Electric Car Charger Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting an electric car level 2 charger that won't charge.

[@emvdl]

Thanks, really liked the schema explanation 👍

[@charlesbartholomew2910]

Great video. Thanks for sharing your findings!

[@MrKcaleb]

This video was immensely helpful, thank you for making it!

[@tthtlc]

Thank you very much for the detailed explanation and analysis - it really help to appreciate the complexity of electronics in the real world.

[@bacon_pancakes211]

Amazing video. I was able to test, diagnose and fix the issue with my charger. Thank you!

[@papisalvatrucho]

Good work, thanks for the hard work and info,i have the same problem and im thinking id that plug too

[@gmak1n785]

Great video thanks dude

[@alexissuazo3122]

Thanks for your informative information

[@stratos4924]

Hi Dave, what model of Casio did you wear? thanks

[@stevenmetcalf4571]

J1772 handles with cable included are readily available, though relatively expensive. Looks like you can get one for $79-$100 USD from some places.

[@12voltvids]

A complete unit is 217 CDN on Amazon and I will get a full rebate.

[@MrRayhush]

Everything seems to check out to your video the ohm are fine switch on or off. Plug the charger in, have 12 vac on volt meter on pin 4 and ground. But the ready light does not turn on and battery doesn’t charge. Both the door open and night light work. Could the problem be in the charger Assembly haven beet there yet but all the trim is removed.

[@billhopen]

Just fixed mine by FIRST UNLUGGING UNIT(IMPORTANT!) THEN taking some stiff copper wire that was roughed up on course sandpaper, then inserting into and scrubbing inside of the two smallest plugs(4 and 5 in this video)...if these "sensor" circuit ports have a build up of corrosion, your charger will not put power into your battery.

[@stanpiers247]

I went to a Level 2 charger J1772 and plugged in to a Clipper Creek 40 amp charger and it did not work. I had a 20' charging cord extension in my EV so I hooked up the Clipper Creek 40 amp charger to that and plugged it into my EV and it worked. What could be causing the charging issue with the charging cord on the Clipper Creek 40 amp charger ?

[@daisymoses6812]

0:31 in your "GRAAAJ" //

[@tylerlawrence4885]

I really appreciate the video, it was very informative! I would have liked to see you try a 2.74K resistor between pin 4 and ground while you had it connected to your scope looking for the pilot signal. That would tell us if you have a charger that requires a 2.74K load to start the PWM signal. If the charger isn't providing the pilot signal changing the cord wouldn't fix the problem. We know without load on pin 5 the car wouldn't start the charge cycle but maybe there is more than one problem.

[@12voltvids]

It was the charging cord. I did tear down the connector. Water had ingresses into the potting and corroded everything in there. The board still works.

[@tylerlawrence4885]

@@12voltvids Thanks for the replay! Good to know you got it figured out. I just used the information in your video to troubleshoot a defective charger for a friend of mine! Really appreciate you taking the time to put the video together!

[@jeffmassey4860]

"BigdAvE". Way to go!

[@daviddrake6875]

What if D1 on the car side is open?

[@catsbyondrepair]

Charger went 💥

[@francoisd5032]

Hello I really like your videos. I have the same problem with my Clipper Creek LCS-20P. 16A charger unit. It stopped working suddenly. We have 2 EV cars so same results on both, it has to be the unit then. Although the LED is on (green) I don't have AC between Pin 1 and 2 and ground. Here's the question : Is the plug supposed to be hot when the plug is removed from the car? Looks like it in your video. I do have the right homs readings on the proximity pin. 🤔 Thx for your great work Frank

[@12voltvids]

There is no power to the plug until the car instructs it to turn the power on. This is done over the control line which has the pilot signal running to tell the car what the maximum charge current is for that specific cable. Once the car detects the pilot it measures the voltage drop created by the resistor Network in the handle connected to the trigger switch. If the pilot is present and the resistance to ground between the pilot and the switch in the charge connector is correct the car itself provides its own drop on the voltage which is detected by the controller in your charge cord and it turns the power relay on to provide ac to the car. The car then turns on its charger. when the car is fully charged or when you press the button to and charging early several things happen the first thing that happens is the car charger immediately shuts down and then a split second later the relay opens and de-energizes the cable. This prevents an arc if you were to pull the plug while under full load. It also prevents burning the relay contacts when they open or close as there is no load.

