No-Name 70 amp J1772 plug to 75 amp ITT plug/Tesla UMC mod

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TonyWilliams

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 19, 2011
Messages
10,107
Location
Vista, California USA
Here's the J1772 plug (on the left) that I'm going to put on my Tesla Model S UMC portable 6-40 amp adjustable EVSE:




Micro switches for switching between 150 ohm resistor or adding 330 additional ohms for the proximity pin:




On this ITT 75 amp J1772 plug on the bottom of the picture, you can see the robust strain relief and secure clamp:




The ITT 75 amp pins, all crimped on. You can see the blue proximity wire doubled up with its switched conductor (the blue wire goes all the way to the EVSE "box", but does nothing there). The other end of the switched conductor is connector to the green ground wire:




The pins I'll be using on the left, ITT 75 amp pin right:





Would you crimp or solder these? If solder, silver solder or other?










 
Is the gauge of wire for the ITT plug 6 AWG for the two power pins and 8 AWG for the green ground pin? Are the pins made of silver? What is the outside diameter of the cable in mm?
 
UMC is now talking to my Rav @40AmpX240V

TeslaUMC003b.jpg
 
TonyWilliams said:
waidy said:
UMC is now talking to my Rav @40AmpX240V

Awesome. What J1772 handle did you use? The one from Tucson EV? Also, did you crimp or solder the pins? If you crimped them, what die did you use?
I wanted the ITT handle but at the time when I was ready to hand over my stuffs to Phil, I could not find it online :-(. Therefore, I end up getting the tusconev "Chinese" J-plug. Phil commented although it is rated 70 Amp, he doesn't think he'd trust that handle for much over 40A. Apparently, Phil feels the same as you.

I just unplugged after 4 hours and 11 minutes charging. All pins in all connector/handle/adapter looks un-damage. The temperature I measured two hours into charging was 89.6 degree F at 14-50, and 121.4 degree F on the UMC body.
 
TonyWilliams said:
Awesome. What J1772 handle did you use? The one from Tucson EV? Also, did you crimp or solder the pins? If you crimped them, what die did you use?
Tony, my apology. I didn't read your email in its entirety. I will have to email Phil and ask him to post it here of the method of connecting the pins.

By the way, Phil also fixed the poorly made Tesla brand 14-50 adapter so it won't melt (I have just proved his fix after charging 4 hours and 11 minutes). Please see others' melting pins http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/15304-Plug-Adapter-on-my-Universal-Mobile-Connector-has-melted/page7?p=340831&viewfull=1#post340831" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
What would be really cool is if someone could make a reverse version of Tesla's J1172 adapter. I've thought about sending one off to a manufacturing house and say "reverse it". Female Tesla to male J1172. I wonder what that would cost and how many people would want one? And would Tesla cut off open sales of their UMC if it really took off as a good offering? Hmm...
 
waidy said:
TonyWilliams said:
Awesome. What J1772 handle did you use? The one from Tucson EV? Also, did you crimp or solder the pins? If you crimped them, what die did you use?
Tony, my apology. I didn't read your email in its entirety. I will have to email Phil and ask him to post it here of the method of connecting the pins.

By the way, Phil also fixed the poorly made Tesla brand 14-50 adapter so it won't melt (I have just proved his fix after charging 4 hours and 11 minutes). Please see others' melting pins http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/15304-Plug-Adapter-on-my-Universal-Mobile-Connector-has-melted/page7?p=340831&viewfull=1#post340831" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yes, I'm aware of that. I considered just cutting off the Tesla 14-50 plug and putting on a "proper" one. Looking forward to Phil's repair.

I assume he did a proper 4 indent crimp, but I'm curious if he used two wires in one pin.
 
I just did one of these conversions for Waidy:

pic


The cool thing is Tesla's inclusion of a handy 3.3v source which is normally used for the charge door release transmitter. This enabled easy addition of a bright LED for nighttime, something not even Tesla thought of!
pic


I opened one of the UMC's up, but it's a pretty destructive process due to the housing overmold and it being glued shut. If not for this "one way trip", I'd have simply replaced the thin (too thin?) Tesla cable.

pic


pic


Tesla is really pushing the limits! They use two 2.5mm wires for each side, (Equivalent to #13AWG) and inside the box they use the exact same relay ClipperCreek uses on the LCS25, a single 30A rated relay. (at 40A!) It's arguable that splitting the high-current between 2 smaller conductors is better for heat-dissipation, but then you have the pesky termination issues. Inside the UMC, Tesla welds the 2 conductors to a little square terminal, then screws this to a PCB terminal. So this is a good termination and it looked well-done by my assessment. Having 4 smaller wires instead of 2 larger ones definitely makes for a smaller, more flexible cable overall, so regardless of any potential current handling gain, it's good ergonomically.

