JuiceBox EVSE Next Steps

[rhfritz]

I spent hours, actually days, on the phone with Juicebox when they screwed up load balancing, and changed settings without telling me. I am done with that.

Open source, no cloud.

I understand the privacy concerns. But what "decision quality data" do you get from the app? The data was kinda interesting in the beginning. But once the FP app recognized my electricity provider's rate structure, it was easier to control charging via the car versus the JB.

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[RickMachE]

I understand the privacy concerns. But what "decision quality data" do you get from the app? The data was kinda interesting in the beginning. But once the FP app recognized my electricity provider's rate structure, it was easier to control charging via the car versus the JB.

Among other things, you get the exact amount of juice that you are going to be charged for, versus the net number (roughly 93% that the vehicle gets). Given that Ford cannot reliably report the juice used, and in some cases doesn't even log the charging, the charger is the only place to get it.

In addition, I could see the charging curve, and see if the vehicle pulls juice to warm the battery on its own

I could also set the charging hours so that I wouldn't use peak electricity to pre-warm the battery or cabin without consciously doing it.

I had load balancing, so both vehicles would charge if they needed to, and then the other would ramp up when the first was done, vs. setting each at 24amps.

But I never said "decision quality" data.

After the awful experience with JB Support, having a cloud oversee my chargers and be able to screw with the settings remotely is not going to happen.

 

[rhfritz]

I have noted that regardless of the peak hours of my provider, if my wife sets a departure time, the car will pull peak juice to meet it. ?‍

Otherwise, I am dismayed that cloud, SaS, modifiable TOS, and right-to-repair have all impacted what constitutes "ownership" of goods and services. Ownership is rapidly becoming an illusion.

 

[RickMachE]

I have noted that regardless of the peak hours of my provider, if my wife sets a departure time, the car will pull peak juice to meet it. ?‍

Otherwise, I am dismayed that cloud, SaS, modifiable TOS, and right-to-repair have all impacted what constitutes "ownership" of goods and services. Ownership is rapidly becoming an illusion.

Right. But if you set the EVSE to off-peak hours, the car cannot pull power unless you override the EVSE.

 

[jay1122]

my juicebox is having the relay stuck issue about once a month. Need to bang on the box to fix. Unfortuantely, can't find a replacement relay for the 48A 2022 version. not sure if the 40A relay will work. I swapped it with a new emporia hardwired unit myself. Going to keep the juicebox in the storage as an emergency backup. What a terrible company and product. Breaks right around 3 years of warranty expiration time.

 

[RickMachE]

my juicebox is having the relay stuck issue about once a month. Need to bang on the box to fix. Unfortuantely, can't find a replacement relay for the 48A 2022 version. not sure if the 40A relay will work. I swapped it with a new emporia hardwired unit myself. Going to keep the juicebox in the storage as an emergency backup. What a terrible company and product. Breaks right around 3 years of warranty expiration time.

OpenEVSE sells a 50amp relay for $24.99 (and it's cheaper elsewhere). It says it works for other brands, they'd likely would know if it would work for a JB.

 

[RickMachE]

New boards arrived Friday and were installed yesterday. Successfully charged both vehicles at 24amps each (no load sharing capability), worked great.

 

[YeOldeTraveller]

FWIW, I did the board swap this weekend. I'd been using the Mobile Adapter in Level 1 for the last 8 months. (I was able to use as Level 2, but that was not stable.)

I also mounted the Juicebox, so now I have a proper setup with a place for the cable and connector.

Next step is to connect the EVSE to Home Assistant for integration in energy monitoring.

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