[HandyAndy]

Not sure what the steady "1." means? Wrong resistance scale selected? Poor contact? Needs a retry. Fluctuations between 650 & 800 sounds like your paperclips need a bit of a polish up!

Ok, here's the details of the Type-1 gun. You should see 150 Ohms on it's own, 480 Ohms when you pull the trigger. Your meter will register a few more ohms than this, allow up to 10 Ohms for the cable + paperclips, if they're anything lik ehte ones I use.
If the LEDs are lighting up, that's a good sign, I think. If they do whatever flickering pattern they're meant to, even better, means the cpu's actuall working to some extent.

 

[Claymore]

There's definitely something wrong here Andy, may between my ears.

, I'm getting 850 with the trigger untouched and still 1. with the trigger activated, now with solid micro screwdrivers in the gun terminals. I've tried two identical oldish multimeters with the same result so ordered anew auto ranging one for tomorrow.
Testing this one on the max 20m setting sees 0 ohms then used 20k as the one below is for diodes or the like, I understand.

 

[mikegs]

then used 20k as the one below is for diodes or the like, I understand.

No, use the 2k range. It just happens to also be the one for testing diodes.

 

[barneyd]

That's swoping the original Rolec TAT for the latest rubbish from the same brand🙄

That's not my experience. I've had a Rolec unit at home for almost 6 years (an old one with blue switch) and it's given me no trouble. We have around 10 Rolecs in the car park at work and if I had to choose between those or the Chargemaster ones we also have, it would be Rolec every time. In 4 years of using the Rolec ones at work, I think I've reset one of them once. The Chargemaster ones are out of use about 25% of the time and have been known to fail with the cable trapped.

I would acknowledge that Rolec's customer service is crap.

Not saying there aren't better choices that either of those though.

 

[Claymore]

For the sake of completeness.....having got my new multimeter and honed the Heath Robinson method of getting into the gun's terminals finally got a reliable reading namely 275 with the trigger untouched....and the same reading when the trigger is depressed. The microswitch can be heard operating when the trigger has been depressed a bit so it must be either the microswitch itself or a broken wire in the cable.
I had a very useful conversation with Andy of Plugitin Group in Keighley in Yorkshire who after listening to my description of the unit's behaviour said he was pretty sure it was the controller that had failed.
So, to add to my replacement RCBO I've now ordered a replacement 10 metre tethered lead which I want anyway plus a new Rolec controller (yes, I know, but I want to retain the led display on the front and have no desire to start trying to reprogram it).
New lead will be fitted first and if the unit then works I'll keep the new controller until the old one fails.

 

[Claymore]

Just when you thought it was safe to back in the water!

New cable and controller arrived this morning. Cable wiring neatly labelled, apart from the obvious three, CP and PP.

Take cover off EVSE unit (now experienced in this at least and with new method to avoid the six screws throwing themselves down the cracks in the block paved path - unscrew each but leave it in situ but cover the hole with a piece of masking tape - brilliant eh!?).

Now take pictures of where all the wires go, ah yes CP goes into the CP connector on the Controller. But where does PP go? No terminals marked PP so I'll follow the wire out of the charge lead and see where it goes.

Guess what? No PP lead coming out of the charge lead. None! Might explain the issue with getting resistance readings but admitting that I'm ignorant of these matters I can't stop wondering how it worked at all.

Forgetting that for the moment, if you can, where does the PP lead actually terminate inside the EVSE box? Even the new controller doesn't have an input named PP.

I've looked at Andy's upgrade posts again but couldn't see where the wires in there went.

EDIT: Found the answer in (1) Rolec charge controller pinout | Speak EV - Electric Car Forums - tethered cables only use the CP wire.

 

[Claymore]

Having solved the issue of the spare signal wire I joyfully go back out to fit the new cable. Apart from the fact that I realise I don't have any of those crimp type connectors I nevertheless start to disconnect the old cable from the Contactor only to find this - absolutely impossible to get a screwdriver on that screw and all attempts to force it back into alignment have failed.

Needless to say, the hapless installers have failed to make any response to my message of nearly a week ago regarding their aeriated EVSE installation, but now this!

And they say that these things should be installed by professionals🤣

It's enough to drive you to drink! Now it appears that I'll either have to buy a new Contactor or find a way to attach the charging cable by other means - dare I ask what forum members views might be on cutting the wires currently attached to the contactor and using one of these to connect the new cable - rated at 32 amps - In Line Spring Lever Connectors 3 Pole 32A (toolstation.com) ? Doesn't appear to be any available for wire cores greater than 4 mm.

 

[HandyAndy]

Those contactor screws must come undone surely, just a case of getting the correct diameter screwdriver with the correct posidriv/whatever head on it?
Those 32A spring connectors may be fine, but the fewer connections you have, the better.

Hm, that closeup just above, is the blue insulation melting gently into the copper strands? And is the T3 screw blackened from heat?

 

[Claymore]

Hi Andy, if you zoom in on T3 you'll see that the head of the screw has 'rolled' upwards so far that it can barely be seen. It's that that makes it look very dark but in the flesh it doesn't look as if there has been high temperature. The melting look I thought looked more like application of some sort of resin but thinking about it now in view of the fact that so much bare wire is showing maybe the wire was slipping out of its wire end ferrule when it was being inserted. I tried just pulling it out but it wouldn't budge.
It's a mess!

