Digital charging display mod

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jimbo69ny

Well-known member
Joined
May 18, 2014
Messages
631
Location
Ithaca, NY
Hello Everyone,

I have a really cool mod to show you!

Our cars really should have a charging display that shows how many volts and amps you are charging at and how long you have been charging. I know they tried to cut corners to save money on this car but this was not a hard option to add. It took me about an hour to do and only cost me $13 for a display and a few bucks for wire.

If you want to do this, here is the display I purchased. You could really use any display as long as it allows for 220 volts.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/171306062302?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
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INSTRUCTIONS: (FOLLOW THESE AND PERFORM THIS MOD AT YOUR OWN RISK)
1. Unscrew the 4 - 10 mm bolts holding in the j1772 charging port.
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2. Unscrew the 3 - 10 mm bolts holding the power line cover located inside the driver side rear tire well. (Dont worry there is no power unless you are charging. SO MAKE SURE YOU ARE NOT CHARGING WHILE DOING THIS)
3. Unplug the j1772, remove it from the car, and take it inside.
2F09F5ED-26C9-4E85-8B39-9F78C162967A_zps0dhvkoh5.jpg

4. First remove the white cover then remove the orange clip from the female j1772.
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5. Pull out one of the 2 main orange power wires and slip the current meter ring over it.
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6. Use a sharp, pointed object and jam it through the wire to create a hole for your signal wire.
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7. Cut two lengths of wire that are long enough to place your display where ever you want it. I used 16 ga doorbell wire from Lowes. Its the same stuff I use in my OpenEVSE builds. (I HAVE SINCE PULLED THE WIRE OUT AND USED 500 VOLT WIRE FROM HOME DEPOT. I FORGET THE SIZE, 14 GA I THINK. I NEVER HAD ANY ISSUES BUT I WANTED TO BE SAFE) I put my display where my power point was. Make sure you leave yourself plenty of wire so you dont have to splice it if you find out its too short!!! Tony put his in place of the blinking lights in the window. Its all personal preference.
8. Slide the wire through each of the holes you created then squeeze the wire so you know its making contact. When you are done wrap them with electrical tape and/or heatshrink. Do this on both power wires.
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9. Solder the wire to the coil wires and wrap the connection with 3m electrical tape.
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10. Bring the j1772 back to the car, slide all the wire through the hole, the plugs and then screw the 4 - 10 mm bolts back in.
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11. Connect the connectors, secure the signal wires, and screw the cover back in place.
12. I ran my wires to the left of the battery where there is a convenient chamber that runs to the front of the car. (I SINCE HAVE CHANGED THE PATH OF THE WIRES AND ADDED FLEX LOOM TO PROTECT THEM. I FOUND AN UNUSED CROMMET IN THE DRIVER SIDE REAR CORNER OF THE CAR. I BROUGHT THE WIRES INTO THE AREA WHERE THE GATEWAY IS AND THEN RAN THE WIRES DOWN THE SILL PANEL OF THE VEHICLE)
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13. Once at the front I had to get creative. Its not the best way but it was 30 degrees and at this point I was getting cold. I used a metal rod and slid it in between the panels and taped the wire to the end so I could pull it too the door jam. I wrapped the 4 wires in 3m electrical tape (only use the best) and ran it under the weatherstripping to get it inside the cabin. MAKE SURE YOU RUN THE WIRE AS PARALLEL WITH THE WEATHER STRIPPING AS POSSIBLE. IF YOU RUN IT 90 PERPENDICULAR WITH THE WEATHERSTRIPPING THE SMALL SIGNAL WIRES COULD BREAK! (THIS DIDNT SEEM SAFE TO ME SO THIS IS PART OF THE REASON I RE RAN THE WIRES THROUGH THE GROMMET AND INSIDE OF THE VEHICLE)
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14. Then run the wires wherever you want the display. If you want to put it where I did you will need to remove the sill panel, the lower foot well panel (2 screws) and the panel where the power point is. The power point/stability control panel just pulls out. Give it a good tug and it will pop out. There is a little tab inside of the power point that you need to press with a screw driver in order to remove it. Push it in hard and the silver part will slide out towards you. Then you can push the two tabs and remove the black piece. I need to get some double stick tape to finalize my install. For now though its in there and working.
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I think thats about it. Let me know if you have any questions.

