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Sorry to hear about your incident. All my EV friends call me paranode for installing smoke detector above the wall charger and the EV in the garage, all the smoke detectors are wireless connected together to the one inside the house. Everyone with EV should install these. Not expensive but give you piece of mind.
I use this one, wirelessly connected to my Ring Alarm:
I'll decide soon whether I'll just keep what I have, and charge at a safer 32amp (7.7kW) rate, or upgrade to the 6AWG cable. If I short cycle, which has been touted on this forum as better for the battery, we're talking about an extra hour to charge my current EQS, which is no big deal. So I may just leave it. But, then, there is the future........
Individual conductor #8 in hard conduit is rated for 55 amps. #8 romex is rated for 40 amps.
Individual conductor #8 in hard conduit is rated for 55 amps. #8 romex is rated for 40 amps.
Just came down from my attic....fun up there today in San Antonio. I have Romex 8/3 NM-B. Clearly rated for 40 amps....installed on a 50 amp breaker, supplying my ChargePoint, which was set at 40 amps, based on the 50 amp breeaker. The installer (a local AC/Plumming/,Electrical contractor) totally screwed everything up. I''m currently hardwired, and charging at 32amp (7.7kW ) to stay within safe limits. I'm in the process of changing to 6-2 NM-B....contacting an electrician who can do it. I can't tell you how much I appreciate all the help from this forum. I installed a smoke alarm today above the ChargePoint in my garage. I usually only charge during the day, as I get home from golf, and am near the garage, so would be able to hear the alarm. Also, just installed a new fire extinguisher in my garage to replace the one which saved us. So thankful we didn't loose our house or cars during this indicent. Many lessons learned. It will all be fixed soon.
Good call on replacing the wire. I actually am in a similar situation but my #8 romex which is connected to # 8 individual is on a 30 amp breaker. Will be replacing the romex with 3 conductor 6 before I install the 240 EVSE.
So, my EQS was charging normally today after golf, had another hour or so to go. We heard a pop in the kitchen, and I smelled an electrical fire. Went to the garage, which was filled with smoke, and the NEMA 6/50 plug for my ChargePoint Homeflex was on fire. I had my wife call the fire department and move her car, while I shut off the power at the circuit breaker on the back of our house. I then unplugged and moved my EQS, and used a fire extinguisher to extinguish the fire. The fire department arrived a few minutes later with their temperature gadgets, took out some drywall and insulation, and checked both attics to make sure the fire was actuallly out....luckily, it was. So, minimal damage. I can say that the ChargePoint Homeflex circuit brakers had apparently tripped, because it had shut off. But the brakers on the 240V circuit were not tripped until I shut them off. Pretty scary event....very lucky to have had just superficial damage. Ovbiously, I will now have the entire circuit install redone by someone very reputable....maybe the Mercedes installer with a new Mercedes Wallbox. Don't understand why this happened. Circuit was rated at 50amp, had a 50amp circuit braker. ChargePoint Homeflex was set at 40amp for a 9.6 kW charge. Had been working fine for 2 1/2 years. It was the NEMA 6/50 box, which Mercedes recommended when I bought my car in January 2022, not the NEMA 14/50. Maybe that was the problem? Don't know. Definitely just dodged a bullet!
Sorry to hear about the scary episode. One quick question, did the plug have aluminum components? Unfortunately, though technically up to code, they cannot handle the rigors of constant high amperage utilization. Make sure its not used in the repair.
Just came down from my attic....fun up there today in San Antonio. I have Romex 8/3 NM-B. Clearly rated for 40 amps....installed on a 50 amp breaker, supplying my ChargePoint, which was set at 40 amps, based on the 50 amp breeaker. The installer (a local AC/Plumming/,Electrical contractor) totally screwed everything up. I''m currently hardwired, and charging at 32amp (7.7kW ) to stay within safe limits. I'm in the process of changing to 6-2 NM-B....contacting an electrician who can do it. I can't tell you how much I appreciate all the help from this forum. I installed a smoke alarm today above the ChargePoint in my garage. I usually only charge during the day, as I get home from golf, and am near the garage, so would be able to hear the alarm. Also, just installed a new fire extinguisher in my garage to replace the one which saved us. So thankful we didn't loose our house or cars during this indicent. Many lessons learned. It will all be fixed soon.
What????
You have wire rated lower than the breaker??? What electrician did that? If that is accurate the wire IS the breaker! If copper, the wire must be 8 ga if aluminum 6 to handle 50 amps. Again its insane to have a breaker rated higher than the wire its protecting!
What????
You have wire rated lower than the breaker??? What electrician did that? If that is accurate the wire IS the breaker! If copper, the wire must be 8 ga if aluminum 6 to handle 50 amps. Again its insane to have a breaker rated higher than the wire its protecting!
Yep....totally insane. As I have stated, I've turned down the charge to 32amp/7.7kW for now. Working on getting the wire replaced. Have requested my money back.....fat chance, but have requested. Moving past this now, working on repairs, etc. Happy to still have a house and cars.
