Short and sweet J-1772 to Roadster adapter - lockable

[TEG]

Any issues with the extra lever forces that the adapter will put on the Roadster inlet?

I recall Tomsax had expressed that as a possible concern in this other thread:

...One bit of caution. As I understand it, the black cup to which the Tesla inlet is mounted is glued to the body panel. I've heard from a couple of owners who have had that cup come unglued. I don't know if that's due to an unusual manufacturing issue where the glue didn't hold, or if it's a design problem. One possible issue with the compact adapter design is that it increases the torque arm on that cup and could pop the inlet cup loose.

Fortunately, the Level 2 J1772 chargers I've used (two instances of the same Coulomb unit) have pretty light cables. So perhaps the 30A charging stations with light cables won't be any worse with the compact adapter than the heavier HPC cable and the standard Tesla plug...

[doug]

DrComputer is correct. Once you have the outer sleeve twisted onto the Roadster plug, the holes for the padlock line up to insert the lock. Then you can plug or un-plug the J- connector coming from the EVSE while the adapter remains locked to the car.

Should add a demo video.

[hcsharp]

Any issues with the extra lever forces that the adapter will put on the Roadster inlet? If not, this is the product Tesla should have made in the first place.

The adapter is short enough that I don't think it's an issue. Some of the J- handles angle down so the effective lever arm is not much more than Tesla's standard connector with cable gland on the end. I also designed the outer twist-lock sleeve to hold the adapter in the car under the pressure of a wave spring. Tesla does the same thing but mine allows a little more travel in the event of something getting yanked. I'm also using a stainless spring compared to Tesla's carbon steel which in some climates has rusted and broke.

I tried making one of the prototypes shorter than this version but it wasn't as good. Some of the J- handles angle down sharply enough that there wasn't enough clearance to get your fingers around the handle or the cable would easily touch the car. I'm anathema to anything touching my car! You also need to get a good grip on the outer sleeve and it doesn't stick out very far on the bottom side.

By the way, has working with the machine shop also allowed you to reduce the price of your 70A plug?

Yes and no! The long connectors (for attaching to the end of a cable) require a lot more work and are more costly to produce than the adapters. They include a switch and a cable gland. The switch has to serve several functions: to connect/disconnect the pilot signal ONLY when the connecter is fully inserted and twist-locked in place, and to firmly lock the outer sleeve unless the pilot is disconnected. I've had to put a lot of development time and money into this. Kevin had some problems with one that got damaged in shipping so I recently put some more time (and money) into modifications to the switch actuator. So while I very slightly reduced the per-unit incremental production cost, I will never recoup my money no matter how many I sell.

[felixtb]

The switch has to serve several functions: to connect/disconnect the pilot signal ONLY when the connecter is fully inserted and twist-locked in place, and to firmly lock the outer sleeve unless the pilot is disconnected. I've had to put a lot of development time and money into this. Kevin had some problems with one that got damaged in shipping so I recently put some more time (and money) into modifications to the switch actuator. So while I very slightly reduced the per-unit incremental production cost, I will never recoup my money no matter how many I sell.

The ones you sold me do not have a visible switch but seem to work well..... this later design is it safer or.....?

[hcsharp]

The ones you sold me do not have a visible switch but seem to work well..... this later design is it safer or.....?

None of the adapters have a switch because adding one would be duplicating another switch somewhere else in the system. The switch I was referring to above is in the connectors that I make to permanently affix on the end of a cable. I use and sell those for custom charging solutions like a HPC or UMC. I also made a couple of cables with a European 62196 plug on one end and Tesla connector on the other.

[felixtb]

thanks for the clarification.

[smorgasbord]

... you can plug or un-plug the J- connector coming from the EVSE while the adapter remains locked to the car.

Very cool. Has anyone tested this with the 70amp Rabbobanks along Hwy 101 in CA?

[bonnie1194]

I just received mine - only ordered a couple of days ago! Thanks.

smorgasbord, I'll run up to the Clipper Creek charger in Auburn and try it out on their 70amp J1772. Give me a couple of days.

[hcsharp]

Very cool. Has anyone tested this with the 70amp Rabbobanks along Hwy 101 in CA?

Yes I've been told that it works on the 70A chargers by a couple of users. All the electrical components are rated for more than 70A continuous. The J- end is made by ITT-Cannon and UL approved.

One thing it won't do is overcome the bug in the Roadster charging system that won't let the car charge from stations that indicate more than 70A available. I could easily make it work in those situations by adding some simple electronics but I suspect Tesla will fix that bug soon. Then again they've known about it for over a year...

[rgjones]

Very cool. Has anyone tested this with the 70amp Rabbobanks along Hwy 101 in CA?

Yes, I charged at 70A no problems at the Rabobank Goleta using a prototype.
A fellow roadster was getting 'extension cord' detected VDS messages using the Tesla extension, no such nags with Henry's master piece.

BTW, Having an early access prototype, I've racked up a couple of months charging almost daily at 30A, mostly on blink chargers and had no problems.
Great product - Thanks Henry!