Gen2 RIVIAN R1S making a strange sound when charging. Smells like burning electronics. Can I get stats on last charging session?

[LR4toR1S]

Fellas,

My car smells like it just about burned up. I plugged into my Grizzle E after a short trip. Came outside after maybe 20 minutes and my garage smell like burning electronics. The RIVIAN was making a really subtle but not great sound from the front. I ran out to the breaker and killed the circuit. (its 100% a fantastic install with EV approved 60 amp dedicated circuit and plug EATON) The grizzle E is set to (using the pins) 32Kwh delivery for a nice mellow flow. It is not a hardwired charger, but the receptical is EV specific. It has been functioning great for the last 3.5 years.

The cable was hot as hades at the car end. Slightly warm at the plug. I pulled it out.

I hit the hazards to collect data when I moved the car out into the driveway.


IS there a way I can see what the car was doing on my last charge session? What it was requesting vs what my charger was doing?


My charger seems good, the end of the plug is slightly darker than it should be. So definitely something was going down. I'd like to know if the car was asking for too much vs the charger. Things have been great for years using my MachE.


Thanks in advance

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[VSG]

Scary.

I think it goes without saying that you shouldn't try to charge your Rivian again until you get everything checked out.

The plug almost definitely needs to be replaced now. The smell plus the discoloration mean it's highly likely something melted inside, even if it still works. I personally would buy a new cable/plug and install it myself, then hire an electrician to check on the install. After 3.5 years the constant heating/cooling of the connections can loosen them, so re-torquing them to spec plus inspecting for any damage on the breaker side of the charger is cheap insurance.

Likewise, I would have Rivian take a look on the vehicle side before you charge again. If nothing else, the vehicle should have detected the increased temperature at the plug and shut the charging down. That didn't happen, so you have a problem on your vehicle end too.

Unlikely that this was caused by the vehicle requesting more current than the charger could deliver, because it's bi-directional communication - if the vehicle asked for >32amps the charger should have just said NO, all I can give you is 32amps. I would say the most likely cause was a bad connection - some foreign matter in the socket causing extra resistance. At 32amps, even 8 ohms of extra resistance (very little!) will cause a voltage drop of >240 volts across the connector, dumping all that power into the connector between the pin and socket.

You should be able to see the graph for the charging session on your car's charging screen, as well as in the app. That's all you can find out from your end. You did the right thing to hit the hazard so that Rivian could find the logs - that should help them a lot when they look into this.

Does your charger have a way to dump the charger logs?

Regardless, please keep us informed about what you find out.

 

[LR4toR1S]

Scary.

I think it goes without saying that you shouldn't try to charge your Rivian again until you get everything checked out.

The plug almost definitely needs to be replaced now. The smell plus the discoloration mean it's highly likely something melted inside, even if it still works. I personally would buy a new cable/plug and install it myself, then hire an electrician to check on the install. After 3.5 years the constant heating/cooling of the connections can loosen them, so re-torquing them to spec plus inspecting for any damage on the breaker side of the charger is cheap insurance.

Likewise, I would have Rivian take a look on the vehicle side before you charge again. If nothing else, the vehicle should have detected the increased temperature at the plug and shut the charging down. That didn't happen, so you have a problem on your vehicle end too.

Unlikely that this was caused by the vehicle requesting more current than the charger could deliver, because it's bi-directional communication - if the vehicle asked for >32amps the charger should have just said NO, all I can give you is 32amps. I would say the most likely cause was a bad connection - some foreign matter in the socket causing extra resistance. At 32amps, even 8 ohms of extra resistance (very little!) will cause a voltage drop of >240 volts across the connector, dumping all that power into the connector between the pin and socket.

You should be able to see the graph for the charging session on your car's charging screen, as well as in the app. That's all you can find out from your end. You did the right thing to hit the hazard so that Rivian could find the logs - that should help them a lot when they look into this.

Does your charger have a way to dump the charger logs?

Regardless, please keep us informed about what you find out.

No, grizzle E are well build stupid chargers. Nothing fancy. I am going to call the Electrical CO tomorrow to have them inspect and replace the plug end of the circuit. I'm not sure if Grizzle E sells the box to plug part.

I'm going to be touring for two weeks. Should I DC charge and let the car sit for 14 days, or use the supplied l1 charger just to keep things topped off? I'd prefer to store the car in the garage because its hail season. My Mach-E doesn't bleed much battery so it should be OK.

 

[VSG]

No, grizzle E are well build stupid chargers. Nothing fancy.

I'm not sure what you're saying here - I didn't imply anything about Grizzle-E chargers. What I said applies to ANY charger, and ANY brand.

Should I DC charge and let the car sit for 14 days, or use the supplied l1 charger just to keep things topped off?

If it were mine, I would drop it off at the Rivian service center and tell them to take a look at it. They would probably be keeping it for two weeks anyway - at least this way you're not going to need it while they have it.

