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MARCH 10, 2017 BY BARBOURI

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DIY Open EVSE V4.23

Construction and circuit information for the DIY Open EVSE V4.23
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DIY Open EVSE Version 4.23 test setup in charging mode

January 2023
The DIY Open EVSE version 4.23 is my latest thru-hole board version of
the Open EVSE charging system. It incorporates the current safety fea- December 2022

tures of the surface mount component versions of the board. It is pow- November 2022
ered by a 12 volt 5 watt DC power supply, and generates and regulates
+5, +/-15, and +/-12 volts DC on the board. The microprocessor IC1, is an August 2022

8‑bit ATMEGA 328‑P. July 2022

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DIY Open EVSE 4.23 Board Eagle CAD board layout
July 2018
There are 6 main sections of the circuit:
May 2018

Power March 2018

Microprocessor
January 2018
Pilot
Safety checks December 2017
Relay control
November 2017
Auxiliary circuits
August 2017

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DIY Open EVSE Schematic for Version 4.23
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The Power section consists of a 5 volt buck switching regulator, with a Test Equipment
linear regulator option footprint, an isolated +15/-15 volt DC-DC con-
Uncategorized
verter, and +12/-12 volt linear regulator for the Pilot supply.
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DIY Open EVSE 4.23 5 Volt power section schematic

The 5 volt buck switching regulator is based on a MAX5033‑5 high-ef -

ciency, step-down DC-DC converter. This pulse-width modulated (PWM)
converter operates at a xed 125 kHz switching frequency at heavy
loads, and automatically switches to pulseskipping mode to provide
low quiescent current and high ef ciency at light loads, and delivers up
to 500mA output current.
A cost-saving option for the 5 volt section is to replace the MAX5033‑5
with a 78L05Z linear regulator (IC9 optional) and only populate (C27
optional), C16, and C17 in this section. If the MAX5033‑5 is used, do not
populate IC9 or C27.

DIY Open EVSE 4.23 Isolated power section schematic

The isolated +15/-15 DC-DC converter is a Murata 1 watt MEV1D1215SC

in a SIP 7 package with 3kVDC galvanic isolation. This supplies power
for the DG419CJ switch IC2 and the +12/-12 volt linear regulators
IC3/IC8. The outputs of the +15/-15 isolated supply are ltered using
the manufacturer recommended LC lter of 47 uH (L1, L2) and 1 uF (C6,
C7) and also include a minimum load resistor of 3.74K ohms (R3, R4).
The +12/-12 regulators IC3/IC8 supply stable power to the Pilot switch
IC2 and are 78L12Z positive and 79L12 negative linear regulators, both
in a TO92 package.

DIY Open EVSE 4.23 ATMEGA 328‑P Processor section schematic

The microprocessor is a Microchip (Atmel) 8‑bit AVR RISC-based

microcontroller with 32KB ISP ash memory, 1024B EEPROM, and 2KB
SRAM. It features 23 general purpose I/O lines, internal and external
interrupts, serial programmable USART, a byte-oriented 2‑wire serial
interface, SPI serial port, and a 6‑channel 10-bit A/D converter. The
board uses the 28 pin DIP package of the IC. All pins on the IC are used
with the exception of ADC3 which is connected to the optional SPI
interface header pin SPI.
Analog circuit voltages for AMP_READ, PP_READ, and PilotVoltage are
read by the 10-bit ADC on ADC0 thru 2. The GFC (Ground Fault Circuit) is
sensed on INT0, and GFCI_TEST on AIN1 supplies current for the GFC
test circuit. DC and AC relays are controlled by outputs AIN1, ICP, and
OC1A. The 4 pin display header labeled LCD using an I2C interface has
Ground, 5VDC, and microprocessor SCL, SDA connections. Output OC1B
supplies the 1,000 Hz PWM signal to IC2 pin 6 for Pilot signal control.

DIY Open EVSE 4.23 Pilot signal communications section schematic

The Pilot circuit is used to coordinate charging level between the car
and the charger as well as other information. The pilot signal generated
by the EVSE is a 1 kHz square wave at ±12 volts and is used to detect
the presence of the vehicle, communicate the maximum allowable
charging current, and control charging.
The Pilot circuit is comprised of a Maxim DG419CJ+ (IC2), TVS protec-
tion device, limiting resistor R1 1K ohm 1%, voltage divider and biasing
resistors R5, R6, R7, and decoupling capacitors. The DG419CJ+ is
a monolithic analog single pole/double-throw (SPDT) switch with one
normally closed switch and one normally open switch. Switching times
are less than 175ns max for tON and less than 145ns max for tOFF. The
divider and bias resistor circuit scales the Pilot signal to 0–5 volts and
is read by the microprocessor ADC1 input.

