I repaired my evse by replacing the faulty contactor

VinegarChunks@lemmus.org · 4 days

Be careful if you attempt this, you’re working with 240v electronics.

A few months ago I noticed my EVSE started buzzing really loudly every time I would plug in to charge. A few days after that it stopped charging entirely. It’s a Clippercreek, that is 8+ years old, I can’t complain too much but I can’t exactly afford $300-ish for a replacement, so I decided to try to replace the relay myself.

I opened it up and found that the big problem with doing this is that the relay has 6 large contact studs that are all soldered into the circuit board. I can only heat one up with a soldering iron at a time, and the one cannot pull out because the other five are still holding the relay onto the board.

So, I got a hacksaw blade and slid it behind the relay and cut off each leg one by one. You have to be very careful doing this to avoid cutting anything else, but I did get them all cut off without much damage to any of the other circuitry. After that I can melt the solder and remove each stud one by one.

I bought the exact brand/model relay for $40 off Amazon. Probably could have got it cheaper elsewhere if I was willing to wait.

The next problem is that all those holes in the circuit board are full of solder that block the new relay from going in. I found that there is such a thing as “desoldering wick” which I used to absorb the melted solder out one by one. Then the new relay could be inserted and the six studs soldered in one by one.

And it works!

potter2010@lemmy.ca · 2 days

Completely off topic, but does anyone else see a little piggie made of electronics in this?

VinegarChunks@lemmus.org · 3 days

Does anyone know if there is a better way to remove a circuit component with 6 studs, than cutting the studs off with a hacksaw?

PyroNeurosis@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 3 days

It’d probably be inconvenient, but solder wicking the studs might work. Might even save time on cleaning the board for the next relay.

Chaf@slrpnk.net · 3 days

Solder wick is a good start. There also are “desoldering pumps”. But even with them you are probably going to need several repetitions to get it all. Could be good enough to loosen such a big relay, though, bit by bit.

The wiki-page also has other recommendations. Another way you could try, if you don’t have a desoldering pump, would be to use a small lever to pull the relay up with slight force while heating up the pins (though I’m not sure it would work for something attached thoroughly at 6 pins - probably better together with the desoldering pump). If you manage to melt the solder of two pins on one side at the same time, then you can prop it up bit by bit from both sides.

I’m impressed you managed to remove it with a hacksaw without damaging any other components. Good job on the repair overall!

Jesusaurus@lemmy.world · 3 days

A heat gun moving over the back side of the board to warm both the board and the studs up sufficiently should be able to loosen all of them at once, just might take some patience