Amazon Level 2 EV charger tear down

Lets take a look inside that $217.99 EV charge cord I picked up on Amazon.
1 year in and it has been flawless.

[JD_Viddy]

I built my own level 2 EVSE when I bought my C-Max Energi back in 2013. From what I could see on the video both hot wires ran through that toroid transformer that you thought would be measuring current. With both wires going through in normal operation the fields would cancel out.

The actual use would be for the ground found detector. If there is a ground fault then the currents would not exactly cancel out, generating a voltage from the transformer. I think I also saw a large wattage resistor and a relay, those would be to generate a simulated ground fault for testing to make sure the ground fault detection circuitry is working.

[nor]

I love all your videos, I do miss you fixing vintage radio videos .hope you will do more .

[voltvids]

John Vl, . Re your now deleted comment about is being 167 on fleabay.
167 us converts to 221 Canadian, plus shipping and of course there is taxes and broker fees at the border.
This cost me 217 delivered from Amazon.
Plus I have until Jan 2020 to return it if it breaks or I am not happy with it. So far I am very happy. It charges my car 30 minutes faster then the old one and 1:15 faster than the 12 amp charger that came with the car that I use for my second volt. After looking inside I would buy again in a second for the wife's car if her cord breaks. The OEM is clipper Creek and if you look at the cable between the charger and the car there is no comparison. Hers is much smaller in diameter.

[Mladjasmilic]

2:10
That big ring is differenital current detector for RCD. True current detector is a blue ring on the right of L2/N contactor.

[InnovatorsGuru]

thanks for this valuable content. Really appreciate your efforts.
I just want to add some valuable update, please correct me, If I am wrong.
1)Its looks that, it has voltage sensor transformer Which is ZMPT107 module just next to neutral connection (square blue color), right now it's only sensing 1 phase voltage i.e. 0-120V
2) just next to that is current transformer it's in series with live wire so I think it's not inductor.
3) both live wire pass through the one current transformer: This special arrangement is done for leakage current detection same as RCCB (Residual Current Circuit Breaker).

[zxztv]

Looks like a well made charger, neat and safe :-D
Nothing cheap or nasty inside that.
Glad it's not plastic welded together, a really annoying habit of switchmode manufacturers.
I've had to crack open laptop psu's to replace caps and power socket solder cracks, just makes a mess :-(

[reddragon]

I think the first large coil is for earth leakage as both wires are going through it. The small blue one next to the relay is probably your CT.

[RuiPeixeiro]

It's possible to add an ESP module tom view charge details and control it?
Maybe on connector with GTR label (ground, transmitter, receiver)? I cannot found any information...

[rbtx]

2:03 This can not possibly be the current sense transformer if both the live and neutral are passing through. I suspect it works more like an RCD. In normal operation, the live current and return currents cancel each other out. If there is a leak through water contamination, electrocution, etc it will cause a misbalance in the live and return currents which will be sensed and shut down the charging.

[Vladimir-hqne]

It's better than I expected, really.

[gartmorn]

Makes sense that the relays are off load as they're transferring a fair current to the car. If you need to stop a charge for some reason, mid charge, do you have to do it at the car end or can it isolate on load in given situations? I would love an electric car. My brother in law is buying a Nissan Leaf so I'll see how that goes. (Oops, just read your earlier replies which explains all)!

[silviuguseila]

I would prefer one that doesn't do the ground fault detection, or just display an warning about it but still let me charge. I have seen this in Mikeselectricstuff videos, even on original EVSE from BMW. If I need to charge on the move at someone's house, I need to charge, cannot wait till they fix their grounding.

[Muonium]

isn't the plug a 5-20? I thought this was always 120v?

[jam]

No PEN fault detection with earth disconnect. Also, probably no DC leakage current detect. Both needed for regs in UK now without external protection doing same job. Looks like evconnectors.com unit does have these more modern safety features.

[thesolderman]

I can see some flaws in that design:
Having the red wires running between the MOVs puts these security critical wires for ground fault detection to the risk to be grilled when a overvoltage heats up the MOVs.
If one MOV gets damaged from a overvoltage spike there is no thermal fuse beneath it to cut it off the current, so it might start burning.
On the ribbon cable connector between those 2 PCBs you have the high leg phase and the low leg phase, say 240Volts very close to each other, as the supply is on the display board. Any creepage distances? Is there a fuse on the lower board?

[dvddale]

Is charging quicker a good Idea? I do realize that modern batteries are designed to accept large amounts of amperes going in, do they heat up in response? Lithium ion I suppose, two wheeled fun vehicles in the UK from China with LI batteries in have been known to explode and catch fire when charging etc. don't mean to annoy you but what's the difference between quick and quicker, especially if you're charging overnight and are asleep?

[jovangrbic]

Seems to be massively overpriced for what the BOM looks like, realistically a 50$ part. The wall hanging plastic hook looks like it will rip off easily

[martik]

Unbelievable that some mfg's want over $500 for such a simple device

[JandeVu]

This is charger? No! it's Input protector!

[xeroeffect]

Can’t wait to see the tear down and de-potting of the original charger Dave.
I don’t think the new charger will last anywhere near as long as the old one did and you’ll probably find that long term it will cost you more money and headaches constantly replacing it.
I would be concerned if your vehicle talks to the charger and knows it’s not OEM therefore putting the onus of blame on you or the street chargers you use. Just my thoughts.