DIY Open EVSE 4.23 Ground Fault Circuit section schematic

Safety Checks:
The GFC (Ground Fault Circuit) is comprised of a LM358 op-amp IC4, an
external current sense coil, burden resistor R17, and additional resistors
capacitors, and diodes to make a peak detector and comparator circuit.
The output GFCI_INT is connected to microprocessor pin INT0 and goes
high when a Ground Fault is detected. Resistor R24 connects to pin 3 of
the GFCI connector and limits the current supplied by microprocessor
pin AIN0(PD6), it is used for testing the Ground Fault circuit. GFCI con-
nector pin 3 connects externally with a multi-turn (5 turns) coil
wrapped around the current sense coil that returns to ground.

DIY Open EVSE 4.23 L1/L2 Relay Sense section schematic

The L1/L2 sense circuit is used to determine the presence of AC volt-

ages on the relay output terminals. It is comprised of two (IC5, IC6)
MID400 optically isolated AC line-to-logic interface devices for moni-
toring ON or OFF status of an AC input. Resistors R12, R13 are for input
current limiting and keep the MID400 in saturated mode when voltage
is present. The rmware in the microprocessor performs a safety
check on startup by closing the relay/relays and determines whether
120 or 240 volt power is being supplied to the EVSE using the L1/L2
sense circuit, and then opens the relay for a stuck relay check and veri-
es no voltage present.

DIY Open EVSE 4.23 DC Relays Output section schematic

DIY Open EVSE 4.23 AC SSR Output section schematic

The Relay Output circuits include 2 transistor driven DC 12 volt outputs

and 1 solid state relay driven AC output circuit. DC_RLY1 is controlled by
microprocessor output AIN1(PD7), and DC_RLY2 by output ICP(PB0). The
microprocessor outputs, each drive a 2N2222A transistor thru a 330
ohm current limiting resistor. Both DC circuits include a 1N4148 diode
for reverse EMF protection from the relay coil and typically are capable
of 500 mA loads.
The AC output is controlled by microprocessor pin OC1A(PB1) thru 330
ohm resistor R8. Depending on the SSR part number installed, the 8 pin
dip version will typically support up to 600 VAC and 0.6 to 1.2 amp
loads. It is recommended to install a surge absorption circuit (Snubber
circuit) at the AC relay coil, based on the manufactures
recommendation.

DIY Open EVSE 4.23 Current sense section schematic

DIY Open EVSE 4.23 PP_Read section schematic

Auxiliary circuits include a current sensor circuit and Proximity pilot

(PP) circuit.
The current sensor uses an external current transformer (CR8450-1K-
T7QC) rated at 100 amps. Resistor R27 is the burden resistor that con-
verts the current from the CT to a voltage supplied to the microproces-
sor analog input ADC0(PC0). Resistors R25, R26 and capacitor C28 form
a voltage divider to provide 2.5 volts DC to bias the positive and nega-
tive AC signal from the CT, to a positive range that the ADC can
measure.
The PP_READ circuit is for detecting proximity pilot (plug present), and
connects to the microprocessor pin ADC2(PC2).

Sample DIY Open EVSE 4.2X Single Relay connection diagramBOM for
version 4.2 several small changes between 4.2 and 4.23 include the AC
relay, current input, PP_READ, L1/L2 sense, 2nd DC relay output, and
GFCI test.

Eagle CAD les for DIY Open EVSE 4.23

OSH-Park DIY Open EVSE 4.23 Project page.

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79 Replies to “DIY Open EVSE V4.23”

Yoav Levy
M AY 2 8 , 2 0 1 7 A T 1 2 : 0 7 P M

Hi,

I’m about to start build your 4.23 board.

can you please giv some pros and cons of your version vs the openEvse one

Thank You

Reply

Barbouri
M AY 2 8 , 2 0 1 7 A T 5 : 2 6 P M

Hi,
The commercial version basically requires no soldering, while the DIY OpenEVSE
requires lots of thru hole soldering.
Commercial version is mostly comprised of SMD parts, while the DIY OpenEVSE
uses all thru-hole soldered parts.

Greg (Barbouri)

Reply

Martii
S E P T E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 1 8 AT 5 : 0 8 P M

Hi Greg, great project — did you consider similar thing but with 1206 size
SMD components? Would be still easy to solder — the board would be little
smaller I suppose. Do you know KiCad? I might make such PCB one day but
would need some guidance by more advanced PCB designer 🙂

Reply

Yoav Levy
M AY 2 9 , 2 0 1 7 A T 6 : 1 4 A M

Apparently I did not explain myself clearly.

There are differences in circuit design, for example you use a 12 volt supplier and
apply two conversion options to 5 volts.
There are also differences in the pilot circuit.
Can you please explain the reason for the difference from the commercial
version?

