Blink / Rav4 Blows Out a Contactor Pin (with gory pics)

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You cannot "re-crimp" or re-use a crimped connector. It is crimped around the wire, which essentially means crushed. You cannot "un-crush" the pin, so there is no fix. If you had the proper (expensive) crimping tool and new pins, yes, you could shorten the wire and put new pins on. You cannot solder! Soldering wire of this thickness creates a stress concentration down at the solder wicking point that will eventually cause failure. Also, a soldered connection his a higher resistance than a crimped one. And finally, you will have a tough time soldering to a oxidized wire that's been overheated.

-Phil
 
Oh come on!.. find me a new pin, give me a set of pliers and will fix it for you. There has a to be source of new pins somewhere. Shade tree car fixing is an old tradition
 
Herm said:
Oh come on!.. find me a new pin, give me a set of pliers and will fix it for you. There has a to be source of new pins somewhere. Shade tree car fixing is an old tradition
Did you even bother to read my post? I specifically said you cannot REUSE an OLD (Already crimped) pin. Even if you can find a new pin, You most definitely cannot crimp one of these with a pair of pliers. You need an oxygen-free interface.

Here's the blink pin from the badly-crimped REMA:
pic


This was at least done with a decent tool, and yet it failed. You mean you can do better than this with some pliers?

-Phil
 
evnow said:
JimLovewell said:
I am getting the "twin" chargers. Getting an additional 10KW of chargering for only $1500 is quite the deal compair to the cost of DC charging equipment.
Then why not get the Tesla EVSE ?
I can see a couple reasons not to:

1. Tesla HPC costs $1,200
2. Many homes will not have ability to handle a 80A continuous load without expensive electrical service upgrades.
3. Very rarely need to charge while at home at 240x80A compared to 240x40A, especially if you have a 60-85 kWh Model S. I can see it being more useful on a 40 kWh Model S where one might drive 100 mi, get home and then quickly need to drive another 40-60 mi.
4. If one finds that they do often get home and being able to charge twice as fast would be useful, they can later opt to spend the money on the HPC and service upgrades.
 
JimLovewell said:
Next, the REMA plug connected to my Blink home EVSE model WE-30CIRE, S/N 101940 running at 16 Amps.

REMA Plug

5.5 °C ambient temperature next to plug & inlet.

17.5 °C AC Power L1, delta T = 12.0 °C
17.4 °C AC Power L2, delta T = 11.9 °C

Leaf Inlet (same Leaf as above)

17.7 °C AC Power L1, delta T = 12.2 °C
15.4 °C AC Power L2, delta T = 9.9 °C

I measured the Blink after about 45 minutes of charging.

Ambient was 53° F and the hottest plug pin was 72° F. Leaf inlet was 73° F. This equates to about 20° F difference or about 10° C, similar to what Jim got above.
 
evnow said:
JimLovewell said:
Next, the REMA plug connected to my Blink home EVSE model WE-30CIRE, S/N 101940 running at 16 Amps.

REMA Plug

5.5 °C ambient temperature next to plug & inlet.

17.5 °C AC Power L1, delta T = 12.0 °C
17.4 °C AC Power L2, delta T = 11.9 °C

Leaf Inlet (same Leaf as above)

17.7 °C AC Power L1, delta T = 12.2 °C
15.4 °C AC Power L2, delta T = 9.9 °C

I measured the Blink after about 45 minutes of charging.

Ambient was 53° F and the hottest plug pin was 72° F. Leaf inlet was 73° F. This equates to about 20° F difference or about 10° C, similar to what Jim got above.

My ambient was 70° F, the hottest pin (on the left) measured 94.6° F. The right side was 88° F.

Blink is coming out to look at my unit. I've asked them to replace the handle with a different model, so we'll see what happens.
 
Basically, if you get a big delta-T (say over 15 degrees F) between the 2 power pins on only a 16A load, you most definitely have a defective crimp!

-Phil
 
Ingineer said:
Basically, if you get a big delta-T (say over 15 degrees F) between the 2 power pins on only a 16A load, you most definitely have a defective crimp!
Yes - I'm going to change it out, before I connect to a car with a bigger charger.
 
