220v meltdown

Fast Eddie B

Fast Eddie B

Well-Known Member
You may recall I’ve been occasionally, but fairly regularly, charging my Clarity using the stock charging cable, but with adapters to allow it to take 220v. I only do it when I can benefit from the roughly doubled charge rate. Absolutely no problems so far doing so.

Yesterday I made a round trip to our GA home, and used my adapter cable to plug into my 50A RV receptacle. I’ve done it maybe a dozen times before to no ill effect. And this time it dutifully charged the Clarity to 44 miles EV range in about 4 hours for the trip back to TN.

But as I unplugged, all was not well. One “hot” prong was literally quite hot - enough to start melting both the plug and the receptacle:


50428612303_a6805aaf31.jpg



50432552582_3a715a517f.jpg



I’m back in TN now, and will inspect the plug connections later. Next trip to GA I’ll inspect and replace the receptacle. I strongly suspect a loose or compromised connection of some sort, maybe due to corrosion or wear. I’ll report back on what I find.
 
@Fast Eddie B ,

This is interesting because with the Honda EVSE you are operating WAY below the capacity of the NEMA 14-50 outlet.
This failure, while running at 12 Amps with an outlet / plug that's rated for 50 Amps (40 continuous).

I concur that you were doing nothing wrong, and likely had a faulty connection either in the plug or the recptacle.
 
It definitely smells like a loose connection at the receptacle. There appears to be more heat damage at the receptacle as opposed to the plug. Another possibility is repeatedly plugging in and unplugging, particularly when there is a load, despite the, often ignored, label above the receptacle.

Have you used the outlet for an RV recently? If so, were any substantial loads applied?
 
Thanks to you both. Good point about what should be an easy load for a 50A receptacle. And the Clarity is the only thing that’s ever been plugged into that receptacle.
 
Keep us posted, I also have a NEMA 14-50 outlet in my garage and use a NEMA 14-50 to NEMA 6-20/5-20 custom adapter to get the plug to match the plug on my Honda evse. So far, it barely gets warm at any of the connections while I'm charging my Clarity.
 
Mowcowbell said:
Keep us posted, I also have a NEMA 14-50 outlet in my garage and use a NEMA 14-50 to NEMA 6-20/5-20 custom adapter to get the plug to match the plug on my Honda evse. So far, it barely gets warm at any of the connections while I'm charging my Clarity.
Click to expand...

I'd say the over/under is you'll check the plug/outlet a minimum of 5 times next time its charging. lol
 
Mowcowbell said:
Keep us posted, I also have a NEMA 14-50 outlet in my garage and use a NEMA 14-50 to NEMA 6-20/5-20 custom adapter to get the plug to match the plug on my Honda evse. So far, it barely gets warm at any of the connections while I'm charging my Clarity.
Click to expand...

Today I had numerous short trips from our TN home. “Quick charged” @ 220v in between using my generator-style receptacle and adapter. Not even slightly warm anywhere.

47925122988_d96f2917d8.jpg
 
Last edited:
Wait, you’re using the 120V charger provided with the car, plugging it into a 220V, and it’s charging at a 220V speed?


Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
 
turtleturtle said:
Wait, you’re using the 120V charger provided with the car, plugging it into a 220V, and it’s charging at a 220V speed?


Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
Click to expand...
Yes, I am running my Honda OEM evse on 240v power. The Honda evse was made by Panasonic for worldwide use. On 240v, it will charge the Clarity battery from empty to full in about 5 hours. It is the same unit supplied with the Toyota Prius Prime.
 
Well, obvious problem is obvious!

50437263642_159249a907.jpg


Pretty sure I had snugged everything down nice and tight, but apparently not tight enough. I also did not care for the proximity of the ground screw threads to the adjacent terminal and trimmed off about 1/16".

Everything tightened down and cleaned up now, and it appears the damage on this end is just cosmetic.

50437269542_9ef03b5b99.jpg


Next trip to GA I'll examine the receptacle to see if it can be saved as well. Probably best bet there is to just go ahead and replace if on general principle.
 
Last edited:
Thanks. I went ahead and bought a new receptacle - less than I thought at under $9.

I really think the plug is fine.
 
If you still have the box the plug came in, it should have an extra blade in it that you could use to change out the one that got hot (discolored). Then you should be good as new.
 
Robert_Alabama said:
If you still have the box the plug came in, it should have an extra blade in it that you could use to change out the one that got hot (discolored). Then you should be good as new.
Click to expand...

You, sir, are a genius!

Look what I just found!

50439702796_ce6fe618c8_w.jpg


Never would have thought of that. Good thing I never throw anything away!
 
I kept mine, too. Although I just did a quick search and came up empty. If I ever need it, it may take me some time to locate it... but it is here somewhere :)
 
Robert_Alabama said:
I kept mine, too. Although I just did a quick search and came up empty. If I ever need it, it may take me some time to locate it... but it is here somewhere :)
Click to expand...

Bins are the secret of my success!

50441276446_6482273750_z.jpg


I had zero recollection of extra plug parts, but the arrow points to the bin where I’d likely toss such things - “MISC AC PARTS” - and sure enough! YAY!
 
Last edited:
Well first I didnt realize this could be done, so kudos for learning that. Certainly would come in handy for me since I take the car to campgrounds etc with some frequency.

So I guess the benefit of your current setup is faster than 120v charging but cheaper bc dont need to buy a dedicated 220v charger @ $600 or whatever for that location since you say that receptacle is only used for the car? I'm spoiled in that I still use the 220v home charger that came with my Fit EV lease.
 
JFon101231 said:
Well first I didnt realize this could be done, so kudos for learning that. Certainly would come in handy for me since I take the car to campgrounds etc with some frequency.

So I guess the benefit of your current setup is faster than 120v charging but cheaper bc dont need to buy a dedicated 220v charger @ $600 or whatever for that location since you say that receptacle is only used for the car? I'm spoiled in that I still use the 220v home charger that came with my Fit EV lease.
Click to expand...

Well, that 50A RV receptacle is where we can hook up an RV, but our current travel trailer can only use 110v @ 30A, so we use that receptacle. I'd say with 220v the charge rate is slightly more than doubled. 90% of the time we run around during the day and recharge fully at night on 110v. It's rare we have multiple outings during the day exceeding our EV range, but on our quick turnarounds to our GA house it does come in handy. That said, with gas prices and our electric rate where they are, its hardly the end of the world to do some miles on gas @ about 42 mpg. We just like the idea of running on electric as much as possible.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top