[enslay]

Rendered fine for me on firefox, safari, and chrome, even after scaling the display.

Funny, I'm using Firefox and that screenshot is what it looks like for me.

 

[Tim]

Different insulation material and/or insulation ratings will have very different thicknesses.

And would it be correct to assume that the insulation is thicker on the J-handle cord because the mfr. anticipates more wear on it than the plug cord?

 

[jefro]

There are more wires going to the handle. It is subject to more use. It needs to be bigger.

 

[Tim]

There are more wires going to the handle.

Right you are, I forgot about the 2 communication wires.

 

[Tim]

So I'm replacing the bad plug and I've encountered these strange wire colors:

Somewhere I read that EVSE's don't use neutral wires, and I'm guessing that the green-striped yellow wire is the ground. Can someone knowledgeable confirm that for me?

 

[MisterJJ]

Europe color code. Blue is neutral.

 

[jefro]

Wait a minute!!!!

Didn't you say it was 240VAC?

To be sure you need to ohm the plug to the remainder of the cord.

 

[Pigwich]

With 2 different EVSE's, the plastic face of my Leviton 14-50R has been measuring 156F with an IR thermometer when charging at 32 amps. So I checked for loose connections and found none. Then I replaced the Leviton with a Pass & Seymour Legrand, and the face of the receptacle read 175F!

So I pulled out the metal box and all the wires back to the breaker. The plastic bushings on the box and service panel looked fine. The neutral wire looks great, but you can see some distortion of the outer clear jacket of the hot wires as shown below. There are no nicks of the red and black jackets, and no tarnish of the copper. I did notice that the ground pigtail was loose in the wire nut, but that couldn't have caused overheating, right? What's my next diagnostic step? View attachment 45005 View attachment 45006

GOOD ON YOU for using the FLIR camera/ IR thermometer. They can literally be life savers. I can't stress the value of these instruments enough.

I've had bad male plugs before. Factory assembled, over-molded plugs. Myriad sins can hide under the plastic and QC is hard, if they even care at all. I prefer the screw style. Just because you bought it new at a store doesn't mean it's not treacherous and malignant garbage.

These ones are fine, the Hubbell's are the really good ones but they're about $50 if you can find one. Money well spent on the other hand.

The pre wired appliance plugs have burned me twice now. I won't use them again. Stay safe.

 

[Tim]

Blue is neutral.

And EVSE's don't use the neutral, right? I mean they are wired like water heaters, so the blue would go to hot, right?

Wait a minute!!!!

Didn't you say it was 240VAC?

To be sure you need to ohm the plug to the remainder of the cord.

What you just said went straight over my head. I think I have an ohmmeter, if that helps.

GOOD ON YOU for using the FLIR camera/ IR thermometer. They can literally be life savers. I can't stress the value of these instruments enough.

I think my hand was sufficient to detect a problem.

View attachment 45279

These ones are fine, the Hubbell's are the really good ones but they're about $50 if you can find one.

That photo does not show a NEMA 14-50R, but I think I'll be fine with something cheap as long as I make the connections correctly.

 

[MisterJJ]

And EVSE's don't use the neutral, right? I mean they are wired like water heaters, so the blue would go to hot, right?

Level 2 EVSE, yes. Looks like they just used a Europe coded cord and they probably put the two hots on the brown and blue.

To "ohm the plug" I think the meaning is to check the wires left in the plug to see which one goes to which position on the plug and just duplicate it on the new plug.

 

[jefro]

Yes wire new plug exactly the same as original. So each new lug will have correct color as original.

There are always places that rent scientific tools.
Not easy to find in every city.
Someone tossed our TDR and I had to find a place that rents them. We have a harmonic meter if we can find who has it.

 

[Tim]

The new plug stays cool and the cord is only warm, not hot. Thanks for the help, everyone!