Warm charge cord
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Define "quite warm". Too warm to touch? Too warm to hold for 10 seconds? Was the plug (if plug-in) warm too? Did you feel the breaker for that circuit in the breaker box?
What were the ambient conditions? Was the car being charged outside in the sun or in a hot garage?
In the garage in the summertime, the cord for my Juicebox 40 Pro does get warm after charging for some time, but never hot enough that I can't hold it for as long as I want. I don't have an IR thermometer gun, so I've never measured it.
In the summertime if I'm charging on the driveway in the sun, the section of the cord in the sun is almost too hot to hold for more than 10 seconds.
What were the ambient conditions? Was the car being charged outside in the sun or in a hot garage?
In the garage in the summertime, the cord for my Juicebox 40 Pro does get warm after charging for some time, but never hot enough that I can't hold it for as long as I want. I don't have an IR thermometer gun, so I've never measured it.
In the summertime if I'm charging on the driveway in the sun, the section of the cord in the sun is almost too hot to hold for more than 10 seconds.
I haven,t put a thermometer on it ,but it can be held onto .I,m using a Siemens versichage plugged into a wall outlet I installed with 8 gauge stranded wiring in an 8' long conduit.After a hour charge this morning I felt the most heat at the wall plug ,followed buy the car plug cable ,some warmth all the way to and including the circuit breaker, very little else drawing power in the houes,This was all newly installed December 2019.It has been exceptionally hot hear in Calif. even at night in the garage where it's charged .I haven't seen this kinda heat wave with the load of a 32 amp system .Haven't used the quick charge option lately ,using it now might be a good cord heating test .With the heat concentrated at the wall plug supplied with the charger, I'm suspecting its inadequate,it could be omited with a hardwire install.
No equipment is 100% efficient. Assuming you circuit is a measly 206 volts, you are putting 6.6 kW through your EVSE. If the EVSE is 98.5% efficient it will get as hot as a 100 watt incandescent bulb.
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I have a ClipperCreek and it gets warm. In fact, the manufacturer says not to tightly coil the cable so that it doesn't get too hot while charging.
Yeah, my plug and breaker get warm too. Not hot enough where i cant touch them though. It wouldnt burn me or cause me concern that it is overheating, but it does all get warm while charging;
My crappy old outlet in my garage where i used to plug in the OEM 110v at 12 amps got much hotter to the touch.
My crappy old outlet in my garage where i used to plug in the OEM 110v at 12 amps got much hotter to the touch.
Sounds normal. I run the OEM EVSE at 240V (12A) through 100' #12AWG extension cord, and all of the cords get warm to the touch, especially the extension cord, if it's coiled up. Never alarmingly hot, though.
BTW (and IIRC), the max current of the VersiCharge is 30A.
BTW (and IIRC), the max current of the VersiCharge is 30A.
30amps right ,I measured temp at the hottest point, the supplied wall plug, 118 f ,ambient temp 83f.Pulled the plug and touched the prongs , was way hotter.Think that narrows it down to inadequate connection through the prong to wallplug connection.The first charges using the 120v charger using my 30 year old corroded laundry wall plug got hot ,after replacement it was much cooler,lesson learned.
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The supplied granny cable will stop if it or the outlet gets to hot, whatever threshold Chevy set it at. If your home wiring is from at least the 1970's then between the outlet and breaker is probably fine but just feel the outlet and breaker for warmth. And $200 for a pro to check it out for your peace of mind is a bit cheaper than a house fire.
Results are in after replacing plug with a hardwire.After charging 4 hours, entered the 4 blink stage, shielded cables measured 7 degrees f. over ambient from breaker to be plug.Inside a wire nut on bare copper was +13 warmer.Aprox..27 degrees cooler overall without the plugs resistance.Maybe not a scientific study but I,m delighted with the results.
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Can anyone weigh in on the required cable thickness for 32amp+ nema 14-50 charging? My Chinese charger has a TUV approved cable but its only 3*2.5mm²+2*0.5mm² which seems small compared to competitors. Plug head gets up to 130F. Cable right off the plug head gets up to 150F
I believe the wire type has some impact, so I'll quote for THWN, which is I believe a more commonly used cable. The charts show 10 gauge wire is good for 35 amps, with 8 gauge jumping to 50. I used 8 gauge to wire my daughter's 40 amp Juicebox, even thought her PHEV only draws 32 amps max. I believe if you use separate wires within conduit you get a higher rating than using a bundled wire. The advantage to a UF cable is that conduit isn't necessary, and in some cases can be direct buried underground. But with UF 10 gauge is only rated for 30 amps and 8 gauge for 40. The larger the wire size, the greater the difference between the two types of cable capacity. And all these numbers are based on copper wire. Switch to aluminum and the current rating drops even lower.
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Yeah it seems like a bunch of competitors use 3*6mm²+2*0.5mm² for 32amps and over. I'm trying to figure out if I'm comparing apples to apples.....I have to think that using cable that is too small from the plug back would cause some heat issues
Absolutely correct. Too small a cable increases resistance, which generates heat, which is a bad thing. Oversizing electrical cable never hurts, but it does increase cost, so try not to go overboard.
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You'd have to test current and voltage also. Low voltage on outlet is bad. Out of spec current is bad. Look at line length also. The cable insulation is rated quite high but 170F seems of concern.
nema 14-50 normally means you have a 50 amp circuit so you'd need to look at the type of cable and how much it fills conduit or other issues. Examples of various types.
Your local code can't be less than NEC but can be more. https://www.camperrules.com/what-size-wire-for-50-amps#axzz761VW8UPY
nema 14-50 normally means you have a 50 amp circuit so you'd need to look at the type of cable and how much it fills conduit or other issues. Examples of various types.
Your local code can't be less than NEC but can be more. https://www.camperrules.com/what-size-wire-for-50-amps#axzz761VW8UPY
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