Difference between revisions of "Gen2/Calex Charger"

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Latest revision as of 19:16, 30 April 2020

The Calex / GreenWattPower EVC-116-1300 and EVC-116-720 are used as onboard chargers for modern Zero models (2014 onwards except for the 2014FX) and are CANBus-controllable which eliminates the CCU board.

Calex connections uncovered
Calex connections
Design
The board is a solid-state switching power supply with a CAN interface.
The aluminum enclosure is well-sealed with over two dozen fasteners.
The enclosure is filled with a solid rubbery potting material.
Reliability
Certain model years (MY14 and MY15) have had onboard charger faults after 900-1200 miles and require replacement under warrantee.
MY16 onward (and MY13 which used Meanwell units) appear to have a lower defect rate.
This appears to be a third-party quality issue with Calex that was reportedly resolved by early 2016, but this is not proven perfectly yet.
720W chargers used on X models appear to be more reliable than 1300W chargers used on S models.
Design Revision
In response to the 2014-2015 reliability difficulties, it seems that the internal board was mainly reworked for lower risk of overheating.
One observation is that the size of the board changed from about ⅓ of the volume of the enclosure to the full area of the enclosure.
Newer revisions seem to have a cube-shaped clip-on ferrite bead EMI filter on the AC input cable (per this EMF thread).
Repair
Because of the solid rubbery potting, repair of anything beyond the connectors is almost totally impractical, especially given the cost of replacement.
The board is designed for blind replacement.


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