Three Separate Siemens VersiChargers Have Failed

[EVchemist]

The most likely cause for the fault I can think of is excessive ground impedance. Have your electrician check to make sure the connection of the ground wire on both ends is good and that your building's incoming neutral and ground connection is good.

When the electrician upgraded my electric he said something like that, and then proceeded to pound an 8' copper rod into the ground! I didn't think he'd be able to with the rocks, but he did it.

eGolfGirl: I had problems charging my car too with a versicharger VC30, it would only reliably charge using the immediate charge button. If I tried to delay charge the car I would usually get up in the morning and have to start the charger manually. The AX4 charger (Part # 5QE915681B about $1800) had to be replaced, now the charging works flawlessly.

 

[JoulesThief]

The most likely cause for the fault I can think of is excessive ground impedance. Have your electrician check to make sure the connection of the ground wire on both ends is good and that your building's incoming neutral and ground connection is good.

When the electrician upgraded my electric he said something like that, and then proceeded to pound an 8' copper rod into the ground! I didn't think he'd be able to with the rocks, but he did it.

eGolfGirl: I had problems charging my car too with a versicharger VC30, it would only reliably charge using the immediate charge button. If I tried to delay charge the car I would usually get up in the morning and have to start the charger manually. The AX4 charger (Part # 5QE915681B about $1800) had to be replaced, now the charging works flawlessly.

What is the month and year build of your 2015 SEL e-golf? Label is on the pillar, in black on the drivers side door. This might be and early build model problem with 2015's.

 

[TapEx]

The most likely cause for the fault I can think of is excessive ground impedance. Have your electrician check to make sure the connection of the ground wire on both ends is good and that your building's incoming neutral and ground connection is good.

When the electrician upgraded my electric he said something like that, and then proceeded to pound an 8' copper rod into the ground! I didn't think he'd be able to with the rocks, but he did it.

eGolfGirl: I had problems charging my car too with a versicharger VC30, it would only reliably charge using the immediate charge button. If I tried to delay charge the car I would usually get up in the morning and have to start the charger manually. The AX4 charger (Part # 5QE915681B about $1800) had to be replaced, now the charging works flawlessly.

EVchemist and eGolfGirl, I am having the same problem eGolfGirl is having with the Siemens charger. My golf was 2015 SEL model.

eGolfGirl, did you ever resolve your issue with the car?

EVchemist, the AX4 charger replacement you've mentioned, was it part of the warranty repair? I would like to get my fixed too!!!

 

[eGolfeGirl]

Two years of ownership and they still have not fixed this issue. It's not the Siemens charger. Others can charge their cars with it perfectly. It's not my car's charging port. My car charges fine with the 120 and with an L2 at the mall or anywhere else.

For some reason the Siemens charger in my house and my specific SEL continue to have issues. No matter how many software fixes VW issues or how many times they say "there's nothing wrong with the car" or "it's not our fault, it's the charger" this can't get fixed. It's absolutely NOT the charger. Siemens sent me three brand new ones over several months and each one has had the same fault.

It's not the electrical in my house. The lines are all brand new as well as the service panel. The charger works perfectly with my friend's Tesla and another friend's Ford plug in. Occasionally it works with my Golf but only about 75% of the time. The rest of the time it just keeps clicking on and off and the car keeps shutting off. There's some sort of problem with the car. My crotchety old neighbor said the problem is because the French and the Germans hate each other. So far, that's the best theory.

So annoying!!!!!

It's at the shop again today.

 

[JoulesThief]

Two years of ownership and they still have not fixed this issue. It's not the Siemens charger. Others can charge their cars with it perfectly. It's not my car's charging port. My car charges fine with the 120 and with an L2 at the mall or anywhere else.

For some reason the Siemens charger in my house and my specific SEL continue to have issues. No matter how many software fixes VW issues or how many times they say "there's nothing wrong with the car" or "it's not our fault, it's the charger" this can't get fixed. It's absolutely NOT the charger. Siemens sent me three brand new ones over several months and each one has had the same fault.

It's not the electrical in my house. The lines are all brand new as well as the service panel. The charger works perfectly with my friend's Tesla and another friend's Ford plug in. Occasionally it works with my Golf but only about 75% of the time. The rest of the time it just keeps clicking on and off and the car keeps shutting off. There's some sort of problem with the car. My crotchety old neighbor said the problem is because the French and the Germans hate each other. So far, that's the best theory.

So annoying!!!!!

It's at the shop again today.

So buy another brand of EVSE that does work.

 

[GlennD]

Thank you for the feedback. I'll get the electrician back in. Siemens did not tell me if they found fault with the first two chargers in engineering but they did tell me that the two charger fails were "mathematically impossible." So there's that.

PS They have been absolutely lovely from the get go.

I'm an electrical engineer involved with manufacturing electronics and I tend to agree with their assessment. Very unlikely for 2 and now 3 failures. My guess is the plug itself or the wiring to the plug. Having done some of my own electrical work in my house and it has happened to me.

I know the OpenEVSE unit changed the connected status to a different one. The J1772 is a very loose specification. I do know that I have no problem charging.

Worst case you can install an Openevse unit. It is very small and it supports 240V contactors and 12V relays.

https://store.openevse.com/

 

[BarryMW]

OP here's a question.......
How long (if at all) were each of the three chargers fully functional when charging your egolf ?

Barry

 

[eGolfeGirl]

Had to bring the car in for the 10,000 mile check up and told Galpin about the issue AGAIN. This time they ran another diagnostic and discovered a fault code for the coolant pump for the battery. They think this may be causing the shut down. So they replaced the battery coolant pump. Let's see if this was the problem all along.