Tesla Charging Adaptor (SAE J1772)

[conorparis]

I have ShellRecharge Level 2 Chargers that a friend using to charge his 2023 Model 3. He uses the SAE J1772 Charging Adapter. On two occasions, he has come back to his car and found the adaptor warm/hot and been unable to easily pull it off the charger head, after which, he is unable to use the adapter again because it has warped from the heat and no longer will fit onto the Level 2 charger. Tesla gave him a replacement charge the first time at no cost because it’s been under a year, but were unable to explain the cause. I also have a Tesla (Model Y) and use the same chargers with no issues.
Thoughts on what the problem could be? Adapter, how the Model 3 chargers, or the chargers themselves (which sometimes switch on and off - potentially causing a surge of power). Please see photo below of the second, damaged adapter. Thanks!

 

[davewill]

I’ve got the J1772 (non-Tesla, Tesla charger), and use it with a Mach-E. When I release the nozzle from the port, there is a small arc that occurs every time. I’m having trouble posting the video. I will try again in the AM

Please be more specific on the model of EVSE. Are you trying to say you have the Tesla J1772 Wall Connector?

 

[davewill]

Huh. OK, I have seen that symptom before with a J1772 station at a library near me. As @davewill said, when you press the release button on the handle, it is supposed to send a signal on the communication pin to the car to tell the car to shut off current VERY quickly, so it should be impossible to pull out fast enough to get an arc. But on the station near me, something is broken in the button on the handle, so it is not sending that interrupt signal to anyone's cars, so they all get this arc when you press the latch and remove. I saw this with my car, and realized I would have to tell my car to stop first with the app or dash screen first if I wanted to use that charger again and remove it safely.

The Proximity Pilot signal is very simple. The proximity pin in the J1772 inlet has a specific voltage put on it by the car using a voltage divider. The J1772 handle pulls it to ground through a resistor. This has the effect of lowering the voltage on the pin whenever the plug is connected to the car, and signals to the car that there is a plug inserted. When you press the button on the handle, an additional resistor is added in series, which increases the voltage on the pin and tells the car the button is pressed. The only way for the handle to cause this behavior is for the switch connected to the button in the handle to be broken and fail to connect the resistor.

This is pretty easy to test. You can kill power to the EVSE for safety, but it's not really necessary as there are no dangerous voltages present when the plug is not connected to the car. Connect a multimeter set for resistance between the proximity and ground pins on the plug. You should be able to read the 150 Ohm resistor value. Press the button, and you should then be able to read the combined 150 and 330 Ohm resistor value of 480 Ohms. You will want to pay attention to whether there is a point where the button has moved the latch far enough to pull out the plug, but not engage the switch that changes the signal.

If that isn't working, then you have found the problem. If it is, then blame almost has to shift to the car. The only test you can easily do on the car side is use a multimeter set to DC volts to verify there is 4.5 volts between proximity and ground. Remember that the CP and Proximity pins will be on the opposite sides when facing the inlet on the car.

 

[TeslerJ]

@davewill thank you for this info. Unfortunately I’m tech challenged and don’t deal with electrical issues myself (for everyone’s sake), so it looks like I’ll have to ask my electrician to stop by again.

I’m just stumped though, because as I mentioned, we replaced the whole unit with a new one. What are the chances that both have broken handle buttons?! We also tested the exact same vehicle and replicated the issue, so it can’t ONLY be my car. And Ford was baffled, with no knowledge or suggestions. I don’t want to feel like I need to shut down power to that line on a regular basis. But I wish there were an off button for the EVSE. Do other Level 2 chargers have them? I’m ready to just get something else. Was hoping to connect this and a future Tesla Universal EVSE for another vehicle without having to rewire, my reasoning for purchase in the first place.

 

[davewill]

@davewill thank you for this info. Unfortunately I’m tech challenged and don’t deal with electrical issues myself (for everyone’s sake), so it looks like I’ll have to ask my electrician to stop by again.