I definitely don't like their interchangeable right-angle plug connector design. First off, if you are going to do right-angle, why not make it symmetrical? That way you could flip it 180 degrees if your outlet is installed upside-down. (Patent-Pending! =)

Their "dongle" design makes for compact and simple plug adapters, but it ends up being a really big blob, especially when used on smaller outlets (NEMA 5-15). I think I prefer having a short length of cable for each adapter, as this makes the final plug smaller, more compact, more flexible, and spreads out heat.

Ok, onto my conversion. Sorry, I didn't think to take pictures of the pin connection detail until it was already all assembled. Here's the best I can do:
pic


Since the "no-name" Chinese handle pins are made for much larger wire, you cannot crimp it by itself and get a reliable 40A connection. I took a crimp ferrule from a yellow butt-splice connector, and crimped the 2 Tesla wires into that, which were very well crimped, then crimped and soldered that into the no-name pin. I believe this is as good as I can make it.

I would not trust solder alone, there must be a solid mechanical bond first at these current levels with the relatively tiny wires. If you are soldering anything, it absolutely must not be allowed to move, as you will have stress-concentrations where the solder wicking inside the wire strands ends.

Needless to say, I'm not doing another one of these. It's a lot of work to do properly, I'm not sure I like the "no-name" Chinese handle, and the UMC itself isn't the hardiest design to begin with, though it is sexy!

-Phil
 
waidy said:
Any one has a link to where I can get a 75Amp J1772 (handle+cable) assembly? Avnet Express said "no stock" :-(

Sorry, but there isn't a 75 amp plug available on the planet right now.

I'd be happy to put one of our handles on some 6 gauge cables for you. Just tell me how long you want it.
 
TonyWilliams said:
waidy said:
Any one has a link to where I can get a 75Amp J1772 (handle+cable) assembly? Avnet Express said "no stock" :-(

Sorry, but there isn't a 75 amp plug available on the planet right now.

I'd be happy to put one of our handles on some 6 gauge cables for you. Just tell me how long you want it.

Thanks for the offer. I like your plug a lot. I need 80 Amp charging so I also need a plug that won't melt when charging at 80Amp.
 
If you boost the 240 vac up to 280 vac, your 20 kw Tesla model S only pulls 71 amps. See the 277 volt thread.
 
waidy said:
TonyWilliams said:
waidy said:
Any one has a link to where I can get a 75Amp J1772 (handle+cable) assembly? Avnet Express said "no stock" :-(

Sorry, but there isn't a 75 amp plug available on the planet right now.

I'd be happy to put one of our handles on some 6 gauge cables for you. Just tell me how long you want it.

Thanks for the offer. I like your plug a lot. I need 80 Amp charging so I also need a plug that won't melt when charging at 80Amp.


Well, what we can do is put some 6 gauge wire on it with our plug and test it.

I'm out of town until March 15, but remind me then and I'll see what we can do. I think it might work, but if not, I have a plan B already and this would give me an excuse to try it.
 
Can you please give more info on how you installed the LED. Which LED you used and if you had a circuit to adapt it to 240V, a schematic would be appreciated.

Thank you.
 
HeliGuy said:
Can you please give more info on how you installed the LED. Which LED you used and if you had a circuit to adapt it to 240V, a schematic would be appreciated.

Thank you.

Wow. This is an old thread.

After doing about 1000 of these UMC / HPWC to J1772 conversions since this thread started, let me first tell you that our method for powering the LED was not adequate. We were pulling 3.3 volts off the "blue" wire (which would normally power the RF transmitter to open the charge port door on the car).

That piece of information will save you some grief. How you might handle the power is up to you. I recommend a simple battery that turns on when you press the disconnect switch.

Use any 3.3v powered LED. There are lots of choices.
 
Does anyone know where to find those pins referred to here as "ITT 75 Amp Pins" ... I need the high voltage pins for both the J1772 and Tesla UMC ... but can't find them anywhere. I need the "enclosure" side of the pins ... the solid metal inner pin is easy to find ... and make yourself. I own both a Leaf and a Tesla and am working on a similar charger project to the project described here. Thanks !!!!!
 
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