ABL charger - untethered to tethered

slicedpanman

Anyone got any tips on how best to lock a charge cable to an ABL charger?
Looking to do a DIY conversion of our untethered to a tethered one...

unkel

Are you going to cut your cable and wire it in?

Personally I didn't bother with that. I leave my 15m cable permanently connected to my ABL charger. I have it locked to several trees and it terminates exactly where the chargepoint of my Ioniq is. We are lazy that way

slicedpanman

I like lazy... No plans to cut/rewire the cable. Unfortunately I've nothing between the charger and the cars that I can lock the cable to.

Is there any way to lock the cable to the charger itself?

Zenith74

I've been wondering the same thing myself as I have an untethered charger in a fairly exposed location. It would be great if I didn't have to coil up 10m of wet cable and find a place for it sometimes.

Not keen on locking it to the charger itself as they're not really that sturdy anyway, and if somebody is going to steel the cable I'd sooner they didn't wreck the charger in the process . So I was thinking of fitting something like this into the wall beside the charger - https://www.ebay.ie/itm/MOTORBIKE-FLIP-DOWN-GROUND-WALL-CHAIN-ANCHOR-MOTORCYCLE-BIKE-SECURITY-LOCK-POINT-/371375173591 - and then using a lock around the cable and through this anchor.

Dont be at yourself

I have the untethered ABL with a cable permanently connected for the past two years. Not locked to anything so theoretically could be stolen, but happy to take the chance.

stesaurus

I hard wired mine as I bought a cable online to do the job with only one end having a type 2. Wiring it up isn't as simple as other units so I'd probably avoid that.
You could engage the locking unit inside the unit and then disconnect it from its power source so it stays locked but I bet it would throw up errors and prevent the charger working.
I'd get some sort of bolt and plate for the wall and have it lock just in front the type 2 connector leaving the unit.

KCross

Zenith74 wrote: »

So I was thinking of fitting something like this into the wall beside the charger - https://www.ebay.ie/itm/MOTORBIKE-FLIP-DOWN-GROUND-WALL-CHAIN-ANCHOR-MOTORCYCLE-BIKE-SECURITY-LOCK-POINT-/371375173591 - and then using a lock around the cable and through this anchor.

stesaurus wrote: »

I'd get some sort of bolt and plate for the wall and have it lock just in front the type 2 connector leaving the unit.

+1
Anchor it to wall.

You'll lose a bit of the length but as long as they cant easily pull the anchor off the wall it should be safe.

unkel

stesaurus wrote: »

I'd get some sort of bolt and plate for the wall and have it lock just in front the type 2 connector leaving the unit.

That's actually a good idea. Cables have been stolen in Ireland and it's quite likely this will become more common in the future when the knackers / scrotes come to realise these have value.

slicedpanman

Zenith74 wrote: »

So I was thinking of fitting something like this into the wall beside the charger - https://www.ebay.ie/itm/MOTORBIKE-FLIP-DOWN-GROUND-WALL-CHAIN-ANCHOR-MOTORCYCLE-BIKE-SECURITY-LOCK-POINT-/371375173591 - and then using a lock around the cable and through this anchor.

That looks like just the job

Del2005

KCross wrote: »

+1
Anchor it to wall.

You'll lose a bit of the length but as long as they cant easily pull the anchor off the wall it should be safe.

They will just use cutters if you start bolting the cable to the wall, even physically attached they will still just use a bolt cutter on the cable. They don't care about what the cables do they want the metal or they will just bodge it and sell on.

KCross

Del2005 wrote: »

They will just use cutters if you start bolting the cable to the wall, even physically attached they will still just use a bolt cutter on the cable. They don't care about what the cables do they want the metal or they will just bodge it and sell on.

mmm, i dont know.... i think if someone is going to rob one of these cables they will do so to sell it as a working cable.

There isnt enough in it to melt it down for copper. Its value is in it being a working cable.

If they have a bolt cutter and they can hack it off the wall then so be it... at least you didnt make it a simple job for them. It will keep the opportunistic thief away.

The better solution is to have a tethered unit, I suppose. Matter of time before they start pulling those off the wall then I suppose... anyone for a €600 Zappi!

Del2005

KCross wrote: »

mmm, i dont know.... i think if someone is going to rob one of these cables they will do so to sell it as a working cable.

There isnt enough in it to melt it down for copper. Its value is in it being a working cable.

If they have a bolt cutter and they can hack it off the wall then so be it... at least you didnt make it a simple job for them. It will keep the opportunistic thief away.

The better solution is to have a tethered unit, I suppose. Matter of time before they start pulling those off the wall then I suppose... anyone for a €600 Zappi!

They can easily "fix" it and sell it. You'd be surprised how little metal they will steal, it all ends up in the same fire.

slicedpanman

Thanks @Zenith74 - I've ordered one of those motorbike lockdown clips

I'll post a picture and install report after I get it setup

slicedpanman

Finally got around to installing this.... Pretty happy with it. The M10's that came with it very flimsy but got a decent set and was easy to install