EVSE LOAD TESTER

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GlennD

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 18, 2011
Messages
1,493
Location
Anaheim
For a while I have wanted to build something to test EVSE's under load. Replacing a car requires a large dummy load!

I first thought about using electric range elements but they would be dangerous to be around.

Then I considered back up heat elements from a heat pump. But they were large and required forced air.

Finally I considered 240V heaters. They are nearly resistive except for the fan and they are available. I used a 4800W construction heater and a 3000, 4000, and 5000W garage heater.

Using both heaters I can get at 240V 3000W, 4000W, 48000W. 5000W. 7800W, 8800W, and 9800W.. At 120V I can get a quarter of the power. At 208V I can get three quarter power.

I displayed the pilot information and the proximity switch but I do not use the information. It is strictly manual. I also included a thermocouple in the connector for an external meter.

The photos show my OpenEVSE at 32A and my Nissan brick at 10A.







 
That's nice, and very similar to the setup used to test out generators at the hospital . Just on a much smaller scale. The "heater" the testing company uses comes in on a tractor trailer.

It's a great solution for getting a consistent test load instead of the variable load provided by the car as it goes through its charging phases.

Also probably a good way to get power from an EVSE in a pinch.
 
AlanSqB said:
That's nice, and very similar to the setup used to test out generators at the hospital . Just on a much smaller scale. The "heater" the testing company uses comes in on a tractor trailer.

It's a great solution for getting a consistent test load instead of the variable load provided by the car as it goes through its charging phases.

Also probably a good way to get power from an EVSE in a pinch.

It has the added benefit in that winter is coming and I can heat my garage with it.

TONY, YOU ARE KNOWN TO ME AND YOU ARE WELCOME TO BORROW IT. It has about five hundred dollars of parts. The major ones are the heaters and the J1772 socket.

This has the added benefit in that you can use it with no loads as a convenient plug in simulator.
 
Nice work!

The only other J1772 EVSE tester I've seen is this one available from Clipper Creek (for $250 . . . OUCH!), although not nearly as user friendly as yours.

http://www.clippercreek.com/store/product/cp-15/

Question . . . Aren't you afraid the internal wiring may melt inside the box when you allow the unit to operate at full power for more than a few minutes? What thermal protection does it have to prevent this from happening?
 
dsinned said:
Nice work!

The only other J1772 EVSE tester I've seen is this one available from Clipper Creek (for $250 . . . OUCH!), although not nearly as user friendly as yours.

http://www.clippercreek.com/store/product/cp-15/

Question . . . Aren't you afraid the internal wiring may melt inside the box when you allow the unit to operate at full power for more than a few minutes? What thermal protection does it have to prevent this from happening?

The basis is a 40A socket and cable from Quick Charge power. After passing through the amp meter it goes to the large barrier strip. From there it goes to a 10guage pigtail with a L6-30R and a 30A plug to match the construction heater it is connected with some #8 gauge scraps.

Both heaters draw around 20A. Two of them is not going to stress the unit since the max load is 9800/2. This is in the 40A area. I use the 4800 unit plus 3000W for 32A.

Even at full power I am confident it will not over heat. The heaters may make the area toasty!
 
I just looked at your Clipper Creek link. That is a simulator and ground fault inducer. You can do the same thing with a simulator from OpenEVSE and a 5K resistor from one of the L lines to ground. It does no load testing.

What you get for your $250 is a user friendly housing.
 
At 240V I get the following indicated currents: 12.7A, 16.9A, 20.1A, 21A, 32.4A, 36.4A, and 40.3A. The last 2 were momentary since my EVSE is hooked to a 40A breaker and has a 32A cable.

I think this will allow me to test most EVSE's.
 
GlennD said:
I just looked at your Clipper Creek link. That is a simulator and ground fault inducer. You can do the same thing with a simulator from OpenEVSE and a 5K resistor from one of the L lines to ground. It does no load testing.

What you get for your $250 is a user friendly housing.

My simulator and GFCI tester. They cost a lot less than $250. The simulator is Chris's board in a housing with buttons and switches.

 
GlennD said:
Well my Celsius meter finally arived from China so it is now complete with no external meter needed.



Yes, I know the temp was wrong. I corrected it soon after the photo was taken.
 
Well Norhern Tool had a Black Friday sale on the Profusion heater so I decided to construct another load tester. Same exact circuit but a little neater. I used a different meter that shows KW as well.



 
pretty cool invention. I work for "a large commercial airliner manufacturer". What they use for resistive loads in flight testing are huge water tanks. About 50 gallons apiece. 18 tanks. 4 elements 5kVA EACH. By the time everything is said and done, the wires leading to the load bank distribution panel are as big as my thumb. 3 phase.
 
I was really challenged to come up with a load. The Profusion 240V garage heaters fit the bill. Each heater is 3,4, or 5KW so with both I can test to 10KW in 1KW steps. And now that it is getting colder I can heat my garage!
 
I was doing an experiment once https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJH8PhDpBB4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; I needed a load bank and I just used a bunch of incandescent light bulbs. Doubles as a depression reliever on those cold dark winter nights.
 
GlennD said:
Well Norhern Tool had a Black Friday sale on the Profusion heater so I decided to construct another load tester. Same exact circuit but a little neater. I used a different meter that shows KW as well.




I'm very impressed! Very nice custom rig. This would be very handy to have.
 
I really need a rig like this after building soo many EVSE's, so I ordered some J1772 sockets, they finally came. and one of Nick Sayer's "EVSE tester" LCD's.. neat little analyzer.
 
I have found a problem with Nick's unit as used in my load tester. The comparator really does not like an input with no power. This occurs in my tester in the ready position. The solution is to add a 22K resistor in series with the input to limit the current. This affects the simulator section which I do not use.

The best loads are Garage Heaters from Northern Tool Supply. They are 240V and are selectable to 3K,4k, or 5K. I use two of them for 10K total. They also work at 120V at quarter power. 10K is the limit to the wiring so it works out OK. They frequently have them on sale. My first one was $169 and the second one was $89.

I sold my first unit to Tony Williams. My current one is the same circuit but constructed a little neater. The second one around you always correct the small things.
 
I sold my original unit to Tony Williams of Quick Charge power.

He wanted me to rebuild it to incorporate an ohms meter on the proximity line so it could be used for production testing so I put it into a new case with a cheap Harbor Freight DVM and the EV Sim II accessible.

 
The switch is now labeled correctly. It is surprising how you can gloss over spelling errors until you see them in a photo.
 
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