Author: BenjaminNelson via YouTube
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Video slideshow working on 3D Printed Vehicle to Home project.
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I used an existing file from Thingiverse and had a friend 3D print it for me.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:121581
This then uses 9MM pins for the main power and some small electronics pins for signals.
I actually tried two different methods for making the main power pins. On one, I used 5/16" copper rod slid INSIDE a 9MM brass tube and soldered in place. That gives me a brass instead of copper surface at the electrical connection surface.
I also tried a solid 9MM copper rod. On that, I electro-plated it with nickel for corrosion resistance. Both seem to insert nicely into the CHAdeMO port on the car. I think the copper with nickel-plating looks nice and it was easier to make than the brass-sheathed pin.
The signal pins were a little tricky, as I needed to solder a 1/16th" electronics pin onto the end of an 1/8" piece of brass rod. The parts are small, and my eyes and hands aren’t what they once were (especially since a vehicular collision a couple years ago!)
I’m just using ANALOG signals to activate the CHAdeMO port. Inside the car, it’s easy to access the 12V relay which sends a signal to the battery pack to port contactors. In series with that, the CHAdeMO DC Fast Charger would send a signal so that both the car AND the charger are sending a signal to close the circuit and send power to the CHAdeMO port. But again, it’s actually an analog signal that does it. By grounding the bottom-most signal pin on the CHAdeMO handle, it completes the circuit on the DCFC side.
For now, I simply made a jumper for the 12V relay connection in the car. Later, I’ll connect that up with a switch. The car needs to be ON to send power to it, so even with the jumper in place, the car key is required and acts as a switch.
A micro-switch in the handle is also wired in series with the car relay and the grounding of the bottom pin of the handle so that pressing the button to unlock the handle from the car deactivates the contactors. Of course, without the handle finished up, closed, and completely electrically sealed, I am NOT putting my hand anywhere near 300VDC+!
For testing, I simply inserted the CHAdeoMO handle with a volt-meter plugged in to it, then turned on power to the car at the key, observed the voltage shown on the meter, and then turned the car back off.
Before any more work on this project, I need some high-voltage gloves, a 500VDC rated fuse, some 600V rated cable, and a few other things to be able to able to work on this safely.
To convert the high voltage DC to usable home AC power, I’m considering using a Delta H6 solar inverter. These are orphaned inverters originally used with Tesla’s first generation PowerWall system, which had a high-voltage battery, similar to that of an electric car.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/233314195391?hash=item36529c17bf:g:loYAAOSwvnBglje9
Music Credit:
"Inspired" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/