Lubricating the EVSE plug

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Mitchell

Active member
Joined
Jun 2, 2015
Messages
28
Location
Toronto, Canada
I've had my 2016 Leaf SL with an OpenEVSE for more than a year now and one thing I've been considering is lubricating the J1772 plug as I find it takes some force to fully seat or remove it.

Do others find this seems to require more force than should be necessary, Maybe the plastic used for my particular OpenEVSE plug happens to bind with the type of plastic the Leaf uses. Or maybe this force is just what is needed for the electrical contacts (but I doubt it).

It would make a difficult-to-clean mess if this didn't help any, so I wanted to ask if anyone has tried lubricating their plug (I only charge at home, so am not concerned about messing up any public chargers). My first thought would be to try white lithium grease on both the inside and outside of the big 1½" shroud around all the pins.
 
Dry, silicone spray lubricant maybe. Definitely nothing conductive. Most dielectric greases would attract dirt though, which would probably make things worse rather than better.
 
I use a small amount of non-conductive silicone dielectric grease once in a while on the plastic and pins of the J1772 cable of my primary EVSE (since it gets used nearly every day and has been used since 2011). About a year and a half after getting the 2015 I started to notice it was getting harder to plug in the AeroVironment EVSE so I checked the O-ring and made sure the plug was clean before I greased it. Just a small amount of grease every few months is sufficient. I also use a very small amount of silicone oil on the hinge and pivot points for the charge port door which really helps to make it easy to close. The silicone grease and silicone oil do not collect nearly as much dirt as petroleum oil and grease (and silicone is safe for plastic).
 
The reason your EVSE plug requires force to insert is because OpenEvse supplies Duosida plugs with their kits. Those plugs use power sockets that apply way too much pressure on the pins inside the car's charge port. I investigated this problem here: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=22692&start=30#p473786
 
I also have an OpenEVSE and I applied some silicone dielectric grease to the outer mating ring of my J1772 plug just this past weekend.

It did not make insertion or removal any smoother or less forceful.

Now that I saw AntronX's post, I'm not surprised, but at the time I didn't realize the issue was with the pins themselves. I'll probably be disassembling my handle this weekend to remove the springs from the sockets and hopefully that will solve it.
 
I have tried spraying silicone on the sides of the plug, with no improvement. Somehow it seems that the resistance is how the small contact tubes align with each other?? I also have to work at putting the plug back in the charger's little evse holder plug.

Yes, it is hard to figure out because you really cant get into those small areas. I had considered sanding the outside of the plug handle in case the seams of the plastic casting were not smooth..

The important thing is that it still works, and you get used to pushing it in a bit harder.
 
Hey! I discovered my J1772 problem. Today, inside the charge handle plug< I discovered a destroyed green gasket that was the culprit. I removed it, and it connects smooth as glass... I think that the gasket is to keep water out while you are charging....

I also found this link on ebay, which was selling replacements, but I haven't been able to find a current seller

here is the link and picture of the replacement gasket I need:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/J1772-YAZAKI-REPLACEMENT-GASKET-SEAL-/122358482610?hash=item1c7d2246b2:g:CfkAAOSw3ydViBYS&vxp=mtr


http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?t=18827
 
That's a common problem. I didn't mention it because someone else already had, and because I had a tight-fitting J-1772 handle until recently, with a good gasket.
 
AntronX said:
The reason your EVSE plug requires force to insert is because OpenEvse supplies Duosida plugs with their kits. Those plugs use power sockets that apply way too much pressure on the pins inside the car's charge port. I investigated this problem here: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=22692&start=30#p473786
Interesting. While my J1772 says "J-Plug", it does appear to be identical to those great photographs and commentary you posted (though mine is apparently rated for 40 amps and yours says 16 amps, also mine has a small hole in the side, yours doesn't appear to).

I did open my J1772 to remove the annoying rubber cap (I only use it in my garage), but never thought the problem could be the receptacle contacts. AntronX, did you leave the ring springs off, or once you had reamed the sockets found you could leave them in.
 
Our company, Quick Charge Power, of Kennewick, Washington built the 40 amp cable and plug that you are using. On the opposite side of where it says "J-Plug, 40 amps max" should be our company name and logo.

We actually assemble those units here in Kennewick, but we are moving to San Diego county in April 2017. I have a 26 foot moving truck sitting outside, loaded up and ready to go south.

If you need service with your J-Plug, you are welcome to send it to us for a FREE inspection / tune up.

DO NOT REMOVE THE SPRINGS OFF THE PINS!!!! This could result in fire, injury or death. Do not "ream" the sockets of the pins, as this will remove the silver plating.
 
Mitchell said:
...AntronX, did you leave the ring springs off, or once you had reamed the sockets found you could leave them in.
If I remember right, I think I took them off, stretched them out a bit with reverse pliers and put them back in. They no longer apply spring force on the 4 contact socket "leaves", but serve as assurance to prevent any one "leaf" from bending out due to charge port pin misalignment upon plug insertion. Reaming the sockets did not help much. It helps that I have a charge port from wrecked leaf to test these sockets on. You could test your socket mods on the charge port on your leaf while your plug is taken apart. Make sure to try inserting signal sockets as well. They were very tight, almost as bad as power sockets! While the plug is apart, I would also use adhesive lined 3-1 heat shrink tubing to seal exposed copper wire at the crimp point. Since the plug is not water tight, moisture could get there and corrode it.
 
TonyWilliams said:
DO NOT REMOVE THE SPRINGS OFF THE PINS!!!! This could result in fire, injury or death.
Well, in that case, do not use these plugs. They are poorly engineered cheap Chinese knockoffs. Stock Yazaki plugs do not need to apply such strong clamping force on their sockets and they work fine at 30A. I had them tested at 50A without much overheating at the pins. When I ordered OpenEVSE kit, it came with your J-Plug 40A cable and your rebranded Duosida plug. I ended up returning it due to excessive force needed to plug it in and got stock Yazaki plug attached to your 40A cable which works great up to 65A in the shade, 45A in direct sun on hot pavement.
TonyWilliams said:
Do not "ream" the sockets of the pins, as this will remove the silver plating.
I only reamed out the front face of the sockets to reduce the overly steep angle at which the socket "leaves" contact the pin which spreads them apart before sliding over the pin. I did not drill out the silver surface that actually contacts the pin. I did have to work it a bit to remove casting burrs or imperfections, as they were imprinting scratches on the pin surface.
These Duosida plugs are badly, cheaply engineered things that should not be sold in US.
 
TonyWilliams said:
Our company, Quick Charge Power, of Kennewick, Washington built the 40 amp cable and plug that you are using. On the opposite side of where it says "J-Plug, 40 amps max" should be our company name and logo.

...

If you need service with your J-Plug, you are welcome to send it to us for a FREE inspection / tune up.

Tony, yep, your description fits exactly the plug that I have. "J-Plug 40 amps max" on one side and QCP logo on the other.

I appreciate your offer to send the plug back for a tune up, but I'm not sure that's a viable option. I drive too many miles in a day to be able to fall back on nightly L1 charging while my L2 plug is away for service. Not to mention the cost of shipping each way - based on the Amazon shipping charge for a QCP plug, this "free" service would actually cost $60.

Instead, would you be able to just send out lower-tension springs for your customers like myself and others in this thread who feel that the insertion force required for your plugs is unreasonable?

I think that would be a quicker and lower-cost solution for all involved.
 
Back
Top