Duosida EVSE Just Arrived.

[jjeff]

Here is mine. Got it from the same vendor. I paid $165 shipped, but with 18' cable option. Here are some internal circuit board pictures. I do not see any issues. The plug on other hand... is not so great.. Will post more later.

http://imgur.com/a/HGKak

Thanks for those photos, look forward to more. $165 is a great deal, I couldn't tell from your photo, what type of wall plug did you have installed?

[AntronX]

Just regular 120V 15A plug. I use it on 120V for now when away from home, but I can easily make L14-20P adapter to use it on 240V at home or a dryer plug adapter. Nice thing is, it fits any standard extension cord without modification. Just gotta remember not to leave it plugged in to 240V when not in use. Or label it so others would not try to plug 120V appliance into it. But I would not recommend this to people not electrically inclined.

[jjeff]

Just regular 120V 15A plug. I use it on 120V for now when away from home, but I can easily make L14-20P adapter to use it on 240V at home or a dryer plug adapter. Nice thing is, it fits any standard extension cord without modification.....to it. But I would not recommend this to people not electrically inclined.

+1. Personally I'm standardizing on 240v plugs on dual voltage EVSEs and to use it on 120v I have the 120v plug on one and a female 240v socket on the other. I figure if my adapter plug ever falls into the wrong hands it's much better to inadvertently plug a 240v device into a 120v socket vs the other way around Myself I wouldn't feel comfortable making an adapter plug going the other way around(120v female with a 240v male) as that could be a disaster using that converter with a 120v only device, but thats just me
I do see your point though about being able to use a standard relatively inexpensive 12 gauge 120v extension cord. My 10 gauge 240v extension cord only 20' cost as much as 2 50' of the 120v extension cords and isn't the nice flexible jacket as the 120v one.

[AntronX]

For second part of my review I will talk about poor connector quality. I noticed that Duosida connectors are much harder to insert into the car compared to classic Yazaki plugs. Turns out the sockets in Duosida plug are made way too tight and are placing excessive friction on the pins. They are also shearing the little plastic tips on the pins of the car charge port. This excessive force wears the silver coating on the pins much faster and can cause faster pin failure. I discovered that removing small springs around each socket in Duosida plug made insertion much smoother. But then I discovered that one of the sockets was gripping the pin at 3 sharp corners - imprinting scratches into the pin surface. It took me few hours of working the socket inner surface with the shanks of various drill bits to finally produce smoother connector surface mating action. Now this Duosida plug is as smooth as my other 3 yazaki plugs. Based on this, I cannot recommend this portable EVSE out of concern that it will place much higher wear on car's charge port pins.

PIctures here: http://imgur.com/a/XbVF0

edit: imgur messed up order of my pictures.

[AntronX]

Forgot to mention, the clamping force on the signal pins is ridiculously too high as well. I had to remove the springs around those sockets and stretch them out a bit. Doing that produced much more acceptable level of friction force.

[jjeff]

I've read similar complaints on Amazon for the cheap EVSEs that use the Duosida ends, very hard to plug and unplug J1772 connector.
Very nice pix, I haven't had a similar experience with my cheap Ebusbar but I'm not sure who makes the black J1772 end, it's not market and probably not a Duosida, the dust cover retaining strap is crap though, mine like many other Amazon reviewers broke after <1 month of use. You can still put it over the J1772 end but it's not attached to the connector and is easily lost

[Marsh]

I too have noticed that it was harder to plug in the duosida. I only keep it in my trunk for emergency use, and use the nissan one as my primary home EVSE. Loved the pictures!

[AntronX]

Thanks If only Duosida could sit someone down to quality control the pins, this would be great little EVSE.

[wtzouris]

I sell these EVSE, I repair these EVSE, and I work very closely with the factory to improve the product. It's a lot of work! FYI there was a "bad batch" in September that had issues with compatibility with Chevy Volt and J1772 extensions like JLONG but all those issues have been addressed. Any Duosida EVSE with a solid blue light that does not charge can be adjusted. In general the product is very high quality, and I have had no issues with the pins of the connector in the J1772 handle. I think maybe folks are worrying too much? I'd rather have a tight connection than a loose one. But nonetheless I will look into it. They also make a 10-32 Amp adjustable EVSE but that is almost double the money. Unless you need that type of flexibility and the amperage diagnostics most people go with the inexpensive Duosida. (The adjustable version tells you exactly how many kWh you put in your car) So many cars have the diagnostics built in to the app or whatever. I look forward to the "JuicePlug" which will give me a second layer of diagnostics via WiFi with any EVSE.

BTW I agree that since these units are universal voltage 100-250v AC input the only way to go is to put a 240v connector like a 6-20P on the Duosida EVSE and make a short quality adaptor cable for occasional (or regular) 120v usage. I sell/make the adaptor for $25. All this info is on my website www-buy-evse.com which directs you to my eBay auction or you can buy directly from me by texting me. - William

[jjeff]

I sell these EVSE, I repair these EVSE, and I work very closely with the factory to improve the product. ... They also make a 10-32 Amp adjustable EVSE but that is almost double the money. Unless you need that type of flexibility and the amperage diagnostics most people go with the inexpensive Duosida

William,
Is the adjustable 32a EVSE the one where you have to shake the EVSE to adjust the current? If so and you repair them what is your feeling about the reliability of how they are adjusted? Personally(and I've never used one) I think that sounds really hokey and potentially unreliable, again if you've seen or worked on them, are my concerns unwarranted?
I just checked your website and ebay site and didn't see the 32a adjustable EVSE listed, is that one you sell and if so what brand would it be?