US EVSE modification??

[pr0cess0r]

Any one tryed the EVSE on 220v?

 

[elm70]

Any one tryed the EVSE on 220v?

My Mitsubishi charger state that does only support 220v to 240v
I did never try if this work with 120v ... using 120v vs 240v should not arm the charger, but it might not be functional.

It is possible that the 120v works also with 220v ... it is all depending how flexible is the 12V DC converter inside this box ... but if the design was not flexible ... I expect some expensive smoke to come out of the charger box once plug to a 220v socket.

If the sticker in the charging box does not state that support also 220v ... I would not risk it at 220v

 

[pr0cess0r]

I got one for free it have a melte connector on the main side. I opened it and it look like the one i saw in a video that is macde for europe. So i guess it will work will all let you know. if it fail it still get a freee j1772 cable and the contactor, the main fuse is good for 250V also.

 

[STS134]

Better proceed carefully. Note that single phase in Europe has one line (the hot) at 220-240V RMS, and the other at neutral. Single phase 120V in the US has one line (the hot) at 110-120V RMS, and the other at neutral. So they could have constructed a device that uses the voltage difference between hot and neutral but expects neutral to be connected to ground. 220-240V in the US is a completely different animal, and has two hot lines 180 degrees out of phase. I would expect that if this EVSE can be used on 220V, they would have provided plug adapters for NEMA 14-50 and NEMA 6-50.

 

[pr0cess0r]

I opened mine here are some picture and a link to a video showing europe model.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRuC1NCQuvE

Link to my picture.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxRDOI17LiWVM3hTcjJRU0RpRDhzQjJnUkhsbjd6Q21GRTg0/view?usp=sharing

There is 4 terminal on the input and the two center one are jumped on the eu version and us 120v version maybe one is ground and one can be neutral when i use l1 and l2 ? or i canl just use l1 l2 and gns what you think?

 

[STS134]

Wait those two look different from mine. Mine has a button that controls charging current (8A/12A). Does yours not have that?

I'm not sure why you'd want to mod this EVSE though. Honestly, this EVSE is pretty crappy. It's bulky as hell, cumbersome to use, the cord between EVSE and outlet is way too short (especially since the unit itself is so heavy and otherwise hangs from the cord), the cord between the EVSE and vehicle is also way too short, etc. If you want a decent EVSE that's below 20A capacity, Turbocord is a pretty good one https://www.evsolutions.com/turbocord Or here's one that's 32A https://www.amazon.com/Morec-Upgraded-Portable-220V-240V-Compatible/dp/B07DHFH8LW/

 

[pr0cess0r]

Because im cheap and want to have a little faster home charge!

It have a charge current selector 8A/12A on mine and in the video.

Talk about cheap the perso that gave it to me melted the connector on this one and the new one is not sealed and damaged from water all this in 2-3 months.

I like to hack things all the time.

 

[STS134]

Because im cheap and want to have a little faster home charge!

It have a charge current selector 8A/12A on mine and in the video.

Talk about cheap the perso that gave it to me melted the connector on this one and the new one is not sealed and damaged from water all this in 2-3 months.

I like to hack things all the time.

If that thing actually has a current meter and maxes out at 12A, it's not going to give you a full 3.6 kW even at 220-240V. What I would do if I were you, is mod this thing with a plug adapter, so you can use it with both 110-120V and 220-240V outlets when traveling. Get enough adapters and you can use it with NEMA 14-50, NEMA 14-30, NEMA 10-30, NEMA 5-15, etc. This means that even when you rent a house and stay for a few nights, and they don't have a 220-240V outlet in the garage, you can use the dryer plug to charge your EV!

 

[jaapv]

Wait those two look different from mine. Mine has a button that controls charging current (8A/12A). Does yours not have that?

I'm not sure why you'd want to mod this EVSE though. Honestly, this EVSE is pretty crappy. It's bulky as hell, cumbersome to use, the cord between EVSE and outlet is way too short (especially since the unit itself is so heavy and otherwise hangs from the cord), the cord between the EVSE and vehicle is also way too short, etc. If you want a decent EVSE that's below 20A capacity, Turbocord is a pretty good one https://www.evsolutions.com/turbocord Or here's one that's 32A https://www.amazon.com/Morec-Upgraded-Portable-220V-240V-Compatible/dp/B07DHFH8LW/

The cord between plug and box is so short because that is a requirement in some legislations.

 

[pr0cess0r]

Here there is a big tag on iy yo never use any extension cord.

 

[pr0cess0r]

Ok i did some more testing.

It wont blow up on l1 l2 but will not pass the self test i guess it need a ground and a neutral to be able do the cgfi test.

So i can find a way for the cgfi to work.

Now i think its too much work i will see if i order an open evse board and use it inside this casing.

 

[anko]

If that thing actually has a current meter and maxes out at 12A, ...

I doesn't. All it does is advertise a max charge current of either 8 or 12 amps to the car and the car controls the actual charge current taking into account the specified maximum. The net effect is the same, of course.

It might be that the setting is ignored when 240 v is detected. But what will it advertise then? The 240 volt EU versions advertise a steady 10 amps only, not 12.

