HELP Charging with generator

[Hyfly]

Hey man, following up, if you are wary of ground bonding here is a much more specific product made for your exact use case.

4 Prong Generator Twist Lock 20A Plug to EV 50A Receptacle

My understanding is the main error comes from the way the plugs are pinned out, and how regular generator pin out is different from the typical rv/ev need

Sweet. Ill check it out if that ground plug doesn't work. It should be here tomorrow to test!

Sponsored

 

[Hyfly]

Okay I have an update.
I got the bonding plug and it still is not working.
I also tested the 120 plug and it didn’t work either.
I did plug a blow dryer in and it worked so I know the plug is working. The rivian charger also lights up in red so it’s getting juice.
any other ideas?

 

[Hyfly]

Hey man, following up, if you are wary of ground bonding here is a much more specific product made for your exact use case.

4 Prong Generator Twist Lock 20A Plug to EV 50A Receptacle

My understanding is the main error comes from the way the plugs are pinned out, and how regular generator pin out is different from the typical rv/ev need

I ordered this tonight to try since it’s still not working.

 

[HighVoltOverland]

I ordered this tonight to try since it’s still not working.

Okay I have an update.
I got the bonding plug and it still is not working.
I also tested the 120 plug and it didn’t work either.
I did plug a blow dryer in and it worked so I know the plug is working. The rivian charger also lights up in red so it’s getting juice.
any other ideas?

I'd be interested to see what type of error the Rivian charger thinks is happening, any chance you have cheap access to a receptacle tester?
I'd be legitimately shocked if the 120 alone wasn't throwing a fault

 

[Hyfly]

I'd be interested to see what type of error the Rivian charger thinks is happening, any chance you have cheap access to a receptacle tester?
I'd be legitimately shocked if the 120 alone wasn't throwing a fault

I tried all of the plugs and none of them worked. The rivian charger was red on all plugs. Tried with and without the ground.
pluged the rivian into wall outlet and worked just fine.

 

[Hyfly]

I'd be interested to see what type of error the Rivian charger thinks is happening, any chance you have cheap access to a receptacle tester?
I'd be legitimately shocked if the 120 alone wasn't throwing a fault

When I plugged the blow dryer into the 120 it worked fine.

 

[HighVoltOverland]

When I plugged the blow dryer into the 120 it worked fine.

What I mean by the tester would be to see if there is a more complicated error, like a reversed hot and neutral
Im assuming the dryer is pretty low tech and may not be sensetive to things like polarity in the way that the rivian charger is

 

[Hyfly]

What I mean by the tester would be to see if there is a more complicated error, like a reversed hot and neutral
Im assuming the dryer is pretty low tech and may not be sensetive to things like polarity in the way that the rivian charger is

I don’t have one but maybe I can locate one.

 

[SilverII]

Did you try the bonding plug and then your setup in picture 1 in the original post?

 

[Hyfly]

Did you try the bonding plug and then your setup in picture 1 in the original post?

Yes I did. I tried the bonding plug in both 120 plus options neither worked

 

[SparkyR1t]

So generators are known for not outputting clean sine waves. Possibly this is occurring in this case?

would need a scope to verify

I know my whole house Generac put out a distorted square sign wave that my EV’s do not like

 

[Hyfly]

So generators are known for not outputting clean sine waves. Possibly this is occurring in this case?

would need a scope to verify

I know my whole house Generac put out a distorted square sign wave that my EV’s do not like

So what would I do if this is the case? Is there a fix or a way around it?
I’m really hopeful on this to assist with our camping charge options

 

[Joel]

It is possible that the generator is not putting out a pure sine wave. Instead it could be putting out a modified square or simple sine wave. Most EV charging cables and other sensitive electronics will see this as dirty or bad power and refuse to charge or power on.

For those that want to buy a solution for the specific purpose of extending range. Blink has a good solution. https://blinkcharging.com/products/portable-level-2-ev-car-charger/

 

[SparkyR1t]

So we do not miss anything the vehicle will charge when you plug into household power correct just not with the generator?

looking at your generator specs it claims less than 3% total harmonic distortion. Not bad for a generator.

wondering if Rivian can review the error log for your vehicle and help with any specific issues the vehicles does not like

again keeping in mind small generators do not typically do well charging EV’s

 

[Joel]

So what would I do if this is the case? Is there a fix or a way around it?
I’m really hopeful on this to assist with our camping charge options

You can use an automatic voltage regulator or power line conditioner would be required if your generator is not putting out pure sine wave.

Sponsored