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Re: LEAF CHARGER PROJECT

Posted: Mon May 26, 2014 7:16 pm
by Rory166
Grumpy

All the Ecotricity fast chargers at the service areas have 3 phase as well as chademo DC. I am not certain if you can use both at once?

Rory

Re: LEAF CHARGER PROJECT

Posted: Mon May 26, 2014 9:31 pm
by granada203028
I have a 2012 Leaf, done approx. 12K. The owners manual advices against regular fast charging as shortening the battery life. Also charge to only 80%. Don't charge to 100% then leave it, particularly in hot weather, advice from the USA.

Mine is limited to 3KW I guess with the 13A lead. 6KW via a 32A plug looks like a good compromise to me with charging faster but not life shortening.

Power conversion equipment at 10's KW is always going to be a significant capital investment. My single phase house supply is 100A so only 24KVA is available if nothing else is running.

I had a quote a few years ago for 3 phase it was approx. £2K plus the cost of ground work to lay the trench. This is on a modern estate where a 3 phase cable runs under the pavement in a ring I believe.

I recently had my car serviced at Nissan in Cardiff. Their fast charger was broken on that day.

Re: LEAF CHARGER PROJECT

Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2014 12:09 am
by Rory166
More recently it has come to my attention that the 13A plug EVSE charges at 10 amp and even this can overheat standard sockets. For the onboard charger to run at 3.3 KW a 16A charger outlet is required as supplied by Polar etc.

My Parents property is blessed with 2 3phase meters so could accommodate a decent charger. Must check on the size of the fuses. I do remember agreeing to limit the power consumption when the second meter was installed many years ago. Back in 1969 the first 3 phase meter was installed free to enable Storage heaters to be fitted on what was at the time a rural overhead supply with 60 amp fuses. In those days the Electricity Board was selling the heaters and owning the supply cables.

Rory

Re: LEAF CHARGER PROJECT

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 7:40 pm
by martinwinlow
I'm sure I read somewhere recently (probably visforvoltage) that someone had managed to access the battery in an i-miev via the chademo port without all the protocol malarkey and had built - and was using - his own DC charger at 20kW or so. I'll try and find it again.

It's here... http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php? ... emo#p16095
Post subject: Re: 12 kW chademo charging
PostPosted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 8:02 pm by 'Siai47'.

"I actually charge my i-MiEV with a 12 KW charger. I removed the factory QC connector and replaced it with a 175 amp Anderson connector. I tapped into the control circuit for the QC charging relays under the back seat and installed a switch to control them on the dash. Using a Manzanita Micro PFC-50B charger on a 50 amp circuit I can charge the i-MiEV from LBW to 80% in less then 45 minutes."

Re: LEAF CHARGER PROJECT

Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2014 11:34 am
by skooler
3 phase on board charging on a leaf has been done. Relatively easy and happy to share experiences with this if required.

If you want to charge through the Chademo connector then you are essentially just building a chademo rapidcharger - good luck getting hold of the protocol....

Re: LEAF CHARGER PROJECT

Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2014 11:52 am
by martinwinlow
Hi Skooler,
If your reply was aimed at my last post, it appears Siai47 has got around the need for Chademo protocols/plugs etc by just accessing the battery terminals directly and overriding the main contactor to allow his Brusa access to charge the battery directly. If I understand correctly, this seems like a very neat solution to DIY (semi) rapid charging. Although I gather he removed the Chademo port, I can't see why his system could not work directly in parallel with the existing Chademo system - assuming, of course, the 2 were not connected at the same time...! MW

Re: LEAF CHARGER PROJECT

Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2014 12:38 pm
by skooler
martinwinlow wrote:Hi Skooler,
If your reply was aimed at my last post, it appears Siai47 has got around the need for Chademo protocols/plugs etc by just accessing the battery terminals directly and overriding the main contactor to allow his Brusa access to charge the battery directly. If I understand correctly, this seems like a very neat solution to DIY (semi) rapid charging. Although I gather he removed the Chademon port, I can't see why his system could not work directly in parallel with the existing Chademo system - assuming, of course, the 2 were not connected at the same time...! MW


understood.

my point was kind of about warranty - which would be void in that case!

We've done a couple of single phase upgrades now. voids warranty but pretty simple.

Re: LEAF CHARGER PROJECT

Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2014 10:57 pm
by Rory166
Schooler

Although I will probably not void the Leaf warranty please tell all about how to 3 phase charge the Leaf. I assume you attach the mains in Place of the regenerative motor? Chargemaster fitted a 30 Amp single phase charger last week and I noticed the 3phase fuses are 100 Amp so I could fit an 80 Amp 3 phase MCB to the spare slot in the board.

Rory

Re: LEAF CHARGER PROJECT

Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 7:08 am
by skooler
Rory166 wrote:Schooler

Although I will probably not void the Leaf warranty please tell all about how to 3 phase charge the Leaf. I assume you attach the mains in Place of the regenerative motor? Chargemaster fitted a 30 Amp single phase charger last week and I noticed the 3phase fuses are 100 Amp so I could fit an 80 Amp 3 phase MCB to the spare slot in the board.

Rory


The single phase upgrade simply adds a second charger.

The 3 phase upgrade will also add an additional charger (well three actually - one on each phase) but will also require a type2 charge inlet to be fitted.

May be possible to spoof regen though the controller but personally i'd rather leave that alone!