BTW, for reference: the Chevy Bolt has an in car setting for (I think 8 or 12 amps). You need to select 12 amps every time again, when desired. Unless the car detects a main voltage of 200+ (or so) volt. Then it will use the advertised max current (up to 32 ampere) regardless of the setting in the car.

The Ampera E (the rest of the world version of the Bolt) has an in car setting that allows to to choose between 6 and 10 amps. This setting is active when the advertised current from the charge station (or cable) is 10 amp and 10 maps needs to be selected every time again, when desired. When a higher max charge current is advertised, the in car setting is ignored again.

 

[STS134]

Yeah I wonder if it auto detects voltage to generate the 1kHz PWM signal, or if that's just hard programmed in there and needs to be changed. Should be interesting to find out, but seriously, I'd get a OBC from a wrecked car and test with that. There's some obvious educational value here, but I'm not plugging some hacked charger into a real OBC that I actively use every day.

 

[elm70]

Ok i did some more testing.

It wont blow up on l1 l2 but will not pass the self test i guess it need a ground and a neutral to be able do the cgfi test.

So i can find a way for the cgfi to work.

Now i think its too much work i will see if i order an open evse board and use it inside this casing.

My Mitsubishi charger works fine at 240v without any ground or neutral line.

But it does not like the Modified Sine Wave from a cheap inverter.

As long you get a pure 240/220v steady sine wave ... the charger (mainly the car charger) will work fine.

PS: Somebody was saying that the US 220v is not equal to the European 220v ...

 

[jaapv]

Afaik it is twice110V on opposing sine waves.

 

[pr0cess0r]

Ok i did some more testing.

It wont blow up on l1 l2 but will not pass the self test i guess it need a ground and a neutral to be able do the cgfi test.

So i can find a way for the cgfi to work.

Now i think its too much work i will see if i order an open evse board and use it inside this casing.

My Mitsubishi charger works fine at 240v without any ground or neutral line.

But it does not like the Modified Sine Wave from a cheap inverter.

As long you get a pure 240/220v steady sine wave ... the charger (mainly the car charger) will work fine.

PS: Somebody was saying that the US 220v is not equal to the European 220v ...

Exactly here 240V is L1 and L2 and 120 is L1 and Neutral you have L1 and Neutral for your 220V so you dont have any modification needed.

my option is to repair it and sell it and get a level charger or replace the pcb inside this one with a cheap duosida pcb for 60$.

 

[anko]

Yeah I wonder if it auto detects voltage to generate the 1kHz PWM signal, or if that's just hard programmed in there and needs to be changed. Should be interesting to find out, but seriously, I'd get a OBC from a wrecked car and test with that. There's some obvious educational value here, but I'm not plugging some hacked charger into a real OBC that I actively use every day.

Your car will encounter 240 volt chargers at some day and be totally fine with it.

All there is to it is the voltage over the Line and Neutral wires and the PWM duty cycle. I don't see how you would be able to cause damage to the car by playing with those (unless you stepped up to 300 volt :mrgreen: ).

 

[STS134]

Your car will encounter 240 volt chargers at some day and be totally fine with it.

All there is to it is the voltage over the Line and Neutral wires and the PWM duty cycle. I don't see how you would be able to cause damage to the car by playing with those (unless you stepped up to 300 volt :mrgreen: ).

Well it seems like you could cause the car to draw too much current. Say you hack the thing to generate a PWM signal with 50% duty cycle accidentally (your code is buggy). This means the EVSE is capable of 30A charging. Then the car should start drawing 16A (its maximum) but on this EVSE, that would probably melt the wiring. My EVSE's plug gets hot as heck when I charge at 12A. My ChargePoint Home's plug (240V EVSE) on the other hand stays cool to the touch the entire time. That's a 32A EVSE plugged into a NEMA 6-50 with a 50A breaker obviously so it doesn't even break a sweat at 16A.

 

[anko]

Your car will encounter 240 volt chargers at some day and be totally fine with it.

All there is to it is the voltage over the Line and Neutral wires and the PWM duty cycle. I don't see how you would be able to cause damage to the car by playing with those (unless you stepped up to 300 volt :mrgreen: ).

Well it seems like you could cause the car to draw too much current. Say you hack the thing to generate a PWM signal with 50% duty cycle accidentally (your code is buggy). This means the EVSE is capable of 30A charging. Then the car should start drawing 16A (its maximum) but on this EVSE, that would probably melt the wiring. My EVSE's plug gets hot as heck when I charge at 12A. My ChargePoint Home's plug (240V EVSE) on the other hand stays cool to the touch the entire time. That's a 32A EVSE plugged into a NEMA 6-50 with a 50A breaker obviously so it doesn't even break a sweat at 16A.

Yes damage to the EVSE is a possibility. But I think you were talking about damage to the OBC earlier?

 

[STS134]

Yes damage to the EVSE is a possibility. But I think you were talking about damage to the OBC earlier?

Yeah I wasn't sure how the EVSE signals to the OBC what voltage it wants to use. But it looks like the negotiation protocol doesn't actually include voltage, only current?