 

[HandyAndy]

I think you need one of these. 2 Pole, NO from reputable mfr!
Garo GK32 ACDC Contactor 32 Amp 2 Normally Open NO 230v AC 220v DC for DIN Rail Mounting Modular 1 Module: Amazon.co.uk: Business, Industry & Science

 

[Claymore]

Thanks again Andy, I'll look at that once I figure where the earth wires go ( I thought the green thing beside the contactor was part of the contactor but it clearly isn't)
Otherwise I was going to get this 32amp 3pole Contactor (ACSE0060) - EV OneStop

Right now, however, I need a drink!

 

[HandyAndy]

While the Rolec Contactor in my EVSE stll works, it does buzz away happily & noisily. Tbh I'd rather not buy items with Rolec brand name on, just as a general principle. The price tag on the one you posted looks awfully cheap to me!

Earth wires simply go straight through, if fed from House E (original wiring 5 years ago system). Else the car E should connect to an Earth Rod, unless you have PEN-loss device, in which case the House E goes through a separate 1-pole Contactor, then to the car. E deffo not going through the Contactor you're having probs with.

If your car always charges in gge & that's inside the house, you're allowed to skip the PEN-loss & Earth Rod stuff, and just use House E. That's my understanding anyway, always check with qualified sparky.

 

[Claymore]

Ordered the Garo.
Apart from the box everything's changed.
Just like Trigger's brush!

 

[HandyAndy]

...Apart from the box everything's changed.
Just like Trigger's brush!

... and when you start snapping pillars inside the Rolec, and start thinking about a new box (!), you'll find my repair kit for sale on that well-known auction website! We can keep these things going forever...

If you can post a pic with the Garo Contactor in, that will be useful! Hope the leads to the coil from the ECU will reach ok...

 

[Claymore]

Garo Contactor thrown through letterbox by postie this morning having taken 5 days in snail mail from County Antrim.

I'm sure it'll be fine except as usual I have another stupid question. The 32 amp cables in and out should be straightforward but on the Rolec contactor the ECU wires connect on the top with their polarity matching the 32 amp wires whereas the Garo has one connection for the controller on the top (A1) and one on the base (A2). Does it matter which polarity from the ECU goes where? I've searched the net and found nothing, as usual.

 

[Claymore]

Found this answer on an electricians' forum from 2011 but confident that some things don't change;

A1 Energising live
A2 Neutral (from supply side)
1 Permanent Live
3 Supply Neutral
2 Switch Live
4 Load Neutral

 

[Claymore]

... and when you start snapping pillars inside the Rolec, and start thinking about a new box (!), you'll find my repair kit for sale on that well-known auction website! We can keep these things going forever...

If you can post a pic with the Garo Contactor in, that will be useful! Hope the leads to the coil from the ECU will reach ok...

The penny has just dropped as to why you wanted a picture of the installed Garo🤣

 

[HandyAndy]

If A1 and A2 don't reach properly, why not install this upside down to swap them over?

Also, I'd have expected the coil to be totally isolated from the rest of the wiring; why on earth (geddit?) does it need to be A1=Live & A2=Neutral? All it's doing is passing a tiny current that cycles back & forth & creates a magnetic field. Personally I'd put a meter on all the terminals and check to see if it's totally isolated. If it is, then there's no reason I can see stopping you reversing the connections to A1 & A2.

Maybe it's just a convention so a sparky wiring up a shed-load of these hings regularly sees a nice, recognisable pattern and doesn't have to waste time thinking about it, as it becomes automatic?

 

[Claymore]

Apologies for the delay, had to wait for the rain to stop.

Anyway, this morning I once again removed the cover without damaging anything other than Andy's sales () and in order to remove the old charge lead first undid the screw retaining the neutral wire but that wouldn't come out either so I cut both wires and removed the contactor, to discover;

1. Neither the live nor the neutral cable were retained by the screw in brackets, they had both merely been pushed into the terminals beside the tightening screw! Absolutely disgraceful piece of work!
As previously mentioned the neutral terminal retaining screw / bracket had been destroyed during or prior to the original installation.

2. There had indeed been overheating and possibly burning at the neutral terminal - you're observation was correct Andy!

So using my new cable end thingies and patent crimping tool I installed the Garo contactor and wired as per my message above (I hadn't seen Andy's further message on the subject), no problem with wires reaching, then attached the new 10 metre charge cable.

Before changing any more components I thought I'd plug in to the car and see what happened.

Guess what - it worked normally!

So now I have a spare ECU and RCBO - despite all the warnings I put the old one back as it was showing no sign of trouble and I'm becoming so adept at this now I can change the RCBO in about 10 minutes when the old one fails or on the occasion of changing the charge lead to a type 2 when I change to all electric, taking more power than the Outlander.

Hole in case now sealed with a nifty rubber plug.

Decided to now order Andy's repair kit to have to hand to ensure endless life for my hybrid box, will find the link tomorrow.