I’m just stumped though, because as I mentioned, we replaced the whole unit with a new one. What are the chances that both have broken handle buttons?! We also tested the exact same vehicle and replicated the issue, so it can’t ONLY be my car. And Ford was baffled, with no knowledge or suggestions. I don’t want to feel like I need to shut down power to that line on a regular basis. But I wish there were an off button for the EVSE. Do other Level 2 chargers have them? I’m ready to just get something else. Was hoping to connect this and a future Tesla Universal EVSE for another vehicle without having to rewire, my reasoning for purchase in the first place.

It's baffling, all right. When you've tried two EVSEs and two cars, it starts to look like a design incompatibility of some sort. Have you tried any other EVSEs, like public charging stations?

One thing that comes to mind is a badly designed inlet or handle that is letting you remove the handle without pushing the button down all the way. You can try pushing the button down very firmly before pulling out the handle to see if that helps.

I don't find it very likely, though.

 

[TeslerJ]

It's baffling, all right. When you've tried two EVSEs and two cars, it starts to look like a design incompatibility of some sort. Have you tried any other EVSEs, like public charging stations?

One thing that comes to mind is a badly designed inlet or handle that is letting you remove the handle without pushing the button down all the way. You can try pushing the button down very firmly before pulling out the handle to see if that helps.

I don't find it very likely, though.

I agree. Those are my exact thoughts. In all honesty I have not tried another EVSE. I will go to both a friend’s house with another charger and a public charger. With the public ones, it should shut off, correct? There’s no arc normally? Thank you for all of your advice!! Truly appreciate

 

[davewill]

I agree. Those are my exact thoughts. In all honesty I have not tried another EVSE. I will go to both a friend’s house with another charger and a public charger. With the public ones, it should shut off, correct? There’s no arc normally? Thank you for all of your advice!! Truly appreciate

It should never arc. I haven't seen one arc in 12 years of driving electric.

 

[RayK]

My experience with using a J1772 adapter on my Model 3 and getting an arc was one time I was using a ChargePoint L2 charger at work. I disconnected, or so I thought, using the handle button and quickly pulled the handle out of the car. I had wanted to stop charging ASAP since I was going to exceed the charging time limit (4 hours) so I didn't do anything to stop the charge session besides removing the handle. After that scare, I used the ChargePoint app to stop charging before I arrived at my car which allowed for plenty of time for everything to power down/off before I removed the handle from the charge port.

@TeslerJ Is that something you can do? Use a charging app or vehicle app to issue a stop charging command? I know it may be a hassle to do it this way but it should guarantee that power has been disconnected.

 

[miimura]

The early e-Golf cars were known to arc as well if your J1772 handle allowed the latch to mechanically release when their locking pin was activated. Since it was engineered by Europeans whose charging cables physically can't be removed when the locking pin is actuated, the e-Golf on-board charger didn't observe the Proximity Pilot as rigorously as it should with J1772.

 

[tga]

My experience with using a J1772 adapter on my Model 3 and getting an arc was one time I was using a ChargePoint L2 charger at work. I disconnected, or so I thought, using the handle button and quickly pulled the handle out of the car. I had wanted to stop charging ASAP since I was going to exceed the charging time limit (4 hours) so I didn't do anything to stop the charge session besides removing the handle. After that scare, I used the ChargePoint app to stop charging before I arrived at my car which allowed for plenty of time for everything to power down/off before I removed the handle from the charge port.

@TeslerJ Is that something you can do? Use a charging app or vehicle app to issue a stop charging command? I know it may be a hassle to do it this way but it should guarantee that power has been disconnected.

Don't remove the handle until the Tesla's charge port LED is white (if the car is unlocked) or blue (if the car is locked) and you won't get arcing.

 

[TeslerJ]

I'm wondering if others have this issue. I have a non-Tesla vehicle and a J1772 EVSE hardwired in by a master electrician who specializes in these installs. For some reason I feel like my car is not totally compatible with this charger. I cannot get the charger to stop "feeding energy" to the vehicle, even though I have indicated limits in my vehicle itself, and in my vehicle's app (Ford Pass). It will stop charging when it gets to that limit, but there is still electricity running through the charger! It will not shut itself off! I know that because when I pull it out of the vehicle's port, it creates an arc of electricity, which to me is not a good thing. I feel like this is a safety issue.

