"Trickle" charged my FFE while traveling.

I often have to fly out of the Detroit airport for work. It's a little over 60 miles from my house. They have 8 charging spots in one parking garage for the north terminal and 6 charging spots in the south terminal garage. Unfortunately these spots are usually ICE'd or filled with plug in hybrids (usually Volts). At least you have 10 minutes to leave the garage without a charge so you can see if the spots are taken and then go to the other garage. I noticed a 120V outlet by nearly every stairwell. I went out and bough a new 12GA extension cord since I didn't trust my harborfreight cheapies to carry continuous current. I also had removed the useless foam underhood decoration since I didn't see it serving any purpose other than looks. This frees up underhood space for my EVSE and extension cord. When I backed in I turned the wheels all the way to the right. This makes it easy to fish the J1772 plug from the EVSE and the extension cord out the wheel well while keeping your EVSE safely secured under the hood. I wrapped the cords around the brackets for the foam piece so someone couldn't just yank them out from under the hood. I set the charge rate on my EVSE to 8 amps since I didn't know what else was using the circuit I was plugging into. It took about 20 hours but it charged up way before I flew home. This is the first time I charged on 120V. I really don't understand why they don't just have a bunch of L1 charge stations at airports since you're usually gone days so who cares how long it takes to charge.

triangles said:

I set the charge rate on my EVSE to 8 amps since.

Click to expand...

How do set the rate on standard EVSE that comes with the car?

adnan1980 said:

How do set the rate on standard EVSE that comes with the car?

Click to expand...

You can't. There are very few EVSE's that allow you to set the charge rate (the Juicebox being one of them).

triangles said:

I also had removed the useless foam underhood decoration since I didn't see it serving any purpose other than looks. This frees up underhood space for my EVSE and extension cord. When I backed in I turned the wheels all the way to the right. This makes it easy to fish the J1772 plug from the EVSE and the extension cord out the wheel well while keeping your EVSE safely secured under the hood.

Click to expand...

The Ford unit, and likely most any "portable" unit, will fit under the hood without removing the foam piece.

Also, you could just drape the cables out of the front (over the "grill") and close the hood, no need to fish them through a wheel well. The weather stripping along the front of the hood is thick and forgiving enough that the cables are not pinched.

It is probably a good idea to wrap the cables once or twice around something solid under the hood, as mentioned.

And, whenever charging in public, you may want to disable the charge ring lighting to avoid attracting unwanted attention.

adnan1980 said:

How do set the rate on standard EVSE that comes with the car?

Click to expand...

As said above you can't. I built a Juice Box which has the ability to set the current limit. I like that it's portable and can run off 120V or 240V. I wouldn't recommend one since they didn't do a very good job with RF noise. Although I admit I deviated from their standard design a bit which probably is the cause of my woes. I discovered thru months of trial an error that the wires for the LCD screen act like an RF antenna and crash the arduino processor when the contactor engages to check voltage during power up. I shielded these wires and added a ground wire to the shield. It works much better now but still has problems powering up every now and then. If I unhook the LCD screen it works 100% every time but then I have no control over the current setting.

WattsUp said:

Also, you could just drape the cables out of the front (over the "grill") and close the hood, no need to fish them through a wheel well. The weather stripping along the front of the hood is thick and forgiving enough that the cables are not pinched.

It is probably a good idea to wrap the cables once or twice around something solid under the hood, as mentioned.

And, whenever charging in public, you may want to disable the charge ring lighting to avoid attracting unwanted attention.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately the J1772 cable on my JB is too fat to fit thru the closed hood (its rated for 32A at 240V). Otherwise it would be very simple to fish out the hood as you suggest. I may try using the ford EVSE next time for simplicity and seeing if the circuit I plug into can handle a 12A load. I'll just go a little early and sit there for a while to see if it trips a breaker.

I totally agree about disabling the charge ring.

triangles said:

I discovered thru months of trial an error that the wires for the LCD screen act like an RF antenna and crash the arduino processor when the contactor engages to check voltage during power up. I shielded these wires and added a ground wire to the shield. It works much better now but still has problems powering up every now and then. If I unhook the LCD screen it works 100% every time but then I have no control over the current setting.

Click to expand...

I've had my Juicebox plugged in and running for well over a year now and never have had the display crash when the contactors close on plugin (or on plug removal for that matter). Granted my Juicebox was assembled by them, and placed in the case by them as well--yeah I got one with the "AA Battery" shaped cases.

I haven't taken it apart to see what kind of, if any, shielding is in there.

