# Broken Plug at Destination Charger



## David Bunin (4 mo ago)

Hello Forum. I am a soon-to-be new Tesla owner (Model 3). Near my home there is a business with two destination chargers. It's a restaurant my wife and I might frequent. Today I went and took a close look. Both chargers have broken plugs. (Broken, as in totally smashed.) To whom should I complain? Tesla? The local business? Are either of them likely to repair the charging stations? Seems like a bit of a waste, but I guess now I know why I never see a Tesla charging there.


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## android04 (Sep 20, 2017)

David Bunin said:


> Hello Forum. I am a soon-to-be new Tesla owner (Model 3). Near my home there is a business with two destination chargers. It's a restaurant my wife and I might frequent. Today I went and took a close look. Both chargers have broken plugs. (Broken, as in totally smashed.) To whom should I complain? Tesla? The local business? Are either of them likely to repair the charging stations? Seems like a bit of a waste, but I guess now I know why I never see a Tesla charging there.


You would report that to the business because they are responsible for them. I believe in some cases Tesla provided them for free, but it would be up to the business to hire someone to repair them. Besides letting the business owner know that they are broken (they might not know), it could help to let them know that you will not give them your business if the charging equipment isn't functional. You can call on the support of a local owners' club to ask them to write letters or email stating that they will not support the business without functioning equipment.


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## David Bunin (4 mo ago)

Thank you


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

David Bunin said:


> To whom should I complain? Tesla? The local business?


The correct answer is to notify @bwilson4web 



bwilson4web said:


> Hi,
> 
> I ordered a 40A J1772 extension cord only to find the plug now has a hood over the latch:
> View attachment 44782
> ...


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## bwilson4web (Mar 4, 2019)

Careful what you ask for:









Bob Wilson


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## EasternSP (4 mo ago)

dang, how could a charger handle get broken unless it was just pure vandalism?


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## David Bunin (4 mo ago)

My guess is that some dummy drove off with the plug connected and it broke at the point where it latches on the car. Is there anything in the Tesla that stops you from driving away while connected?


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## FRC (Aug 4, 2018)

yes.


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## JasonF (Oct 26, 2018)

David Bunin said:


> My guess is that some dummy drove off with the plug connected and it broke at the point where it latches on the car. Is there anything in the Tesla that stops you from driving away while connected?


Nah, no need for anything that fancy. It was probably just someone who threw the handle on the ground.


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## Klaus-rf (Mar 6, 2019)

David Bunin said:


> Is there anything in the Tesla that stops you from driving away while connected?


Abbaa-loootely.

Teslas will not go into gear while a charge cable is detected.


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## bwilson4web (Mar 4, 2019)

It was the latch part of the 'presence' lever that was broken off. My hypothesis is someone failed to use the ChargePoint App or RFID card to unlock the J1772. So this very strong and very dumb user forced the J1772 out which broke the latch. I found the broken latch piece on the ground by the EVSE. But the presence lever was now in the open position so neither the idiot nor anyone else could get a charge.

I subsequently verified the presence lever could be toggled, closing the presence circuit, and get a charge. I shared this with the local Tesla group but continued to find the ChargePoint EVSE unused. Worse, the ChargePoint manager found there was no maintenance contract and the per-repair cost and local electricians were unable to effect a repair. So other EV owners continued to complain to no effect.

The presence circuit is a resistor that lets the EV know there is a J1772 plug in the vehicle socket. The car then negotiates the handshake to turn on the EVSE and accept a charge. When the lever is depressed, the resistor is taken out of the circuit, the same as having no plug in the socket. The car breaks the handshake so the EVSE and car takes the power off of the pins and avoids arcing the power pins.

Plugging in with presence enabled is no problem as both the car and EVSE will take a second or so to negotiate the handshake and turn on the power current pins. The only risk is pulling out the J1772 while charging is in progress which leads to arcing the power pins. The latch on the presence lever was to prevent removal until the power was taken off the pins.

J1772 experienced EV owners will _likely_ press the presence lever before plug removal but there is no guarantee. Eventually arcing from hot unplugging will make the EVSE plug unusable and it will have to be replaced. The irony is a J1772 extension cord, ~$100, is cheaper than a J1772 plug, repair kit, ~$200. The spring return trick cost about 10-15 cents and some free labor.

Bob Wilson

ps. The J1772 is a poorly designed, SAE standard. Equally poor, the ChargePoint design locking the J1772 plug until released. The Tesla connector and design is superior.


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