Reply

Szilárd
J U LY 4 , 2 0 1 7 AT 1 : 2 3 P M

Hi,

I’m planning on getting my rst electric car next year.

I’m searching for a portable EVSE at reasonable cost, mostly to charge the car
away from home, from industrial or caravan sockets, if a charging station is far.
The commercial ones are shamelessly expensive. I used to tinker with electron-
ics and I have friends who are in the business, so I want to try building one.

Could your design be used with a 3‑phase, 240/400V, 32A source (Europe)?

How can I get the MCU rmware?

Very nice PCB, at least in the photos.

Thank you.

Reply

Barbouri
J U LY 5 , 2 0 1 7 AT 1 0 : 0 7 P M

Hi Szilárd,
The circuit board would need to be modi ed to work with 3‑phase power.
One extra input in the voltage monitoring section and upgrade to support 400V.
Firmware is available from: GitHub Open-EVSE
Greg (Barbouri)

Reply

Yoav Levy
O C T O B E R 1 0 , 2 0 1 7 AT 6 : 5 8 A M

My Second 4.23 build so rst of all Thank you Greg -)

If my unit is L1 240v with one relay, do i have to implement all relay and AC_Test
circuits?
I may use this time AC_Relay, so can i skeep the 12V relay circuit?

Reply

Barbouri
O C T O B E R 1 0 , 2 0 1 7 AT 6 : 4 2 P M

Technically 240 VAC is L2. You should only need the relay and test circuits for the
mode you are using, as long as the unit cannot accidentally be used in an unsup-
ported mode.
I have always used a DPST relay and all required test circuits to support both
modes of operation.

Greg (Barbouri)

Reply

Frank
M A R C H 2 3 , 2 0 1 8 AT 6 : 5 2 A M

where’s the ground layer in the layout? Is this a 4 layer or 2 layer?

Reply

Barbouri
M A R C H 2 3 , 2 0 1 8 AT 1 1 : 0 6 P M

It is a 2 layer board of 3.34 x 2.55 inches (84.9 x 64.8 mm).

Ground layer is on both top and bottom layers, except for the high voltage AC
section.

Greg (Barbouri)

Reply

huw watkins
A P R I L 1 , 2 0 1 8 AT 3 : 4 6 P M

Apologies if I’ve missed something but is there a way to manually set the charg-
ing current?

Reply

Barbouri
A P R I L 1 , 2 0 1 8 AT 7 : 2 2 P M

Maximum charging current is set thru the software using the LCD display and
push-button.
Software GitHub/lincomatic/Open EVSE
Menu basics OpenEVSE Support LCD Menu

Reply

Robb
M AY 5 , 2 0 1 8 A T 3 : 1 2 P M

I recently bought a Rolec branded evse that seems to be powered by a knock off
openevse board. Its labelled as Rolec ver 1.2 from 2013 and is built into 2 halves
to t into a DIN style enclosure with 12 connections on each side. But it has many
of the same chips as the openevse 4.0 type hardware. I would like to see if the
rmware is based on openevse and hopefully upgrade it to include newer fea-
tures like a display and wi . I found the github repo but is the of cial board not
open source any more? It seems like development has slowed or stopped. How
can i connect up to the serial interface and see if this board is running a version of
openevse and which one? I can send pics if that would help.

Reply

Barbouri
M AY 5 , 2 0 1 8 A T 5 : 2 4 P M

Hi Robb,
From a quick look at the Rolec board, it doesn’t look like it has the I2C display or
serial port broken out on the board.
You could reverse engineer the board and add the connections along with modi-
fying the rmware, but it would most likely be easier to just purchase an
“OpenEVSE v4 — Universal EVSE Controller” board to upgrade your existing
system.
Another option is to build one of the open source DIY OpenEVSE V4.23 boards.

Greg (Barbouri)

Reply

Yoav Levy
J U N E 2 7 , 2 0 1 8 AT 1 2 : 0 4 P M

Hi,
Can a Polymer Capacitors (KEMET A758EK336M1EAAE040) replace the Vishay
tantalum for c16?

Thank you!
Yoav

Reply

Barbouri
J U N E 2 7 , 2 0 1 8 AT 2 : 5 7 P M

Hi Yoav,
Yes, that capacitor should work. Or you could also go with a PLF1A470MDL4 47µF
10V Aluminum Polymer capacitor, that has an even lower ESR of 25 mOhm.
I would recommend after design changes to the power supply, testing the circuit
before populating the rest of the board with a simulated load.

Greg (Barbouri)

Reply

Yoav Levy
J U LY 8 , 2 0 1 8 AT 7 : 2 3 A M

Hi,
The new evse state is always EV Connected , could it be the do to 4.8 rmware?

