Trying to fix a gen 1 mobile charger

[mudfud]

My gen 1 EVSE from my model S bought sept 2014, is working about half time. It signals red and sometimes starts to work with a replug or a whack. Got it open w dremel and rotozip. Nothing lose or burnt. Planning to replace the relay. Any other ideas?

btw, this EVSE held up really well. I charged at least twice a month with it over 5 years. I bought a used one off ebay to replace it. Hopefully this will become a backup.

 

[mudfud]

Got the EVSE working again!

quite the struggle removing the relay due to the large heat sinks on the board sucking up the heat. Couldn’t get the solder to melt. Had to visit one of my electronics gurus.

Had to cut off the relay’s legs and then cut down to the feet. From there we could work the solder out.

glued the case with goop and strapped the silicone cover with cable ties. Tested with both 110 and 220v.

The red wire is to ensure connection from one relay point to the circuit. There was a trace in the inside of the pc board that was not making a good connection after desoldering.

 

[jingle012]

View attachment 520127 View attachment 520127 View attachment 520128 View attachment 520129 View attachment 520130 Got the EVSE working again!

quite the struggle removing the relay due to the large heat sinks on the board sucking up the heat. Couldn’t get the solder to melt. Had to visit one of my electronics gurus.

Had to cut off the relay’s legs and then cut down to the feet. From there we could work the solder out.

glued the case with goop and strapped the silicone cover with cable ties. Tested with both 110 and 220v.

The red wire is to ensure connection from one relay point to the circuit. There was a trace in the inside of the pc board that was not making a good connection after desoldering.

Hi Mudfud,

I also have a faulty gen 1 mobile connector. Mine failed after attempting to charge overnight at a hotel while evacuated for hurricane Ida. It rained over night and some water must have made its way inside. I brought the unit inside, dried it off and tried resetting a couple of times while plugged in to an outlet. I could hear the relay trying to switch a couple times before it stopped making any noise at all. After reading your post showing replacement of the relay fixed your issue, I ordered a new relay, removed the old relay from the pcb ( much tougher than i thought it would be), and replaced with the new relay. After re-assembly the unit does not show any indication on the display (no blinking lights). Was assuming I would at least see the same red light error i had with the old relay. An electrical engineer friend is taking a look at it, but I was wondering if you had the same problem when you replaced the relay? How did you determine that you had a bad trace and determine the connection that needed to be made with the red wire to fix?

 

[SteelClouds]

this is awesome .. it annoys the hell out of me when a company seals up something like this. I know why they do it.. but it still is a waste of electronics when it can be relatively easy to fix.

 

[SteelClouds]

PS.. what was the part number for the relay? I was going to look up the specs out of curiosity.

This guy?

https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/TE-Connectivity/T92S7D12-24?qs=CYMZr0Hm9rfBmbDObB5IJw%3D%3D&mgh=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw6dmSBhBkEiwA_W-EoLbVDwTWiCXAhjw9Kt0GzLQyOLXwC1yWPA1adFxY7-smBqCYaYt7EBoCcp8QAvD_BwE

 

[android04]

PS.. what was the part number for the relay? I was going to look up the specs out of curiosity.

This guy?

https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/TE-Connectivity/T92S7D12-24?qs=CYMZr0Hm9rfBmbDObB5IJw%3D%3D&mgh=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw6dmSBhBkEiwA_W-EoLbVDwTWiCXAhjw9Kt0GzLQyOLXwC1yWPA1adFxY7-smBqCYaYt7EBoCcp8QAvD_BwE

That looks like the same part number I see when I zoom into mudfud's picture. My first instinct was to say "no" when you posted the link to the relay because it's only rated for 30A where the Gen 1 UMC can do 40A continuous. That could be part of the reason why the relays sometimes fail and why Tesla made the Gen 2 UMC only do up to 32A. If I were replacing the relay in my Gen 1, I would upgrade it to a 40 or 50A one as long as it fits in the same space. From the datasheet in your link, it looks like their 50A relay with the exact same other ratings matches the physical size exactly. The only difference I see is that the 50A has contacts for NO and NC, whereas the 30A one has only NO contacts. So you might have to snip the NC contacts from the beefier relay to get it flush with the board. Here's the link https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/TE-Connectivity-PB/6-1423008-7?qs=hd1VzrDQEGghq74P530SJA==

 

[SteelClouds]

I have no issue snipping contacts . I restore vintage high end audio and tube gear. Making stuff fit and subbing is a way of life