Level 2 Charging Issues @ Home

[rivianUGA]

Mine is having this issue as of 2 days ago. It will charge for a little while and then it has an error. I've had the wall charger over a year and never had an issue until now.

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[SparkyR1t]

Agree with the responses. An aluminum to copper splice will oxidize if not periodically inspected possibly cleaned and retorqued. Just the nature of the two metals and the design of the splice. When it oxidizes resistance builds and heating occurs. Checking that splice with an optical thermometer will tell the story

 

[lakeeriemonster]

I wanted to post an update to this thread. I had my electrician inspect the connections and everything checked out fine. I had him replace the aluminum line from the breaker to the charger with copper and this, of course, did not solve the problem. Thankfully, Rivian service was quick to respond and had a new unit out to me within a week. Had it installed and it has worked flawlessly. Interestingly, my next door neighbor just had a failed charge with his Rivian charger…

 

[rivianUGA]

I wanted to post an update to this thread. I had my electrician inspect the connections and everything checked out fine. I had him replace the aluminum line from the breaker to the charger with copper and this, of course, did not solve the problem. Thankfully, Rivian service was quick to respond and had a new unit out to me within a week. Had it installed and it has worked flawlessly. Interestingly, my next door neighbor just had a failed charge with his Rivian charger…

On mine, I went ahead and manually turned on my charger at 8pm last night. I looked at 9pm and it was still charging. Looked at 10 still working. Looked again at 11 and it had "vehicle error" as the message in the app. But I was too tired to get up and mess with it. This morning I see that at some point it resumed charging and is now at the full 80% I had it set to.

I really believe the issue I am having is either the charger itself or the truck is somehow not communicating correctly with the charger.

 

[lakeeriemonster]

This was how it started with me. Eventually, the issue escalated to the point that I could not even initiate a charge. I believe my intermittent failures started 2 months before a complete failure.

 

[electruck]

This was how it started with me. Eventually, the issue escalated to the point that I could not even initiate a charge. I believe my intermittent failures started 2 months before a complete failure.

If this same progression is observed by everyone currently experiencing charging problems, then in about 6 weeks, Rivian is going to have a flood of trucks that are incapable of charging.

 

[electruck]

I haven't had any problems charging since reducing the current to 40 or 44 amps. Unfortunately garage temps have been a few degrees cooler as well so can't say with certainty yet whether the charging cutouts are a function of current, temps, or both (since higher current generates more heat in the charging system).

 

[Yossarian]

I wanted to post an update to this thread. I had my electrician inspect the connections and everything checked out fine. I had him replace the aluminum line from the breaker to the charger with copper and this, of course, did not solve the problem. Thankfully, Rivian service was quick to respond and had a new unit out to me within a week. Had it installed and it has worked flawlessly. Interestingly, my next door neighbor just had a failed charge with his Rivian charger…

Out of curiosity, do you know what gauge Cu wire your electrician used? Assume the run itself is through conduit?

 

[electruck]

Out of curiosity, do you know what gauge Cu wire your electrician used? Assume the run itself is through conduit?

Can't speak to that particular install but myself, and many others, have installs using 6 AWG THHN through conduit for 48A charging.

 

[rivianUGA]

This was how it started with me. Eventually, the issue escalated to the point that I could not even initiate a charge. I believe my intermittent failures started 2 months before a complete failure.

If this same progression is observed by everyone currently experiencing charging problems, then in about 6 weeks, Rivian is going to have a flood of trucks that are incapable of charging.

Oh man.

 

[electruck]

Oh man.

There is no reason to believe things will actually play out this way.

 

[psturk]

Let me preface this post by saying I'm not an electrician, so the terminology I use will likely be incorrect.

I have a Rivian Wall Charger unit installed in my house - installed roughly a year ago - that has worked flawlessly until recently. 60A breaker. 4 gauge aluminum wire that was spliced to 6 gauge copper in the unit itself before connections were made. The aluminum wire was run before I bought the EV and was aware of the recommendations (? requirement) to run copper from panel to charger.

Over the last 2 months, I've progressively noticed issues where the unit will fail - it will pull 11 kW and then suddenly stop charging. Sometimes charging would reset if the car was left plugged in. Resetting the charger seemed to help. Recently, this has happened more frequently and currently, I cannot use the charger at all. The vehicle charges fine at my neighbor's Rivian wall charger and also charges fine on 110V outlet.

I've contacted Rivian and they are asking me to replace the aluminum wire with copper as an initial step. I'd obviously like to avoid this expense if it's not necessary. I talked with my electrician who thinks this recommendation is, frankly, bullshit. Can anyone with more knowledge than I weigh in on this issue and recommendation?

Appreciate it thanks!

Not sure I understand "4 gauge aluminum wire that was spliced to 6 gauge copper in the unit itself before connections were made." It is against all code to splice different wires together. Can you provide a picture? I assume you meant you have Aluminum run from your breaker to the charger and have aluminum terminated in the charger not spliced.
Residential Electrial Services were not designed for the high Duty and Current for EV's. I installed my Rivian charger with 60A residential breaker and 6AWG copper wire with a 48 amp 11kw charge rate.
Watch this video. .
Key points are you can get hot spots and failure from poor connections. I do not like aluminum wire but that may only be a contributing factor. I do recommend replacing it. That said all connections need to be verified as tight using temperature and not torque. To do this I bought a IR temperature gun and checked the terminations on the circuit board of the charger and the breaker. I found that the Rivian charger terminal torque values were not adequate and the connections were running hot both there and at the breaker (~55C). I was very concerned of overtorquing the terminals in the charger since they are mounted on the circuit board and I was afraid of breaking the circuit board and was very careful tightening these. After tightening temperatures dropped to normal ambient 33C on both the breaker and charger terminals and have been good since. These terminations and the breaker connection to the bus bar can relax, corrode and deteriorate over time. I plan on temperature checking them every 6 months and then going to a yearly check if I see no change. Hope this helps. Be safe!

 

[psturk]

Not sure I understand "4 gauge aluminum wire that was spliced to 6 gauge copper in the unit itself before connections were made." It is against all code to splice different wires together. Can you provide a picture? I assume you meant you have Aluminum run from your breaker to the charger and have aluminum terminated in the charger not spliced.
Residential Electrial Services were not designed for the high Duty and Current for EV's. I installed my Rivian charger with 60A residential breaker and 6AWG copper wire with a 48 amp 11kw charge rate.
Watch this video. .
Key points are you can get hot spots and failure from poor connections. I do not like aluminum wire but that may only be a contributing factor. I do recommend replacing it. That said all connections need to be verified as tight using temperature and not torque. To do this I bought a IR temperature gun and checked the terminations on the circuit board of the charger and the breaker. I found that the Rivian charger terminal torque values were not adequate and the connections were running hot both there and at the breaker (~55C). I was very concerned of overtorquing the terminals in the charger since they are mounted on the circuit board and I was afraid of breaking the circuit board and was very careful tightening these. After tightening temperatures dropped to normal ambient 33C on both the breaker and charger terminals and have been good since. These terminations and the breaker connection to the bus bar can relax, corrode and deteriorate over time. I plan on temperature checking them every 6 months and then going to a yearly check if I see no change. Hope this helps. Be safe!

I got it now! the terminals on the charger are too small for the 4 gauge aluminum and your electrician added a splice/termination in the box. You really should not do this. I seen your update and I suspect the charger failed due to overheat from poor terminal connections over time. The copper wire replacement will help. Still check terminal connection temperatures to ensure they are not excessive.

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