[jackbauer]

So I've had a first look at the Tesla Gen 2 10Kw charger. Now , making one of these work as is with CAN messages is near on impossible due to the level of integration of the charger and the car. So I decided to have a look inside. Seems it uses 3 x 3.5kw modules linked back to a central logic board. Each modules connects to the logic pcb with 8 wires.

So far i have identified GND , +12v , +5v and a 500k canbus. Two lines seems to carry analog signals and one seems to be open circuit. Attached see some CAN captures from this internal network. I may be wrong but I bet it will be easier to work out these messages and get the individual charger modules to wake up.

So plan is to design a little breakout board so I can monitor the signals on a live car during the charge process and log the CAN messages.

Stay tuned

 

[Tomdb]

Good start, however mind explaining what you hooked up and what you powered on?

Looks like the chargers all put out data, the same data.

example first message per unit: 0x207, 0x209, 0x20B.

14 messages a piece, that is quite a bit. But probably not all will be required.

Would you mind hooking up 230V to a charger section to see some data change?

 

[jackbauer]

Video out soon.

 

[nitrousnrg]

So plan is to design a little breakout board so I can monitor the signals on a live car during the charge process and log the CAN messages.

This one could save you a bit of design time http://canable.io/

 

[jackbauer]

Looks interesting. I mostly use an arduino due with savvycan for logging. I do also want to monitor all the lines and have a plug and play solution as I don't want to go cutting and soldering on another persons working car

 

[nitrousnrg]

In that case I use a logic analyzer
www.saleae.com
You cant send can commands though, only sniffing.

 

[e^2]

How would you go about finding this charger? Mainly salvage yards?

 

[jackbauer]

Progress so far on the charger :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqJ7HhS65po

 

[Kevin Sharpe]

How would you go about finding this charger? Mainly salvage yards?

A search for "Tesla charger" on eBay finds 7 chargers for sale in the US today. Prices range from $550 to $1190 although you can find much cheaper examples via salvage.

What I really like about this open source development is the potential for a low cost ~22kW 3 Phase AC charger by using two in parallel... we have lots 22kW charging all across Europe

Note that Damien is working on the "Gen 2" charger which can be easily identified by the lack of a Tesla identifier stamped on the metalwork. This version is the one to buy IMO. Here's why;

The "Gen 1" charger has a reputation for being less reliable than the "Gen 2" when fitted into the Model S. It's easy to identify with the word "TESLA" stamped on the metalwork. Jehu has a great video looking at whats inside here.

The "Gen 3" charger is lower power than the previous generations being restricted to 48A or 72A AC depending on the hardware version. It also appears to have the control board buried under the adhesive covered power boards. It's easy to identify with the Tesla "T" Logo stamped on the metalwork. Three great teardown videos are available here and a fourth which will remove the power PCB's (and hopefully reveal the controller) has been promised

 

[dcb]

What I really like about this open source development is the potential for a low cost ~22kW 3 Phase AC charger by using two in parallel...

Wouldn't that unbalance one of the phases? to the tune of 22kw?

 

[Kevin Sharpe]

Wouldn't that unbalance one of the phases? to the tune of 22kw?

On European cars contactors within the Tesla HVJB switch the AC so that it's applied in parallel to all charger 'modules' when using single phase, and to individual charger 'modules' when using three phase. This is detailed in the Tesla service manual (see photo).

Note that the Tesla "Gen 1" and "Gen 2" charger architecture supports a 'master' and a 'slave' charger, each containing three charger 'modules'. With three charger 'modules' the total capacity is ~10.5kW, with six charger 'modules' the total capacity is ~21kW

If you want more info on the US cars then maybe this will help?

http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=181417

 

[hbthink]

Hello,

I have a 2012 Toyota RAV EV which apparently uses the same Gen 1 charger would be happy to instrument it up during a charge session.

Steve

 

[annerajb]

The "Gen 3" charger is lower power than the previous generations being restricted to 48A or 72A AC depending on the hardware version. It also appears to have the control board buried under the adhesive covered power boards. It's easy to identify with the Tesla "T" Logo stamped on the metalwork. Three great teardown videos are available here and a fourth which will remove the power PCB's (and hopefully reveal the controller) has been promised

I haven't had a chance to continue the teardown but to correct a slight detail the adhesive covering the boards are not the issue I can remove them easily with my nails.
The coils and magnetics are potted into place inside the metal casing of the charger. I have to unsolder every single coil and magnetics of all 3 power stages to lift all the boards up. Since I would like to use the charger afterwards removing the potting is out of the question apart from it being not accessible.

 

[jackbauer]

Progress. Managed to isolate charger block one and get it to stay enabled separate from the Tesla logic board. It spits out 13 CAN IDs. Took a log. Its on the github : https://github.com/damienmaguire/Tesla-Charger

Question is : What now .....

 

[Kevin Sharpe]

Question is : What now .....

Stick 10 in a box and start selling superchargers

 

[Dxta]

I'm staying tuned already. So excited to be in here. I'm new though

 

[jackbauer]

I've grabbed a few more logs of the internal CAN network and uploaded to github. Few things falling out of this :

• The CAN busses are tied together and the control board broadcasts 5 IDs to all the charger modules
• The charger modules pump out 15 CAN IDs each. Each ID is incremented by 2 and depends on a set of jumpers on each 12way interface plug on the module.

I suspect all these charger modules are programmed the same. The nasty stuff stopping us just running the charger is on the logic board. If I can get a capture from a car before , starting and during a charge event and play this back to the modules I think they will wake up. Of course I could be way wrong about this. I guess I'll know if a Falcon 9 first stage lands on my house.

 

[Tomdb]

What can bus does the charger live on?

I believe there were guys who captured a couple of the can busses during various states.

What year of Models S would your charger appear in?

 

[jackbauer]

Tom , this is an internal CAN network in the charger between the logic board and the charger power modules. It would not be available externally to the charger. It's a GEN 2 charger but not sure what years that would be ...

 

[Tomdb]

I know you are talking about the internal.

But I am looking for the control messages to the main logic board.