Changing the J1772 cord on the Blink

[Valdemar]

I filed off excess plastic initially on my holder as the cable going in was very tight and the plastic would have cut through insulation over time. Apart from that unless you cause excessive bending of the cable around the plug I think the hanger is alright.

[DaveEV]

Best I can tell, using the cord reel as designed (putting the handle in the middle with the cord in the notch) caused the wire carrying the pilot to break right near the handle. If I flex the cord (while holding the handle still) my car will stop and start charging.

I've never been all that happy with the dock for the Blink - even carefully used it tears up the rubber strain relief at the plug. Seems like the notch could be made larger (as Valdemar suggests) and still hold the plug fine but avoid putting any stress on the cable at all at that point.

TucsonEV will sell you a 20ft 30A plug/cord for $140 - I think that is competitive with Leviton - and the TucsonEV plug is rated at 50A and can also be ordered with an extra long cable at $2.50/ft.

It looks like the Leviton 30A plug/cord is $173, so the extra $33 could be used to get an extra 13 ft of cable avoiding the hassle and expense of a junction box.

[davewill]

... TucsonEV will sell you a 20ft 30A plug/cord for $140 - I think that is competitive with Leviton - and the TucsonEV plug is rated at 50A and can also be ordered with an extra long cable at $2.50/ft.

It looks like the Leviton 30A plug/cord is $173, so the extra $33 could be used to get an extra 13 ft of cable avoiding the hassle and expense of a junction box.

That sounds very nice. I like both the idea of the cable/plug being a little over spec, and the possibility of using it to build a true 40a EVSE at some later time. As far as the length, I'm still trying to decide whether I hate backing into the garage enough to bother with the long cord...that said, I can always just leave the extra length on the reel.

Following up on the plugs, does the one TucsonEV sells look like a good quality unit? Also, does anyone here know whether the Leviton plug is actually the Yazaki plug as it appears to be in the photo?

Edit: Ooops, I see that in the current plug/cord TusconEV is selling the cord itself is only rated for 30a. That's OK, since I'd have to run a whole new circuit to go over that rating anyway.

[DaveEV]

Edit: Ooops, I see that in the current plug/cord TusconEV is selling the cord itself is only rated for 30a. That's OK, since I'd have to run a whole new circuit to go over that rating anyway.

The plug is rated at 50A, but the wire/cable is rated at 30A, so the plug/cord assembly is only good for 30A. I still like the idea of the plug being rated for more power since that seems to be the weak spot.

Tony uses the plugs for his JESLA product, he can comment on the quality of the plugs/cables more than I might (I've never actually touched one myself!)

[davewill]

OK, ended up getting the Leviton 30a cord and plug. TucsonEV only takes PayPal and I don't use it. Ordered directly from Leviton. They had free ground shipping (3-5 days, not the 5-10 day free shipping Amazon offers), plus I got 10% off using the promotion code "thankyou" I found online. Grand total with tax was $168.50, not bad. The junction box will actually end up being more convenient than just a long cable, as I'll semi-permanantly mount it on the side wall of the garage and hang the new cable and plug over there.

[TonyWilliams]

Edit: Ooops, I see that in the current plug/cord TusconEV is selling the cord itself is only rated for 30a. That's OK, since I'd have to run a whole new circuit to go over that rating anyway.

The plug is rated at 50A, but the wire/cable is rated at 30A, so the plug/cord assembly is only good for 30A. I still like the idea of the plug being rated for more power since that seems to be the weak spot.

Tony uses the plugs for his JESLA product, he can comment on the quality of the plugs/cables more than I might (I've never actually touched one myself!)

We have plug / cable assemblies for 32, 40 and 50 amps. We don't use the same plug that the other guys use if it has the orange button.

Our 40 amp uses the same dual conductor power lines as the JESLA does. Any length available on that (we have 1500 feet!). The others are available in 20-25 feet.

I like the plug we are currently using, but we do a lot of quality control that results in some wasted product. I don't know if the "other guys" do that.

[davewill]

The Leviton 30a cordset showed up today. Only shipped from Ontario, so "ground" shipping was overnight. It looks good and solid, with a genuine Yazaki plug on it. To me, that makes the extra cost worth it. I'll do the surgery this weekend.

[Valdemar]

The Leviton 30a cordset showed up today. Only shipped from Ontario, so "ground" shipping was overnight. It looks good and solid, with a genuine Yazaki plug on it. To me, that makes the extra cost worth it. I'll do the surgery this weekend.

Can you please post some pictures of how the new cable connects inside the Blink? Thanks!

[davewill]

Can you please post some pictures of how the new cable connects inside the Blink? Thanks!

Unfortunately, I'm not going to do it that way. I'm planning to keep most of the existing cable, and use a junction box to add on the new one.

[Valdemar]

Can you please post some pictures of how the new cable connects inside the Blink? Thanks!

Unfortunately, I'm not going to do it that way. I'm planning to keep most of the existing cable, and use a junction box to add on the new one.

Got it. Curious how you plan to connect the wires inside the junction box, crimping or simply with wire-nuts?