(yeah I've got a bit of a EVSE collection there LOL).

triangles said:

WattsUp said:

Also, you could just drape the cables out of the front (over the "grill") and close the hood, no need to fish them through a wheel well. The weather stripping along the front of the hood is thick and forgiving enough that the cables are not pinched.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately the J1772 cable on my JB is too fat to fit thru the closed hood (its rated for 32A at 240V). Otherwise it would be very simple to fish out the hood as you suggest.

Click to expand...

I see.

Well, fwiw, you can easily adjust the gap height at the front of the hood by turning the round, black rubber "pads" counter-clockwise (located just above the grill on the body frame inside the hood). They are mounted on screw posts for easy adjustment.

I didn't have to make any adjustment to fit the cord from the OEM unit or my ClipperCreek LCS-25 through the hood gap on my FFE, but perhaps the gap was already large enough. Perhaps yours is "dailed down" to be very narrow and could stand to be adjusted a bit?

triangles said:

really don't understand why they don't just have a bunch of L1 charge stations at airports since you're usually gone days so who cares how long it takes to charge.

Click to expand...

The people making the decisions on charging stations are generally clueless about charging needs. The lot I contract with for work has 3 L2 spots which are always filled. 90% of their clientele are people commuting in for work and are parked there for 8-9 hours at a stretch. They could have put in a dozen L1 chargers for the same price as the L2's which would take car of nearly everyone's charging needs. Instead people pull in and charge for an hour and sit there for the other 7-8 hours blocking access.

If you have a chance to give input to someone thing of putting in charging stations try to encourage them to install a mix of L1 and L2 charger. More L1 if people are there for many hours more L2 if they are a destination where people are there for only an hour or so. Also stress that the EV not be put up front in prime parking areas. This encourages then to be ICEd or people with EV's who otherwise don't need the charge but want to parking convenience from grabbing them up (the 3 spots at work are very prime (lower level of an 8 story ramp) and filled with Volts 2/3's of the time).

MNEV said:

The people making the decisions on charging stations are generally clueless about charging needs. The lot I contract with for work has 3 L2 spots which are always filled. 90% of their clientele are people commuting in for work and are parked there for 8-9 hours at a stretch. They could have put in a dozen L1 chargers for the same price as the L2's which would take car of nearly everyone's charging needs. Instead people pull in and charge for an hour and sit there for the other 7-8 hours blocking access.

Click to expand...

A workplace by me put in Chargepoint stations: They are free to charge but once your car is done charging it charges you $3/hour to park there while not charging--pretty effective to get people to move when they are done.

That is awesome. I am not sure how practical it would be to enforce. ChargePoint track the plug in but not charging time or is it the facility checking up?

jmueller065 said:

A workplace by me put in Chargepoint stations: They are free to charge but once your car is done charging it charges you $3/hour to park there while not charging--pretty effective to get people to move when they are done.

Click to expand...

As long as there is a reasonable post-charge grace period, love it!

Even better if the over-stay fees are eventually used install more stations and/or pay for the "free" power.

jmueller065 said:

I've had my Juicebox plugged in and running for well over a year now and never have had the display crash when the contactors close on plugin (or on plug removal for that matter). Granted my Juicebox was assembled by them, and placed in the case by them as well--yeah I got one with the "AA Battery" shaped cases.

I haven't taken it apart to see what kind of, if any, shielding is in there.

Click to expand...

while we have the exact same circuit boards, the LCD is soldered directly to the circuit board on yours so there are no wires to the LCD to act as an antenna. Also it is on the other side of the circuit board from where I connect my wires. I suppose its possible I have a defective LCD but I doubt it.

jmueller065 said:

triangles said:

I discovered thru months of trial an error that the wires for the LCD screen act like an RF antenna and crash the arduino processor when the contactor engages to check voltage during power up. I shielded these wires and added a ground wire to the shield. It works much better now but still has problems powering up every now and then. If I unhook the LCD screen it works 100% every time but then I have no control over the current setting.

Click to expand...

I've had my Juicebox plugged in and running for well over a year now and never have had the display crash when the contactors close on plugin (or on plug removal for that matter). Granted my Juicebox was assembled by them, and placed in the case by them as well--yeah I got one with the "AA Battery" shaped cases.

I haven't taken it apart to see what kind of, if any, shielding is in there.

(yeah I've got a bit of a EVSE collection there LOL).

Click to expand...

I don't see the model Juicebox that you have on their website.

Would be nice to be able to adjust the charging amps.

I can do that with my RC Helicopter charger.

Tom French said:

I don't see the model JuiceBox that you have on their website.

Click to expand...

Its the Juicebox Premium:
http://emotorwerks.com/index.php/enewsso/blog/85-emotorwerks-products/133-emotorwerks-juicebox?showall=&start=1