EVSE's for Sale

In my opinion the OpenEVSE Open concept EVSE's are the most versatile and best EVSE's out there. I suspect the market for DIY EVSE's is limited since I have 3 listed and Brad has one listed with no takers. I have built at least one a week for a year and a half and the demand has been filled. I was making them at parts cost as something to do in my retirement.

I still have the listed EVSE's available but in the future I will only build custom EVSE's for already sold customers. Building as a hobby with no customers does not work. A hobby is one thing but having the parts backing up does not work.

The problem is they are quite expensive (Not your fault nature of the beast)

I would love to have 2 or 3 more of them. I can't justify the expense!

The major expense is still the J1772 cable. It adds around $150 for 30A and more for 40A.. That is half of what I originally paid Avnet for my ITT cable but it is still expensive. Everything is about half of what it was. The plus board was $135 and now it is $75. The display is still in the $30 region and the improved meters are still around $20. The original volt-amp meter is now about $10 shipped. I paid about twice that for my first one.

One of the features of the OpenEVSE is the RGB display with a RTC chip. This allows configuring the parameters and the use of the real time clock on the charging display and of course the timer. The OpenEVSE will run without the display and select button but I think the $35 added cost is worth it.

$400 is still $400

Cant wait till these things are beliw $200 a pop.

nerys said:

$400 is still $400

Cant wait till these things are below $200 a pop.

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I have a Chinese J1772 cable on order from Ebay for $70. If it turns out to be usable I could make you a basic no display 30A unit with it for $200 plus shipping. I have never constructed a stripped unit but I have tested boards with no display and they work.

I guess the basic Juicebox has no indicators but I want some indication normally. Using the cable you could make a basic juicebox for around $220 plus shipping. They sell the board, PS, and relay for $99 plus shipping. You would have to add cables and a case.

I just might take you up on that. Let me know how it turns out. Only indication i need is a charging indicator so i know it is working And that it be safe.

30ampl is perfect i draw haf that but am wired for 30 in case i get a brusa down the road.

nerys said:

$400 is still $400.

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I agree with that concept.
When I was shopping, I considered an OpenEVSE. Didn't need any fancy features. Just was looking for a 30A or so EVSE.
I could have gotten an OpenEVSE for $400, or a retail model for around that.
I ended up getting a Blink HQ for $500 with a $100 Blink card (which I've mostly used up).
Also, some of the tax rebates might make some people lean towards a more retail purchase to bring the price down even more...

So, while its understandable why the price is so high, it's just tough to justify for some people..

desiv

A charging indicator is simple just add it across the relay. A power light is from the relay +12V to ground. On one of the 2 basic JuiceBox's I made I did just that since I also feel some indication is required. That is very important on my Mercedes B since it does not have the lights my Leaf had.

At $15 you can use Chris's I2C board and have green not connected, yellow connected, blue charging and red for a fault. Tony's Jdemo Jr uses this approach.

GlennD said:

nerys said:

$400 is still $400

Cant wait till these things are below $200 a pop.

Click to expand...

I have a Chinese J1772 cable on order from Ebay for $70. If it turns out to be usable I could make you a basic no display 30A unit with it for $200 plus shipping. I have never constructed a stripped unit but I have tested boards with no display and they work.

I guess the basic Juicebox has no indicators but I want some indication normally. Using the cable you could make a basic juicebox for around $220 plus shipping. They sell the board, PS, and relay for $99 plus shipping. You would have to add cables and a case.

Click to expand...

$200+shipping and I might bite too. I think that's a very compelling option, honestly. Some people are looking for a high-end EVSE, but I think those are coming down in price in the market fairly quickly. I'm looking for a cheap L2 EVSE that I can use at 16A 240V (because I've got a '12 LEAF) and 8A 120V (because I might charge in my parents' garage, and I have no idea what else they might have plugged into their garage outlets). If that can be done for $200 (plus shipping and cost for the 120V adapter), I'd bite!

It turns out the cable was a 16A L1 or L2 cable. It was 14 gauge with 105 degree C 600V insulation. I am going to use it on my Mercedes replacement EVSE since I only want enhanced 120V charging. It is nice to be able to select 16A on a dedicated 20A circuit if you are charging on 120V in an emergency. That is a 25% improvement over the supplied EVSE and double the default 8A.

I will most likely use the repaired Blink cable from the Mercedes EVSE for a basic 24A or 30A OpenEVSE.

Is 14AWG OK for 16A continuous draw? Seems pretty marginal. I seem to recall people say that the EVSEs included with the Volts were 16AWG wiring and they seemed pretty dicey for 12A.

