Chevy Volt Gen1 Charger

[bobbyj_408]

Hi All,

I cant seem to find much info on using the Chevy Volt Gen1 charger (P/N 22799689). I haven't purchased it just yet, but I figured it should be fine right? I could probably get one for about $300. Should I get it or try a different charger? Of course, trying to be as budget friendly as possible.

Any links to usage documentation would be great.

[Jack Bauer]

https://leafdriveblog.wordpress.com/201 ... a-charger/

[arber333]

Hi All,

I cant seem to find much info on using the Chevy Volt Gen1 charger (P/N 22799689). I haven't purchased it just yet, but I figured it should be fine right? I could probably get one for about $300. Should I get it or try a different charger? Of course, trying to be as budget friendly as possible.

Any links to usage documentation would be great.

As linked. I consider $300 for a gen1 charger a bargain. Usually they go for more than $500! CAN bus control is a little annoying since you need to send two telegrams at different speeds. Colin made short work of that. Go through code on my site and comment out what you dont need.

I must mention there is further development of the DUE code for Outlander charger, but it is really just an extention. You might want to see CAN bus DUE shield and code here:
https://leafdriveblog.wordpress.com/202 ... l-part-ii/
https://github.com/arber333/Arduino-Due-CAN-shield

[bobbyj_408]

https://leafdriveblog.wordpress.com/201 ... a-charger/

Thank you!

[bobbyj_408]

As linked. I consider $300 for a gen1 charger a bargain. Usually they go for more than $500! CAN bus control is a little annoying since you need to send two telegrams ad different speeds. Nut Colin made short work of that. Go through code on my site and comment out what you dont need.

I must mention there is further development of the DUE code for Outlander charger, but it is really just an extention. You might want to see CAN bus DUE shield and code here:
https://leafdriveblog.wordpress.com/202 ... l-part-ii/
https://github.com/arber333/Arduino-Due-CAN-shield

Oh wow thank you! I'm definitely looking at this. Great, I'll get the charger

Also, this is such a newbie question, but how to I bench test this? What do I connect the charger to to charge the battery? Also... How do I connect this to the battery? Do I need a separate relay system? How do I control that? Schematics would be a dream.

[arber333]

Oh wow thank you! I'm definitely looking at this. Great, I'll get the charger

Also, this is such a newbie question, but how to I bench test this? What do I connect the charger to to charge the battery? Also... How do I connect this to the battery? Do I need a separate relay system? How do I control that? Schematics would be a dream.

Heh, check schematic on my site, at least for LV. Also there is a file somewhere here from EVTV. For HV connection you can see schematic on the Chevy Volt Opel Ampera service manual". It is a large file but worth to download if you have components from it...

Found it...

[bobbyj_408]

Heh, check schematic on my site, at least for LV. Also there is a file somewhere here from EVTV. For HV connection you can see schematic on the Chevy Volt Opel Ampera service manual". It is a large file but worth to download if you have components from it...

Found it...

Thank you!

Sorry... I cant find the schematics on your site. Do you mind linking them?

Also, thanks for the documents. Looks like one is on the CAN signals to communicate with the charger (nice). The second document is the manual from EVTV, also nice. Hmmmm, the manual mentions that I would conned the 1772 to the charger, which makes sense. Does that mean I need a EVSE to bench test? Do I need an EVSE to charge my batteries while I'm still building things up? In an ideal world, I would connect the charger to a standard wall outlet. Is this possible? Live in US by the way.

[Boxster EV]

Whilst the charger will require CAN signals to enable, you don't need to worry about EVSE for testing. You can connect and charge with a standard 13amp supply.

[arber333]

Sorry... I cant find the schematics on your site. Do you mind linking them?

Look at the hand drawn schematic on how to connect 12V to overcome interlock in the charger. Be aware however you can cause damage in chaerger if you connect it to HV while 12v is active.
So connect inert charger to HV first, then connect the AC lines and only then attach LV connector.

[bobbyj_408]

Whilst the charger will require CAN signals to enable, you don't need to worry about EVSE for testing. You can connect and charge with a standard 13amp supply.

Really!? Nice!

Ok just so that we are on the same page, exactly what am I connecting to the supply? Am I connecting the charger to the supply? Am I connecting the batteries directly to the supply? Also, by supply, do you mean a standard bench DC supply? What kind of voltage do I need?

[bobbyj_408]

Sorry... I cant find the schematics on your site. Do you mind linking them?

Look at the hand drawn schematic on how to connect 12V to overcome interlock in the charger. Be aware however you can cause damage in chaerger if you connect it to HV while 12v is active.
So connect inert charger to HV first, then connect the AC lines and only then attach LV connector.

Got it. Thanks on the tips! Wow, I could easily see how I could have messed that up.

On another note, I am planning on going the SimpBMS route to interface with the OEM slave BMS modules. I noticed that you have used a SimpBMS set up, and I know this is a starter question, but what is the SimpBMS doing? Looks like it reads in the cell voltages, temps, but what else aside from that? do you interface that with the charger? If one cell is out of balance, what happens with the BMS?

