BMW i3 CCS/charge port controller

[oval-e]

The mystery of the Circontrol station stopping at 80% has been solved. Of course It wasn't anything that I thought it was.

congratulations on your success. may we ask what the reason was?

[bitterandreal]

@muehlpower & Jack Bauer
How far is the voltage sense board?
Are you willing to sell one for testing? Or could we get the design files?

[Jack Bauer]

muehlpower designed the board so its up to him if he wants to sell them. If not I'll consider designing something.

[muehlpower]

@muehlpower & Jack Bauer
How far is the voltage sense board?
Are you willing to sell one for testing? Or could we get the design files?

i still have three prototypes that i would sell for € 50 apiece. I would also be happy to receive a feedback to hear if it works properly. The circuit diagram can be found on my tread.

[evMacGyver]

i still have three prototypes that i would sell for € 50 apiece. I would also be happy to receive a feedback to hear if it works properly. The circuit diagram can be found on my tread.

I would like to purchase one of your prototype board for testing. I'll try to learn how to send you a private message.

[Jack Bauer]

Road trip! Went on a 160 mile jaunt today to collect some parts. 3 CCS stops.

1)Circontrol. No problems got full 125A available.
2)Efacec. No charge constantly failing around state 1/2. Modded the state machine so state 0 is "standby" for 2 seconds. Problem solved. Full power.
3)Efacec. As above. Worked fine with mod to state 0.

Not bad for a 22kwh Zoe pack in an E46 touring...

[Bryson]

That’s awesome, took a good while to crack that nut. Any tips on where I should start doing research on programming the virgin LIM?

[CCSknowitall]

2)Efacec. No charge constantly failing around state 1/2. Modded the state machine so state 0 is "standby" for 2 seconds. Problem solved.

Would love to get some SPI/PCAP captures here, just to see what the efacec is unhappy about. Is state 0 normally SLAC? There are a few stations that are borderline out of spec in terms of SLAC setup speed. I'd like to see the captures to make sure your fix doesn't break compatibility with another station or something.

Interesting that you were charging on Efacec fine before. Hm. Hey did you know that there are basically two different versions of software out there running on Efacec stations? Wonder if those stations got recently updated. Normally the fix is for cars that are trying to set up TLS (security) during the handshake, but who knows maybe they tweaked something else too.

Isn't this standard just wonderful?

[bitterandreal]

That’s awesome, took a good while to crack that nut. Any tips on where I should start doing research on programming the virgin LIM?

I hope it works out of the box

[bitterandreal]

@muehlpower & Jack Bauer
How far is the voltage sense board?
Are you willing to sell one for testing? Or could we get the design files?

i still have three prototypes that i would sell for € 50 apiece. I would also be happy to receive a feedback to hear if it works properly. The circuit diagram can be found on my tread.

That’s nice I sent you a PM to arrange payment and shipping.
Could you share the link to you’re tread?
Is the board tested with a working setup?

[muehlpower]

@muehlpower & Jack Bauer
How far is the voltage sense board?
Are you willing to sell one for testing? Or could we get the design files?

i still have three prototypes that i would sell for € 50 apiece.
I would also be happy to receive a feedback to hear if it works properly. The circuit diagram can be found on my tread.

That’s nice I sent you a PM to arrange payment and shipping.
Could you share the link to you’re tread?
Is the board tested with a working setup?

This is the link to the circuit diagram viewtopic.php?p=28143#p28143.
I connected my boards to my LIM (2013/61356805847) and compared the CAN output from the LIM with the applied test voltage (52V-312V.)
I also have a suitable connector set for The LIM for 40 € if anyone is interested!

[Jack Bauer]

So had an interesting ocurrance yesterday. Visited a 50kw ABB triple standard charger which uses the same phoneix contact plug as the others and got the "charging will commence once power is available" nonsense so we can rule out the ionity plug as the culprit for this problem. Seem ABB implement the "standard" a different way.

Edit : and oh yeah trying to pull 50kw from a different vendor's 50kw station resulted in a shutdown with "vehicle problem" reported on the screen. Setting a maximum of 40kw cured my "vehicle problem" and the car charged fine. This despite respecting the limits and flags transmitted by the station.

[bitterandreal]

I'm wiring up a LIM test setup at the moment but I don't have the original contactors from the KLE.
I guess the LIM has an economizer with voltage or current feedback control.
Has anyone tested if the LIM actually cares about the contactor coil current?
The ~840mA @14V is hopefully not constant. Could someone measure the holding current and voltage?
The holding voltage is probably comparable to the bigger GIGAVAC GV200P (contactor for external PWM) which needs 2V - 3.5V.
But the holding current is probably not enough for the ~5 ohms coil of the GV200P which needs 0.3A - 0.6A.
https://www.gigavac.com/sites/default/f ... al-PWM.pdf

The easiest way is probably using a wire wound resistors to simulate the 15 ohm coils and a small relay in parallel to switch the HV contactors with internal economizer.

