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Mustart EVSE fault when charging.

3603 Views 36 Replies 17 Participants Last post by RacerX00, 8 mo ago

frankhpns

Discussion Starter · 10 mo ago

I installed a 240v 1 phase NEMA 14-50 receptacle feed thru a 50 GFCI breaker from my sub panel. I had purchased a 40amp Mustart EVSE on Amazon because we were originally thinking about purchasing a KIA EV6 and we wanted a portable EVSE. We changed our minds when our 2022 Bolt EUV became available unexpectedly at a great price (We like the Bolt better anyway). The factory OEM EVSE works great and the car charger works as predicted. The Mustart is connected to the same receptacle but always trips on a fault within about 20 minutes of connecting. Mustart was very good about it and sent me a replacement EVSE which unfortunately does the exact same thing. Has anyone had similar experiences?

1 - 20 of 37 Posts

XJ12

· #2 · 10 mo ago

frankhpns said:
Has anyone had similar experiences?

www.chevybolt.org

MUSTART CHARGERS DAMAGING CARS

As in at least two other recent posts, MUSTART chargers are overheating at the J1772 plug, melted one guy's port on his car Damaged at least another. Not a great sign. Likely and out of spec J1772 plug. No fixing that. STOP USING THEM. I know this is a double triple redundant post and I'm...

www.chevybolt.org

www.chevybolt.org

Reactions: 5

saukriver

· #3 · 10 mo ago

frankhpns said:
I had purchased a 40amp Mustart EVSE on Amazon because we were originally thinking about purchasing a KIA EV6 and we wanted a portable EVSE

Really think it is a terrible idea to purchase any EVSE without a 3-year warranty.

There are a crapton of cheap, Chinese makes (often with with Europeany names) like BougeRV, Lectron, PRIMECOM, Morec, Eleclife, ZENCAR, Max Green, Besnegy, Megear, Muststart, Autel Maxicharger, Workersbee, etc. etc. etc. Avoid.

Stick to Pulsar Wallbox, Chargepoint, Emporia, ENEL X Juicebox, Grizzl-E, Clipper Creek. You can save yourself quite of bit of aggravation by focusing on the EVSEs with a 3-year warranty.

I think this guy will not review any EVSE without a 3-year warranty. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdX0BJNon1c6GfOdeS3pyDw

Reactions: 5

jefro

· #4 · 10 mo ago

Buy a cheap thermal reader?
Fault after time suggests heat.

cwerdna

· #5 · 10 mo ago

I can't speak to Autel's EVSEs, but they are a known brand of drones and automotive repair equipment. They didn't just come out of nowhere in the past year. I've been to their CES booth at CES several times (2019 and earlier).

Autel

Automotive diagnostic and calibration tools, scan tools and diagnostic software from Autel

www.autel.com

Autel Robotics Enterprise Drone, Quadcopter & UAV for Sale | Leader in Drones

However, they are a Chinese company: CONTACT US | Autel.

I do agree with post 3 on there being a TON of garbage out there. I've given my 2 cents worth of advice numerous times like at Charge Port Meltdown.

troublesome3

· #6 · 10 mo ago

It could be the fact that it's on a GFCI breaker

Reactions: 1

SpicyBolt

· #7 · 10 mo ago

2

XJ12 said:
It could be the fact that it's on a GFCI breaker

That's a good point. From Clipper Creek:

Font Number Document Electric blue

However a GFCI breaker is required unless it's hard wired, at least according to this from Clipper Creek.

See less See more

Reactions: 1

jmcbrew

· #8 · 10 mo ago

saukriver said:
Really think it is a terrible idea to purchase any EVSE without a 3-year warranty.

There are a crapton of cheap, Chinese makes (often with with Europeany names) like BougeRV, Lectron, PRIMECOM, Morec, Eleclife, ZENCAR, Max Green, Besnegy, Megear, Muststart, Autel Maxicharger, Workersbee, etc. etc. etc. Avoid.

Stick to Pulsar Wallbox, Chargepoint, Emporia, ENEL X Juicebox, Grizzl-E, Clipper Creek. You can save yourself quite of bit of aggravation by focusing on the EVSEs with a 3-year warranty.

I think this guy will not review any EVSE without a 3-year warranty. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdX0BJNon1c6GfOdeS3pyDw

Autel EVSEs do come with a 3 year warranty. They are also very well built. I have two of their units that were sent to me for evaluation. I will be keeping one of them to replace my “dumb” Siemens unit. The Autel units are commercial chargers that are stripped down a bit for home use. They remove the touch screen and the cellular SIM card, but they even left in the RFID card functionality.

Sorry to go off-subject here, but just wanted to defend its honor. Autel makes a really nice EVSE.

frankhpns

Discussion Starter · #9 · 10 mo ago

SpicyBolt said:
That's a good point. From Clipper Creek:
View attachment 45142

However a GFCI breaker is required unless it's hard wired, at least according to this from Clipper Creek.
View attachment 45143

I am not having nuisance tripping, only a fault indicator on the Mustart EVSE. You are correct about the code. My is set up on a 240 single phase NEMA 14-50 receptacle and not hard wired.

