[gregski]

1. we need to replace the stock OEM circuit board with an Open Source reverse engineered one

2. verify our wiring to make sure we are going Live to Live and Neutral to Neutral on the AC side and Subtract to Subtract and Add to Add on the DC side, ha ha

Please double check these but I think this is how these AC phase wires go, PM means Power Module, so for example the yellow wire runs to Power Module 3 and the white wire next to it runs to Power Module 3 as well. The purple wire runs to Power Module 2 as does the white wire next to it, and so on.

 

[gregski]

PROGRAMMING - Enabling the Power Modules

One of the things you get to do when programming the software for this charger is pick how many of the three Power Modules you want to enable. This is better explained in Damien's PDF instructions but here is just a quick summary

the programming menu is character or number driver so you press the number 2 with either 1,2, or 3 after it to enable that module, so for example

21 - 2 means run the enable module feature and enable module #1 only
212 - 2 means run the enable module feature and enable modules #1 and #2 only
2123 - 2 means run the enable module feature and enable all three modules #1, #2, and #3

so to start off and just for testing purposes I am only going to do 21 meaning I will only enable the first Power Module, in other words the other two will be turned off, yes this is silly, go out there and buy a Tesla charger and than castrate it, but we are learning and we are taking baby steps here

[I will include screen shots of the programming menu once I have them]

 

[gregski]

LEVEL 1 Charging
120 Volt AC Wiring using One Power Module

So to start off here is how I plan to wire only one power module in my onboard charger for Level 1 charging on only 120 Volts from your dime a dozen US 15 Amp (pronounced 12 amps, ha ha) wall outlet, this will only be temporary, but it totally works for at home ie in the garage charging

so if we do the Maths: 120 volts times 12 amps (cause of the 80% safety or efficiency limit) equals 1,440 James Watts so as the cool kids say 1.4 kW killer watts

so if I have a 9.1 kW battery pack and I can only deplete it down to 20% capacity or 1.8 kW and then I can only charge it up to 90% capacity in order to maximize its life span so 8.2 kW that means I have 6.4 kW to fill up, so if we divide that by our 1.4 kW rate of charge that means it will take 4 and a half hours to fill up (approximately as battery charging is not linear)

Note: No EVSE junk required no J1772 plug required, think less is more.

AC Input
L = Live
N = Neutral

DC Output
- = Negative
+ = Positive

 

[gregski]

hey, wait! is this dude for real?

Yes, this is just for Proof of Concept testing, no we're not going to be charging like this our full battery pack at the Walmart parking lot. This is going to run for a few seconds and that's it.

obviously we're not just going to shove those white extension cord wires in there like so, this is for logical demonstration purposes only while we wait for the proper plugs and connectors to arrive (hopefully later today)

 

[gregski]

parts... the reason there are two rows of the metal pins is because I got two different sizes for two different wire gauges, the goal being use the largest wire gauge possible

 

[gregski]

5 minutes later...

 

[gregski]

LEVEL 1 Charging
120 Volt AC Wiring using All Three Power Modules

And here is how I plan to wire all three power modules in my onboard charger for Level 1 charging on only 120 Volts from your dime a dozen US 15 Amp wall outlet, this will only be temporary, but it totally works for at home ie in the garage charging, now for something like this we could use a heavier gauge extension cord but I'm just showing you here how it is wired up, so using what I have

Note: No EVSE junk required no J1772 plug required, think less is more.

 

[gregski]

A little history:

Up until the mid-1990s, 3-prong outlets were the standard used in American homes. Nearly all homes built before this time featured either a 3-prong outlet or range outlet (slightly different than a typical 3-prong dryer outlet). It wasn’t until 1996 when the National Electrical Code (NEC) was updated to require 4-prong dryer outlets in all new homes. Existing homes may still use 3-prong outlets, as the NEC changes are limited strictly to new homes.

So, why did the NEC make the decision to switch from 3-prong to 4-prong dryer outlets in new homes? Although the old 3-prong outlets were effective at providing power to dryers, they had one major flaw: the ground and neutral wires were grouped together, creating the potential for shock. 3-prong dryer cords contain two ‘hot’ wires along with a third wire that contained both the ground and neutral wire. If a current happened to make its way onto the ground wire, it could travel up to the dryer.

The more recent 4-prong dryer cords feature two hot wires, a neutral wire and a ground wire. This eliminates the possibility for a ground current traveling to the machine, as it features a separate return path for unused power.

 

[gregski]

LEVEL 2 Charging
220 Volt AC Wiring using One Power Module

So continuing on with wiring ideas here is how I plan to wire only one power module in my onboard charger for Level 2 charging on 220 Volts this time using what we call the washer and dryer plug here in the US which runs on a 30 Amp specialized outlet, this will only be temporary, but it totally works for at home ie in the garage charging. I am no electrician but Googling reveals that this is still "single phase" and not two phase, and sometimes referred to as "split phase", whatever... it means more juice coming out of the wall, ha ha.

