Connecting Tesla Charge cable to OpenEVSE box

[ChrisHenryOC]

A good friend gave me the charge cable from her HPWC after water got inside it and blew out the circuitry. She and her husband bought a new HPWC, and were kind enough to gift me their old charging cable. From what I can tell, this is the same cord that Tony Williams of QCCharge used to sell (T-PLug - Tesla 80 Amp Max OEM Charge Cable with Plug - 23 ft (7m) - For 2nd Gen HPWC)

If it's at all helpful, I've attached a photo of the end of the cable.

I'm currently using an OpenEVSE box hooked up to a 50 amp circuit (charge capacity up to 40amps) to charge my current car, but I'd like to change out the charging cord once my TM3 shows up in "3-6 weeks". The problem is that I don't have any idea what the extra wires are used for, or how to wire them up. The J1772 cable that I bought with my OpenEVSE box has 4 wires that are used: Black, Red, Green, and Purple (pilot).

It's pretty obvious to me what the Black, Red, and Green wires should be used for in the Tesla connector. Is the Purple wire the pilot?

What are the Blue, Orange, White, and thin black wires used for? I imagine that these are used to somehow control the charge-port button on the actual plug adapter.

Can anyone point me to documentation of what these what these wires are intended to be used for?

Has anyone done an OpenEVSE box with a Tesla charge cable, and can give me some tips?

Thanks in advance!
-Chris

 

[ChrisHenryOC]

I also emailed OpenEVSE support on this issue, and Chris responded back with this very helpful info...

The only thin wires you will use are the purple pilot wire and blue charge port transmitter. If you have WiFi you can send the blue right to the 3.3v output of the WiFi controller. All the grounds are the big green wire. the small white, black and orange are not used.​

Once I actually wire things up, I'll post back if anything works out differently than what he described.

 

[WhipperDipper]

Interested in how this turned out.

 

[patrick42h]

I also emailed OpenEVSE support on this issue, and Chris responded back with this very helpful info...

The only thin wires you will use are the purple pilot wire and blue charge port transmitter. If you have WiFi you can send the blue right to the 3.3v output of the WiFi controller. All the grounds are the big green wire. the small white, black and orange are not used.​

Once I actually wire things up, I'll post back if anything works out differently than what he described.

I'm thinking about attempting a similar project. I'd love to hear how yours turned out!

 

[android04]

This thread is kind of old, but just wanted to leave these YouTube videos I came across where a guy with a broken Gen 2 Tesla Wall Connector fixes it with an OpenEVSE. He puts the parts of the OpenEVSE into the body of the Wall Connector and cuts out an opening for the display. He wires in the Tesla charging cable in the manner described above, connecting the blue wire to the 3.3v output of the WiFi module. Pressing the button on the charge cable then opens the Tesla charge flap.

Video 1

Video 2

Video 3

I bought a broken Gen 3 Tesla Wall Connector on eBay and plan on putting its charge cable on my OpenEVSE and the enclosure that comes with the kit.

 

[android04]

Just wanted to update that my OpenEVSE that I put together with a very old Gen 1 Tesla charge cable works well, including the button to open the Tesla charging door. I connected the blue wire from the Tesla charging cable into the unused 3.3V output on the WIFI module (zoom in on the 1st picture to see the pinout of the WIFI module connection).

 

[ElectricAnt54]

I'm interested in the Gen 3 wall connector route since I can charge up at 48Amps via my OpenEVSE and 2022 Model Y supports 48Amps. Looking more like we will be a 2 car Tesla family in a few years .

 

[ai4px]

This thread is kind of old, but just wanted to leave these YouTube videos I came across where a guy with a broken Gen 2 Tesla Wall Connector fixes it with an OpenEVSE. He puts the parts of the OpenEVSE into the body of the Wall Connector and cuts out an opening for the display. He wires in the Tesla charging cable in the manner described above, connecting the blue wire to the 3.3v output of the WiFi module. Pressing the button on the charge cable then opens the Tesla charge flap.

Video 1

Video 2

Video 3

I bought a broken Gen 3 Tesla Wall Connector on eBay and plan on putting its charge cable on my OpenEVSE and the enclosure that comes with the kit.

This is awesome... I happen to have a HPWC unit with a bad cord... I've ordered a replacement cord from a mobile connector and was going to put open Evse in a fiber glass box... but now I'm going to use the hpwc housing... awesome.

 

[ai4px]

I made a template of the LCD with it's mounting holes, but can't upload an STL file here..... anyway, here's my conversion. Also you can use the tesla reset button with the opevevse display.