MC 120 options

[X.l.r.8]

I hear the MC 120 connectors were not the best, but I'm after something similar. There is one outlet plug in my work garage way down on P4 where I park out the way off grand dodge caravans. I'd like to plug in something less conspicuous that the standard MC240 with 120 lead on it. Is there an alternative to the original MC120 thats not bulky. Or if anyone here has one they would like to sell I'd be interested.

 

[supersnoop]

The MC120 isn’t bulky. The only problem is that the GFCI plug has a habit of going bad. It’s easily replaced.

 

[X.l.r.8]

I want to plug is a simple cable at work, i was hoping I could makes something using any of the Roadster/Tesla/1772 plugs so it would be discrete. I don’t fancy having my open evse go missing. The MC120 or something like that 6-8ft long would be perfect as I work 14 hour shifts and live 5km away.

 

[X.l.r.8]

Could I just put a GCFI plug on a 20 amp cord to one of the various plugs and call it done.

 

[hcsharp]

Could I just put a GCFI plug on a 20 amp cord to one of the various plugs and call it done.

Not sure what you mean by "one of the various plugs" but the MC 120 is a 12 gauge cable with the pilot signal connected to ground. There is no control box. When the car senses that the pilot is grounded, it only charges at 12 or 13 amps. You really don't need the GFCI plug. You should also know that if the 120v outlet is a GFI outlet that it will be very unreliable if it works at all.

Personally I don't have time to plug in for a 10km round trip, except when I get home. I recommend you don't bother with your work outlet.

 

[X.l.r.8]

‘Home’ want $7,000 for a plug installed in my condo so I’m looking for a simple solution to gain extra ability, especially as my car sits at work for so long while I’m working. If I can get by with that and the local shopping centers I’m all for it.
By various plugs I mean with your CAN’s I can use Tesla/J-1772 as well because they are cheaper and easier to find. The GFCI was the part I assumed I needed. What your saying for $50 I can buy a Tesla end, put it on an 10ft extension cord and I’m done. That would be easier. I can lock the Can to the car but I didn’t want my UMC going missing. A $50 cord I can replace in minutes.

 

[gregd]

I moved the GFCI plug on my yellow cable thingy (is that the "MC120?) onto the end of a 10' extension cable. Basically swapped plugs between the two. So, now I have a 120v cord that won't have GFCI issues, and an extension cable with one if I need the distance or if the outlet is of questionable heritage.

 

[slcasner]

Not sure what you mean by "one of the various plugs" but the MC 120 is a 12 gauge cable with the pilot signal connected to ground. There is no control box. When the car senses that the pilot is grounded, it only charges at 12 or 13 amps.

The MC 120 will charge at 16 amps, which really means it should have a NEVA 5-20 rather than 5-15 plug, but so should all the 1850 watt hair dryers.

What your saying for $50 I can buy a Tesla end, put it on an 10ft extension cord and I’m done.

Yes, but where can you buy a Tesla connector for $50? If what you mean is that you would harvest one from a dead UMC, that would be fine if you figure out a way to keep the existing cable and get its big wires hooked up to a 5-15 plug. If your idea is to remove the Tesla connector from the heavy cable and insert a good-quality extension cord, then I have a couple of comments:

• It's not easy to disassemble and reassemble the Tesla connector. I have a document from Martin Eberhard describing how to do it -- PM me.
• The pins are crimped onto the wires, so in theory you need to buy replacement pins from Amphenol which Martin said had long lead time. Or you could splice wires, but that is not a good idea for a charging cable.

 

[X.l.r.8]

Thats why I love voicing out aloud, it saves me from R&D, ebay has tesla ends from dead UMC's for $50 or even J1772 plugs. rthe next part would ahve been trying to dissassemble the plug to graft a HD extension cort onto. I was hoping to put a 8AWG inside the handle to make the connections, and that way I could use the Ferrules and splice kit I have laying around to fit.
Tesla charge plug (UMC-40 amp) 9 inches of cable EV Electric Vehicle Charge Used | eBay
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005GDFRJA/ref=dp_cerb_3
I have a couple of theses I found on a shelf.

 

[hcsharp]

The MC 120 will charge at 16 amps, which really means it should have a NEVA 5-20 rather than 5-15 plug, but so should all the 1850 watt hair dryers.

Thanks for correcting me. It's been a while since I've charged with 120v, and even longer since I've had enough hair for a blow dryer.

 

[slcasner]

Not sure how I typed "NEVA" instead of "NEMA".

 

[hcsharp]

Not sure how I typed "NEVA" instead of "NEMA".

You were thinking of hair products.

 

[X.l.r.8]

Finally gathered what I need for my work connector, I'm getting 50km per night over the 12 hours I'm working so after 4 night shifts I'm usually good for the week. Slight misunderstanding over the 'tesla' connector, I wish I could have found a roadster end and now I understand the skepticism on finding one for $50. I meant the one found on the 'S'. i just opened the how to take apart the plug document and realized its for the roadster plug. Before I start working away at the 'S' style plug has anyone had them apart?

