Bosch Power Max EVSE not working at all Update:Working!

I leased my Spark on May 1 and shortly after used the $500 bosch discount to purchase the 16amp 12' cord EVSE for a whopping $37.94 out of pocket cost. I chose the 16 amp mostly because of price (I'm a college student) and because my parents house has some pretty old electrical systems.
After a few weeks of charging on 120v the unit finally arrived and I arranged for a church friend whose a contractor to come do the electrical work for me. We installed the EVSE and a 120v outlet on the side of my house
We ended up using 2 x 20 feet of 12/2 romex wire, some plastic PVC pipe, a 1/2in LB conduit, a outdoor outlet kit, and a 1/2in flexible conduit connector as well as a stab-lok 1 pole 20 amp breaker (for the outle) and a stab-lok 2 pole 20 amp connector (for the EVSE) as specified in the instructions. I bought the Stab-Lok circuit breakers online and the rest of the materials I got at Home Depot or my buddy had.







The install took about 4 hours because we had some difficulty getting the wiring to the panel from the crawl space. We used the Romex to run two hots and a ground back to the 2 breakers and the ground/neutral bar on the panel. When we finished everything seemed to turn out all right until I went to test the EVSE.

He switches on the breaker and so I turn on the power switch waiting for the light to turn green....2 minutes later, no green light, the unit isn't powering on and I don't hear anything (no relays popping or electricity humming) absolutely nada. We're both disappointed and he gets his multimeter and tests the voltage at the breakers to make sure those are working (Stab-Lok is known for bad breakers.) We have power at each breaker. So we open back up the box and test the voltages at the wires were they wrap around the screws into the box and we have voltage there too. I pull up the car and plug in, no green charging indicator on the Spark.
We both decide that the EVSE must be faulty (the outlet works though). I told l him I'll call Bosch on Tuesday and try and get support or order a replacement if I have to. The entire install ends up at about $230 dollars and we're both bummed the EVSE isn't working, he called me up today and told me that one other reason why it isn't starting could be because of the ground/nuetral bar that our house has. The EVSE might try and test ground before it starts up and isn't getting the results it wants therefore won't operate at all.
I personally think we just got a defective unit because I can't hear any startup sounds or indicators at all. I'll update as new information arises, in the meantime I guess I'll be charging on 120V :evil:

Update: New station worked fine!

Chaconzies, I had the same thing happen last August. The unit was bad. Bosch diagnosed it on the phone in a minute. There was no surprise at all in the tech's voice; they are used to it. They shipped me a new unit pretty fast, and paid for shipping both ways. It was a disappointing delay and a minor pain in the neck. I was just glad to have them tell me a bad unit was common; when I called I was a little apprehensive they might tell me I shorted it out or something -- 11,000 miles of charges later the second unit hasn't had a hiccup -- You'll be up and running by the end of the week!

Good advice, I called and the technician did the same thing. He began the replacement process and told me another employee from returns and warranties will call me back soon to complete the process. Once it arrives I already have everything set up so it should only take a few minutes and then I can finally begin charging quickly! :lol:

Chaconzies said:

Good advice, I called and the technician did the same thing. He began the replacement process and told me another employee from returns and warranties will call me back soon to complete the process. Once it arrives I already have everything set up so it should only take a few minutes and then I can finally begin charging quickly! :lol:

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Curious....is that an outdoor unit? I don't think it is...you might want to cover that thing before it gets wet.

nozferatu said:

Curious....is that an outdoor unit? I don't think it is...you might want to cover that thing before it gets wet.

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Bosch advertises The PowerMax units as Indoor/Outdor and they are NEMA Type 3R, quoting them:

Type 3R Enclosures constructed for either indoor or outdoor use to provide a degree
of protection to personnel against access to hazardous parts; to provide a degree of
protection of the equipment inside the enclosure against ingress of solid foreign objects
(falling dirt); to provide a degree of protection with respect to harmful effects on the
equipment due to the ingress of water (rain, sleet, snow); and that will be undamaged
by the external formation of ice on the enclosure.

This should be no problem (although "degree or protection" sure sounds like weasel words to me). I know it's common in California but still I'd be more hinkey about having the breaker box on the outside of the house.

What he said! Everything is enclosed in the plastic and it's rain proof which is all we get here in SoCal, so I'm good. As for the breaker box...well it's lasted this long...

This same unit is marketed under the Delta, Blink and Bosch names. It does not have a stellar reputation, and therefore I presume you may be right in thinking yours is bad.

Hope it works out.