Reactions: 1

RacerX00

· #10 · 10 mo ago

My advice to absolutely everyone is cheap out on the Smart part if you have to, do not cheap out on the unit itself. Find something reputably certified, has been out for a very long time and most of all, beefy as ****.

Big fan of Grizzl-E myself.

Do not get a MUSTART. Every EV community agrees and has seen several problems.

Reactions: 4

SpicyBolt

· #11 · 10 mo ago

RacerX00 said:
Do not get a MUSTART. Every EV community agrees and has seen several problems.

AKA: MUSTMELT

Reactions: 3

cwerdna

· #12 · 10 mo ago

On the subject of GFCIs and charging EVs, Leafers ran into issues long ago. See HELP: OEM EVSE tripping outlet's GFCI - Page 3 - My Nissan Leaf Forum. Ingineer is a very talented EE.

Reactions: 1

Entropy512

· #13 · 10 mo ago

Yeah. I had a Mustart unit that wound up failing - and I think it was the "plug started melting" problem, fortunately BEFORE the vehicle side was damaged.

After I saw Nissan's report (basically finding that at least one Mustart unit completely omitted the ground fault detection circuit/response), I didn't even bother finishing the warranty replacement process.

It's too bad since Tesla is the only other vendor of "interchangeable plug with automatic current limit selection" EVSEs.

PhilBo

· #14 · 10 mo ago

My no-name 240V 40A EVSE trips out after about 20 minutes on my 2022 Bolt EV due to overheating. Temperature keeps ramping up until it faults out. It worked OK on my 2018 Bolt EV. Does your EVSE get hot?

frankhpns

Discussion Starter · #15 · 10 mo ago

RacerX00 said:
My advice to absolutely everyone is cheap out on the Smart part if you have to, do not cheap out on the unit itself. Find something reputably certified, has been out for a very long time and most of all, beefy as ****.

Big fan of Grizzl-E myself.

Do not get a MUSTART. Every EV community agrees and has seen several problems.

I appreciate the advice. I wrongly looked at these EVSE's as fancy extension cords. I thought the reviews were fine on Mstart until I got on the forum.

jefro

· #16 · 10 mo ago

We still don't know why your evse has a fault. The manual will have the reason by color or number of blinks. What does the manual say? My GM OEM EVSE faulted at a hotel. When I looked up reason it was ground fault. We need the reason code.

Shame clipper creek is putting out false and misleading information. They should contact a professional and re-word their web page.

RacerX00

· #17 · 10 mo ago

frankhpns said:
I appreciate the advice. I wrongly looked at these EVSE's as fancy extension cords. I thought the reviews were fine on Mstart until I got on the forum.

It's not a wrong way to look at it, the wrong extension cord will start fires. Only bolded my thing for others who come on the thread. It's a somewhat common occurance that someone goes, "My MUSTART raped and pillaged my house and left my daughter pregnant" and then a few posts down you see, "Yeah but whatever, mine works" which is the definitive wrong answer lol.

Reactions: 1

Passing Lane

· #18 · 10 mo ago

frankhpns said:
I installed a 240v 1 phase NEMA 14-50 receptacle feed thru a 50 GFCI breaker from my sub panel. I had purchased a 40amp Mustart EVSE on Amazon because we were originally thinking about purchasing a KIA EV6 and we wanted a portable EVSE. We changed our minds when our 2022 Bolt EUV became available unexpectedly at a great price (We like the Bolt better anyway). The factory OEM EVSE works great and the car charger works as predicted. The Mustart is connected to the same receptacle but always trips on a fault within about 20 minutes of connecting. Mustart was very good about it and sent me a replacement EVSE which unfortunately does the exact same thing. Has anyone had similar experiences?

We've had a Mustart level 2 charger for 1-1/2 years now, the second model. The first version (which we never owned) had a number of melt down and fire issues - this one has an all metal head and seems very durable. Never had any problem with it.
I have a question - how do you connect the factory EVSE to the same receptacle? The Chevy unit is 115v 15Amps and can only provide 12 amps to the car safely. Are you plugging this into the 50 amp 14-50 plug? How?
Have you tested the output on your 14-50 plug? Voltage, current draw while running, etc.?

RacerX00

· #19 · 10 mo ago

Passing Lane said:
We've had a Mustart level 2 charger for 1-1/2 years now, the second model. The first version (which we never owned) had a number of melt down and fire issues - this one has an all metal head and seems very durable. Never had any problem with it.
I have a question - how do you connect the factory EVSE to the same receptacle? The Chevy unit is 115v 15Amps and can only provide 12 amps to the car safely. Are you plugging this into the 50 amp 14-50 plug? How?
Have you tested the output on your 14-50 plug? Voltage, current draw while running, etc.?

And right on cue.

cwerdna

· #20 · 10 mo ago

Entropy512 said:
After I saw Nissan's report (basically finding that at least one Mustart unit completely omitted the ground fault detection circuit/response), I didn't even bother finishing the warranty replacement process.

https://www.macheforum.com/site/att..._iwc_-_evse_safety_analysis-et-1-1-pdf.51197/ was the report.

Reactions: 1

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