[@jaredkaye3669]

I had to repair a charger after coiling it up several times a day/night for a couple years. The internal cables twisted and loosened the neutral connection on the mainboard of the charger. I had to resolder the connection and remove a plastic barrier between the capacitor on the current detector's aluminum heat box/sink. The charger should not be hot. Heat is indicating an increase in resistance probably from oxidation on a loose/oxidated connection. Capacitors go bad but so far the movement of the charger over years and oxidation seem to be the culprit which is acceptable and repairable.

[@francoisd5032]

Thx for the info I'll look into it on my charger

[@ahmedelgabalawy5146]

Excuse me A drawing or picture showing the wire connection to the dc CHAdeMO socket

[@xeroeffect5745]

Dave, doesn’t it still bother you not getting to the bottom of the fault so you can say you learnt something new today? Smash it to bits and get inside that thing dang it. 🤓

[@12voltvids]

The problem is pretty obvious if you look at the schematic. R6 the 150 0hm resistor is open. That is all it can be. If the switch failed there would be 480 ohms. Since it is open or in meg ohm range the fault points to the 150 ohm. No need to smash it to smitherines but if you guys want to see it totally torn down I can do that once I remove it and have some cable to play with. With it attached to the wall mount as it is there is a fair bit of tension on the cord as I have it stretched to the limit to get to the bench.

[@koffibanan3099]

@@12voltvids The internet likes smitherines :) Thanks for the video and explanation of the charging system.

[@12voltvids]

@@koffibanan3099 I'll get my big hammer out and break it once I get the unit off the wall and the new one installed. This one it still attached to the wall. Will be doing some more tests on these units soon.

[@koffibanan3099]

@@12voltvids Oo yeaaa :) Looking forward! I hate potted electronics, they deserve a violent demise.

[@neliosamch3195]

Very well explained. I need this but in reverse. I have a 16kw car and I want to use it for backup electricity. A unit from Japan is from $1700 to 2000 dollars plus tax and shipping. How can I be able to accomplish that? It looks simple and doable for a diy project. I have a 2k low frequency inverter just need the configuration to make it work.

[@zx8401ztv]

Water is too dam good at wicking up into dry pcb's and switches, not easy to stop it unless you paint the guts with a rubbery coating. That system seems simple enough. Not lasted too bad :-D

[@12voltvids]

It was encapsulated in rubber. It still got wet and corroded.

[@robwhitegalaxy]

@@12voltvids It's a shame they don't want to make such an expensive item fully serviceable, if we all are gonna be having them in the future the landfills will be start to be full of useless cables after just 8 years...

[@12voltvids]

@@robwhitegalaxy That's the way it is.

[@DeadKoby]

even if it's "not serviceable" you have to try.

[@12voltvids]

No I don't. I found the fault, and know where the fault is. Even if I did replace the resistor, which I could, externally BTW as I can get to pins 3 and 4 on the socket, I still could not make it servicable because this is used outside in the weather. The last thing I want is a electrical shock hazard plugged in to my car.

[@markmarkofkane8167]

Interesting.

[@slartybartfarst9737]

OK ive just understood the EV comms at last!

[@12voltvids]

I've got 2 PHEV and wouldn't go back to full combustion. My first one paid for itself in 7 years in gas and maintenance costs.

[@slartybartfarst9737]

@@12voltvids Bought Tesla Model S P85 RWD back in 2014, came with free supercharging for life, now 140,000 miles later the car owes me nothing but thinking green Ive always kept my cars for 100,000+ miles the Tesla will be going to 250,000+. I charge on super low rate nightime electricity or plug in my solar during the day though normally my Zero SRF electric motorbike is on charge during the day. All my daytime charging is done at 5A or less so just tops up the electric vehicles although the bike can put 80 miles in on a good day. Either way as I say Ive only got one arse and when im in the car the bike charges and when on the bike the cars on charge. Lets the haters hate meantime we will all use our free rocketships.

[@12voltvids]

@@slartybartfarst9737 yup. Unfortunately some have their head in the sand. I have a friend that sends me Instagram crap if all those truthers trying to justify gas cars claiming that EV is dirtier because of all the minerals that go into the battery and disposal ect. How much oil is used to mine the materials and produce them. Totally forgetting about the fact that gas cars use the same energy to make, and then keep on using. Or they claim all the evetgy used to generate electricity to charge them ect. Not here it doesn't. Hydro generation here.

[@scaleop4]

👍

[@StationGarageSt]

Focus!

[@12voltvids]

A mash up from Hocus Pocus

[@brettprave98]

a