Chevy Volt Gen1 Charger

[arber333]

am I crazy or is the schematic mislabeled, and what is being called Proximity (pin 5) should actually be called Control?

EVSE Schematic.jpg

No Pin 4 is CP (Control Pilot), Pin 5 is PP (Proximity Pilot) and Pin 3 is PE (Earth).

[Gregski]

am I crazy or is the schematic mislabeled, and what is being called Proximity (pin 5) should actually be called Control?

EVSE Schematic.jpg

No Pin 4 is CP (Control Pilot), Pin 5 is PP (Proximity Pilot) and Pin 3 is PE (Earth).

oh sorry, I guess i got the pins mixed up with the "positions" in the connector table further up on that Wiki page (that can be very confusing)

[Gregski]

so I am successfully charging the truck using a first gen Chevy Volt charger and Damien's free Arduino sketch off of GitHub, however, I am unable to save the setpoint configuration to the EEPROM on the Arduino Due I am using



Wire.begin();
EEPROM.read(0, parameters);
if (parameters.version != EEPROM_VERSION)
{
parameters.version = EEPROM_VERSION;
parameters.Vol=0;
parameters.Cur=0;
parameters.Term=0;
EEPROM.write(0, parameters);
}







case 'z':
EEPROM.write(0, parameters);
SerialDEBUG.println("Parameters stored to EEPROM");
break;

[Gregski]

[arber333]

lessons learned DUE.jpg

Well you could still direct your due code to those basic values you want without eeprom. But true... in the spring i managed to design a due board which didnt allow me to connect USB port...DUH! No eeprom would help as i couldnt select the values.

Didnt that can board come with eeprom chip pinout? I allways assumed so.

So do i send you one of my due boards? I think i still have one functional. I must apologise i forgot last time we discussed this...

[Gregski]

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.

yes two and a half years later The Greg has grabbed the code and is using it to charge his BMW 530e battery pack, the code appears to yield WiFi output, I assume to one of them red cards, but I don't see the code to load on the red card to receive it, being a dumb @ss when I load the charger code on my Lexus GS450h VCU ver 2 and go to the red cards web page 192.168.4.1 I get the Lexus GS450h virtual gauges (well as expected) but that's not what I want


/*
*
* Routine to send data to wifi on serial 2
The information will be provided over serial to the esp8266 at 19200 baud 8n1 in the form :
vxxx,ixxx,pxxx,mxxxx,nxxxx,oxxx,rxxx,qxxx* where :

v=pack voltage (0-700Volts)
i=current (0-1000Amps)
p=power (0-300kw)
m=half pack voltage (0-500volts)
n=Amp Hours (0-300Ah)
o=KiloWatt Hours (0-150kWh)
r=HV Box Temp (0-100C)
q=third pack Volts (0-500Volts)
*=end of string
xxx=three digit integer for each parameter eg p100 = 100kw.
updates will be every 1000ms approx.

v100,i200,p35,m3000,n4000,o20,r100,q50*
*/

[smaresca]

Question for anyone who has dug deep into the Chevy Volt Gen1 chargers. Some of the docs available here refer to master and slave modes -- has anyone gotten that mode working? I have two of these, driven using Lilygo T-CAN485 boards. Rather than driving them totally independently, I would really like to get them set up as master-slave to double the output power overall.

relevant quote from Lear_Charger_Documentation_10_23_2014.pdf:
"To configure a charger as a master, pin F (M/S1) is connected to +12V and pin G (M/S2) is connected to ground. To configure a charger as a Slave, pin F (M/S1) is connected to ground and pin G (M/S2) is connected to +12V. "

Steve

[Gregski]

not sure if I should have started a new thread for this issue, if you think so I will, but here it goes

had a 1st gen Chevy Volt charger in my truck with the BMW PHEV 530e 9 kWh battery 6 module pack for over a year running the Legacy Lexus GS450h VCU controller and Damien's GitHub code and VEVOR Level 1+2 Portable EV Charger, 16 Amp 120V or 240V and a Active Vehicle Control Module AVC2 to charge, and things worked great during that time

recently replaced the 9 kWh battery pack with two 12 kWh packs for a total of 12 modules, I swapped the 9 kWh sBox with one of the two 12 kWh sBoxes, and now it won't start charging. I made no changes to the code.