I have seen two different style dryer plugs lately, there's the 3 prong one and there is a 4 prong one, I think we learned the four prong is the newer style, and one has two live wires and a ground, the other has two live wires, a ground, and a neutral, the ground and the neutral sometimes get twizzled together for backward compatibility.

Note: No EVSE junk required no J1772 plug required, think less is more.

so we can just connect the middle aka "ground" wire to the chassis of the vehicle

 

[gregski]

so folks I think we have taken this as far as we can until we can replace the stock OEM logic circuit board with one the likes of Tesla Gen 2 Charger Logic Board for $312 American, keeping in mind that the two black connectors are NOT supplied Connector_BOM_V5.pdf and may be difficult to acquire in this pandemic climate

Tesla Gen 2 Charger Logic Board Connector List : ​

​

24 Way Jst Connector : Currently SOLD OUT (as of November 8th, 2021)​

MPN: SM24B-CPTK-1A-TB(L)​

Mouser: 306-SM24B-CPTK-1ATBL​

Description: Automotive Connectors 24 POS SIDE ENTRY CPT MALE CONN​

​

​

30 Way Samtec Header :​

MPN: IPS1-115-01-L-D​

Radionics : 767-6859​

Mouser: 200-IPS111501LD​

Digi-Key: SAM10594-ND​

Description: SAMTEC - IPS1-115-01-S-D-PL - SOCKET, 2.54MM, 2X15WAY​

​

​

​

 

[BlueHorizon]

Love this write up! Subscribing for more, hopefully soon (although that 24 pin connector has a long lead time by the looks of)..

 

[gregski]

Love this write up! Subscribing for more, hopefully soon (although that 24 pin connector has a long lead time by the looks of)..

Wow, thank you so much for the kind words, keeps me going! and yes I don't think I'll be getting that 24 pin connector any time soon, but that won't stop me, I plan on unsoldering the one off of the stock OEM board, I mean it's not like I have a Tesla that I can just install that charger in

 

[gregski]

LEVEL 2 Charging
220 Volt AC Wiring using All Three Power Modules

We may be jumping a bit ahead here but I wanted to add this section for completeness.

So here is how I plan to wire all three power modules in my onboard charger for Level 2 charging on 220 Volts (and is it 220 or 240 I hear those specs used interchangeably without rhyme or reason) using the washer and dryer plug here in the US which runs on a 30 Amp specialized outlet, this will only be temporary, but it totally works for at home ie in the garage charging. I am no electrician but Googling reveals that this is still "single phase" and not two phase, and sometimes referred to as "split phase", whatever... it means more juice coming out of the wall, ha ha.

I have seen two different style dryer plugs lately, there's the 3 prong one and there is a 4 prong one, I think we learned the four prong is the newer style, and one has two live wires and a ground, the other has two live wires, a ground, and a neutral, the ground and the neutral sometimes get twizzled together for backward compatibility.

No EVSE junk required no J1772 plug required, think less is more.

Note: I harvested these red boxes from two Chevy LS engine harnesseses that I kept tripping over in the garage hee hee and I am a little (and by a little I mean a lot) T.O.'d ...

... at the factory worker who cranked down these nuts on the original harness to 75,000 Newton meters, ha ha forcing me to break the plastic hinges on the lids for these things trying to get them loose with a 6' pry bar mind you!!!

[ more pics for this post coming soon ] November 6, 2021

 

[remy_martian]

Top Tip, I like to use heat shrink tubbing on my screw drivers which I dedicate to working on high voltage electronics just for that extra layer of protection

View attachment 124140 View attachment 124141

Thread of the Year here...thanks for taking all the time to gather up the resources and write it all up.

On your screwdriver mod, the shank is still dangerous in the area where the heat shrink meets the handle. Suggest maybe a generous bead of epoxy there or PlastiDip the shank after wrapping the tip in tape.

 

[gregski]

Thread of the Year here...

to be honest I am working with a Silent Partner so thank him [ahem] silently

then do not read this one: 1971 GMCe Lexus GS450H BMW 530e Tesla Model S powered Electruck lOl

 

[remy_martian]

One thing - an EVSE has (ground) fault detection, (some/all) has/have mains overcurrent detection as well. Going directly to a dryer plug does not.

So, for safety, use that EVSE "junk" 😂 or, at least, configure your plug so it can only plug into a ground fault protected circuit, which a dryer circuit is not (it can be if you replace your garage/house dryer breakers with GFCI breakers in your electric panel). You may not always be the one plugging the car in, even though you believe you will be.

Jacket all high voltage in orange for 1st responder & tech safety.

 

[remy_martian]

Anyone know why the -05 chargers are blacklisted?

 

[remy_martian]

Gregski - you have a PM

 

[gregski]

Anyone know why the -05 chargers are blacklisted?

I assume you read Tesla Gen2 Charger Compatibility and Ebay WARNING and the answer was not in there?

 

[remy_martian]

I did, but got distracted to come back here and post it - they're Supercharger takeouts vs onboard chargers.

Few know that the same units are used in a stack in a Supercharger as in the car -- which is what makes frothing at the mouth opposition to the salvage or converted car use of superchargers argument by Tesla fanboys somewhat lame