16A with 105 degree C insulation is more than adequate.

NEC does not apply if the unit has a plug. NEC lists #14 at 15A @60C, 20A @75C, and 25A @90C. As a practical matter I measured my Mercedes OpenEVSE charging at 240V and 16A. Starting was 25.4 degrees C. After 20 min the cable was barely warm and it measured 28.1 degrees C. I am not going to worry about it since even on a hot day it will be well under 50 degrees C.

Fair enough. I just seem to remember that people complained about the Volt chargers using 16AWG for everything. Maybe they're shoddy in other ways. (I was thinking of getting one for my LEAF because I wanted one that could do 8A as well as 12A, and they go for pretty cheap on eBay, but was dissuaded by some people who have had experience with them.)

My Mercedes B came with a Lear EVSE that defaults to 8A. You have to select 12A . I basically put the $1K junk on the shelf. It will come out at lease end. My OpenEVSE can charge at L1 16A on a dedicated 20A circuit. It's default is 12A for safe charging on a 15A circuit.

It really looks like Mercedes tried to cheap out. I would guess most owners use a high power L2 EVSE at home. The supplied L1 EVSE is strictly for emergency use. It really amazes me that many owners use Tony's converted Tesla EVSE. You take an already expensive EVSE and add Tony's J1772 modification. Except for the size factor everything is hundreds of dollars cheaper.

I seem to recall the Volt's EVSE was so bad that they replaced the earlier ones. Personally I would never use #16 for any thing heaver than a desk lamp. My Leaf EVSE was 12A with #12 wire. Much more than adequate for 12A. NEC rates it for a minimum of 20A. Ingineer had enough reserve there to upgrade the EVSE.

Change of subject, One RAV4 EV user said that his 30A #10 J1772 worked at 40A without overheating. Maybe so but for 40A the NEC chart shows 90 degrees C. That is well beyond my comfort zone.
My 40A Quick Charge Power cable uses 2 #12 wires on each line for 2 X 20A or 40A total. That is as far as I am willing to push it. It gets warm while charging but not hot. About the same warmth ad my 16A cable.

So, how much do you think you would charge for the following:
- NEMA 6-20 plug
- 16A L2, 8A L1 charging (does adding L1 cost anything to be able to detect the incoming voltage?)
(Implied: a 16A J1772 is just fine.)
Also, would shipping the box without either cord save significantly on the shipping fees?
The reason I ask is, I've already got a perfectly OK EVSE in my garage, so to get this past my SWMBO, I need to make the case that this is going to be super cheap

ishiyakazuo said:

So, how much do you think you would charge for the following:
- NEMA 6-20 plug
- 16A L2, 8A L1 charging (does adding L1 cost anything to be able to detect the incoming voltage?)
(Implied: a 16A J1772 is just fine.)
Also, would shipping the box without either cord save significantly on the shipping fees?
The reason I ask is, I've already got a perfectly OK EVSE in my garage, so to get this past my SWMBO, I need to make the case that this is going to be super cheap

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At this time I have several cheap parts on hand. I could make a 16A L2 and from 6A to 16A L1 unit without a display for $200, add $20 for a mono display and select button. Add $35 for a RGB display with RTC. Personally I want a display but the board will run without one.

I recently built up an OpenEVSE with no display. I tried to reduce costs so it had no mounting plate or open hardware sticker. These things add cost but make the build look more professional. PM me if you are interested in a unit. $200 seems to be the gold target price but it means a minimum unit. The safety features are present but the user interface is lacking.

UPS shipping has varied from $18 ( Las Vegas) to $29 for the east coast. I think $25 is a good average.

So it would be 235+25 for a basic EVSE with RGB display? Would it have a button as well? I'm very interested in this type of solution! Especially since i have a 2011

sevenx7 said:

So it would be 235+25 for a basic EVSE with RGB display? Would it have a button as well? I'm very interested in this type of solution! Especially since i have a 2011

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Yes all EVSE's with a display have a select button. I happily charged my 2012 Leaf at 16A at work and home. When I got my 2013 I still charged at 16A at work (20A circuit) and the full 27.5A at home. I think the spec starts at 6A. Given enough time it would charge at about the same rate as a 120V 12A EVSE. I really do not think 6A EVSE's exist but that is where the spec starts.

I can not build another EVSE until early next week since I am waiting for a ver 2.5 board that is scheduled for Tuesday. I have the larger ver 2 DIY board on hand with an external power supply but that would not leave room for a fuse block. I do have all other parts on hand and you can have your choice of a transparent or opaque top.