Problems with Rolec charger

[Steamrail]

I've been having intermittent problems charging my MG ZS EV for about the last year. Sometimes when I plug it in it charges as normal, but other times it just won't play. I hear the car lock the plug in but I don't hear the clunk of the charger contactor. I've gone through a lot of tests with EVenergy and they think its a hardware fault. So, I tried to contact Rolec. Their support phone line just rings and rings, no one picks up. I've left them messages so they can contact me but no luck there either. I even tried their chatbot, but it just fell over.
This is the second Rolec unit that has failed on me. My original (non smart) charger lasted 4 years and died. This one (smart) has lasted 2 years, although its been playing up almost since it was installed.
Assuming - as seems likely - I dont get any joy from Rolec which charger should I get next?

 

[Jomarkh]

Was it installed by Rolec or can you not contact your EVSE installer if they supplied the unit?

 

[Steamrail]

The original unit was installed by McNally, who no longer install them. The second unit was a simple replacement, which I did myself (yes, I am qualified).

 

[Jerry]

Hi
I have had the 'smart' Rolec "charger" for nearly 2 years now and only twice has it failed to connect.
The following are checks I used:
1. Is the green light flashing showing the charger is ready and online? If is red then power the charger off at the distribution panel count to ten and reset. it would be useful to do that anytime it fails. Don't forget to give it time to connect to the network again as indicated on the APP
2. You can tell if the charger is connected to the network by looking on the App top right it show a last connected time
3. If you connect the charge lead to the charger first the light turns blue. I then connect the cable to the car, The car always makes the locking sound first followed by the Rolec

My own view is the the EV App is the weak link. The problems I've had are many. Its not smart, the graphical history is to basic and it doesn't always report correctly for example just last week I plugged my car in and the App reported by saying 'yep ready to charge' but showed the charge status as 100% when in fact it was 41%. I left it and it charged ok during the non peak hours of 00:00 - 05:00

Hope some of that helps

 

[Steamrail]

Success at last. After trying for 3 days, I managed to get through to Rolec tech. support and, after many - try this - try that - try the other, they finally accepted that my unit was faulty and they are sending out a new controller. Thank you Rolec.

 

[Lovemyev]

Success at last. After trying for 3 days, I managed to get through to Rolec tech. support and, after many - try this - try that - try the other, they finally accepted that my unit was faulty and they are sending out a new controller. Thank you Rolec.

Yeah - I have the dumb Rolec unit that was first installed way back in 2016.
There is only three components that can go wrong, but unfortunately they do !.
The weakest part, is the Rolec branded RCBO breaker switch.
They updated it once and the newer one fails also.
The communication module can be another failure point, which then only leaves the main contactor switch.
The rest is wiring and the front and back case basically.
My relative has the later smart Rolec unit and his developed a fault, where by it would start to charge the car, then suddenly just stop !.
The people that installed it, paid a return visit and ran some checks.
They found that when the type 2 cable was coiled around the outside of the wall box, the type2 charging gun was then left hanging down the side of the wall box case.
The cable had the rubber protection plug fitted, but moisture had entered the rubber plug cover of the cable and water had caused corrosion to start at the charging pins on the lead itself.
The guy it would be better to make sure the cable is facing down and don’t bother fitted the protective bung. As it is holding water when it rains and can not escape.

 

[Toots]

I've been having intermittent problems charging my MG ZS EV for about the last year. Sometimes when I plug it in it charges as normal, but other times it just won't play. I hear the car lock the plug in but I don't hear the clunk of the charger contactor. I've gone through a lot of tests with EVenergy and they think its a hardware fault. So, I tried to contact Rolec. Their support phone line just rings and rings, no one picks up. I've left them messages so they can contact me but no luck there either. I even tried their chatbot, but it just fell over.
This is the second Rolec unit that has failed on me. My original (non smart) charger lasted 4 years and died. This one (smart) has lasted 2 years, although its been playing up almost since it was installed.
Assuming - as seems likely - I dont get any joy from Rolec which charger should I get next?

ROLEC customer services is rubbish, difficult to get through and often pass the buck blaming a software issue and tell you to contact EV Energy - I soon found myself being pushed back and too.

My charger was showing off line for 5 days did all the rebooting but didn’t work. In the EV app it tells you to back to your installer, did that and at his good will because it was out of warranty he contacted ROLEC who eventually accepted it was a hardware problem and sent out new modem free of charge and my installer fitted it free of charge, win, win all seems to be working well.

My installer no longer fits ROLEC because of poor after support not just for the installer but the end user too.