If you want to see more photos go to my photobucket page:
http://s59.photobucket.com/user/jimbo69ny/library/2014%20Toyota%20Rav4%20EV/Charging%20display%20mod

UPDATE:
This display fried so I bought another one which you will see pictures of later. What I discovered was that the current ring is specific to the display that you are using. When I connected my new display it said the car was charging at roughly half the amperage it was actually getting. I swapped out the ring with the one that came with the new display and now its working perfectly.

ENJOY :)
 
Not sure that is really useful for all the work. I know my approx charge voltage and amps and really don't find that info useful. I know if I am on 220/240 and the amp level based on the EVSE. Not sure I get the benefit.
 
rickrides said:
What is the voltage rating of that doorbell wire?

Im actually not sure. Ive used it in about 8 EVSE builds and they have never failed. There really isnt any current going through them so I think its fine. But I should look into that. Thanks UPDATE: I LOOKED INTO IT AND IT WAS RATED AT 32 VOLTS. I WORKED JUST FINE BUT I MOVE MY FAMILY AND MY DOG IN THIS CAR. I WANTED TO MAKE SURE IT WOULD BE SAFE. SO I PULLED THE WIRES AND USED 500 VOLT WIRES FROM HOME DEPOT. I ALSO CHANGED THE ROUTING OF THE WIRING. I FOUND A GROMMET NEXT TO THE GATEWAY COMPUTER. I BROUGHT THE WIRES IN THERE AND THEN RAN THEM INSIDE THE VEHICLE DOWN THE SILL PANEL AND TO THE CENTER CONSOLE.

4EVEREV said:
Not sure that is really useful for all the work. I know my approx charge voltage and amps and really don't find that info useful. I know if I am on 220/240 and the amp level based on the EVSE. Not sure I get the benefit.
I charge at a lot of random locations so I really wanted to be able to see what I was charging at. Many times I am waiting for the charge so I can continue on with a trip. So to me it was important. Many of these times I am sitting inside the car waiting for it to charge. I wanted to be able to glance down and see what it was charging at. Regardless, it wasnt hard at all. Literally only took me an hour and $13.
 
jimbo69ny said:
rickrides said:
What is the voltage rating of that doorbell wire?

Im actually not sure. Ive used it in about 8 EVSE builds and they have never failed. There really isnt any current going through them so I think its fine. But I should look into that. Thanks

You really should use minum 300Volt rated wire.

and you should put in fuses.

You solution is really SCARY dangerous imho.
 
It only has power when charging. Even if I was, god forbid, in an accident there would be no live wires in the car. But yes I will look into the voltage rating of the wire.
 
In addition to fuses, I would use something to protect the wires. Wires will move around and if they rub against anything, it will cut through the insulation. You will never see an automotive wiring harness without an outer protective covering and that is just 12 volts, you are running 240 volts.
 
pchilds said:
In addition to fuses, I would use something to protect the wires. Wires will move around and if they rub against anything, it will cut through the insulation. You will never see an automotive wiring harness without an outer protective covering and that is just 12 volts, you are running 240 volts.
Yes I know. I plan on adding flex loom. I just didnt have any on hand and I wasnt sure this was going to work. I wanted to hook it up first before I spent more money on loom. Like I said, it is cold here in NY and I didnt run the wires perfectly. I plan on fixing it.

Im getting a lot of negative comments from a mod I thought you all would appreciate. I took all this time photographing and writing up instructions in case it helped someone. Maybe I shouldnt have wasted my time.
 
jimbo69ny said:
Yes I know. I plan on adding flex loom. I just didnt have any on hand and I wasnt sure this was going to work. I wanted to hook it up first before I spent more money on loom. Like I said, it is cold here in NY and I didnt run the wires perfectly. I plan on fixing it.

Im getting a lot of negative comments from a mod I thought you all would appreciate. I took all this time photographing and writing up instructions in case it helped someone. Maybe I shouldnt have wasted my time.

I was just concerned about your safety. You would be surprised what some people think is acceptable.
 
I like your mod. Personally, I would have kept the wiring completely inside the car and maybe left the display at the rear. After all, you're not driving the car while it's operating. Tony's earlier example with it displaying through the rear window near the charge port is good. However, I see that yours has buttons, so putting it up to the glass is probably not workable.
 