If you have a IR temp gun, your operating temperature on the 240v charging cable with the jacket should be around ~122 F. At the outlet/plug, it should measure the same temperature at the breaker which is around 97-110 F. If you are getting much higher temperature, these there are some issues you need to address very soon. All this is a the 9.7kw charge rate.
My new electrician is coming over today to check out replacing the 8awg cable with 6awg, and a direct connection to my ChargePoint HomeFlex. In a surprising turn of events, the original company has accepted that they erred in the original installation, and are refunding the money I spent on it, plus $500 toward drywall repairs. So, things are looking up, and I should be back charging safely at 9.6kW soon. My smoke detector is installed and working, and my fire extinguisher has been replaced. Thanks, again, for all the advice.
My new electrician is coming over today to check out replacing the 8awg cable with 6awg, and a direct connection to my ChargePoint HomeFlex. In a surprising turn of events, the original company has accepted that they erred in the original installation, and are refunding the money I spent on it, plus $500 toward drywall repairs. So, things are looking up, and I should be back charging safely at 9.6kW soon. My smoke detector is installed and working, and my fire extinguisher has been replaced. Thanks, again, for all the advice.
I also use the full Kidde smart detector line up throughout my house for wired smoke detection. It enables me to have full visibility and control via my Kidde App. https://www.kidde.com/home-safety/en...ts/smart-home/
It's similar to Nest but from an established fire safety brand.
My new electrician is coming over today to check out replacing the 8awg cable with 6awg, and a direct connection to my ChargePoint HomeFlex. In a surprising turn of events, the original company has accepted that they erred in the original installation, and are refunding the money I spent on it, plus $500 toward drywall repairs. So, things are looking up, and I should be back charging safely at 9.6kW soon. My smoke detector is installed and working, and my fire extinguisher has been replaced. Thanks, again, for all the advice.
Great news. Also shows that this is not an EV charging risk, but a home electrical installation issue.
2023 EQE 500 SUV electric and 2024 Jaguar F-PACE SVR 5.0L
Was watching a YouTube video (cant find it again sorry) where a hardwired install caught fire. The emergency cutoff switch right next to it had some cheap plastic insulator piece inside that got too hot and melted. Silly me, I thought duh gubmint had rules and regulations for the corporate entities to keep us breathing entities safe and secure but guess I was wrong. No solution seems safe from the garbage being sold these days.
Sorry to hear about this and your near-disaster. Fortunately, a "good" outcome under the circumstances.
BE CAREFUL with the Ozone generator. It can cause rubber components to prematurely break down. Tires, o-rings, gaskets, etc. Do some Googling on Ozone and Rubber and you will find lots to read.
I only know this much because at the end of one summer, the clutch slipped on my boat and overheated. The smell was awful. I asked the boat yard if they could get an ozone generator to get rid of the smell and they said NO. NO. NO! In the end they got an "ionizer" (I think). A machine of about the same size that posed no damage to the rubber. Took a couple of months, but it worked.
Sorry for all the issues you had. Just my $0.02 here. I bought the house from someone who had the circuit installed for a model S. It's on Nema 14-50 but I have no idea what the installer put in. I am playing it safe and limit charging to 30 Amps. I avoid long charging sessions by plugging in more often. I was never inconvenienced by the car not being ready in the morning. If I am "empty" and need to travel urgently, I will just plug in at an Electrify America - but this has not happened in over a year. While this limits my theoretical charging speed, I sleep better knowing that a lower charge for shorter time is a lot less likely to cause a fire.
Call me dumb but I’m not positive if mine is hardwired or not. I think it is. Mine is also a Charge Point wall charger (I think a NEMA 5-50). It has its own circuit breaker. The wiring goes directly from the circuit breaker to the wall outlet that the electrician installed. The wiring is plastic wrapped and about 1.5” diameter. A thick electrical cord goes from the wall charger to the outlet when I’m charging the car. Here is a photo.
It’s unplugged because I’m not charging the car. I’ve used it very few times to charge to this point since I’ve been charging it on EA chargers near by. The two year free charging may have expired the first of June. I will find out the next time I go to charge it at the EA chargers only 2 miles from home. I will always unplug it when I’m not using it at the home wall charger.
2023 EQE 500 SUV electric and 2024 Jaguar F-PACE SVR 5.0L
They really should put the "charger" in quotes as that's actually in the car and the EVSE is really more of a smart surge suppressor. I think for most people the risk of fire would be greater from constant plugging and unplugging making the socket loose. A quick google search says "typical duty cycle is about 350 plug-ins" which would be about a year of doing that. Anywho, I leave mine plugged in most the time.
I will always unplug it when I’m not using it at the home wall charger.
As Crito pointed out, this type of receptacle is not designed for frequent plugging/unplugging.
You are actually increasing fire risk as you do so.
If you don't feel like leaving it plugged in, ask an electrician to install a disconnect.
As Crito pointed out, this type of receptacle is not designed for frequent plugging/unplugging.
You are actually increasing fire risk as you do so.
If you don't feel like leaving it plugged in, ask an electrician to install a disconnect.
05-29-2024, 04:08 PM
