maini
Well-known member
DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK!!
It worked for me as I am careful and have good electrical knowledge and am an EEE Engineer.
My wife's daily commute is only 35 miles and I needed to replenish that at a faster rate so I can be sure it is fully charged in 4-5 hrs overnight. I looked around for the cheapest way to achieve this and I found the below link. Here is how I did it.. with a few convenient changes.
http://www.instructables.com/id/313CONVERTING-A-2013-LEAF-LEVEL-1-12AMP-CHARGER-TO/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Instead of keeping the original NEMA 5-15P that came with Nissan EVSE L1 as the Instructable suggests. I completely removed that cable as shown in the above instructions. In order to fool the EVSE that it still has the FDCD I soldered a 33K Ohm resistor between the two terminals. Just to clarify further in the original EVSE cord you will find Live(Black), Neutral(White), Ground(Green) wires. In addition you will find 2 Yellow wires coming from the FDCD device embedded in the 5-15 plug of the EVSE and plugged into the board via a 2 pin connector. Remove this connector and solder a 33KOhm resistor between the two pins on the EVSE. http://cdn.instructables.com/F1T/PTPJ/HRKR2FO8/F1TPTPJHRKR2FO8.LARGE.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
If you DO NOT do this and wire up the 4 core wire and try to use the EVSE will go into an error state in about 2 minutes and will stop charging. This 33KOhm resistor fools the EVSE in believing that the FDCD is still connected. Alternatively you could hack the cable and break the 5-15 plug to retrieve the FDCD device and keep it plugged into that two pin port while you change to the 4 core cable. I did not do this as I did not want to break my original cable.
Rest of the instructions are exactly the same. I used a 12AWG 4 core wire with a L14-30 plug. Wired as below
RED - In the Plug goes to a Phase Line1 terminal - In the EVSE it goes to the Red wire after the cut as described above
BLACK - In the Plug goes to a Phase Line2 terminal - In the EVSE it goes where the original Black wire went
WHITE - In the Plug goes to a Neutral terminal - In the EVSE it goes where the original White wire went
GREEN - In the Plug goes to a Ground terminal - In the EVSE it goes where the original Green wire went
http://www.instructables.com/files/deriv/F4F/RCZA/HRWNBHOC/F4FRCZAHRWNBHOC.LARGE.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://cdn.instructables.com/FT3/99JR/HRWNBIBM/FT399JRHRWNBIBM.LARGE.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Thats it your 220V EVSE L2 is ready and will charge at 12AMPS giving out 2.88KWHrs - Will charge at TWICE the rate of the 110V L1 EVSE that came with the car. The car sees it as as L2 240 EVSE and indicates 3.3KWhr charging. The upgrade should cost you about $10 for the L14-30(Ebay), $14 for the 6 feet of 4 Core 12 AWG wire(Home Depot) and $1 for 33KOhm resistor(Radioshack). Total about $25 and your time.
If you really want to still have the 110V capability to charge then you can get L14-30 socket(ebay) and buy a 5-15P plug and wire it as suggested in the above instruct able. This should cost you another $15. It will be wired as below.
BLACK - In the 5-15 Plug goes to a Phase Line terminal - In the L14-30 socket it goes to the terminal that mates with the Black wire in the L14-30 Plug
WHITE - In the 5-15 Plug goes to a Neutral terminal - In the L14-30 socket it goes to the terminal that mates with the White wire in the L14-30 Plug
GREEN - In the 5-15 Plug goes to a Ground terminal - In the L14-30 socket it goes to the terminal that mates with the Green wire in the L14-30 Plug
Now in the L14-30 socket there is an EMPTY terminal put a small piece of wire here and short it with the Neutral white wire.
http://cdn.instructables.com/FWE/L9E7/HN825Z9T/FWEL9E7HN825Z9T.LARGE.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Your 110V adapter is ready.
This L2 EVSE is not as smart and as powerful as the EVSEupgrade which can actually give an output of 20+ Amps etc. and can charge the car at a faster rate which costs almost $300. If that is your need is charging much faster than 2.88KWhr this is not right for you as this does not charge at a very high rate. This is sufficient for me for now. If I really need a much faster charger then I would build myself an Open EVSE that way I have 2 chargers.
Let me know if you have any questions and I am happy to answer. Hope this helps someone who has a need for a cheap L2 EVSE.
