32A OpenEVSE is sold

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
G

GlennD

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 18, 2011
Messages
1,493
Location
Anaheim
32A OpenEVSE for Sale

This EVSE consists of an OpenEVSE DIY ver 2 board, a 12V supply, a 30A relay (used at 40A in Tesla EVSEs), a blue display, and current & GFCI coils. It is mounted in a off white plastic box with a plywood mounting plate. The input cable is a 4 ft 40A Range cable with a 14-50 plug. The output cable is an unused Yazaki 15ft cable with #10 wire. It is marked 30A but it works fine at the 40A breaker max of 32A.

This is intended to be used with a 40A breaker. It should be connected to a 14-50R using #8 wire. An EVSE is considered a continuous load so 32A is the max for a 40A breaker.

This is programmed with D3.3.0 with the AMP display enabled.

This is sold ASIS but I guarantee it will work upon receipt. The cost is $350 plus $25 for UPS Ground CONUS shipping. Local pickup in Anaheim near Disneyland is available.

Payment is cash for local pickup or Paypal if I ship the unit.











 
GlennD said:
The sale fell through so this is still available.
Click to expand...

Do any of your EVSEs you have for sale have the ability charge at 120v simply by turning off one leg of the 30-40amp breaker?
This would be incredibly useful for me, since I don't have a garage and would like to keep the battery warm by charging over night on 120v, then 1 hour before I leave switch on the leg that was off to preheat the car without having to go outside when its 0F. Right now I can wire up 240 straight out of the back of the breaker box (knock out in the back), but if I have to wire a switch into a 120v to 240v cable i would have to cut out a piece of sheet rock, which i would like to avoid. Not to mention a switch in the wall would be ugly. Any thoughts?

J
 
Most likely, one should unplug from the car before changing voltages.

Switching both legs of the breaker off might be needed to properly
reset the OpenEVSE, before turning one or both if the legs back on.
 
garygid said:
Most likely, one should unplug from the car before changing voltages.

Switching both legs of the breaker off might be needed to properly
reset the OpenEVSE, before turning one or both if the legs back on.
Click to expand...

Yeah that makes sense. So do you think I could switch between 120v and 240v just by using the breaker as long as I turn both off between switching?

Thank for the tips!
 
EV4Taos,
I do not know if the LEAF will tolerate losing power, and gracefully
restarting charging, particularly at a different voltage. But, it might.

Glenn,
What is the significance of "programmed with D3.3.0
with the AMP display enabled", please?

I am interested for use at home with my new Tesla S.
Perhaps I could drop by and see it, we could try it with
the Tesla J1772 Adapter, and then I could buy it?

When might be good for you?
I will PM my phone number to you.
Cheers, Gary
 
It will not work with one leg open. It will work on 120V with a special cable. This basically connects one L to hot and the other L to neutral.

My leaf will recover from lost power. The OpenEVSE uses the defaults since it can not test while it is plugged in. The usual defaults are for 240V since that is the most common use. They can be changed in programming. JeremyW found out the hard way that the 240V defaults were not appropriate for his 120V Brusa setup.

Gary, I will give you a call. I would take even a silver Tesla S. Color me jealous!
 
GlennD said:
It will not work with one leg open. It will work on 120V with a special cable. This basically connects one L to hot and the other L to neutral.

My leaf will recover from lost power. The OpenEVSE uses the defaults since it can not test while it is plugged in. The usual defaults are for 240V since that is the most common use. They can be changed in programming. JeremyW found out the hard way that the 240V defaults were not appropriate for his 120V Brusa setup.

Gary, I will give you a call. I would take even a silver Tesla S. Color me jealous!
Click to expand...


What would you suggest for my situation? Any options? Could an EVSE be built to do this? Maybe reach my hand out the window to turn a switch that is wired in to a special cable? What do you think is the best approach?

Sure wish the Leaf could dump warm air into the battery pack like the i-MiEV can.

J
 
I talked to Gary on the phone. Since his breaker box is full he is not in the market at this time. He asked me to test the Leaf charging at 240V and 120V.

I initially hooked up the EVSE at 240V. It charged at 27A. I then disconnected the power and plugged into 120V. The EVSE immediately started charging and no current was drawn. After a minute or so it ramped up to 28A, Whoa, I had it on a 20A circuit! I quickly disconnected it. I guess it analyzes the voltage first, but who knows. All I know is that it works.

I had previously tried 120V at 18A. I certainly did not realize it would take the whole enchilada.