Reply

Barbouri
J U LY 8 , 2 0 1 8 AT 9 : 4 5 A M

It is possible that it could be due to changes in the 4.8 rmware, but then it would
loose all backward compatibility with all the existing systems.
I would try an older rmware to see if the problem still exists, and if it does then
its most likely a hardware problem.

Greg (Barbouri)

Reply

Yoav Levy
J U LY 1 1 , 2 0 1 8 AT 6 : 3 6 A M

I wanted to update that version 4.8 works ne, the problem was one of the
resistors — I used the wrong value …

I think you should add a description for AC relay wiring, I would be happy to
send a photo as an example.

Reply

Matija
A U G U S T 6 , 2 0 1 8 AT 1 2 : 3 3 P M

Hello!
How do I wire a Type 1 plug with a switch on the latch? I measured the resistance,
open latch = 480 ohm, closed latch = 150 ohm. The plug is not yet crimped, I just
wanted to make sure before crimping. I was planning crimping one of the wires
going from the latch switch to PE pin, and the other wire ging from the switch to
PP pin. Do I need to connect the PP pin to the PP slot on the EVSE too? Sorry fom
my broken english.

Reply

Yoav Levy
S E P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 8 AT 1 : 1 0 P M

Hello,

After a year of use, R12 is completely burned ):

Any idea what could cause this?
The part i use: https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/vishay-bc-
components/MRS25000C2802FRP00/PPC28.0KZCT-ND/594989

https://photos.app.goo.gl/xs2HoXWwC1BvQWcu6

Thank You,
Yoav

Reply

Barbouri
S E P T E M B E R 1 8 , 2 0 1 8 AT 1 1 : 5 8 A M

Hi,
The only thing I can think that would cause that type of failure would be a fault on
the primary side of the voltage detector IC‑5.
I noticed that you are only using one voltage detector IC. I am assuming that you
are using it in L1 charging mode at 120 VAC?
The resistor is rated at 350 volts and 0.6 watts, so it should withstand continu-
ous use at 120 volts.

Greg (Barbouri)

Reply

Yoav Levy
S E P T E M B E R 1 8 , 2 0 1 8 AT 1 : 3 8 P M

It is single phase 220 VAC, Tha unit manually set to L2.

Reply

Barbouri
S E P T E M B E R 1 8 , 2 0 1 8 AT 4 : 1 3 P M

Hi Yoav,
That’s why the resistor failed. I am surprised it lasted a year.
The sense circuit is designed for a split-phase 240 VAC supply which
supplies 120 VAC from each phase to ground and 240 VAC across
phases.
Each voltage sense IC (MID400) only sees a potential of 120 VAC to
ground. With 220 VAC across a single IC the resistor was dissipating
1.7 watts.
A good starting point for a replacement resistor would be a ROX1SJ56K
56K ohm 1 watt mounted above the circuit board for additional air ow.

Greg (Barbouri)

Reply

Yoav Levy
S E P T E M B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 8 AT 2 : 5 8 A M

Thanks Greg,
I think to take the opportunity and add 1N4004 recti er diode to
the circuit.
Maybe soldering the side of the cathode to one side of the resis-
tor and then to the board.

Steve
O C T O B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 8 AT 6 : 4 0 A M

Greg -
I noticed in your diy openevse v4.2 schematic that the display / rtc board breaks
out 4 pushbuttons (one select, three options) — but these do not appear in v4.23
schematics.
Is there any support in the openevse v4 (or v5) rmware for discrete pushbutton
inputs to enable/disable the charger and select current levels, so that I could use
external relay contact closures to control the charger?
Thx -

Reply

Barbouri
O C T O B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 8 AT 9 : 2 3 A M

Hi Steve,
The pushbuttons are part of the OpenEVSE Display V 4.2 board and are included
in its schematics.
The rmware as far as I know only supports the select button. I have broken out
the additional I/O pins for those who are interested in modifying the existing
rmware.
The optional pins can be either programmed as inputs or outputs, depending on
the need.
https://oshpark.com/shared_projects/J6RW88kf
Display42 EagleCAD les

Greg (Barbouri)

Reply

Yoav Levy
O C T O B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 8 AT 1 0 : 4 6 A M

Hello,
I want to make some space for AC / DC converter (RECOM RAC04-12SGB) on
the PCB.
Since I use only AC_RLY DC_RLY circuits will not be populated.
Another idea I have is to switch to ATMEGA328P-AU-ND. The problem is that I do
not have enough experience and I’m not sure which AVR crystal and SMD capaci-
tors are appropriate.

If all goes well in the next version I will try and switch to MEA1D0515SC for the +/-
15V and 5V power supply

Thanks
Yoav

Reply

Marco Rondon
N OV E M B E R 2 7 , 2 0 1 8 AT 9 : 0 1 A M

Hi,

Where can I nd the commercial version ? Is it Open to change ?