The only work around I've figured out to can get it to stop, is by overriding the max limits I have set for my car (90%) in my Ford app itself, just before I want to leave, then waiting for it to start charging again beyond the 90% which take a minute or two, then clicking "stop charging". It takes about 2 more minutes until the J1772 has a solid light, I can pull out the cable, and the arc no longer appears. It takes up to 4 minutes to do this. There must be another way. I've asked in two separate vehicle forums for my car, and no one has this combination of charger and vehicle, nor have they heard of such a thing. I even tried a replacement J1772 EVSE and it does the same thing. I have a friend with the same vehicle and he tried using my EVSE...same problem, so it's not my car. I wish the Tesla charger had an off button! Does Tesla have an app yet that will control our home chargers?

 

[TeslerJ]

Hi All-
I hope I am posting to the right place. I have a non-Tesla vehicle and a J1772 EVSE hardwired in by a master electrician who specializes in these installs. For some reason I feel like my car is not totally compatible with this charger. I cannot get the charger to stop "feeding energy" to the vehicle, even though I have indicated limits in my vehicle itself, and in my vehicle's app (Ford Pass). It will stop charging when it gets to that limit, but there is still electricity running through the charger! It will not shut itself off! I know that because when I pull it out of the vehicle's port, it creates an arc of electricity, which to me is not a good thing. I feel like this is a safety issue.

The only work around I've figured out to can get it to stop, is by overriding the max limits I have set for my car (90%) in my Ford app itself, just before I want to leave, then waiting for it to start charging again beyond the 90% which take a minute or two, then clicking "stop charging". It takes about 2 more minutes until the J1772 has a solid light, I can pull out the cable, and the arc no longer appears. It takes up to 4 minutes to do this. There must be another way. I've asked in two separate vehicle forums for my car, and no one has this combination of charger and vehicle, nor have they heard of such a thing. I even tried a replacement J1772 EVSE and it does the same thing. I have a friend with the same vehicle and he tried using my EVSE...same problem, so it's not my car. I wish the Tesla charger had an off button! Does Tesla have an app yet that will control our home chargers?

 

[Tam]

I'm wondering if others have this issue. I have a non-Tesla vehicle and a J1772 EVSE hardwired in by a master electrician who specializes in these installs. For some reason I feel like my car is not totally compatible with this charger. I cannot get the charger to stop "feeding energy" to the vehicle, even though I have indicated limits in my vehicle itself, and in my vehicle's app (Ford Pass). It will stop charging when it gets to that limit, but there is still electricity running through the charger! It will not shut itself off! I know that because when I pull it out of the vehicle's port, it creates an arc of electricity, which to me is not a good thing. I feel like this is a safety issue.

The only work around I've figured out to can get it to stop, is by overriding the max limits I have set for my car (90%) in my Ford app itself, just before I want to leave, then waiting for it to start charging again beyond the 90% which take a minute or two, then clicking "stop charging". It takes about 2 more minutes until the J1772 has a solid light, I can pull out the cable, and the arc no longer appears. It takes up to 4 minutes to do this. There must be another way. I've asked in two separate vehicle forums for my car, and no one has this combination of charger and vehicle, nor have they heard of such a thing. I even tried a replacement J1772 EVSE and it does the same thing. I have a friend with the same vehicle and he tried using my EVSE...same problem, so it's not my car. I wish the Tesla charger had an off button! Does Tesla have an app yet that will control our home chargers?

Very confusing.

Your charger is not Tesla, say ChargePoint . No Tesla doesn't have an off button for ChargePoint. No Tesla doesn't have an app for ChargePoint.

You have a Ford app. Are you saying that buying Tesla and Tesla gave you a Ford app?

Please start again:

What car are you charging? Ford or Tesla?

It's possible that J1772 unlock button is mechanical that doesn't shut down the electricity. In that case, you just need to turn off the charging session first before unlocking the J1772. For Tesla, You can turn off from the car's screen or cell phone app.

 

[zannman]

Your EVSE is failed. Part of the purpose for the "release" button on an EVSE is to open the contact to the high voltage to your EVSE's plug.

The whole purpose for it is to monitor a resistance across two signal pins and then (and only then) enable a relay that energizes the 120/240V pins in your J1772 connector. Your signal pins may be faulty having additional resistance or more likely the relay is welded in the closed position.

