Cable and Home Charging

[tchoupz]

Morning,

As I was looking at some forum discussion yesterday regarding extension cords for the i3, I realized that I may not be doing the right thing. I typically charge my i3 rex in front of the house. I have an outlet right there and let it charge overnight. I commute about 20 miles per day so it's usually plenty.

However, I did not have a technician come inspect the outlet or anything. I touched it this morning as it was finishing charging (about 95%) and it was warm but not hot. Can I continue doing this or should I have someone come inspect it?

One last thing, would anyone have a good extension cord to recommend? I have two parking spaces but one is too far from the outlet and I sometime have to park there.

Thank you!

 

[brin]

Warm is common thing. It transfers 3 kW of power when charging. That is quite a lot. More so, if you use long cable, which is causing hgher resistance and loss of voltage.

 

[bwilson4web]

Warm is common thing. It transfers 3 kW of power when charging. That is quite a lot. More so, if you use long cable, which is causing hgher resistance and loss of voltage.

We probably need to know the voltage of the outlet to know how much power is flowing. Our USA 120 VAC outlet only provides 1.3 kW. But this begs a question.

I wonder if I snagged an EU, L1 EVSE I could get a higher power rate?

Hummm, I wonder if my USA EVSE will go 'poof' if I wire it to a 240 VAC outlet?

Has anyone 'run the experiment'?

Bob Wilson

 

[brin]

Don't try that Common apliances are mostly compatible, but I doubt that high power electronics will work that way. I forgot, that US electricity network is quite different from European... Way easier here I guess, as almost everyone has 3x25A@230V available at home.

 

[jadnashuanh]

You want an extension cord that has large enough conductors to not present any significant resistance (which is what causes things to heat up) along with quality plug and receptacle along the same vein. So, it depends on the amount of current your EVSE is providing as to what would work successfully. For a 15A circuit, I'd want a 12g wire in the cord, maybe 14g but most of those aren't great quality. For a 20A circuit 12g or 10g. For a 30A circuit, 8g. It is also best to minimize the overall length AND not to coil up any excess (you can lay it in a figure-8 pattern if you want, but not a coil). A coiled up wire acts like an inductor and can create heat on its own when current is going through it.

In all cases, minimize the overall length and note, not all cords are rated for use outside. Higher quality ones tend to be less stiff when they get cold and easier to coil up when done.