Best regards,
Marco

Reply

Barbouri
N OV E M B E R 2 7 , 2 0 1 8 AT 5 : 0 5 P M

Hi Marco,
Here is a link to the Open EVSE commercial website.
https://www.openevse.com

Greg (Barbouri)

Reply

Emce
F E B R U A RY 4 , 2 0 1 9 AT 1 0 : 3 0 A M

So if I wanted to use different CT coil can I calibrate it by changing just R27 value?
I got some inexpensive 100A/20mA coils from China as exact same ones used
here are hardly available in my area.

Reply

Barbouri
F E B R U A RY 4 , 2 0 1 9 AT 7 : 0 8 P M

Hi Emce,
Here is a link to a great page explaining how to calculate the Burden voltage
resistor R27.
OpenEnergyMonitor CT’s

Greg (Barbouri)

Reply

Emce
F E B R U A RY 6 , 2 0 1 9 AT 1 : 5 2 A M

I live in Europe and we have 240V everywhere so L1/L2 charging to be honest

doesn’t exist and auto-detection is waste of resources — can I get rid of MID400
completely (so far I see it would be only needed for ground self test — maybe just
1 of them is enough?)

I also don’t use AC coils based relays so I understand that AQH213 and it’s resistor
are not needed for board to run just ne?

Reply

Barbouri
F E B R U A RY 6 , 2 0 1 9 AT 9 : 5 6 A M

Hi Emce,
The MID400 voltage detectors are part of the safety circuit, and also can be used
for L1/L2 detection.
Their main safety purpose is for stuck relay detection. Both sensors are required
for normal 240V operation.
The AQH213 is optional and was only added to support the current rmware at
the time.

Greg (Barbouri)

Reply

Emce
F E B R U A RY 6 , 2 0 1 9 AT 1 : 4 0 P M

Hi Greg,

I’m not 100% sure but I think openevse 5.x works with just one MID400. Do
you have any plans for THT version of OpenEvse 5.x?

Regards

Reply

Barbouri
F E B R U A RY 6 , 2 0 1 9 AT 2 : 1 4 P M

Hi Emce,
If you do decide to go with the single MID400 circuit, see the comments
from “Yoav Levy” above and how to implement.
I do not currently have any plans for future versions of the DIY
OpenEVSE board.

Greg (Barbouri)

Reply

Emce
F E B R U A RY 2 5 , 2 0 1 9 AT 8 : 1 4 A M

Can I replace R3 and R4 with something else? BOM le says they’re 2.8k — eagle
le 3.74k — both hard to get here as THT.

Reply

Barbouri
F E B R U A RY 2 5 , 2 0 1 9 AT 5 : 2 9 P M

Hi Emce,
You should be able to use 3.6K ohm resistors which are E24 Standard Resistor
Series 5% type.
If those are not available you could try a 3.3K ohm 10% E12 series.
These are the minimum load resistors for the Murata 1 watt MEV1D1215SC isolat-
ed power supply.

Greg (Barbouri)

Reply

Emce
M A R C H 6 , 2 0 1 9 AT 9 : 0 2 A M

Is something wrong with my board because I’m always getting diode check
error? Even when connected to the car or EVSE simulator.

Reply

Barbouri
M A R C H 6 , 2 0 1 9 AT 9 : 4 8 P M

Hi Emce,
The rst thing I would check is the ground connections inside the EVSE unit.
Does it start charging with the “Diode Check” setting disabled?

Greg (Barbouri)

Reply

Emce
M A R C H 7 , 2 0 1 9 AT 1 2 : 2 0 A M

Hi Greg,

Yes it works just ne with this test disabled.

Reply

Emce
M A R C H 6 , 2 0 2 0 AT 5 : 5 8 A M

So it charged with diode check setting disabled but recently I got Tesla to
charge and it didn’t. So I removed board from my charger and here’s what I
see. R1 i 999Ohm (1%) . With 12V connected on DG419 I see: PIN1 12V, PIN2
‑12.2 PIN3 0, PIN4 15.2V PIN5 5V, PIN6 5V, PIN7 ‑15.2V, PIN8 12.1V. When I
connect car on PIN1 I see 0.7V but I would expect to see some negative val-
ues (my original openevse shows ‑2V). During this time I see 0.26V on PIN6
and 1kHz signal so PWM works as expected. I have also checked pilot moni-
tor resistors and R7 is 199k, R6 99.4k, R5 55.2k — any idea what to
check next?

Reply

Emce
M A R C H 6 , 2 0 2 0 AT 6 : 4 2 A M

Ok issue found — it’s P6KE diode — mine was not bidirectional

Reply

Emce
M A R C H 7 , 2 0 1 9 AT 1 : 0 7 A M

Also I did connect everything as on your previous post picture (about history of
evse versions). Ground seems to be ok as ground test doesn’t complain at all and
it was when ground was not connected.

