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$750 Portable 32A J1772 Charger
- Thread starter dpeilow
- Start date
stopcrazypp
Well-Known Member
That's pretty good. The $1050 Leviton equivalent is less portable and supports only up to 16A (also needs a $80 "pre-wire" kit).
http://store.leviton.com/b/2673928011
http://store.leviton.com/b/2673928011
smorgasbord
Active Member
Interesting. So, for the price of the UMC ($1500), you can get Tesla's J1772 adapter and this puppy instead. That let's you charge at home (at 32 amps, which isn't bad) and also charge on the road (at up to 70amps at the converted HPCs). So, medium pace at home (but still enough to fully charge overnight), and quick pace on the road - at a cheaper price than the UMC plus Tesla's J1772 adapter.
The only real downside is that to charge at RV parks and the like you're limited to 32 amps instead of 40. That could extend some charging while on the road trips.
smorgasbord
Active Member
I think it would be VERY helpful if this site had a quick link to charging stations. I know there are google maps for Tesla caharging stations, is that the best resource to use? Going thru pages and pages of posts on this forum can be time consuming to get the info every Tesla owner wants to know. Can we make it even easier for owners to go to a quick link?
+1.
A few months ago I reviewed the data sheets for a number of contactors and discovered there is a rather significant variation in quality. A good AB or Mitsubishi contactor will consume less than 3 watts of power while on and never gets warm (wasted energy). Like wycolo said a cheap one (including every Chinese brand that I looked at) will often consume 20 watts or more just in the coil, and will have to be oversized to have enough copper. I also wonder about the cable quality.
Not saying this thing is junk. They should be able to sell a good quality EVSE for less than that. But I would be surprised if it's any good.
> contactors . . variation in quality. [hcsharp]
I just looked at the updated 'DIY EVSE' project and this worthy endeavor seems to have reached the 'DO try this at home' stage. Very good news indeed. I like that they suggested de-rating it to 24 amps IF you use the moulded plug/cord thingy rather than hardwiring it to a service box. A cautious approach.
However, the contactor specified seems less than robust. Can it be relied upon to break your pricey Tesla from the mains if the Tesla requests this?? My emotional response, unimpeded by the thought process (granted), is that I would want more of a 'clunker' here. Like my 50 amp Cutler-Hammer on my water heater that I can hear thru the wall when I turn on the timer: CLUNK. Sure it draws a bunch of watts, but that heavy spring will ensure a clean disconnect. Compared to all the other goings on during the Charge Cycle (fans, more fans, AC pump, etc) is saving a few watt/hours that significant? Genuine 'clunkers' list for $250+, but NOS on eBay was less than $20-US.
Also, I assume the Tesla has its own contactor so it can shut down EVSE current should the EVSE contactor fuse. Just guessing here, since the HPMC cord presumably contains no contactor.
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I just looked at the updated 'DIY EVSE' project and this worthy endeavor seems to have reached the 'DO try this at home' stage. Very good news indeed. I like that they suggested de-rating it to 24 amps IF you use the moulded plug/cord thingy rather than hardwiring it to a service box. A cautious approach.
However, the contactor specified seems less than robust. Can it be relied upon to break your pricey Tesla from the mains if the Tesla requests this?? My emotional response, unimpeded by the thought process (granted), is that I would want more of a 'clunker' here. Like my 50 amp Cutler-Hammer on my water heater that I can hear thru the wall when I turn on the timer: CLUNK. Sure it draws a bunch of watts, but that heavy spring will ensure a clean disconnect. Compared to all the other goings on during the Charge Cycle (fans, more fans, AC pump, etc) is saving a few watt/hours that significant? Genuine 'clunkers' list for $250+, but NOS on eBay was less than $20-US.
Also, I assume the Tesla has its own contactor so it can shut down EVSE current should the EVSE contactor fuse. Just guessing here, since the HPMC cord presumably contains no contactor.
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