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Rivian Wall Charger Issues

howler99

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Had my Rivian wall charger installed at our new house before I moved in by a qualified and highly recommended technician (but not Qmerit).

Finally got my R1T to the new house, and it will not charge the truck. Also, the app can't find the charger (bluetooth). When I reset the electrical panel, the light pulses white for approx 5 minutes and then goes solid red. Called Rivian and they said your electrician probably forgot to install the cable to the front-panel. Called him, and he came out and showed me it was installed. We spent an hour on the phone with Rivian support, and no success. We tried setting the dip switches to a lower amp rating, and reset the breaker numerous times. He measured the voltage at the input side of the box, and it was 242 volts. I'm bothered a little that my front-panel cable installs upside down from what is pictured in the manual, but it clicks in with no issues. Not sure if it was a bad charger build or what, but I would appreciate any advice. Meanwhile, I'm stuck in level 1 purgatory!
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ajdelange

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Make sure he wired black red and green (or bare). Not black, red and white. That's all I can think of.
 
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howler99

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Quick update- Rivian Support asked for several pictures of the charger and panel which I provided. They notified me that they are sending a new charger and scheduling with Qmerit for the replacement.

Qmerit requested more pictures which I provided. I'm just waiting for them to confirm a schedule. I hope that's all anyway.

Still in level 1 purgatory, but there is some hope!
 
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howler99

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Quick update - installed the replacement charger, and everything works perfectly!

It appears that on the original the front panel connector was installed upside down from what was depicted in the installation guide.
 

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Thanks for posting @howler99

I had the same experience after getting the wall charger installed in my garage. The charger's light pulsed red after initial installation. Luckily, I found this post before contacting Rivian service and after flipping the faceplate connector over, everything is working perfectly now.
 

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Tim-in-CA

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Thanks for posting @howler99

I had the same experience after getting the wall charger installed in my garage. The charger's light pulsed red after initial installation. Luckily, I found this post before contacting Rivian service and after flipping the faceplate connector over, everything is working perfectly now.
That seems like a poor design. The connector should be keyed to prevent improper insertion. Luckily the incorrect orientation didn't damage the unit.
 

Branden-Design

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That seems like a poor design. The connector should be keyed to prevent improper insertion. Luckily the incorrect orientation didn't damage the unit.
Agreed, the plug should only allow the correct orientation, especially if the installation manual was printed wrong. Certainly thankful that it didn't seem to harm any of the electronics though.

I gave this feedback to my Rivian Guide so hopefully they can find a solution for future iterations.
 

Bobthebuilder352

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Make sure he wired black red and green (or bare). Not black, red and white. That's all I can think of.
Dumb question. Why is there no neutral connection? Sorta hurts my brain that it’s only a three wire connection.
 

verchalent

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This thread saved me a ton of time. While I was on hold waiting for the tech, I pulled off the face plate and found my electrician missed the connector entirely. Had the problem fixed just as they joined the call.
 

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Had my Rivian wall charger installed at our new house before I moved in by a qualified and highly recommended technician (but not Qmerit).

Finally got my R1T to the new house, and it will not charge the truck. Also, the app can't find the charger (bluetooth). When I reset the electrical panel, the light pulses white for approx 5 minutes and then goes solid red. Called Rivian and they said your electrician probably forgot to install the cable to the front-panel. Called him, and he came out and showed me it was installed. We spent an hour on the phone with Rivian support, and no success. We tried setting the dip switches to a lower amp rating, and reset the breaker numerous times. He measured the voltage at the input side of the box, and it was 242 volts. I'm bothered a little that my front-panel cable installs upside down from what is pictured in the manual, but it clicks in with no issues. Not sure if it was a bad charger build or what, but I would appreciate any advice. Meanwhile, I'm stuck in level 1 purgatory!
Perhaps I have the same issue??? My charger will initialize, flash white, then after 2-3 attempts at connecting via the app and adding a device I get the solid red led... I have provided Rivian CS with voltage readings on each leg (220V/50A circuit in my case) proper dip switch settings per the book and verified connections but to no avail my until will not work... I will have to look at my front panel cable now that you point that out! Can you share any pictures you may have taken of this?
 

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godfodder0901

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Perhaps I have the same issue??? My charger will initialize, flash white, then after 2-3 attempts at connecting via the app and adding a device I get the solid red led... I have provided Rivian CS with voltage readings on each leg (220V/50A circuit in my case) proper dip switch settings per the book and verified connections but to no avail my until will not work... I will have to look at my front panel cable now that you point that out! Can you share any pictures you may have taken of this?
It's easy to detect. Take the cover off and, if you didn't have to disconnect a cable, this is your issue. It may be loosely tucked into the main unit (mine was and my electrician also missed it).
 

ajdelange

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Dumb question. Why is there no neutral connection?
The easy answer is that there are no 120V circuits in the EVSE or the car and that there is no need for the neutral to be present.

You would need to have basic understanding of how power is distributed to residences to fully understand this. Basically power is brought into your neighborhood at some high voltage like 12.5 kV (I'm in a rural area) so the current in the distribution is small meaning they can use steel wire of small size. The power used by the house, however, consists of two supplies of +120VAC and -120VAC referenced to a common point which is the center tap of the secondary winding of the pole transformer. If one wants +120V he connects between the top of the transformer secondary and the center tap. If he wants -120V he connects between the bottom of the secondary and the center tap and if the wants 240V he connects between the top and bottom of the secondary.

The center tap is grounded at the transformer and three wires are brought into the building. At the service entrance the CT wired is bonded to the building grounding system bus and to a "neutral" (to which all white "neutrals" connect) bus through which one obtains a return path (via the white neutral wire) for either +120 (black) or -120 (red circuits). If 240 is needed there is no function for the white wire which is not present. EVSE is a 240V load. EVSE is grounded through the grounding bus as are all other loads.

Maybe it will help to clarify if we point out that "neutral" is used to make the "split phase" or "bi phase" system used in residences conform to the terminology used in the more general description of polyphase power distribution systems. In such systems the common reference point of two or more phases is called the "neutral".
 
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ajdelange

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Perhaps I have the same issue??? My charger will initialize, flash white, then after 2-3 attempts at connecting via the app and adding a device I get the solid red led...
If you see flashing LEDs then the cable is connected.
 

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Quick update - installed the replacement charger, and everything works perfectly!

It appears that on the original the front panel connector was installed upside down from what was depicted in the installation guide.

Can you please clarify?
Do you mean:
A) The connector was wired upside down by factory and hence a replacement unit was needed?
B) Your electrician plugged the connector in upside down and there was likely nothing wrong with the first unit?
 

godfodder0901

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If you see flashing LEDs then the cable is connected.
Nope. The LED's are part of the base, not the face. You will see the red LEDs if the face is disconnected.
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