See attached picture - anyone have suggestions on how easy it might be to replace the plug on this J1772 charger? I think it's a clipper creek CS-40 (it's not mine, I'm on behalf of a friend who lets me use his!) The only thing that's broken is the little latch end of the plastic clamp at the end. Everything else functions, but without the retaining clip any bump of the cord/connector will open the circuit. I assume that you can buy just the plug somewhere, although a quick google search yielded only combinations of cord plus the plug. Would be ideal if someone else had already done this and knew how easy/hard it was to get one of these fixed. I suppose if disassembling the plug is a major pain, I could always just cut the cord right at the end and re-terminate a new plug... would only sacrifice a few inches of reach I suppose. Any generic suggestions here?
Whatever you do, don't cut it unless you know what you're doing. It takes the right tool to crimp new pins on the end of the wires. I echo the above, try to get a replacement latch from Clipper Creek. If you can't, then try to find an identical plug from somewhere else. Then either transplant the wires and pins into the new plug, or replace the latch in the old one.
OK, that's helpful. I did call Clipper Creek, and the message I got back (which may or may not change when I actually call them back) is that they don't stock the plug, and they treat the plug and cord as a single piece. Since this unit is out of warranty, they want $350 (!!wow!!) for a new cordset with plug. I'm not sure whether there's a reasonable way to just find the plug (anyone happen to have a pointer for this!??!!?) I appreciate the part about not cutting the cable - I had, perhaps naively, assumed that if I cut it I would just re-solder the pins internally instead of crimping them.
If you are willing to terminate pins, I have a new J1772 80 amp plug $50 plus shipping to you. PM me if interested.
$350 is expensive, but not too far off. You could probably get one of these to replace the cable/plug for $220: Leviton EVJ46-PEV 40-Amp Max 208-240V AC Level 2 Electric Vehicle Charge Connector Assembly, 25-Feet Cord Length - - Amazon.com Seems like a lot of money just to fix a little clip though. I'd escalate at Clipper Creek and see if you can find someone who can just sell you the clip.
So the current status is that clipperCreek said they're willing to send me a refurbished cable/plug assembly for the cost of shipping, which seems pretty reasonable. We'll see this week if that actually ends up happening, but I get the feeling that they're going to be willing to treat this as warranty work after all.
Seems very reasonable. They'll have no problem refurbishing your cable, since they probably have endless spare parts laying around, so it's a win-win.
I continue to be impressed with Clipper Creek. If they made a unit with the Tesla Charge Port Plug I would get it in a heart beat. Glad to hear you will be able to help your friend.