Adding a Brusa charger under the hood for '11/'12s

[EVDRIVER]

The Eltek 360 doesn't have a problem working with the Leaf... there's already one working with a rude/elementary CAN translator but it works. With the people here on this forum and the brains it should be easy. The timing is not an issue.

As for the price, that's way too much. I've already been quoted much less direct from the distributor for 5 units or more. They are abit smaller then the Brusa but put out 300 watts less and are over $1100 cheaper per unit and can be stacked easily.

This is what I've been trying to push everyone on for awhile now since I got the distrib to give us some sweet pricing. I don't think Brusa is going to cooperate or lower their prices in the near future.

And fitting 3 under the hood is possible.

Brusa does not sell direct to the public as you know, if they had more outlets in the US and sellers they would likely have sold far more units and then produced more keeping prices low. There is no incentive they way it is sold now and IMO a mistake for them, they had an opportunity a long time ago but prices were held high. Just look at the insane prices they have charged for the mains cables over the years, its not like they have continued NRE costs on many of these units.

 

[Tango]

As for the price, that's way too much. I've already been quoted much less direct from the distributor for 5 units or more.

Are you saying that you have been quoted much less for 5 units of the Eltek charger or the Brusa Charger? If the former, I'd like to know more about it.

 

[JasonA]

As for the price, that's way too much. I've already been quoted much less direct from the distributor for 5 units or more.

Are you saying that you have been quoted much less for 5 units of the Eltek charger or the Brusa Charger? If the former, I'd like to know more about it.

The Eltek.. there was a group buy thread for Brusa in the "for sale section" here on the site but still expect $2300+ price range just for 1 with cables not including anything else.

But the going rate for a group buy option for Eltek is around $1200.. for the watercooled..and $1092 for the Aircooled (blah!)..

 

[Ingineer]

Be warned that using low-quality chargers (not saying the Eltek is), could result in a catastrophe! Since the charger output is directly connected to the LEAF's 400v power system, a short in the output (say a failed diode) could really cause one to have a bad day!

It's likely a fire and/or explosion would result before the LEAF's main battery fuse were to open. People here don't seem to be properly fusing the connections, and that's not good!

If you add anything to the LEAF's power buss, it's imperative that a proper HV DC rated fuse be installed!

-Phil

 

[XeonPony]

and for added safety size the fuse for the out put, not the wire! for my systems if the load draws 10Amps and has an occational .5 I put in a 10A slow blow!, I'd rather have to replace fuses often then try and replace my home! which is cheaper easier?

As Ingineer said, Only use arc quenched HRC-HV fuses ! (DC is like nothing most you ever plaid with! even 160V DC weird and nasty things happen !)

 

[JeremyW]

If you add anything to the LEAF's power buss, it's imperative that a proper HV DC rated fuse be installed!

Never saw them on yours, where did you put the fuses? I plan on getting a new plate made soon and cleaning up the install a lot...

 

[Ingineer]

The only safe place for them is under the plate unless you add an external sealed box.

-Phil

 

[KillaWhat]

While in this application the voltage is high, the current is not overly so.
I looked into HV fuses, and couldn't find anything I liked from an install perspective.
Something in a 400 DC Volt, 10 Amp tubular with an insulated in-line holder, that I can put under the plate, but replace quickly in the event of a trip.
If anyone has a spec for something like this, or another thought about this, I'd like to see what they have in mind.

 

[palmermd]

I would look into something similar to this....
http://www.ferrazfuses.com/cms_admin/fckeditor/editor/filemanager/connectors/php/bin/Semi%20Conductor%20N_%20American%20Round%20Style%20A60X.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

$4 on eBay, but then you need to also have a holder...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FUSE-GOULD-SHAWMUT-10A-600V-TYPE-1-AMPTRAP-A60X10-1-/7612690988" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

$18 and $13 for the fuse block....
http://www.discountfuse.com/60306_p/60306.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I did not spend much time reasearching, but this type of fuse is a quality fuse that should protect the pack from discharging to the charger in the event of a failure.

take a close look at the graphs for the fuse and size accordingly. These fuses are very slow blow at the rated amps, but then blow very quickly at high amps. For example the 10amp fuse can run for 90 seconds at 10 amps before it blows, but will blow at 50 amps in 0.01seconds.

 

[derdlim]

Hello


I want to add the Eltek Powercharger and IFM CR0401 CanController (http://www.ifm.com/products/de/ds/CR0401.htmwith" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ) with the Nissan leaf 2011/12. I hope to put two chargers under the hood.

What i have learn. The IFM0401 CanController have to listen to the Nissan Leaf EV Can bus and send the proper can messages to Eltek Powercharger. The Eltek Powercharger is a Slave Charger. Like you guys do it for the Brusa Charger.