Jimbo:

I like the concept but have concerns about the execution as mentioned by others. Personally I'll let others, such as Tony, fiddle with the high voltage lines in my car. Perhaps Tony could place a similar device in the Jdemo if he decides to move the J1772 port to that location. I noted that the display has a limit of 22 kW. Does it reset to 0 and start counting again?
 
jimbo69ny said:
Im getting a lot of negative comments from a mod I thought you all would appreciate. I took all this time photographing and writing up instructions in case it helped someone. Maybe I shouldnt have wasted my time.
I'd look at the negative comments more as constructive criticism. I like your idea and I think you did a nice job documenting it - which helps the community provide input to make it better. When it comes to safety, I don't think you can have too much constructive criticism.

Personally, I don't know that I'd implement this myself (at least with my current schedule), but I enjoyed reading about it and seeing how you did it! I like to learn about these sorts of things, even if I'm not going to carry them out.
 
Michael Bornstein said:
Jimbo:
I noted that the display has a limit of 22 kW. Does it reset to 0 and start counting again?
22kW is the maximum power display reading. The maximum kWh reading is 9999.99 kWh.

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Im sure you all would be happy to hear that I fixed it.

I went out and bought 14 gauge wire that is rated up to 600 volts. I could've gotten away with 16 or 18 but this was the only size that Home Depot had that was rated up to 600 volts. The wire is solid core and was pretty easy to work with. I continued to use the 20 gauge doorbell wire for the current sensor.

I also found a better line to the front. There is a plug in the metal in the rear left side by the Toyesla Gatway computer.
I ran the wire from the plug, backwards to the rear of the car, through the plug then inside and down the left side of the car.

I also relocated it to the area where the switches are to the left of the steering wheel. I will take photos of it later.

I feel better knowing that the wire is rated to 600 Volts.

Lastly, the display found in the link in my first post died. A resistor popped. Luckily I had already had a second one laying around because I couldnt decide which to go with. I plugged that one in and I think it actually looks better.
Here is the new display.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/141382512884?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
 
This is another way to go with the same general idea, but by doing a modification on the EVSE side of the J1772. Here's a link to photos of my modified JuiceBox with two LCD modules inside the enclosure covered by a sheet of plexiglass. The smaller unit is included with the JB Premium, but I used a similar multicolor, uOLED unit (made by the same company, 4D Systems) to slightly increase the font size of the information displayed. Notice the voltage and current measurements are slightly different. This is because of the differences in calibration of each unit. I also have a wireless sensor inside the box measuring the combination of AC voltage and current in "kWh" to display remotely on an Efergy Total Power Meter up to 150' away. You can see the AC current transformers and voltage sensors and transmitter module also crammed inside the JB enclosure in some of the other photos.

http://s862.photobucket.com/user/dsinned99/media/JuiceBoxdisplays_zps9788d772.jpg.html?o=8

Either way I recommend using a fully plastic encapsulated display unit, for about the same cost, like this one for added safety.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-LCD...82512884&tpos=top&ttype=price&talgo=undefined
 
Dsinned, you missed my objective.

I charge away from home almost exclusively. I know what voltage and amperage I have at home but I wanted to add the ability to see what I was charging at away from home. It helps give me an idea of how long I have and I know definitively what I am charging at. That is why I wanted it in the car as opposed to having it in the EVSE. Anyone can add a display to their home EVSE but that wont help me if I am charging anywhere else.

Thanks for the comment though. Maybe it helped someone else.
 
The link provided is to a newer version of the meter you installed in your car with the back of the module covered by an extention of the plastic case. Thus, there is less exposure to high voltage on the PCB. The new verision is simply a better design purely from a safety standpoint.
 
Dsinned said:
The link provided is to a newer version of the meter you installed in your car with the back of the module covered by an extention of the plastic case. Thus, there is less exposure to high voltage on the PCB. The new version is simply a better design purely from a safety standpoint.
The problem is that your one appears to be a simple Voltmeter/Ammeter (similar to what TonyWilliams posted awhile back and which he intends to sell next year) whereas Jimbo's one is a multifunction power meter that incorporates more features including an energy usage meter in KWh.
 
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