GE Wattstation incompatible

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Edward21

New member
Joined
Jan 11, 2018
Messages
3
Is anybody using a level 2 GE Wattstation for i3 charging? I purchased a used unit and it is giving me a fault with the i3Rx and the X540e. Does not charge either car. I thought the unit might be defective, but a friend of mine was in my home yesterday and charged his Chevy Volt without issues. I read somewhere in the Wattstation manual that it might be incompatible with cars that have fan activation while charging. Has anyone gone through this issue or has any recommendations other than getting a new charger?
 
I have a Level 2 Chargepoint so not that same but I did notice that my buddies Volt would not charge at 7.2 kWH LIKE MY i3 does. It charges at about 3.0 kWh. We tried to fiddle around with the settings in his car and couldn't change it. He was very disappointed to find that the Volt had a charge limit.

Perhaps the GE unit is not putting out kWH enough to satisfy the BMW's charging management system!
 
I already tried reducing the charge rate on both the i3 and the X540e. Still got the fault. The GE Wattstation is a 30 amp unit. Is enough for either car at its maximum rate.
 
Well that just sucks, I guess the only thing else that I could add is; does the unit have some sort of fuse and do you have a multi meter to test the voltage output from the unit?
 
Thanks for the replies. I am an electrical engineer so wires, electrical codes and breakers are my everyday job. Most issues that come up in other forums are mostly due to bad charging station installations. The Chevy Volt that charged successfully with my Wattstation has a lower charge rate than the i3 or the X5e. The Volt only accepts a max of 16 amps @240V. But lowering the max charge on my i3 did not solve the problem and that's why this baffles me. The wattstation is a discontinued model so I am not expecting any help from GE but will try to call them and see what happens.
 
Does the GE unit have any indicator lights?

When you plug it into the i3, what color comes on?

Are you sure that it is fully inserted? The interlock won’t close in the release if it isn’t. That button must be fully up to close the switch. May be slightly out of tolerance and not fully latching.
 
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