4B-1 POS_CONT+ (internally connected to 4B-2)
4B-2 NEG_CONT+
4B-3 POS_CONT-
4B-4 NEG_CONT-
Original contactor coil ~15 ohms

[Jack Bauer]

Please use the search function in thread or wiki article : https://openinverter.org/wiki/BMW_I3_Fa ... LIM_Module

[bitterandreal]

Please use the search function in thread or wiki article : https://openinverter.org/wiki/BMW_I3_Fa ... LIM_Module

I wrote a big part of the wiki and followed the thread from the beginning but can't remember anyone mentioning contactor holding current or voltage.
As far as I know you're still using the original contactors to drive your big GIGAVAC contactors...

[muehlpower]

The easiest way is probably using a wire wound resistors to simulate the 15 ohm coils and a small relay in parallel to switch the HV contactors with internal economizer.


Original contactor coil ~15 ohms

that's exactly how i did it. I have small relays in parallel with 15 ohms and use them to switch Gigavac 240 with economizer

[bitterandreal]

The easiest way is probably using a wire wound resistors to simulate the 15 ohm coils and a small relay in parallel to switch the HV contactors with internal economizer.


Original contactor coil ~15 ohms

that's exactly how i did it. I have small relays in parallel with 15 ohms and use them to switch Gigavac 240 with economizer

Thanks! Just got the resistors.

[CCSknowitall]

Edit : and oh yeah trying to pull 50kw from a different vendor's 50kw station resulted in a shutdown with "vehicle problem" reported on the screen. Setting a maximum of 40kw cured my "vehicle problem" and the car charged fine. This despite respecting the limits and flags transmitted by the station.

Can you say what make and model station that is? Normally the EVSE Max Current Limit in the current demand response message will tell you the maximum of what you can request, and it should not cause a fault if you are following it. Assuming what you said to be true would mean that many cars would fault at that station.

I’ve seen these parameters coming from the station change fairly rapidly, but there should be some tolerance between a change in parameter and a drop in request from the vehicle side. There’s a possibility that early in the charge the limits start around 50kW and 125A or what have you, but quickly erode due to a charger problem (like a failing module). Double check your code that you are actually updating your internal variables about the chargers limits.

Is this one you can visit easily to test again with the setup to grab PCAPs?

[mdrobnak]

Uh guys? So ehhh...found out why I only got 8 amps from the Tritium....... My silly prepaid access app thingy needs at least a 20 Euro balance! So as they say in America : I was outta quarters:)

Hah! Sometimes it's the simplest issues.

Looks like this has gotten very far. Many thanks to everyone involved, especially CCSknowitall and davefiddes (and Damien, duh).


Did we determine that both the older and the newer LIMs work at this point? I have a 2015 LIM and am wondering if I need to buy a new one...Or whether to continue working on the Tesla one.

I'll start running the ZombieVerter code though some code quality tools again soon.

-Matt

[Jack Bauer]

I have used both a 2014 and 2017 LIM without issue. Same can etc.

ZombieVerter+code quality tools=/0;

[Jack Bauer]

Station was a Eafacec QC45. Current control is working as if I set a request in excess of the available current it limits to this value. Also I see some stations that roll back the available current as the session progresses and the car respects this limit. In another area I'm 90% sure I'm not starting the handshaking correctly. Given that all ABB stations and a high power (150kw) Delta now tell me "charging will commence once power is available" and then time out. Most seem not to care but these two are obviously using a different standard:)

[jon volk]

Does anyone happen to have a part number for the mating connector of the i3 CCS locking actuator? Im coming up empty other than finding the complete mating harness from an i3.

On a related note, these IP67 RGB LEDs looks like a nice choice with a common cathode and easy mounting.

https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Di ... A2ew%3D%3D

[SuperV8]

Does anyone happen to have a part number for the mating connector of the i3 CCS locking actuator? Im coming up empty other than finding the complete mating harness from an i3.

On a related note, these IP67 RGB LEDs looks like a nice choice with a common cathode and easy mounting.

https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Di ... A2ew%3D%3D

This is the nearest I can see - which might fit with some 'trimming' BUT they are cheap!
BMW 12527549033.
I3 locking door connector

Or this - High-volt. safetyconnector sockethousing?
61139284294

Or this is a 'universal' BMW 4 pin repart kit
61132359994

Or Maybe you can find something similar here:
https://www.te.com/usa-en/plp/automotiv ... &instock=N

[jon volk]

Thanks! Those are good leads and cheap enough that Ill order some for test. Will report back on anything that works.

[EV_Builder]

Does anyone happen to have a part number for the mating connector of the i3 CCS locking actuator? Im coming up empty other than finding the complete mating harness from an i3.

On a related note, these IP67 RGB LEDs looks like a nice choice with a common cathode and easy mounting.

https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Di ... A2ew%3D%3D

Is that a connector on the LIM itself?