Level 1 Charger - does it work on 240v?

I should note that I wouldn't recommend running it at 240 V. One of the things done in a design is to ensure proper clearance and creepage spacing, which the spacing of traces and component pinouts, etc...

 

Exactly. We're still buying a specialized product with a limited demand. (Have you priced wheelchairs lately, for example?) Things will change as demand increases. I still feel ripped off when I pay much more than I think is justified for a L2 charger, but that's the way that the market works.

 

Some guy on YouTube opened one up. You can yank that blade. It is not connected to anything so all it is doing is making it a little more physically stable.

 

I think someone with lots of Clarity wisdom should do a search for the UK/Europe OEM charger and see if the charger (minus the plug) has the same PN as the one in NA. If it does, then we know the 110 charger is the same as the 220. Make sense?

 

The Clarity is not sold in Europe. Prius Prime appears to be.

 

I made an "adapter" to connect the oem charger to my 14-50 outlet for my normal evse and ran it for 30 minutes on a pre-conditioning cycle. All ran fine, nothing got hot. The app did indicate that it was charging at 240v a clamp meter showed the charger was limiting to 12a current. All of this is use at your own risk and I do not advise it, but wanted to know once and for all if it does work.

 

So you are saying basically “yes” it will work at 240 volts but do so at your own risk?

If I am understanding correctly the EVSE is still advertising 12 Amps but at 240 Volts that is twice the Watts and therefore should cut charging time in half.

 

Yes, the pilot signal would not change as the evse is still limited to that current. There is no safe way to convert the oem charger to 240v without changing the plug which would be difficult with the temp sensor, that is why I am not recommending it. I will try a full charge tomorrow and keep an eye on things.

 

Completed a full charge with the OEM EVSE at 240v without any issues. Charge time was noticeably slower then my 32a EVSE, around 4.5 hrs from 2 bars of battery. That is still way faster then 120v. The OEM EVSE only reached about 10f above ambient, and nothing else went much above ambient, it stayed cooler then my 32a EVSE. Again use at your own risk even though you know your adapter is 240v someone else may not.

 

You know, just because you can do something doesn’t necessarily mean you should do it. However, I salute your bravery. I don’t know if I could sleep soundly with that operating in my garage.
@Domenick, please, please block all insurance adjusters from this thread!

 

I’ll agree with Ken that nobody should be doing this who doesn’t fully understand what they’re doing. Electricity can be dangerous.

Garry, thanks for taking the leap. It was probably the last data point needed to confirm it’s the same as the Prius Panasonic unit. It’s dual voltage. It’s just not listed that way because the plug part of the unit is not considered user replaceable like the cord on a PC or a TV.

I probably won’t ever need to use this one on 240 since there are no “emergency” charge needs with the Clarity like my LEAF or any full BEV, but it’s nice to know.

There may be a way to reset the max amps like other Panasonic units but if EVSEupgrade won’t convert these, it’s probably either not easy or not recommended. The conversion for the LEAF EVSE apparently required depotting and other such heroics. After all that effort the MAX would still be limited to 15A anyway based on the limitations of the J1772 plug and the wire gauge. At that point you may as well just buy one of those nice AmazingE units and get free grocery bags.

 

It sounds like its more voltage, but what's really happening is that instead of 120v hot on one leg and return on the other leg, with 240v you have 120v hot on each leg of the outlet.
If the input is designed to work with or accommodate 2 120v legs - and whatever switching transformer/circuitry can work with both legs hot, then it's probably OK.
Not that I would try this, but if people are saying it works I get it and it is interesting to me academically.
From a practical standpoint, its above the level of risk I am personally comfortable with.

 

Even at 240v, this setup will not quite get you 3KWh.
It is still limited to 12 amps.
Our onboard charger is good for twice that at 7.2KWh and 30 amps.

 

This is good for people who want to charge faster and not pay $400+ for a 30A EVSE. It is risky and there's not much data compared to 2nd Gen Volt and Bolt EVSE. I have tried the Prime and Pacifica EVSE and they will work at 240V. If you don't want to take the risk, buy a 30A+ EVSE.

 

My house is 8 years old and the builder put a "240v vehicle charger" socket in the garage. But it looks exactly as the other socket. I.e. NEMA 5-15 plug.

Is there such a thing of NEMA 5-15 plug at 240V? If so, this may be a plus for me. I am very tempering to just plug in the level 1 charger into that outlet.

 

In the US a outlet that supplies 240v must be a type 6 or 14 it would not fit a plug that is designed for 120v. There is a chance that they only used l1 and neutral and have an extra wire capped off in the box that would be l2. Best thing is to check your breaker box and see if it's a double pole or single pole breaker feeding it.

 

Maybe they just wired a hot to each side? If you have a multimeter, check the voltage on each side of the plug going to ground. If it's 120V on each side, then that's a 240V outlet and the Honda EVSE will work at 240V.

 

I hope not, that would be very dangerous and against code.

 

The 5-15 and 6-15 plugs look very similar to each other. There should be some number on the plug indicating what type it is. Get a magnifying glass or zoom in with the phone camera and check the plug. Basically L5-15 and L6-15 plugs are the same except for the spacing between the 3 prongs.

 

A somewhat puzzling statement as it is highly unlikely. Who told you this, the builder, previous owner, salesperson? Have you used the outlet previously for anything?

My guess is you were misinformed. Unless maybe they wired the circuit so that the outlet could later be converted to 240V. Or maybe it's a 20 amp 120V circuit and whoever passed this information on to you just got confused?

Maybe post a photo of the outlet and people here can help you identify it.