DarkStar
Well-known member
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240V EV-ChargeAmerica EVSE - (likely scam buyer beware)
- Thread starter hodad66
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chris1howell
Well-known member
I got my hands on a no longer funtioning EV-ChargeAmerica EVSE and will be replacing the guts with OpenEVSE parts for the owner. I will be documenting the process so others can do the same if they wish.
This weekend I dismantled the EV-ChargeAmerica EVSE unit and here are the results...
The good:
The case is really nice and well built
Someone spent A LOT of time building the unit and for the most part did an Okay job
There is a CT coil so there may be GFCI (could not test unit was non-functioning and smelled very dead)
The bad:
No fuses...
High voltage wiring scary (see picture below)
Solid state relays not the best choice for an EVSE.
way to complex SOOOOO MANY wires (pictures do not do justice its a lot of wires going everywhere)
looks like a prototype not something you should pay for.
custom board built on proto board wrapped in electrical tape and velcroed in place
So much glue, tape and gooey stuff.
Are those wires touching? Hope the breaker trips beacuse there are no fuses.
Top side, solid state relays, power supplies CT coil.
Arduino Mega, Custom board 1 and 2, wires everywhere
Custom board 1
Custom Board 2
Arduino Mega
Wires...
This weekend I dismantled the EV-ChargeAmerica EVSE unit and here are the results...
The good:
The case is really nice and well built
Someone spent A LOT of time building the unit and for the most part did an Okay job
There is a CT coil so there may be GFCI (could not test unit was non-functioning and smelled very dead)
The bad:
No fuses...
High voltage wiring scary (see picture below)
Solid state relays not the best choice for an EVSE.
way to complex SOOOOO MANY wires (pictures do not do justice its a lot of wires going everywhere)
looks like a prototype not something you should pay for.
custom board built on proto board wrapped in electrical tape and velcroed in place
So much glue, tape and gooey stuff.
Are those wires touching? Hope the breaker trips beacuse there are no fuses.
Top side, solid state relays, power supplies CT coil.
Arduino Mega, Custom board 1 and 2, wires everywhere
Custom board 1
Custom Board 2
Arduino Mega
Wires...
It is frightfully common that when the wire gauge is too big to fit in the terminal lug, the installer shaves the strands to reduce the effective diameter of the wire. It's not always a big deal but it shouldn't be necessary at all. That said, that is easily the worst job of it I have ever seen and the person who built (and the person who presumably inspected) that unit should be on the verge of losing their jobs. Are these things UL listed? If so that's just inexcusable.chris1howell said:
Though I can kind of understand the shoddy work to a degree. Messy wiring and protoboards make sense for very low production where it's not cost effective to more fully integrate the components. But the work in those photos still seem extra shoddy, like the kind of thing some guy would throw together in his garage over a weekend. I see a poorly shrink-wrapped splice for example...
The CT seems to encompass both current carrying feeds which makes sense for GFCI operation.
=Smidge=
chris1howell
Well-known member
Smidge204 said:
The guys throwing EVSEs together in garages over the weekends are doing really nice jobs. See the thread EVSEs built with OpenEVSE boards...http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=7945
DarkStar
Well-known member
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chris1howell
Well-known member
I have no clue as to why there are two. Each one is 12V @ 1.3A or 15.5w, that is 31 watts of avaliable power. As a comparison a fully loaded OpenEVSE uses a little over 1w standby and 3.1w while charging. That includes everything, the EVSE board, the RGB LCD and the Relay.
I can't imagine where that 31w of power is used. Most OpenEVSE builders are using power supplies with 4-5w output...
mitch672
Well-known member
Chris,
I'll bet that enclosure is almost empty when you are done, you could fit about 10 OpenEVSE's in that giant enclosure
. At least the case and J-1772 cable/connector and perhaps 1 of these power supplies (although the end result would probably come out better if you just used one of your advanced power supply's) are reusable and the J-1772 assembly is still the most expensive part of the project.
