com/OpenEVSE/open_evse/releases/tag/7.1.3


We have received some reports of issues with the 8.x firmware and have not started shipping any hardware with 8.x, until the issues are identified and resolved.

With regard to the firmware, I only applied that version of the firmware because I was having issues 

I will re apply 7.1.3


We have spent the morning searching for information about Firmware 8.2.0. It seems there are numerous reports with issues for both GFCI Faults and "No Ground" errors on 8.2.0. All issues were resolved by going back to 7.1.3.


We were going to report the issue to OpenEnergyMonitor, the organization that maintains the EU version of OpenEVSE firmware. Their latest release is 7.1.3_EU, it looks like 8.2.0 was either not officially released or removed.

https://github.com/openenergymonitor/open_evse/releases


At this point, we would suggest going to 7.1.3.



I managed to look at the retaining ring, all looked good same as your pic. I'll downgrade the firmware. I upgraded it when I was having issues with the handle so there is a chance that there have been two issues, the handle, now sorted, and the firmware. We shall see. If the firmware downgrade doesn't work then I'm fresh out of ideas
Unfortunately it's a round trip of 100km for me to go to a friend who has an openEVSE programmer. And I'm going overseas for 3 weeks . would like to order one so it's available for me to use when I return, but they're sold out. Is there any way to program it without that?

@Antony - Programmers are now in stock, we just kitted up 100 pcs. 


Any 6 pin Atmel AVR compatible programmer will work.

Got a 6 pin programmer, flashed to 7.1.3. works... So the upshot of this is, firstly no resistor in the handle PP to PE. As a result of that I had a go at upgrading firmware, which compounded the error.. All's well that ends well. Thanks for your help. One small thing, it seems the current can't be changed (without a restart) unless the car is connected.
Thanks for your assistance, will try this soon and report back. Hope you get on top of your backlog soon.

When you plug into your car does the display change from "Ready" to "Connected" or "Charging"? Does the vehicle give any indication that the plug has be inserted?

The car gives no indication of the unit being plugged in, the openevse says "connected"and that's it. I've tried on a number of other vehicles too. At this point I'm ready to order another controller to see if it's that but needed a sign of life from openEVSE (which this is, thank you) so now I will order another. That will prevent you being tied up helping to diagnose this. It will cost me extra but at this point I don't see another option
And yes, display changes from ready to connected when I plug a car in

The issue is not likely the controller. 


If the vehicle does not recognize the plug, the issue is the push button/latch. If the button does not click when you press and click again on release connected to the vehicle, charging will not begin.


You can test the button with a multimeter, if you measure resistance from the "Proximity" pin on the handle to the ground pin it should read 330 ohms and 480 ohms when pressed and released.

It's a type 2, so no pushbutton. Proximity not connected, as per instructions, only CP. I measured CP to PE and it was 11.34V as I recall.

Type 2 still requires a resistor in the handle from the PP to ground. If the resistor is missing, the vehicle will not detect the plug.


Current capabilityResistance
13 A1.5 kilohms
20 A680 ohms
32 A200 ohms
63 A (3 phase) / 70 A (single phase)100 ohms


Testing procedure is the same, measure resistance from PP pin in handle to PE Earth.

Measured resistance is 10k from PP to earth (middle pin of 3 in type 2
Login or Signup to post a comment
More topics in Report a problem
See all 106 topics