Can you tell me which messages i have to listen to on the Nissan leaf EV Canbus to make it work.

Thank You
Der Lim

 

[JeremyW]

Two air cooled brusa's are up on eBay! $1800 buy it now...

I don't know the seller.

 

[hill]

Funny thing - the seller says the only vehicle it's compatible with is the EV Mini Cooper ... which were lease only vehicles ... all of which were returned to the dealers at end of lease. IIRC, they've been off the road since about a year ago. If the seller's knowledge is so skewed when it comes to issues of fact and/or compatibility ... I wonder if the Brusa's are even 'new' ... or for that matter ... working.
.

 

[Paqo]

Hi! Has anybody tried to install an OEM 3,3kW charger?

 

[KillaWhat]

Hi! Has anybody tried to install an OEM 3,3kW charger?

Do you mean Replace an OEM Charger, or add an additional one?

 

[GregH]

Funny thing - the seller says the only vehicle it's compatible with is the EV Mini Cooper ... which were lease only vehicles ... all of which were returned to the dealers at end of lease. IIRC, they've been off the road since about a year ago. If the seller's knowledge is so skewed when it comes to issues of fact and/or compatibility ... I wonder if the Brusa's are even 'new' ... or for that matter ... working.
.

Lol.. The mini-e used an AC Propulsion drive system so it had (up to) 17kW single phase AC charging built into the drive system. No need for a secondary charger. And there are still a few mini e's driving around San Dimas, CA

 

[JeremyW]

Hi! Has anybody tried to install an OEM 3,3kW charger?

The oem charger requires extra relays and controlling it along with the original would be difficult (the Brusa uses seprate can messages). It's also fairly clunky size wise and might not fit under the hood.

 

[Slimpickens]

I'd like to try this modification on my Kangoo ZE (Gen I with the SAE J1772 connector), using an ELPA adjustable EVSE as part of the setup.

Here is the EVSE:

http://insideoutlander.boards.net/post/744" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Since mains electricity is 220V here, I think I can simplify Victor's setup and run everything through the J1772 connector like this:

That seems like it would work to me but if anyone can point out where I've gone wrong I'd be very happy to get your feedback.

Cheers!

 

[JasonA]

Kind of the wrong car, wrong thread and wrong idea...

Maybe you should be asking Victor for help on this or even how to interface it to that vehicle. Or find a forum that specializes in that car.

I mean, if you want an ADJ EVSE... why not just build an OpenEVSE?

Are you looking to charge the vehicle at different rates?

 

[Slimpickens]

Kind of the wrong car, wrong thread and wrong idea...

Maybe you should be asking Victor for help on this or even how to interface it to that vehicle. Or find a forum that specializes in that car.

I mean, if you want an ADJ EVSE... why not just build an OpenEVSE?

Are you looking to charge the vehicle at different rates?

Well, this is a thread about the Brusa mod and I am talking about a variant.

The idea was to feed all the electricity through the one J1772 connector rather than having a second connector. The adjustable EVSE is so I can draw 32 amps when possible, splitting the feed after the J1772 connector to feed 16 amps into the stock charger and 16 amps into the Brusa.

Then if I have to charge off a home socket I can drop it back down to 10 amps. I suppose I might have to have a way to disconnect the booster if I wanted to charge off a 10 amp home socket; I'd only be feeding 5 amps to each charger, and perhaps the chargers wouldn't function properly at that level.

I can pick up this EVSE for a reasonable price and everyone who's tried it loves it, so that's why I'm not building an OpenEVSE.

At any rate, I have sent an email to Victor and he was good enough to get back to me, so I'll stop filling this thread with the "wrong car" and the "wrong idea".

 

[JeremyW]

The idea was to feed all the electricity through the one J1772 connector rather than having a second connector. The adjustable EVSE is so I can draw 32 amps when possible, splitting the feed after the J1772 connector to feed 16 amps into the stock charger and 16 amps into the Brusa

That's what we've done with the leaf (here in this thread)- use the existing J1772 and splice in one additional booster. The leaf's existing OBC spits out information on pilot (amp capacity of the EVSE), how much it is putting into the battery, etc on the can bus. We have another device (LeafDD) that translates that into commands to run the Brusa and sends them on the can bus (which the Brusa is on).

You can run the Brusa in an "automatic" mode where it needs relatively little input from the rest of the systems but you'll have to have a way to control the current for different mains supplies (what if you encounter 16 amps and must turn off the booster?) as well as stopping current completely when removing the J1772 during charge (to prevent arching). You will need to make a "charge profile" to run the Brusa in automatic mode. Victor is the expert on this. CAN control doesn't use charge profiles (but you can still set limits that will shut things down).

A good 30A evse is a start but the rest of the interfacing and mounting is quite a bit of work. But at least with the leaf it is quite worth it. Good luck on your quest.