GE EVSE One day sale at Home Depot

[philipscoggins]

http://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-EV-Charger-Indoor-Outdoor-Level-2-DuraStation-Wall-Mount-with-18-ft-Cord-EVDSWGH-CP01/205808537#customer_reviews

Home Depot is running a $50 off sale on a simple GE evse, it's $399 with free shipping. UL Listed, seems like a decent price if anyone needs one.

 

[WisJim]

Anyone have any experience with this unit from GE? I don't find much feedback or reviews about it, it might be a new or updated version of a GE EVSE?

 

[proepro]

It is still $399 at Home Depot. http://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-EV-Charger-Indoor-Outdoor-Level-2-DuraStation-Wall-Mount-with-18-ft-Cord-EVDSWGH-CP01/205808537" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I just spoke with a GE rep about it. It is brand new EVSE that does everything the same as the Wattstation but is not in a pretty box and does not have an off switch. It was released a couple of months ago. Installation, however, is more difficult because you have to drill a hole in the box and attach conduit.

The GE phone number is hard to find.
888-437-3765
option 5 then 4 got me tech support for the EVSE

 

[davewill]

Does anyone else find the internals a bit fishy? I can't find a contactor in there. The thing at the bottom looks like fuses for the incoming power and seems to be wired to the board, and nothing on the board looks big enough to be a contactor. I'm thinking they went solid state, which I thought was a no-no for this application. It says it's ETL listed, so I'm sure it's all right, just curious about it.

 

[desiv]

Can't quite tell, but is that a DB-9 serial port up there???
How retro! (if that's it..)

desiv

 

[chris1howell]

Its built to be super cheap and you get what you pay for...

There are a pair of 30A relay in there on the green board. And the enclosure is an off the shelf Polycase. The relays are the same series used in OpenEVSE builds, we do not typically push them beyond 24A.

 

[davewill]

Can't quite tell, but is that a DB-9 serial port up there???
How retro! (if that's it..)

Definitely a DB-9. Probably serial, but might be at 3.3 volts. Slight chance it could be CAN bus, but I don't see why it would be. I also noticed what looks like a big honking socket on the left side of the board. I'm thinking that this unit is one of their commercial EVSE's stripped down to the bare essentials and tossed into a very generic case. If this had been designed to be a slicker product they could have reduced it's size by a LOT.

 

[dhanson865]

Can't quite tell, but is that a DB-9 serial port up there???
How retro! (if that's it..)

Definitely a DB-9. Probably serial, but might be at 3.3 volts. Slight chance it could be CAN bus, but I don't see why it would be. I also noticed what looks like a big honking socket on the left side of the board. I'm thinking that this unit is one of their commercial EVSE's stripped down to the bare essentials and tossed into a very generic case. If this had been designed to be a slicker product they could have reduced it's size by a LOT.

at least that means there is plenty of air for passive/convection cooling.

 

[ishiyakazuo]

Can't quite tell, but is that a DB-9 serial port up there???
How retro! (if that's it..)

Definitely a DB-9. Probably serial, but might be at 3.3 volts. Slight chance it could be CAN bus, but I don't see why it would be. I also noticed what looks like a big honking socket on the left side of the board. I'm thinking that this unit is one of their commercial EVSE's stripped down to the bare essentials and tossed into a very generic case. If this had been designed to be a slicker product they could have reduced it's size by a LOT.

FYI, GE even says that on the box (it's part of the DuraStation series, which is their commercial line). Indeed, it was probably just "take that board and reduce the BOM cost as much as you can." It's only got a red/green LED that blinks different ways. Works well enough, I guess, but I need to stand there for 10 seconds or so to figure out what mode it is because the blinks in some modes are so slow.

 

[proepro]

I know there is not any kind of a cord holder or place to store the plug.
Does this at least come with a cover over the end of the charging plug like the Nissan EVSE?

 

[ishiyakazuo]

I know there is not any kind of a cord holder or place to store the plug.
Does this at least come with a cover over the end of the charging plug like the Nissan EVSE?

Nope, it doesn't. I got one 3D printed for my wall.
They recommend wrapping the cord around the unit itself (the front door is a little bigger than the rest of the unit, so the cord sort of catches on it), but I have it running along bike hooks to keep it clean and the proper length to reach the LEAF when it's parked in the proper spot in the garage.

 

[proepro]

Can you share a link to the model for the plug holder?

I like how this unit is how much different from the flashy Wattstation with the skins and styling. GE has some diversity in their product line up.

 

[chris1howell]

Here is a holster with ledge for cable wrap on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00TB...72+holster&dpPl=1&dpID=510jA9NQe4L&ref=plSrch

 

[ishiyakazuo]

Can you share a link to the model for the plug holder?