Reply

Roman
A U G U S T 8 , 2 0 1 9 AT 1 2 : 2 0 A M

Hi Barbouri. I can’t understand how do you measure Input AC voltage? As I under-

stand your software calculates Watts and Wh. I can see the current transformer,
but anything for the voltage. As I understand from the MID400 documentation, it
can only detect AC presence, but not amplitude.

Reply

Barbouri
A U G U S T 8 , 2 0 1 9 AT 9 : 0 1 A M

Hi Roman,
The system guesses at the voltage depending on whether it is charging on L1 or
L2 and uses a voltage constant set in rmware.
It would be possible to recompile the rmware for a different voltage constant.
There have been several users of the commercial version of the openevse who
have modi ed their systems to read AC voltage.
Here is a link to one of the better documented modi cations to a commercial
V4 board:
V4 voltage input modi cation

A3 is brought out to a pin next to the display connector on the DIY 4.23 and later
boards.

Greg (Barbouri)

Reply

Roman
A U G U S T 1 4 , 2 0 1 9 AT 9 : 2 2 A M

Thank you, Greg!

Reply

Daniel
J A N U A RY 1 6 , 2 0 2 0 AT 9 : 1 0 A M

Hello,

Very nice work, but I’ve got a question.

You are reading the “Pilot Voltage” with an ADC input, but it is uctuating all the
time (just if the EV is connected) because you’ve got the PWM signal. So, how can
you discriminate the status of the car?

Thank you!

Reply

Marcin
F E B R U A RY 6 , 2 0 2 0 AT 5 : 0 9 A M

I’m nding problems on getting P6KE16A — can I replace it with something else?

Reply

Barbouri
F E B R U A RY 6 , 2 0 2 0 AT 1 0 : 0 6 A M

Hi Marcin,
The P6KE16CA is a 13.6 volt 600 watt bidirectional TVS Diode.
It can be replaced with any equivalent or higher wattage rated TVS diode such as
the 1.5KE16A-E3.
The P6KE16CA is currently in stock at https://pl.mouser.com/

Greg (Barbouri)

Reply

Vasu Goel
J U LY 2 5 , 2 0 2 0 AT 4 : 1 0 A M

Hi Greg,
This is a very nicely explained project.
I wanted to know whether you’ve experienced a slow processing time with the
atmega328 controller?
For me the relay actuation, LCD state changes etc are taking more time than usu-
al (approx 5s) after the code execution.
I’ve uploaded the default rmware from
https://github.com/OpenEVSE/open_evse/releases

Thanks and Regards

Vasu

Reply

Barbouri
J U LY 2 5 , 2 0 2 0 AT 1 0 : 5 8 A M

Hi Vasu,
Relay and display state changes happen almost instantly with the ATmega328P.
I have tested using version 4.6.0 of the rmware, but haven’t tested using the
newer versions.

Greg (Barbouri)

Reply

Vasu
J U LY 2 6 , 2 0 2 0 AT 5 : 5 6 A M

Thanks Greg for a prompt reply!

I just tried with the older version — 4.6.0 and the problem still exists.
I’m using the USBasp to ash, can this also be a hardware issue?
Is there a troubleshooting method I should follow ?

Reply

Barbouri
J U LY 2 6 , 2 0 2 0 AT 1 0 : 0 7 A M

Hi Vasu,
Very well could be a hardware issue.
Since everything is working, but slow, a clock / frequency issue. Try a
new ATmega328P.
Possible improper fuse settings for the ATmega328P.
lfuse:0xFF hfuse:0xDF efuse:0x05

Greg (Barbouri)

Reply

Vasu Goel
J U LY 2 7 , 2 0 2 0 AT 2 : 1 3 A M

Thanks Greg, that worked.

Default fuse settings were the culprit

Reply

Vasu
A U G U S T 1 5 , 2 0 2 0 AT 8 : 4 1 A M

Hi Greg,
I’ve used your PCB design for level2 charger and I’ve tested the PCB for general
safety checks and control loop. So far, everything is working as expected. Now
I’m planning to test the charger on an EV with 32A.
Is there something else I should be careful about, any resistor network which is
crucial and can burnout?

Reply

Barbouri
A U G U S T 1 5 , 2 0 2 0 AT 8 : 5 8 P M

Hi Vasu,
I usually use some test resistors and diode on the pilot line to make sure it goes
into the right modes.
My only other suggestion, would be to start out on a lower setting, such as 12
amps for a few minutes, then disconnect everything and check the temperature
on all the high current connections before ramping up the power.