 

[X.l.r.8]

Finally got around to pulling the $50 tesla plug apart, my plan is to attach a 12ga extension lead to the plug and have a simple 120v charger. My other thought (correct me if I am wrong, is that with the pilot wired to ground, I could pull 40A if I wired it to 240v with the appropriate sized cable.
In the mean time I’m going to concentrate on the 120v plug and simply splice into the wires deep inside the plug. Use some HT hot glue to Pott the cables and connectors and clip it back together again. It took 4-5 hours to get the case apart carefully cutting away at the vulcanized rubber. I preserved the switch for the longest time until I realized I’m never going to need it so I ended up cutting that out too so I could get more room in the plug for the connections. Next stop is to find a suitable extension cord with a 90 degree plug on one end.

 

[hcsharp]

Finally got around to pulling the $50 tesla plug apart, my plan is to attach a 12ga extension lead to the plug and have a simple 120v charger. My other thought (correct me if I am wrong, is that with the pilot wired to ground, I could pull 40A if I wired it to 240v with the appropriate sized cable.
In the mean time I’m going to concentrate on the 120v plug and simply splice into the wires deep inside the plug. Use some HT hot glue to Pott the cables and connectors and clip it back together again. It took 4-5 hours to get the case apart carefully cutting away at the vulcanized rubber. I preserved the switch for the longest time until I realized I’m never going to need it so I ended up cutting that out too so I could get more room in the plug for the connections. Next stop is to find a suitable extension cord with a 90 degree plug on one end.

Nice work getting that apart. I'm surprised you still have it in a state that is usable. Was there also potting in the area further back from the contacts where you now have just insulated wires?

A few recommendations:

• Splice the wires with good quality crimps, not solder. Or use both. You have to assume that it will heat up very hot when the contacts are dirty or Tesla's crimp begins to fail. I've seen them heat up so much that the copper melted into a glob.
  
• Don't use hot glue, not even the high temp variety. It's not as heat tolerant as you might think. Silicone would be better. Or high temp tolerant epoxy (generally needs to be baked in order to cure).
• Don't use a 90 deg plug. A straight plug is much more versatile.

Grounding the pilot wire is a way of telling the car that it's safe to pull 10 or 13 or 16 amps depending on what region of the world you're in. Your car will never pull 40A with a grounded pilot regardless of voltage.

 

[X.l.r.8]

Great tips, I think it will be solely for a 110/12A cable at work.
Potting was from end to end, but I’m persistent.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005GDFRJA/ref=dp_cerb_3?&tag=tmc064-20
I have a few of these floating around so was planning to use this to make the connections inside. I just spent days trying to find a correctly oriented 90 degree plug lol. I guess it’s not going to have nearly as much weight on it as the UMC so I should have thought about that more. I’ll just grab a 12awg extension chord and be done. Thanks for the advice.

 

[X.l.r.8]

It’s early in the morning and I shouldn’t probably be doing this right now, but someone confirm or correct me. I should only need to connect up the hot wire (Black) from the 12/3 extension cord to either the red or black on the tesla plug, then connect the ground from the cord to the green and the purple pilot wire. I shouldn’t connect the neutral because the car will see that as a grounded fault?

 

[X.l.r.8]

So I wired the plug up and nothing, I rewired it with the hot to the black pair, the neutral to the red pair and the ground tied into the purple wire. Nothing.
Now I'm scratching my head and stuck in my condo without a multimeter (I could of swore I had about 6 of the things) I'm questioning my logic, my only thoughts is should the pilot go to ground and is the purple the pilot wire. Only proble is there is no diagrams of the tesla plug, if there is the S/N ratio of people needing to learn how to plug is a tesla has swampped the first 10 pages of every google search I have tried. Can anyone confirm the location of the pilot on a tesla plug. i had this information a while back but its gone now.

 

[slcasner]

It’s early in the morning and I shouldn’t probably be doing this right now, but someone confirm or correct me. I should only need to connect up the hot wire (Black) from the 12/3 extension cord to either the red or black on the tesla plug, then connect the ground from the cord to the green and the purple pilot wire. I shouldn’t connect the neutral because the car will see that as a grounded fault?

No, when working with a 120V source the hot and neutral wires need to be connected to the two large pins in the Tesla connector (I think you're talking about a Model S connector now, but the same would be true for a Roadster connector). Those are the wires that carry the current.

 

[X.l.r.8]

That didn't work ? I put the white (neutral) from my 110v AC to the red wires on the Tesla plug, and the Black (hot) to the black wires on the plug. Then ground out the pilot with the ground wires on both end. My problem is I hace made the assumption the purple wire in the tesla plug is the pilot however there is an orange wire there too. I left the orange capped off. But I got nothing so I'm thinking I'm missing something. I'm headnig to my garage so i will be able to check if the orange is the pilot or proximity.