[arber333]

SimpBMS is really clever BMS interface. Its function is that of original BECM and SOC display, but can be adapted to other functions to. Original BMS still takes care of the cells simpBMS is how to integrate that for diy...

[bobbyj_408]

SimpBMS is really clever BMS interface. Its function is that of original BECM and SOC display, but can be adapted to other functions to. You would need to modify the code though.

Nice. I like the SOC display .

Now, when you say that it functions as the original BECM, what does that mean?

Definitely dont mind modifying the code. Have you modified it to fit your needs? What have you done?

[Boxster EV]

Whilst the charger will require CAN signals to enable, you don't need to worry about EVSE for testing. You can connect and charge with a standard 13amp supply.

Really!? Nice!

Ok just so that we are on the same page, exactly what am I connecting to the supply? Am I connecting the charger to the supply? Am I connecting the batteries directly to the supply? Also, by supply, do you mean a standard bench DC supply? What kind of voltage do I need?

You might want to watch a few of Damien's videos on the Panzer and Red Arrow project to get your head around things. Also study the EVTV document and the links that Arber posted. It's dangerous stuff so take your time.

[bobbyj_408]

You might want to watch a few of Damien's videos on the Panzer and Red Arrow project to get your head around things. Also study the EVTV document and the links that Arber posted. It's dangerous stuff so take your time.

Fair enough, I'll get to studying. I'm sure I'll be back with questions

[bobbyj_408]

You might want to watch a few of Damien's videos on the Panzer and Red Arrow project to get your head around things. Also study the EVTV document and the links that Arber posted. It's dangerous stuff so take your time.

I think I am starting to piece some of this together. As far the balancing goes, the slave boards on the Volt batteries have the hardware to do the balancing, while the SimpBMS does the coordinating of which cells need to be balanced. A CAN command is then sent from SimpBMS to the slaves so they know what to do.

Ok, still haven't quite figured out how to supply the charger to do bench testing without an EVSE. The documentation from EVTV mentioned that it can run with single phase 110v... where does that some from....

[Boxster EV]

You might want to watch a few of Damien's videos on the Panzer and Red Arrow project to get your head around things. Also study the EVTV document and the links that Arber posted. It's dangerous stuff so take your time.

I think I am starting to piece some of this together. As far the balancing goes, the slave boards on the Volt batteries have the hardware to do the balancing, while the SimpBMS does the coordinating of which cells need to be balanced. A CAN command is then sent from SimpBMS to the slaves so they know what to do.

Ok, still haven't quite figured out how to supply the charger to do bench testing without an EVSE. The documentation from EVTV mentioned that it can run with single phase 110v... where does that some from....

The answers are all in the EVTV document. I'm mindful about advising you and things going bad.

If you have any doubt about what you're doing I suggest asking a professional electrician for support.

[Jack Bauer]

Folks does anyone know if the ampera charger returns charge voltage and current via can?

[tom91]

From: http://forums.evtv.me/post/chevrolet-vo ... 1292541185
I have not managed to verify the info.

Based on what I am seeing it seems to me that the message 0x212 contains both the HV (~360v) rail and also the LV (~12v) rail current/voltage information. Seems Lear just used rather odd bit/byte packing, anyway here are my best guesses:

HV Current: first 13 bits (divide by 20 for Amps)
HV Voltage: next 10 bits (divide by 2 for Volts)
LV Current: next 8 bits (divide by 5 for Amps)
LV Voltage: next 8 bits (divide by 10 for Volts)

0x30A seems it could be related to the AC input:
AC Current: first 12 bits (divide by 5 perhaps?)
AC Voltage: next 8 bits (multiply by 2 seems logical)

So the scaling I am basically just guessing on based on what seems logical to me. Anyone happen to have a Chevy Volt around the greater Portland, Oregon area and want to put an volt/amp meter inline to do some testing to get real values? Perhaps I need to get a test setup and do my own testing... Once validated that this info seems to be correct on real hardware I would be more than willing to help organize and document this.

[Jack Bauer]

Brilliant. Thanks Tom.

[Jack Bauer]

Figured I'd share this in case it helps anyone.
https://github.com/damienmaguire/AmperaCharger
Simple program to run on a due (sam3x8e) that controls an Ampera charger over a serial menu.
Confirmed working on my bench setup.

[tom91]

Figured I'd share this in case it helps anyone.
https://github.com/damienmaguire/AmperaCharger
Simple program to run on a due (sam3x8e) that controls an Ampera charger over a serial menu.
Confirmed working on my bench setup.

Good work there.
Have you confirmed the Canbus decoding actually yields realistic values?

[Jack Bauer]

Yep tested with my bench charger.

[bobbyj_408]

So I purchased the Chevy Volt charger, but now I need the Delphi connectors. The 2 pin connector seems to be Delphi / APTIV P/N 33107347 , but I cant find info on the 3 pin connector. Any help there?

[Boxster EV]

I tried to find the three pin last year but everywhere I looked they were NLA.

If you get a two pin one you could adapt it to fit, as the outer parts are the same. Think I might have a couple in the garage.