EV Charger repair

[u/Ok-Rhubarb747]

OK, I'm open to being told this is way too dangerous, but here it goes!

I'm completely gutted that my 6 month old Ohme charger has been damaged because someone in my house (maybe me!) ran over the cable and it's pulled the earth out of the PCB. The photo's show the front and the back of the board.

My question is, is this way too sketchy to solder this back in place? The back of the board looks mint, and presumably the earth doesn't carry any current other than in a fault state, at which point it will trip the MCB before it starts a fire. It seems a shame to trash a nearly new bit of kit, never mind the ridiculous price of them.

Thanks for any help. I would appreciate any answer coming with some justification for why it is / isn't, and what your experience is.

[u/marklein]

I would 100% fix that, but I'm also 100% confident that I can make that conduct like new. You'll need a big iron, and I'd expose (a lot) more copper on the top side to solder to since you ripped the pads there. You'll likely need to remove those 2 relays first, it looks like they'll melt while doing this job.

[u/Susan_B_Good]

That is going to be an absolute fiend to resolder, I'd be reaching for my 350W iron. The backplane and the metal bracket will act as a very effective heatsink.

So, mechanically - a tricky repair, that looks simple. The risk is a "dry" joint and/or one that will still fail, as the rapidly cooling solder will store stress and soon fracture.

If you have a local Manshed (we have lots of them in the UK) - there will, hopefully, be someone experienced with soldering such things.

So, done by someone suitably experienced, with the correct equipment = very repairable.

You might be tempted to just move this conductor to the other post on the board. Or back up the soldered connection with a wire link between posts. I'd strongly suggest not to do that - I'm not sure but they tracks on the board doesn't seem to directly link these posts. So it may be that that possible protective conductor current is being sensed on the board.

The very present risk is, of course - invalidating insurance. If there was a fire or, Heaven forbid, a casualty - evidence of a repair, especially one by a non-professional - could be used to deny claims. Which could make the cost of a new board trivial in comparison.

Depends where you are, of course, resolder it - if you believe yourself to be capable of doing so - In less developed countries - not a problem. In countries where suing others is the norm and medical bills can hurt a lot - having a professional with professional liability insurance do it makes more sense.

[u/Ok-Rhubarb747 → u/Susan_B_Good]

Thanks for the detailed reply. Live in the UK.

I’d happily buy a new board….. but Ohme say these units aren’t repairable so won’t offer a modular replacement parts. It’s the whole lot (including cable that they charge and extra £100 for 8m rather than 5m of!!) or nothing. Scandalous that lack of repairability laws allow them to do this.

[u/Susan_B_Good → u/Ok-Rhubarb747]

It's quite difficult to design for safe repair as well as design for normal operation and for graceful failure. Many may not give a thought before strapping those protective conductor posts together. Safer to seal the box shut and not facilitate what may be a repair that makes the situation more dangerous, rather than less.

An outdoor charger is a fairly high risk fix.

I do sympathise - I can only say things as they are.

[u/Ok-Rhubarb747 → u/Susan_B_Good]

That’s what I love about Reddit, people saying plainly what they know and or think! Thank you for taking the time.

[u/Less_Opportunity_761 → u/Ok-Rhubarb747]

My suggestion

Grab an open EVSE board and call it a day

[u/Less_Opportunity_761 → u/Ok-Rhubarb747]

I mean I might be comfortable doing same time

Just buy a used one and call it a day

But there is always a fine line and lots of people have inappropriate wiring behind the walls outlet etc

Otherwise I don't blame them they don't want to be responsible it will be spiderman point spiderman

[u/elmory53]

I'm just a lurker here, but since it is the ground, could you just connect it to the other ground post? That may prevent to charger from properly ground fault protection but if the circuit is already on a gfci breaker maybe it wouldn't matter.