# Best place to mount a charger?



## TEV (Nov 25, 2011)

Caps18 said:


> So where on a S-10 would be the best place to mount this type of charger?
> 
> And can this Elcon charger be modified with an J1772 plug? I am thinking that I could mount the receptacle right behind the license plate and have it flip up. But that would be a long wire to run all the way under the hood.
> 
> Any suggestions?



If you have enough room under the hood will be great , otherwise I suggest you to put it inside the cab if you have an extended cab.


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## TEV (Nov 25, 2011)

Do you have a thread with your build and pictures ?


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## Caps18 (Jun 8, 2008)

TEV said:


> Do you have a thread with your build and pictures ?


I have only mounted the battery box and am in the process of mounting some fiberglass panels on the outside of the truckbed.

November is when I really plan on getting the parts and hooking everything up.

It is coming along slowly, but I'll get it done....sometime.


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## Ziggythewiz (May 16, 2010)

inside the cab sounds terribly hot.


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## Roy Von Rogers (Mar 21, 2009)

Are you contemplating using dual 120/240v for the charger ?? Yes you can use a J1774 system, but the question is unless you want to use such charging stations, why would you want to.

I'm not sure at this time if J1772 will be a standard anyway, it still up in the air. I have a regular 120v receptacle on my vehicle now, and in theory could use 120 or 240v on such receptacle, but do have a J1772 cord that I want to use as a dedicated charging station at my place, but I will install a separate receptacle on my vehicle, because this way if I want to charge somewhere else, I still have a common way to charge.

Don't put the charger in the cab, as mentioned earlier it gets hot and needs the cool air form outside, its water resistant. Mount it close to the battery pack to keep the dc wires short. Don't worry about the distance the ac input wires are, as long as you use the right size wire.

I also recommend you hinge the bed so it can be raised, it will make things a lot easier for you.

Roy


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## JasonA (Aug 8, 2013)

Roy Von Rogers said:


> why would you want to.
> 
> I'm not sure at this time if J1772 will be a standard anyway, it still up in the air.


Are you really serious?? 

One look on PlugShare will tell you the answer quickly. Even the new SAE "frankenplug" has the J1772 part on top and it's own DC on the bottom.

J1772 is here to stay... the battle is on the DCQC side.. CHAdeMO vs. SAE 

And AC is getting faster and faster... look at Tesla and dual chargers..

Look at Val and his units.. at us and our Leafs and Brusa...

etc,etc...

Don't go around telling newbs J1772 is in jeopardy


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## Caps18 (Jun 8, 2008)

I am planning on charging this 'on the road' at least a few times a year if I go 50 miles away from my house. And every level 2 charger is a J1772 style one around here. I will also like to have a level 2 charger installed at my house.

Keeping the DC wires short is the problem. I already will have a long 10 foot run from the battery box up to the controller/motor under the hood.

This is why I liked the idea of having the controller and charger built into one unit...

I might be able to find some space on the firewall to mount it on.  But, that will be another 10 foot run of cable and conduit back to the battery pack.

I am leaning towards mounting it on the front side of the battery box. There is a 9 inch gap between the transfer case and the box, but it might need some shielding against the rain and snow...


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## evmetro (Apr 9, 2012)

I have personal agenda against the j plug, but I feel strongly that people should use whatever plug that they want. I would recommend making sure that you have the gateway plug (common 110 plug) and then whatever faster charging 220 plug ( J plug, dryer, welder, etc) as a luxery. Just remember that every home and business has a 110 plug on every wall. They are not fast, but they make up the biggest charging network known to mankind.


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## Roy Von Rogers (Mar 21, 2009)

Caps18 said:


> I am planning on charging this 'on the road' at least a few times a year if I go 50 miles away from my house. And every level 2 charger is a J1772 style one around here. I will also like to have a level 2 charger installed at my house.
> 
> Keeping the DC wires short is the problem. I already will have a long 10 foot run from the battery box up to the controller/motor under the hood.
> 
> ...


 
I was talking about keepingt the dc charger wires short. The wires from battery is what it is, cause I'm assuming they are under the bed.

Roy


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## Ziggythewiz (May 16, 2010)

Caps18 said:


> Keeping the DC wires short is the problem. I already will have a long 10 foot run from the battery box up to the controller/motor under the hood.


There's no reason for DC charge wires to need to be shorter than AC ones. Wire is wire and at EV voltages there's no significant drop in resistance on the AC run.

Assuming you have a contactor near (or inside) the controller, just stick the charger by the controller and use the big wires already there to connect to the battery pack.


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## Caps18 (Jun 8, 2008)

While the charger has been mounted for a while now. And it took two people to hold and bolt it into place. I have been working on mounting the small radiator for the controller cooling plate. But, I was able to get it done so I can move on to the next thing now. 

The charger has a few 1/4"-20 bolts and nylon nuts holding it into place. I still need to put split tubing over the wires, and prevent vibrations from cutting cables that are touching corners made of medal.

The box below the charger is the one that houses the AVC2 and lets the orange J1772 outlet reach where it needs to go.

For the radiator, I cut a bracket out of a piece of scrap aluminum I had and drilled the holes in order to mount the radiator to the front wall of the truck. I used a jig saw to make the hole in the inside because I don't have access to a CNC machine


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