It appears that at least my 2013 SL will charge at the max at either voltage. The EVSE defaults really need to be set to L1 for this app. 28A is too much without special wiring.

The best thing would be to make up a relay box with a 14-50R socket and a range cable and an AC 120V cable. Since the relay would likely be 12V DC like a JuiceBox relay it could have a local switch and a jack for remote use.
 
GlennD said:
I talked to Gary on the phone. Since his breaker box is full he is not in the market at this time. He asked me to test the Leaf charging at 240V and 120V.

I initially hooked up the EVSE at 240V. It charged at 27A. I then disconnected the power and plugged into 120V. The EVSE immediately started charging and no current was drawn. After a minute or so it ramped up to 28A, Whoa, I had it on a 20A circuit! I quickly disconnected it. I guess it analyzes the voltage first, but who knows. All I know is that it works.

I had previously tried 120V at 18A. I certainly did not realize it would take the whole enchilada.

It appears that at least my 2013 SL will charge at the max at either voltage. The EVSE defaults really need to be set to L1 for this app. 28A is too much without special wiring.

The best thing would be to make up a relay box with a 14-50R socket and a range cable and an AC 120V cable. Since the relay would likely be 12V DC like a JuiceBox relay it could have a local switch and a jack for remote use.
Click to expand...

Very cool! What is a "range cable"?
 
One of the most cost effective ways to buy a 14-50 cable is to get an Electric range cable. They are mass produced and they come with a molded 14-50 plug. You can buy the 4 ft cable with plug for less than the plug alone.
 
GlennD said:
I initially hooked up the EVSE at 240V. It charged at 27A. I then disconnected the power and plugged into 120V. The EVSE immediately started charging and no current was drawn. After a minute or so it ramped up to 28A, Whoa, I had it on a 20A circuit! I quickly disconnected it. I guess it analyzes the voltage first, but who knows. All I know is that it works.
Click to expand...

You definitely need to pull the j1772 out of the Leaf before changing any voltages. The LEAF, by protocol, reads the voltage when its first plugged in so it can estimate how long it will need to charge at that voltage and how many amps are available to it (based on Pilot line voltage/ frequency). If you never pull out the J1772 connector, the car won't know not to keep asking for the higher rate of charge (amps) as you observed.
 
For me it is no problem. I only charge at L2 levels. I did this test for garygid. I did not test when the defaults were L1 at 12A. I would have to reprogram the EVSE. I really think most people only charge at Level 2 or 240VAC.

Really, why would you charge at Level 1 when 240VAC is available. The whole point is to charge quickly. Most people in tiered areas just want the charge to complete during the cheap tier.

When I was working I used to charge at night to be a good citizen. My power is not tiered (Anaheim runs their own power utility). Now that I am retired I charge when the listed time exceeds an hour.
 
EV4Taos said:
garygid said:
Most likely, one should unplug from the car before changing voltages.

Switching both legs of the breaker off might be needed to properly
reset the OpenEVSE, before turning one or both if the legs back on.
Click to expand...

Yeah that makes sense. So do you think I could switch between 120v and 240v just by using the breaker as long as I turn both off between switching?

Thank for the tips!
Click to expand...
Actually, for 120v operation one needs Neutral-and-Hot in place of the Hot-and-Hot, so
just opening one breaker (basically disconnect one Hot line) would definitely NOT work.

Using a Hot-Open-Neutral switch might work, but be sure to Stop the Charging with
the button on the OpenEVSE before trying to operate such a switch, because they
generally cannot handle the currents that we use for charging. Usually, contactors
(relays) would be used instead. Also, I would hesitate to put 120v Hot and Ground
(or Neutral) inside any simple 3-position switch. So, a bad solution, I think.

Actually, there is probably very little or no benefit to using 120v if you have 240v
available, and then you do not have to go switch any breaker.
 
EV4Taos said:
Do any of your EVSEs you have for sale have the ability charge at 120v simply by turning off one leg of the 30-40amp breaker?
This would be incredibly useful for me, since I don't have a garage and would like to keep the battery warm by charging over night on 120v, then 1 hour before I leave switch on the leg that was off to preheat the car without having to go outside when its 0F. Right now I can wire up 240 straight out of the back of the breaker box (knock out in the back), but if I have to wire a switch into a 120v to 240v cable i would have to cut out a piece of sheet rock, which i would like to avoid. Not to mention a switch in the wall would be ugly. Any thoughts?