I like how this unit is how much different from the flashy Wattstation with the skins and styling. GE has some diversity in their product line up.

http://www.thingiverse.com/search?q=j1772&sa= has a number of them.

 

[CharlesinGA]

Its built to be super cheap and you get what you pay for...

There are a pair of 30A relay in there on the green board. And the enclosure is an off the shelf Polycase. The relays are the same series used in OpenEVSE builds, we do not typically push them beyond 24A.

The relays in mine are marked as 40 amp.

I know there is not any kind of a cord holder or place to store the plug.
Does this at least come with a cover over the end of the charging plug like the Nissan EVSE?

No cover or cap for the plug. Go on Ebay, search for "J1772 holster", you get a bunch of choices. Rubber cap like on the Nissan supplied L1, and a hard cap with a tether, and a bunch of screw to the wall models. I paid a little more for one from a guy in SC who is making them with a 3D printer from ABS plastic. I got the angled version, the cord hangs almost straight down from the handle when the plug is holstered. The ones from Taiwan and China are cheaper and free shipping, but might take a month to get to you. I ordered mine on 'Thurs evening and got it in the Monday mail.

FYI, GE even says that on the box (it's part of the DuraStation series, which is their commercial line). Indeed, it was probably just "take that board and reduce the BOM cost as much as you can." It's only got a red/green LED that blinks different ways. Works well enough, I guess, but I need to stand there for 10 seconds or so to figure out what mode it is because the blinks in some modes are so slow.

Slow blink, once every 5 seconds is ready/standby. Fast blink (once a sec) is handshaking with the car, and steady is charging. Just look at the blue dash lights when you plug up. No need to stand there and stare at it for ten or more seconds.

Charles

 

[VegasBrad]

I looked around for a cheap J1772 holder and found several including those 3D printed ones. I ended up buying several of these:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00TBW1NRM/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1432859409&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX110_SY165&keywords=j1772+holster&dpPl=1&dpID=510jA9NQe4L&ref=plSrch

They are the BEST. Good quality plastic, no rough surface, A cord hanging hood on the top of it, Tolerances are nice as the plug doesn't get stuck when plugged in, takes little effort to pull out and 4 mounting holes so its rock solid when mounted. I'm glad I didn't cheap out this time. I'm very happy with this one!

 

[CharlesinGA]

Thought I would add to this, it came to me today that the cord on the GE unit is real rubber, black rubber like standard SOOW cord is jacketed with. Very soft and pliable and doesn't want to kind or unwind unexpectedly. I have a Leviton charger with a Yazaki cord on it and it has a PVC jacket on the cord. Very stiff and not pliable at all. You go to pull a couple of loops off the hook and the whole cord comes off. Its stiff even in directly summer sunlight, hate to see what it will do in winter cold.

Moral, you want a nice soft rubber cord.

I looked around for a cheap J1772 holder and found several including those 3D printed ones. I ended up buying several of these:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00TBW1NRM/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1432859409&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX110_SY165&keywords=j1772+holster&dpPl=1&dpID=510jA9NQe4L&ref=plSrch

They are the BEST. Good quality plastic, no rough surface, A cord hanging hood on the top of it, Tolerances are nice as the plug doesn't get stuck when plugged in, takes little effort to pull out and 4 mounting holes so its rock solid when mounted. I'm glad I didn't cheap out this time. I'm very happy with this one!

The 3D printed one may be rough and not have the "holes" inside but it works fine. Plug slides in just fine and it is retained by the hook on the plug as it should. No complaints. I bought it because is was US made (and didn't need or want the "hook" for hanging the cord. Glad yours worked for you.

Charles

 

[ishiyakazuo]

The 3D printed one may be rough and not have the "holes" inside but it works fine. Plug slides in just fine and it is retained by the hook on the plug as it should. No complaints. I bought it because is was US made (and didn't need or want the "hook" for hanging the cord. Glad yours worked for you.

Agreed, my 3D printed one slides in and out just fine as well. Yes, it's not super smooth, but to be honest, I don't care... I don't go out to my garage to caress it. My J1772 connector snaps onto it with a satisfying click and I know it's solid.

 

[KK6PD]

I already had a 240 40A outlet, so I bought this unit, a 20 ft piece of 8 gauge 3 conductor cable, and a plug for the socket.
TADA , a 6.6 kw level II charging station that's portable! I love it, It's cool running, & works just fine!

 

[Jefe]

So has the "one day sale" price become permanent? It's difficult to tell from the OP if it was $50 off $399 or if $399 was the $50-off price. These seem to have landed at $399 permanently now.

Everyone who bought one of these still happy with it? Trying to decide between this and the Schneider Electric one on Amazon. The SE one looks a lot nicer, but $150 looks nice too.