No, J1772 does not have a "neutral" power connection. It is purely Earth, the only power you can draw without immediately triggering GFCI is 208 or 240V phase+phase. Cor.
On Sat, Feb 14, 2026, 8:09 AM DOOLEY PHILIP G JR via EV <[email protected]> wrote: > My point about the J1772 connector was completely misunderstood. What I > tried to say is that the same type of pin in the J1772 was used for power > and earth, unlike what is normal in NEMA 4 pin connectors where the earth > pin is very different. This is to support that it should be fine to use > the center pin of a 3 pin NEMA 10-50 for earth when it is not needed for > neutral which is true for most 240V loads like charging an EV or running a > welder. The US J1772 does not have a neutral because it is not needed. > Always using a 4 pin NEMA connector for 3 wires helps to "idiot proof" the > connections but costs more and is less durable. > Everyone should remember that your house with its 120/240V loads is > connected to the grid by 3 wires to save money and improve lightning > protection. Phone/data lines and cable TV have to put up with significant > common mode voltages as a result. In remote farms this voltage can kill > the animals. Last I looked the code still allowed a 3 wire 120/240V > connection to a shed if you put in a ground rod. This causes problems with > Ethernet and cable TV putting excess current on the shield. My ground rods > measure 500 to 1000 ohms because of ledge so I plan to always use 4 wire > connections to my sheds. > Phil > On Friday, February 13, 2026 at 06:19:26 PM EST, Cor van de Water via > EV <[email protected]> wrote: > > The J1772 is sometimes used by RV'ers to llug in, but requires a > transformer (can be auto-transformer, meaning only 1 winding with center > tap) to create a "Neutral" as long as it only connects to the 2 hots and > keeps the new neutral separate from the ground wire. > > The proximity pin is not used in the cable in America, because the cable is > permanently attached to the EVSE. > So, in the US the only use of Proximity is to confirm secure plug in, > before the vehicle is allowed to draw charge. As soon as you push the latch > on the handle, the resistance in the handle changes and the car stops > charging. > In Europe the proximity carries a resistor in the cable you plug into the > EVSE that tells what current the cable can support and the EVSE adjusts its > advertised current via the Pilot signal to the minimum of cable and its own > limitation. > The car still reads the Proximity on the car side for the same function as > in the USA. > use of the car side Proximity signal by the EVSE is optional. > Cor. > > On Fri, Feb 13, 2026, 8:32 PM (-Phil-) via EV <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I'm not aware of any EV or EVSE using the J1772 type 1 ground for > neutral. > > This violates the standard, and would (should) instantly trip the ground > > fault detection in the EVSE and any upstream GFCIs. > > > > On the type 1 (US) connector there are only 5 pins; one ground connected > > only to the vehicle chassis and serving as reference for the 2 small > > proximity pilot (PP) and control pilot (CP) pins, and the 2 AC current > > carrying pins. One of these will be neutral if using level 1 (120v). > The > > PP tells the EV a cable is connected and also the status of the > mechanical > > latch, and the CP tells the EV the supplied amperage and allows the EV to > > enable AC power. > > > > On the EU spec type 2, they add an actual neutral and 1 more AC pin to > > enable 3-phase with neutral. > > > > The combo spec adds 2 large DC only pins at the bottom for DCFC. > > > > Grounds by intended design are never supposed to carry current, they are > > only used for fault handling, and to provide a return for leakage and > > high-frequency RF. > > > > On Fri, Feb 13, 2026 at 10:23 AM EV List Lackey via EV < > [email protected]> > > wrote: > > > > > On 13 Feb 2026 at 7:15, DOOLEY PHILIP G JR via EV wrote: > > > > > > > using a neutral pin for earth might be a misuse, but the J1772 > > connector > > > > does this. > > > > > > My first thought reading this was a bit of ignorant skepticism - why > > would > > > J1772 need a neutral pin? > > > > > > I've never used a J1772 personally, so I looked at the description > here. > > > > > > http://evdl.org/docs/j1772description.pdf > > > > > > On the first diagram on page 2, titled J1772 Interface, I noticed 2 > extra > > > pins, not shown as in use in the diagram on the first page. > > > > > > Page 3 has a full pinout for the connector. It does indeed illustrate > 3 > > > large (presumably high current) pins. It describes them as mains, > mains, > > > and ground/neutral. > > > > > > Combining ground and neutral that way is reminiscent of the bad old > days > > > of > > > US 3-pin 30 amp clothes dryer and 50 amp electric range connectors. > It's > > > very surprising that the J1772 designers thought that way. > > > > > > One more puzzle - > > > > > > In addition to the smaller pilot pin, there's a second smaller pin > > > described > > > as no connection. > > > > > > Now I wonder what that "no connection" pin might have been reserved for > > in > > > the original J1772 specification. Does anyone know the history? > > > > > > David Roden, EVDL moderator & general lackey > > > > > > To reach me, don't reply to this message; I won't get it. Use my > > > offlist address here : http://evdl.org/help/index.html#supt > > > > > > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > > > > > > First they came for the journalists. We don't know what > > > happened after that. > > > > > > -- Unknown > > > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Address messages to [email protected] > > > No other addresses in TO and CC fields > > > HELP: http://www.evdl.org/help/ > > > > > > > > -------------- next part -------------- > > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > > URL: < > > > http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20260213/3b86c693/attachment.htm > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Address messages to [email protected] > > No other addresses in TO and CC fields > > HELP: http://www.evdl.org/help/ > > > > > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: < > http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20260213/87d7d8f5/attachment.htm > > > _______________________________________________ > Address messages to [email protected] > No other addresses in TO and CC fields > HELP: http://www.evdl.org/help/ > > > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: < > http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20260214/b597afcc/attachment.htm > > > _______________________________________________ > Address messages to [email protected] > No other addresses in TO and CC fields > HELP: http://www.evdl.org/help/ > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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