Ingineer said:
Basically, if you get a big delta-T (say over 15 degrees F) between the 2 power pins on only a 16A load, you most definitely have a defective crimp!

-Phil

Which pins, EVSE's or the car's? What's the temp difference with the pins using a good Rema nozzle/Blink? Thanks!
 
LEAFfan said:
Which pins, EVSE's or the car's? What's the temp difference with the pins using a good Rema nozzle/Blink? Thanks!
Provided you do the measurement quickly, The temps are going to be almost the same whether you measure the handle or it's mating pin in the car, as they have good thermal conductivity. (Though it should be slightly hotter in the Rema handle side.) Measure between the top 2 large pins. If you see over 15 degrees difference between the left/right sides, you have a problem.

-Phil
 
Ingineer said:
LEAFfan said:
Which pins, EVSE's or the car's? What's the temp difference with the pins using a good Rema nozzle/Blink? Thanks!
Provided you do the measurement quickly, The temps are going to be almost the same whether you measure the handle or it's mating pin in the car, as they have good thermal conductivity. (Though it should be slightly hotter in the Rema handle side.) Measure between the top 2 large pins. If you see over 15 degrees difference between the left/right sides, you have a problem.

-Phil
Phil-

I'd be leery of using the delta between the pins. What if BOTH have identically bad crimps? Shouldn't it be the delta between ambient and the highest pin?
 
DoxyLover said:
I'd be leery of using the delta between the pins. What if BOTH have identically bad crimps? Shouldn't it be the delta between ambient and the highest pin?
I did not say if you DON'T have a delta that you are fine, I simply stated that IF you have a delta then it positively indicates a problem. Calculating with ambient would need to take into account other factors, while the 2-pin delta is simple. If you follow the J1772 specs and your connector fails, then obviously you have a problem. I just don't want to quote some numbers out of context of the other factors and create a panic.

-Phil
 
I should say - my delta between the 2 hot pins was quite low (1 or 2 degrees F). But Delta between them & the ambient/ground was high.
 
evnow said:
I should say - my delta between the 2 hot pins was quite low (1 or 2 degrees F). But Delta between them & the ambient/ground was high.

So, according to Phil, yours has a good crimp?
 
I think from Jim's post earlier, I'd say both are bad.

You see that the difference between L1 & L2 are similar for the ok Yazaki and the bad Rema.

Yazaki Plug

11.7 °C ambient temperature next to plug & inlet.

15.6 °C AC Power L1, delta T = 3.9 °C
14.5 °C AC Power L2, delta T = 2.8 °C

...

Next, the REMA plug connected to my Blink home EVSE model WE-30CIRE, S/N 101940 running at 16 Amps.

REMA Plug

5.5 °C ambient temperature next to plug & inlet.

17.5 °C AC Power L1, delta T = 12.0 °C
17.4 °C AC Power L2, delta T = 11.9 °C
 
This is exactly what I was talking about! You cannot compare delta-T's to each other without ensuring all other factors are equal, such as:

1. Amperage through the connections.
2. Beginning ambient.
3. Ending ambient.
4. Elapsed time.

In addition, there will be differences from brand to brand, and tolerances within the same brand. That said, I do think Jim's Rema is bad, as not only did he have excessive rise on both pins at 16a, but also a significant delta between the pins.

The best test is to load the EVSE to it's maximum rating and continuously monitor temperature. If at any time it exceeds the spec, it's bad. Unfortunately, this is hard if not near impossible for most people to perform.

-Phil
 
I just charged for two hours with my 240V Blink, and the top left car pin was 80F, right was 81F. I guess the nozzle has a good crimp and can be safely used with a 2013.
 
Ingineer said:
That said, I do think Jim's Rema is bad, as not only did he have excessive rise on both pins at 16a, but also a significant delta between the pins.

Hmmm, isn't the difference between pins just 0.1 °C ? Am I reading that data wrong ... ?

17.5 °C AC Power L1, delta T = 12.0 °C
17.4 °C AC Power L2, delta T = 11.9 °C
 
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