Greg (Barbouri)

Reply

Vasu
S E P T E M B E R 1 1 , 2 0 2 0 AT 5 : 5 4 A M

Hello Greg,
Today I tested the charger on an electric vehicle. I had set the current at 6A for
safe charging.
For initial 2–3 seconds the car status changed to charging, then I got an error on
LCD stating ‘service required- overcurrent 102A’ and the relay tripped. I was sur-
prised to see a bizarre current of 102A as the Max load was only 7.5KW at 220–
240V.
Any suggestions for troubleshooting this?

Reply

Barbouri
S E P T E M B E R 1 1 , 2 0 2 0 AT 8 : 2 7 A M

Hi Vasu,
Check the minimum charge current for the vehicle you are charging. Some have
a 10–16 amp minimum charge level.
Next, I would check the current sensor on the DIY Open EVSE. There should only
be one wire passing thru the sensor.

Greg (Barbouri)

Reply

Vasu
S E P T E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 2 0 AT 4 : 5 9 A M

Yes there’s only one ‘Main wire’ passing through the CT coil.
The bizarre current sensing could also be because of incorrect resistor values of
A_CT on the PCB schematic. In the schematic R27 is 28ohms, in my PCB its prob-
ably a 10K ohm resistor value which looks like a fabrication fault.
Could be a logical culprit?

Reply

Barbouri
S E P T E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 2 0 AT 8 : 5 4 A M

Hi Vasu,
R27 is the current transformer burden load resistor. The DIY Open EVSE is
designed to use a current output Current Transformer sensor.
The burden resistor converts the CT into a proportional voltage that the micro-
processor ADC can measure.
A 10K resistor in R27 could allow hundreds of volts at the microprocessor ADC pin.
Link to more information on CT’s and burden resistors. Open Energy Monitor CT’s

Greg (Barbouri)

Reply

Vasu
O C T O B E R 1 , 2 0 2 0 AT 2 : 4 0 A M

Hi Greg,
Thank you for your reply, the direction surely helped my charger. The issue was in
the burden resistor R27 have used a 30ohm resistor
I performed another test for one hour on Mahindra E‑Verito which has a rated
charging capacity of 2.2KWh.
The EVSE after one hour showed 3.2KW at 14A even after setting the current
at 11A.
Is there a calibration setting which I can further tweak to minimize the difference
in output reading?
Have also read some google posts which says burden resistor should be 22ohms,
is this logical?

Reply

Barbouri
O C T O B E R 1 , 2 0 2 0 AT 9 : 3 5 A M

Hi Vasu,
The burden resistor is directly related to the current transformer used and the
desired range.
Here is a link to a burden resistor calculator: open-energy-monitor-calculator
System voltage is 5 volts.

Greg (Barbouri)

Reply

Vasu
O C T O B E R 2 7 , 2 0 2 0 AT 1 2 : 3 6 A M

Hello Greg, hope you’re well!

My design looks complete. Although, I’m struggling a bit with understanding the
LCD code in the rmware. Do I strictly need to use Adafruit RGB 16x2 LCD that
you’ve mentioned in the BOM. As it was unavailable, I tried using a regular 16X2
LCD with Blue Backlight with the same source-code and it didn’t work for me.

Thanks

Reply

Barbouri
O C T O B E R 2 8 , 2 0 2 0 AT 1 1 : 5 4 A M

Hi Vasu,
The standard rmware is setup to use a 16x2 RGB LCD display with a HD44780
controller. The interface uses I2C communications from the main board and con-
verts the I2C to the LCD HD44780 parallel interface on the display board.
If you are not getting any characters on the display even without the backlight
check that the SCL and the SDA signals are not reversed.

Greg (Barbouri)

Reply

Akash
D E C E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 2 0 AT 1 0 : 4 4 P M

Hii Greg,

Hope you are doing well. This is an insightful open source PCB design for AC
chargers .Have you also applied your own design for a DC charger ? It will be help-
ful for me if you can share some insight on that.

Reply

Barbouri
D E C E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 2 0 AT 1 1 : 0 2 P M

Hi Akash,
I have only worked with AC chargers.
I know the working theory of DC chargers, but haven’t had the need to build one
for myself.

Greg (Barbouri)

Reply

Akash
J A N U A RY 2 3 , 2 0 2 1 AT 3 : 0 3 A M

Hii Greg,

Hope you are doing well.I was planning to use an AC contactor whose coil voltage
is 110 and 230VAC. Which RLY terminal(DCRLY1/2 or ACRLY1) should i use in this
existing circuit

Reply

Barbouri
J A N U A RY 2 3 , 2 0 2 1 AT 1 1 : 0 4 A M

Hi Akash,
You should use the AC_RLY terminal for AC coils.
If you are using a 230 VAC coil I would also recommend Panasonic part number
AQH3213 for the solid state relay IC.
Also recommended to install a surge absorption circuit (Snubber circuit) at the
AC relay coil, based on the relay manufactures recommendation.