Charging with my OEM Hyundai Ironic 5 120 volt charge cord does work, maybe that's a clue


[I will build up/add to this post more links, details, and pics if that helps]

[P.S.Mangelsdorf]

Are you sure the AVC2 is working? I've had one flake on me before.

[Gregski]

Are you sure the AVC2 is working? I've had one flake on me before.

thanks for trying to help, yes it is, it is charging with the Hyundai 120 volts charger cord, but you just gave me an idea I will plug my 240 volt Vevor into my 120 volt outlet as it is a combo unit and see what happens


this is the OEM Hyundai charge cord

[P.S.Mangelsdorf]

thanks for trying to help, yes it is, it is charging with the Hyundai 120 volts charger cord,

Ok yeah I'm a dumbass and didn't read that part of your post.

I have a vague recollection that the Volt charger uses only part of itself for 120V, and then everything for 240V. I could be wrong on that. But if so, that might point to some sort of internal error.

Is the voltage significantly different between your old and new packs? I'm not up to speed on the BMW packs.

[tom91]

Charging with my OEM Hyundai Ironic 5 120 volt charge cord does work, maybe that's a clue

Please clarify the following:

1. AVC2 turns on the 120Vac Hyundai granny lead?
2. AVC2 does not turn on your new 120/240Vac charge lead?

If both are true the issue clearly is between the charge lead and the EVC2. Possibly wiring, resistor or expected Proximity line status ect.

You only changed one variable between the 120Vac Hyundai lead working and the other lead not working.

[Gregski]

Please clarify the following:

1. AVC2 turns on the 120Vac Hyundai granny lead?
2. AVC2 does not turn on your new 120/240Vac charge lead?

If both are true the issue clearly is between the charge lead and the EVC2. Possibly wiring, resistor or expected Proximity line status ect.

You only changed one variable between the 120Vac Hyundai lead working and the other lead not working.

1. AVC2 turns on the 120Vac Hyundai granny lead?
- Yes and it charges fine

2. AVC2 does not turn on your new 120/240Vac charge lead?
- Yes but then it seems to drop, rather strange behaviour like it tries then it quits, but it does that only once, once I reconnect and try to repeat it has no effect any longer

I apologize for not providing more detail it is a weird behavior, I thought loose wires but that can't be as the Hyundai charge cord works consistently, also the green PROX light on the AVC2 lights up with both cords

[tom91]

- Yes but then it seems to drop, rather strange behaviour like it tries then it quits, but it does that only once, once I reconnect and try to repeat it has no effect any longer

Try this with nothing on the Vehicle AC side, does the charge cord remain on? Best to break the systems down in to chunks.

The AVC2 is the only thing that can turn on the Charge Lead, it can only turn it off if you:
1. Remove 12V
2. Press the button on the handle

The Charge lead has many things it can sense that can have it turn off. So by disconnection of AC on vehicle side it should not try to turn off, unless the AVC2 does something.

[Gregski]

since I was tripping over this OEM Chevy Volt Level 1 (aka 120 volts) charger cord on my garage floor I thought I would give it a try, and it works fine

[Gregski]

ok, we may have our first hint as to what is going on, I must admit I got a new phone (old one was lost/stolen) and I have not installed the Smart Life app for my Vevor charge cord thingie on the new phone because I really did not have to in order to charge my Hyundai Ioniq 5 with it, but I figured lets install the app and see what we can see, and I am glad I did because the app shows a: Level 1 overcurrent alarm warning something that I never got before while charging a single 9 kWh BMW PHEV battery pack, but now I see with two 12 kWh BMW PHEV battery packs joined in parallel at the pack level

it appears the lowest amps I can step this charger down to is 8

smart_life_app.png (17.39 KiB) Viewed 589 times

[tom91]

You must have changed something to allow it to draw more amps or not setup the lead to be allowed to provide enough amps. Parallel batteries would not change the power limit of the charger.

Are you not actively monitoring the Control Pilot current limit and adjusting the charger power based on that?

[Gregski]

You must have changed something to allow it to draw more amps or not setup the lead to be allowed to provide enough amps. Parallel batteries would not change the power limit of the charger.

Are you not actively monitoring the Control Pilot current limit and adjusting the charger power based on that?

thanks Tom, so I got the Level 1 VEVOR charging working, here is the full disclosure and my Chevy Volt charger settings

[tom91]

What current limit is your Vevor lead set to?

You need to check what it shows on the AC current draw before tripping out the granny lead.