It worked for me as I am careful and have good electrical knowledge and am an EEE Engineer.
My wife's daily commute is only 35 miles and I needed to replenish that at a faster rate so I can be sure it is fully charged in 4-5 hrs overnight. I looked around for the cheapest way to achieve this and I found the below link. Here is how I did it.. with a few convenient changes.
http://www.instructables.com/id/313CONVERTING-A-2013-LEAF-LEVEL-1-12AMP-CHARGER-TO/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Instead of keeping the original NEMA 5-15P that came with Nissan EVSE L1 as the Instructable suggests. I completely removed that cable as shown in the above instructions. In order to fool the EVSE that it still has the FDCD I soldered a 33K Ohm resistor between the two terminals. Just to clarify further in the original EVSE cord you will find Live(Black), Neutral(White), Ground(Green) wires. In addition you will find 2 Yellow wires coming from the FDCD device embedded in the 5-15 plug of the EVSE and plugged into the board via a 2 pin connector. Remove this connector and solder a 33KOhm resistor between the two pins on the EVSE. http://cdn.instructables.com/F1T/PTPJ/HRKR2FO8/F1TPTPJHRKR2FO8.LARGE.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
If you DO NOT do this and wire up the 4 core wire and try to use the EVSE will go into an error state in about 2 minutes and will stop charging. This 33KOhm resistor fools the EVSE in believing that the FDCD is still connected. Alternatively you could hack the cable and break the 5-15 plug to retrieve the FDCD device and keep it plugged into that two pin port while you change to the 4 core cable. I did not do this as I did not want to break my original cable.
Rest of the instructions are exactly the same. I used a 12AWG 4 core wire with a L14-30 plug. Wired as below
RED - In the Plug goes to a Phase Line1 terminal - In the EVSE it goes to the Red wire after the cut as described above
BLACK - In the Plug goes to a Phase Line2 terminal - In the EVSE it goes where the original Black wire went
WHITE - In the Plug goes to a Neutral terminal - In the EVSE it goes where the original White wire went
GREEN - In the Plug goes to a Ground terminal - In the EVSE it goes where the original Green wire went
http://www.instructables.com/files/deriv/F4F/RCZA/HRWNBHOC/F4FRCZAHRWNBHOC.LARGE.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://cdn.instructables.com/FT3/99JR/HRWNBIBM/FT399JRHRWNBIBM.LARGE.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Thats it your 220V EVSE L2 is ready and will charge at 12AMPS giving out 2.88KWHrs - Will charge at TWICE the rate of the 110V L1 EVSE that came with the car. The car sees it as as L2 240 EVSE and indicates 3.3KWhr charging. The upgrade should cost you about $10 for the L14-30(Ebay), $14 for the 6 feet of 4 Core 12 AWG wire(Home Depot) and $1 for 33KOhm resistor(Radioshack). Total about $25 and your time.
If you really want to still have the 110V capability to charge then you can get L14-30 socket(ebay) and buy a 5-15P plug and wire it as suggested in the above instruct able. This should cost you another $15. It will be wired as below.
BLACK - In the 5-15 Plug goes to a Phase Line terminal - In the L14-30 socket it goes to the terminal that mates with the Black wire in the L14-30 Plug
WHITE - In the 5-15 Plug goes to a Neutral terminal - In the L14-30 socket it goes to the terminal that mates with the White wire in the L14-30 Plug
GREEN - In the 5-15 Plug goes to a Ground terminal - In the L14-30 socket it goes to the terminal that mates with the Green wire in the L14-30 Plug
Now in the L14-30 socket there is an EMPTY terminal put a small piece of wire here and short it with the Neutral white wire.
http://cdn.instructables.com/FWE/L9E7/HN825Z9T/FWEL9E7HN825Z9T.LARGE.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Your 110V adapter is ready.
This L2 EVSE is not as smart and as powerful as the EVSEupgrade which can actually give an output of 20+ Amps etc. and can charge the car at a faster rate which costs almost $300. If that is your need is charging much faster than 2.88KWhr this is not right for you as this does not charge at a very high rate. This is sufficient for me for now. If I really need a much faster charger then I would build myself an Open EVSE that way I have 2 chargers.
Let me know if you have any questions and I am happy to answer. Hope this helps someone who has a need for a cheap L2 EVSE.