 

[NTinkle]

FWIW, if you use eletrafi.com, it will record the specifics of a charging session....

 

[LR4toR1S]

I'm not sure what you're saying here - I didn't imply anything about Grizzle-E chargers. What I said applies to ANY charger, and ANY brand.

If it were mine, I would drop it off at the Rivian service center and tell them to take a look at it. They would probably be keeping it for two weeks anyway - at least this way you're not going to need it while they have it.

Stupid Charger =
Grizzle E aren't 'smart' in any way no cell phone apps or any way to look at, or download any information. It is just a plug. Other chargers do have the ability to present details.

Smart Charger =
Autel, chargepoint, juice box, Tesla and many others brands have apps, you can monitor, and get some of information from them, set the output etc.


I already have an appointment......for another 23 recent issues (my RIVIAN has been exceptionally awful) for July 7th. I did create a ticket last evening. We shall see if they contact me today.

 

[HaveBlue]

The app only provides basic charge history but your can divide the KW delivered by the time to get the KWH. Should be 7-7.5kwh. Don't assume anything is ok. Your electrician should be able to ID what is damaged. Changing the wall plug won't help if the J1772 Plug or receptacle is damaged.

 

[iamnid]

Stupid Charger =
Grizzle E aren't 'smart' in any way no cell phone apps or any way to look at, or download any information. It is just a plug. Other chargers do have the ability to present details.

Smart Charger =
Autel, chargepoint, juice box, Tesla and many others brands have apps, you can monitor, and get some of information from them, set the output etc.

I could be wrong but I believe the distinction is usually between smart and DUMB chargers. I'm not sure I've seen them called "stupid" chargers before.

 

[LR4toR1S]

The app only provides basic charge history but your can divide the KW delivered by the time to get the KWH. Should be 7-7.5kwh. Don't assume anything is ok. Your electrician should be able to ID what is damaged. Changing the wall plug won't help if the J1772 Plug or receptacle is damaged.

Charging cable is good. Grizzl-E confirmed. Wall outlet, looks like it is done for. It just happens I had come outside right when everything was starting to go down. Another few minutes and it probably would be a burnt husk.


Upon inspection it appears the electrician did NOT torque the cables to the 72 lbs. As designated. Non of the wires were properly torqued.

I have another electrician coming out to install a new receptacle tomorrow. As the OG guy is not returning my calls.

 

[godfodder0901]

Upon inspection it appears the electrician did NOT torque the cables to the 72 lbs. As designated. Non of the wires were properly torqued.

72 ft-lbs seems really high for the torque value. I think mid-20s is more common. And to be fair, these will loosen over time, and you need to re-torque them on a semi-regular basis. If you had aluminum wires installed to save money, they will loosen even faster.

 

[LR4toR1S]

72 ft-lbs seems really high for the torque value. I think mid-20s is more common. And to be fair, these will loosen over time, and you need to re-torque them on a semi-regular basis. If you had aluminum wires installed to save money, they will loosen even faster.

The receptacle literally says 72 as the spec. Most heavy duty EV specific receptacles require 72 . I can't find one that doesn't.

Hubble: Leviton, multitude of others. Heck, even S'tate of Charge' installations on YT when asked every electrician says they are torquing to 72 per manufacture requirements.

 

[godfodder0901]

The receptacle literally says 72 as the spec. Most heavy duty EV specific receptacles require 72 . I can't find one that doesn't.

Hubble: Leviton, multitude of others. Heck, even S'tate of Charge' installations on YT when asked every electrician says they are torquing to 72 per manufacture requirements.

Ahh. I'm thinking of the breakers and the connectors in the charger. I don't use a receptacle.

 

[mikehmb]

Was it hot/melty at the J1772 end or in the wall?

 

[mikehmb]

Fellas,

My car smells like it just about burned up. I plugged into my Grizzle E after a short trip. Came outside after maybe 20 minutes and my garage smell like burning electronics. The RIVIAN was making a really subtle but not great sound from the front. I ran out to the breaker and killed the circuit. (its 100% a fantastic install with EV approved 60 amp dedicated circuit and plug EATON) The grizzle E is set to (using the pins) 32Kwh delivery for a nice mellow flow. It is not a hardwired charger, but the receptical is EV specific. It has been functioning great for the last 3.5 years.

The cable was hot as hades at the car end. Slightly warm at the plug. I pulled it out.

I hit the hazards to collect data when I moved the car out into the driveway.


IS there a way I can see what the car was doing on my last charge session? What it was requesting vs what my charger was doing?


My charger seems good, the end of the plug is slightly darker than it should be. So definitely something was going down. I'd like to know if the car was asking for too much vs the charger. Things have been great for years using my MachE.


Thanks in advance

What were your DIP settings in the GrizzlE?

 

[TigerWuxia]

Your NEMA 14-50 outlet was probably not installed properly, and/or inferior part was used. Your R1S should be fine.

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