J
Click to expand...
Let's revisit your original problem:
1. charging slowly most likely will not keep the battery pack warm on
a cold night outside.
2. without the cold weather package, you might need to add a heater
(pad, blanket, tape) to the outside of the battery pack to maintain
some suitable temperature.
3. have you observed the battery temperatures with the Leaf Spy app?
 
jpadc said:
GlennD said:
I initially hooked up the EVSE at 240V. It charged at 27A. I then disconnected the power and plugged into 120V. The EVSE immediately started charging and no current was drawn. After a minute or so it ramped up to 28A, Whoa, I had it on a 20A circuit! I quickly disconnected it. I guess it analyzes the voltage first, but who knows. All I know is that it works.
Click to expand...

You definitely need to pull the j1772 out of the Leaf before changing any voltages. The LEAF, by protocol, reads the voltage when its first plugged in so it can estimate how long it will need to charge at that voltage and how many amps are available to it (based on Pilot line voltage/ frequency). If you never pull out the J1772 connector, the car won't know not to keep asking for the higher rate of charge (amps) as you observed.
Click to expand...

Well since I still had the adapters out I decided to retest starting with 120V. At 120V and 12A it charged as expected. I then disconnected the power. Upon being connected to 240V the EVSE uses its 240V defaults or 32A but the car charged at 12A.

It does appear that the car gets its current settings only once. It used the L1 setting for L2 also.
 
GlennD said:
It does appear that the car gets its current settings only once. It used the L1 setting for L2 also.
Click to expand...
Hmmm, does this mean the Leaf is violating the J1772 protocol? I thought the car was expected to adjust to a changing pilot signal in real time. For example if using the "Hydra" or other dual-headed EVSE one might start charging at 30 amps but then have that cut in half to 15 amps without interrupting the charge if a second car plugs in, and similarly, if the second car unplugs the car should ramp back up. This isn't a safety concern for the second case of course, but it's very troubling that the Leaf would apparently keep charging at 28 amps even when the pilot drops to 12 amps.

As far as switching from 120v to 240v on the fly, I agree that it's probably not a good way to achieve the desired result, but I have successfully done this with my (2011) Leaf and my homemade 120-240 "Easy240" adapter. I built my adapter in such a way that if the secondary 120v input is unplugged it automatically switches over to passing 120v through from the primary input. I always assumed that when switching from 240v to 120v the Leaf would also go from 16a to 12a, but I guess I'll have to try it out. Of course the 2013+ Leafs might have a totally different charging system, however.
 
fooljoe said:
GlennD said:
It does appear that the car gets its current settings only once. It used the L1 setting for L2 also.
Click to expand...
Hmmm, does this mean the Leaf is violating the J1772 protocol? I thought the car was expected to adjust to a changing pilot signal in real time. For example if using the "Hydra" or other dual-headed EVSE one might start charging at 30 amps but then have that cut in half to 15 amps without interrupting the charge if a second car plugs in, and similarly, if the second car unplugs the car should ramp back up. This isn't a safety concern for the second case of course, but it's very troubling that the Leaf would apparently keep charging at 28 amps even when the pilot drops to 12 amps.

As far as switching from 120v to 240v on the fly, I agree that it's probably not a good way to achieve the desired result, but I have successfully done this with my (2011) Leaf and my homemade 120-240 "Easy240" adapter. I built my adapter in such a way that if the secondary 120v input is unplugged it automatically switches over to passing 120v through from the primary input. I always assumed that when switching from 240v to 120v the Leaf would also go from 16a to 12a, but I guess I'll have to try it out. Of course the 2013+ Leafs might have a totally different charging system, however.
Click to expand...

I think going from 120V to 240V is a special situation.

I just tried an experiment. I started charging at 240V 16A. I then stopped and set the current to 20A. Again it started charging at 0 current. after about a minute it started charging at 20A. In this case the J1772 cable remained connected but the EVSE was stopped and a different current selected.

I have no way to change the pilot dynamically. I have to pause to change the current.
 

Similar threads

knightmb
[SOLD] 2018-2021 LEAF Portable L1/L2 EVSE - 12A - 30A - 296M1-5SA0A
Replies
7
Views
25K
jlv
jlv
M
Southking SK-EV16: cheap Chinese EVSE with adjustable Current Capacity
Replies
9
Views
4K
jjeff
J
KK6PD
EVSE for Sale
Replies
2
Views
1K
KK6PD
KK6PD
G
32A Deluxe OpenEVSE is sold with RGB, RTC, and 4 window mtr
Replies
3
Views
196
GlennD
G
G
40A OpenEVSE with a RGB display and RTC is Sold less J1772
Replies
4
Views
939
GlennD
G

Latest posts

Back
Top