Greg (Barbouri)

Reply

Akash
J A N U A RY 2 7 , 2 0 2 1 AT 1 : 1 4 A M

Hii Greg

Thanks for the prompt reply.

My AC contactor is not working .Now I am planning to use a Fotek SSR( Solid State
Relay) 40A Rated. But i have read online that SSR have heating issues at high
switching cycle and load for which heat sink is required . In my case , SSR will
work at 32A (I‑Max) for around 12 hours a day . Will this be suitable for my case?

Reply

Barbouri
J A N U A RY 2 7 , 2 0 2 1 AT 1 0 : 2 2 A M

Hi Akash,
SSR’s are not recommended for use in an EVSE.

Reply

Gergo
M A R C H 3 1 , 2 0 2 1 AT 5 : 4 9 A M

Hi Greg,

I am seeing in you are using an isolated +-15V and then convert it it to +-12V via
78L12 regulators. The mentioned parts are not easy to nd in our Contry, thats
why I have to nd some replacements.
I have found a +-12V ACDC supply: RAC10-12DK/277 (https://docs.rs-
online.com/2f24/0900766b8161b79a.pdf)
Is there any drawback to use this one directly for the control signals? Why is this
15V -> 12V conversation needed?

Thank you!
Gergo

Reply

Barbouri
M A R C H 3 1 , 2 0 2 1 AT 8 : 3 3 A M

Hi Gergo,
The DG419 (IC2) needs a +/- 15 volt supply to support the +/- 12 volt pilot signal.
Instead of having a separate +/- 12 volt supply the pilot supply voltage is regulat-
ed down from the existing +/- 15 V supply.
The RAC10-12DK/277 supply will not work in this circuit, without an additional +/-
15 volt supply.

There are several simpler EVSE designs that do not require a +/- 15 volt module.

Greg (Barbouri)

Reply

George
M AY 2 , 2 0 2 2 A T 1 : 0 3 A M

Hi,
I’m planning to build this PTH version of the OpenEVSE, the commercial version is
still out of stock.
Have a question about the FW: what is the latest of cial FW which is compatible
with this HW version? My plan is to hook it up to an ESP WiFi module and inte-
grate it into smarthome (Home Assistant).
Any advice is welcome.

Reply

Barbouri
M AY 2 , 2 0 2 2 A T 1 0 : 4 0 A M

Hi George,
I have tested my Version 4.2 DIY Open EVSE hardware board with rmware ver-
sion 4.6.0, along with Open EVSE Wi-Fi version 2.9.0 running on a ESP8266.
I haven’t checked out the newer versions, as the rmware currently in use
works great.

Greg (Barbouri)

Reply

George
M AY 3 , 2 0 2 2 A T 8 : 5 0 A M

Hi Greg,
Thank you for the quick reply. Now it is quite straightforward to build and set
up this charger.
Before I go any further, I’ve checked the availability of the components. I
can’t seem to nd the Murata MEV1D1215SC DC-to-DC converter at any sup-
plier. Is there any substitution for this which is available?

George

Reply

Barbouri
M AY 3 , 2 0 2 2 A T 1 2 : 4 6 P M

It looks like the MEAN WELL MDD01M-15 Isolated Module DC DC

Converter 2 Output 15V ‑15V — 34mA, 34mA 10.8V — 13.2V Input
Digikey #1866–3372-ND
would work as a replacement. It is in stock currently at Digikey.
There is currently a shortage issue with many DC-DC converters as you
might have noticed.
If you are unable to get parts, I do have several prototype version 4.2
assembled boards sitting around.

Greg (Barbouri)

Reply

Alex
A U G U S T 2 5 , 2 0 2 3 AT 1 : 3 7 P M

Hi greg , I hope my comment nd you well. I’m trying to build an evse like yours
but with some adjustments. the project will be very simillar with following modi -
cation: Board should be powered by two different voltages (mono phase and
three phase). The case of the charger will have two inlet ports (C21 for 240v — it
is supporting 16A but i will draw max. 10A) and (industrial one 60A with 5 pins, car
will use 32A). I will also use an four pole contactor with a 240v coil . This is in theo-
ry on the paper, but i need your advice. 1 What do you think about my ideea ? 2.
How do you think i should manage voltage reading, safety test, intensity and
power consumtion from hardware point of view ? Thank you in advance .

Reply

Barbouri
A U G U S T 2 7 , 2 0 2 3 AT 2 : 0 2 P M

Hi Alex,
Unfortunately the existing board is only designed to accommodate single or
split-phase power inputs. The board will need to be modi ed for monitoring three
separate power legs for safety.
The existing board only has two voltage monitoring inputs. So for three phase
another monitor circuit will need to be added, or an external monitor module tied
to one of the spare inputs.

Greg (Barbouri)

Reply

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