I'll bet that enclosure is almost empty when you are done, you could fit about 10 OpenEVSE's in that giant enclosure
. At least the case and J-1772 cable/connector and perhaps 1 of these power supplies (although the end result would probably come out better if you just used one of your advanced power supply's) are reusable and the J-1772 assembly is still the most expensive part of the project.chris1howell
Well-known member
mitch672 you are correct, there is a ton of space. I should be able to lay things out really well. The only thing I am going to use is the cables and case. I will use the OpenEVSE Advanced Power Supply to simplify the EVSE and add additional safety features including stuck relay detection and ground monitoring.
Use Case
Use J1772 cable (Yazaki 30A)
Use AC power cable
Add 30A fuses
Replace 2x power supplies with OpenEVSE Advanced Power Supply
Replace LCD with Adafruit RGB LCD
Add OpenEVSE board set to 30A
Add CR Magtnetics 8420-1000-G CT coil for GFCI
Add 30A mechanical Relay
When I am finished, this EVSE should be much safer and a lot more reliable.
Use Case
Use J1772 cable (Yazaki 30A)
Use AC power cable
Add 30A fuses
Replace 2x power supplies with OpenEVSE Advanced Power Supply
Replace LCD with Adafruit RGB LCD
Add OpenEVSE board set to 30A
Add CR Magtnetics 8420-1000-G CT coil for GFCI
Add 30A mechanical Relay
When I am finished, this EVSE should be much safer and a lot more reliable.
mitch672
Well-known member
chris1howell said:
That's going to be a nice EVSE when you are done. Perhaps take some pictures and post them, I'm sure there are more victims of EV Charge America needing help, you might end up with a little business converting these old units
davewill
Well-known member
Be sure to do some cool OpenEVSE graphics for the outside of the case so that no one sees it and thinks that EV-ChargeAmerica finally got their act together and put out a quality unit.
Of course, if those guys really wanted to put out a quality unit, they could always adopt the OpenEVSE design themselves...
Of course, if those guys really wanted to put out a quality unit, they could always adopt the OpenEVSE design themselves...
z0ner
Well-known member
davewill said:
That would require competence.
davewill
Well-known member
Yeah, I can just imagine the hash they'd make trying to customize the firmware...and they'd probably screw up the GPL requirements, too.z0ner said:
chris1howell
Well-known member
Very true! They would also save a lot of money both in parts and labor... The OpenEVSE board is just $20 more than the Arduino Mega they are using, I am sure the custom boards cost more than $20. Boards are available for sale and the hardware/firmware is all out there Open Source so there is nothing stopping them.
chris1howell
Well-known member
Oh yeah, maybe that. They did a good job on the enclosure and graphics. I think they planned to make a decent EVSE, but it looks like they offered it for sale too soon and cut a lot of corners to ship it out.
Ingineer
Well-known member
Two power supplies... Maybe one for -12v Pilot generation?
-Phil
-Phil
chris1howell
Well-known member
Nope, they are both the same. MeanWell RS-15-12. They only cost $10.79 each...
The unit I recieved was not working so I was not able to test to see if it supported -12V on the pilot.
chris1howell
Well-known member
The conversion begins...
All the parts are removed and we are left with the case, J1772 cable and the AC power cable.
OpenEVSE and OpenEVSE Advanced Power Supply "stack" built and tested.
There was no external indication of status on the EVCA EVSE (except LCD), so I added a RBG LCD. From a distance it is easy to see what is going on... Green "Ready but not connected", Yellow "Waiting for EV", Blue "Charging" and Red indicates an Error.
2012-03-08_21-16-12_633 by chris1howell, on Flickr
More to come soon...
All the parts are removed and we are left with the case, J1772 cable and the AC power cable.
OpenEVSE and OpenEVSE Advanced Power Supply "stack" built and tested.
There was no external indication of status on the EVCA EVSE (except LCD), so I added a RBG LCD. From a distance it is easy to see what is going on... Green "Ready but not connected", Yellow "Waiting for EV", Blue "Charging" and Red indicates an Error.
2012-03-08_21-16-12_633 by chris1howell, on Flickr
More to come soon...
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