Variable Amp Charging?

[SEABrammo]

I have a 2013 Empulse and live in an apartment complex. That should begin to align my charging woes.

There are no outlets in the complex garage, so I'm forced instead to run a 100-foot extension cable to plug my Clipper Creek 110v into a rickety old outlet used for the garage gate. My problem is that it's a crappy outdoor circuit that can't handle an additional 10 amp load so 90% of the time it just trips the breaker. The only time charging works is when I stand at the outlet resetting it constantly and hoping the bike will finally wise up and try something more like a 6 amp pull, which it'll do sometimes for no reason I can discern.

What options do I have for choking the amp draw? The charge cables that allow me to select the draw all seem to be designed for 240v EU outlets and circuits. I was hoping there might be a setting I could tweak in the Brammo firmware or something but I'm just looking for a solution to charge my bike reliably on older circuits.

[Ashveratu]

From what you describe, it sounds like you are resetting the outlet and not an actual circuit breaker. If that is the case, then your best bet would be to find the actual circuit breaker that controls that outlet, check it is at least a 15 amp breaker, then replace the outlet with a new 15 amp rated one like this one : http://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-15-Amp-125-Volt-Duplex-Self-Test-Slim-GFCI-Outlet-White-R72-GFNT1-0RW/205996720  Just make sure to turn the breaker off before you replace the outlet.

If the breaker controlling the outlet is only a 10 amp breaker.....I guess you could try getting in touch with whoever maintains the building and inquire about replacing it with a 15 amp one and then upgrading the outlet.

Or.....No idea if this would actually work but I don't think it would hurt to give it try and make one:

[frodus]

How much the bike CAN charge with is a function of the EVSE.

You could build an OpenEVSE and it'll allow you to enter a charge current, the bike then charges at that current.

[Chocula]

The J1772 standard allows the EVSE to be set to maximum charge rate via a pulse width modulation of the 1 kHz contact pilot signal.  The minimum setting is 6 amps as specified by the standard, which is different that if the standard was properly implemented.

If you are comfortable with electronics, you could likely alter this setting on your existing Clipper Creek EVSE.  If not, something like an Open EVSE or Juicebox that can be set by the user might be a better option.  There is a guy on one of the Nissan Leaf forums who builds and sells Open EVSE's for a little over cost, I think his name is Glen.

Chocula

[Shinysideup]

Since Clipper Creek says to avoid using an extension cord, I'd also look into your 100 foot cord as a source of drawing lots of amps due to resistance. In my garage, I wanted to run an extension cord and bought some Romex 10 gauge. I just looked up on the internets and found Sears has 100' of 10/2 for about $80. Put some quality plugs on either end and you might find your bike won't trip the breaker. At the very least, you can sleep better, knowing the wire is much more likely to not overheat. Disclaimer: I'm not an electrician nor an engineer of any kind.

[Ndm]

You can also find a used volt or imiev evse, they can be turned down to deliver 6and 8 amps respectively, I bought a volt evse and can charge at 6 or 12 amps with the push of a button