For your safety and your car's, I'd stop using that particular EVSE.

 

[Supcom]

Your EVSE is failed. Part of the purpose for the "release" button on an EVSE is to open the contact to the high voltage to your EVSE's plug.

The whole purpose for it is to monitor a resistance across two signal pins and then (and only then) enable a relay that energizes the 120/240V pins in your J1772 connector. Your signal pins may be faulty having additional resistance or more likely the relay is welded in the closed position.

For your safety and your car's, I'd stop using that particular EVSE.

What he said. You should NOT use a charger that creates arcs when it disconnects. These arcs, in addition to being a potential shock hazard. will damage the charging pins on your car's connector, leading to increased resistance and heat buildup.

If your EVSE is from a reputable company and still under warranty, you should contact the manufacturer for a replacement. If not, then buy another from someone who is.

If I were in your situation, I would use the circut breaker that feeds the EVSE to be sure it turned off before disconnecting it from the car and leave it off when not charging. However, I would do this only if I had no other charging option, and only until I could get a new EVSE installed.

 

[ewoodrick]

Hi All-
I hope I am posting to the right place. I have a non-Tesla vehicle and a J1772 EVSE hardwired in by a master electrician who specializes in these installs. For some reason I feel like my car is not totally compatible with this charger. I cannot get the charger to stop "feeding energy" to the vehicle, even though I have indicated limits in my vehicle itself, and in my vehicle's app (Ford Pass). It will stop charging when it gets to that limit, but there is still electricity running through the charger! It will not shut itself off! I know that because when I pull it out of the vehicle's port, it creates an arc of electricity, which to me is not a good thing. I feel like this is a safety issue.

The only work around I've figured out to can get it to stop, is by overriding the max limits I have set for my car (90%) in my Ford app itself, just before I want to leave, then waiting for it to start charging again beyond the 90% which take a minute or two, then clicking "stop charging". It takes about 2 more minutes until the J1772 has a solid light, I can pull out the cable, and the arc no longer appears. It takes up to 4 minutes to do this. There must be another way. I've asked in two separate vehicle forums for my car, and no one has this combination of charger and vehicle, nor have they heard of such a thing. I even tried a replacement J1772 EVSE and it does the same thing. I have a friend with the same vehicle and he tried using my EVSE...same problem, so it's not my car. I wish the Tesla charger had an off button! Does Tesla have an app yet that will control our home chargers?

Don't pull it out of the port, press the release button first, then pull it out of the port. The release button is the switch that tells the systems to disconnect power.

Yes, it is pretty much always delivering some power to the car. It's running the computer and heater and stuff. That's the answer for a Tesla, I assume that the Ford is the same.

If when you push the button on the J-1772 adapter, you don't see the vehicle or charger indicating charging has stopped, then your handle may be bad.

 

[Supcom]

Don't pull it out of the port, press the release button first, then pull it out of the port. The release button is the switch that tells the systems to disconnect power.

Yes, it is pretty much always delivering some power to the car. It's running the computer and heater and stuff. That's the answer for a Tesla, I assume that the Ford is the same.

If when you push the button on the J-1772 adapter, you don't see the vehicle or charger indicating charging has stopped, then your handle may be bad.

You should not be able to pull a J1772 charge cable out of the vehicle without pressing the release button. There is a physical latch built into the cable connector. This is reverse of a Tesla, where the latch is built into the car. So, a Tesla charge cable release button is only an electrical connector that requests the car unlock the latch. But, in both cases, you cannot simply pull out the connector.

 

[MP3Mike]

What J1772 charger do you have?

 

[RTPEV]

Yes, it is pretty much always delivering some power to the car. It's running the computer and heater and stuff. That's the answer for a Tesla, I assume that the Ford is the same.

Just to clarify, this is not true. Yes, if the car is plugged in, it can "request" power from the EVSE, which will open the EVSE's contactors. But this is not just automatically the case whenever it's plugged in. The car will happily run the computer and other ancillary equipment from it's own batteries. Generally if you run any high powered equipment (like the HVAC system to pre-heat/cool), it will request power, but if the car is just sitting there, it won't.

 

[ohmman]

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