Charging@Home

[Mohammed Chowdhury]

I am new Owner of Honda Clarity 2018. I need to charge my car @ home 120 V line ( I think it’s L1 Charge) as I couldn’t wait 3 hours outside for charging car . Should I Plug In the charging cable in the electric socket I have presently in my Garage (From this socket I already run my washing machine) And pls also mention all other precautions I should take care of while charging Clarity at my Home to avoid any malfunctions & danger


Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs

 

[jdonalds]

Yes that's what I did for the first weeks until my 240V charge point was installed. I just plugged straight into an available 120V outlet in the garage. That's all you have to do.

 

[insightman]

Wash OR charge.

 

[Robert_Alabama]

Just to reiterate Insightman's comment.... I wouldn't have anything else of significance operating on the same circuit when charging the car. It's true that the breaker should protect from overloading/overheating, but I wouldn't do it...

 

[KentuckyKen]

The general code rule is to only operate continuous loads at 80% of the rated circuit.
If it’s a 15 Amp circuit you can’t run anything else but the “charger” (technically, the EVSE) since 80% of 15 Amps is 12 Amps and the charger is marked 12 Amps. If it’s a 20 Amp circuit, then 80% of 20 Amps is 16 Amps, so you can run a maximum of 4 additional Amps while charging. Just remember that some types of motors have a much higher starting Amperage than running. On the 20 Amp circuit if the motor draws more than 4 Amps when starting, then it may trip the breaker.
Bottom line, it’s an absolute not to run any other load on the 15 Amp circuit while charging and best not to do so on a 20 Amp circuit (other than a light bulb, or other very low power draw device).

 

[Mohammed Chowdhury]

The general code rule is to only operate continuous loads at 80% of the rated circuit.
If it’s a 15 Amp circuit you can’t run anything else but the “charger” (technically, the EVSE) since 80% of 15 Amps is 12 Amps and the charger is marked 12 Amps. If it’s a 20 Amp circuit, then 80% of 20 Amps is 16 Amps, so you can run a maximum of 4 additional Amps while charging. Just remember that some types of motors have a much higher starting Amperage than running. On the 20 Amp circuit if the motor draws more than 4 Amps when starting, then it may trip the breaker.
Bottom line, it’s an absolute not to run any other load on the 15 Amp circuit while charging and best not to do so on a 20 Amp circuit (other than a light bulb, or other very low power draw device).

Thanks for this informative reply ..Can I covert my 120 v line to 240 easily by myself..Cuz 120v takes 12 hrs to have full charged whereas 240v takes 2.5 hrs only


Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs

 

[JackH]

CAUTION: There will be more than 1 and, usually about 4, 120 volt outlets on a single circuit. A "circuit" is controlled by a "Breaker". The Breaker can either be a 15 amp or 20 amp. If you plug in your L1 into outlet #1 on the Circuit, then a refrigerator in outlet #2, and the washer into outlet #3, on the same circuit, and a 3 devices are running you will overload the circuit.

Converting a 120 to 240 requires new wiring and breaker.

 

[clarityowner12]

Thanks for this informative reply ..Can I covert my 120 v line to 240 easily by myself..Cuz 120v takes 12 hrs to have full charged whereas 240v takes 2.5 hrs only


Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs

If you are asking can you easily do it, the answer is no. If you do not already know how to install a 240v circuit, then I would highly advise you hire someone. Or at the very least do tons of research...just my 2cents

I did install mine myself but I have worked on and around electrical panels my entire life.

 

[Mohammed Chowdhury]

CAUTION: There will be more than 1 and, usually about 4, 120 volt outlets on a single circuit. A "circuit" is controlled by a "Breaker". The Breaker can either be a 15 amp or 20 amp. If you plug in your L1 into outlet #1 on the Circuit, then a refrigerator in outlet #2, and the washer into outlet #3, on the same circuit, and a 3 devices are running you will overload the circuit.

Converting a 120 to 240 requires new wiring and breaker.

My Garage electric outlet is like the pic I attached here....U mean that if I plug in my L1 into first point then I should not use others point at the same time .. Is it ?

Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs

 

[lessismore]

yes, leave a dedicate circuit for your L1 EVSE. dedicated meaning there is nothing else drawing power on the same line from the outlet to your panel (main or sub)

 

[JackH]

My Garage electric outlet is like the pic I attached here....U mean that if I plug in my L1 into first point then I should not use others point at the same time .. Is it ? View attachment 2787


Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs

The point you are missing is that the outlet in your picture is only one an a chain of outlets that are linked together. The 15 amps available applies to all of the outlet in the chain. Not each individually.

Read the info on this link. It will show how the outlets are wired. The picture on the link that shows a "dryer" outlet is what you would need for a L2 charger

http://www.electrical101.com/receptacle-wiring-using-nm-cable.html

 

[clarityowner12]

The point you are missing is that the outlet in your picture is only one an a chain of outlets that are linked together. The 15 amps available applies to all of the outlet in the chain. Not each individually.

Read the info on this link. It will show how the outlets are wired. The picture on the link that shows a "dryer" outlet is what you would need for a L2 charger

http://www.electrical101.com/receptacle-wiring-using-nm-cable.html

Good example, only thing I would add is the diagram for the dryer states 10-3 wire, you will want to run 6-3 wire for EVSE

 

[AnthonyW]

My Garage electric outlet is like the pic I attached here....U mean that if I plug in my L1 into first point then I should not use others point at the same time .. Is it ? View attachment 2787


Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs

-Go to your breaker box and determine which breaker turns off the garage outlet in question. (If your breakers are not labeled see below)
-Turn off that breaker.
-Search around your house and determine what is not working. Be very thorough in your search as the series could follow a path you may not expect. When I did my test I discovered that in addition to the garage outlet, the circuit in question controlled the lights and outlet in my guest bathroom, just one specific outlet in the master bathroom and continued on to my back porchlight and outdoor outlet.
-Once you have mapped this out you can make the determination of what to do next. In my case, I updated my breaker to 20 amps (you must have 12 gauge wiring throughout the entire series) and installed GFCI on all 4 outlets. I wired them all in a line/load series with the garage GFCI being first in the series, it provides protection to all the other GFCI's and lights downstream.

-If your breaker box is not labeled, the easiest thing to do is plug a radio into the garage outlet, turn the radio up loud and then go through your switches on your breaker box until you hear the radio turn off.

 

[Sandroad]

Couple days ago I forgot my Clarity was charging on a 120V outlet in my garage. Turned on my fairly small air compressor and bam!, breaker tripped. There's not much left on a circuit when a car is plugged in!

And, if you need L2 charging speed, hire an electrician to install a 240V outlet. It takes skill, experience, and knowledge of the electric code to do that safely.

 

[capt3450]

Thanks for this informative reply ..Can I covert my 120 v line to 240 easily by myself..Cuz 120v takes 12 hrs to have full charged whereas 240v takes 2.5 hrs only


Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs

Math did not add up right to me, for the OEM charger. Some one says the 12 amp charger should will charge ~ 12 Kwh battery in 1hr (give and take), Clarity FHEV battery is 17 KW why does it take 12 hrs for full charge? and here in no Cal temp. is about 60 at night in my garage and I have separate power panel 20 A for this plug . Do I miss something. Please explain - Thks

 

[DucRider]

Math did not add up right to me, for the OEM charger. Some one says the 12 amp charger should will charge ~ 12 Kwh battery in 1hr (give and take), Clarity FHEV battery is 17 KW why does it take 12 hrs for full charge? and here in no Cal temp. is about 60 at night in my garage and I have separate power panel 20 A for this plug . Do I miss something. Please explain - Thks

12A @ 120V = 1.44 kW, so one hour of charging would (in theory) provide 1.44 kWh. Charging 17 kWh @ 1.44 kW would take 11.8 hours.
Not sure who told you amp = kW, but getting 12 kWh in one hour is charging @ 12kW. That's 100A @ 120V (or 50A @ 240V).

Charging is never 100% efficient, so the power actually making it into the battery is slightly less (the rest becomes heat) and charging times are a little longer.

 

[Richard_arch74]

Thanks for this informative reply ..Can I covert my 120 v line to 240 easily by myself..Cuz 120v takes 12 hrs to have full charged whereas 240v takes 2.5 hrs only


Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs

MC, last I knew a clothes washing machine in a laundry room is required to be connected to a 20 amp circuit ( 12-2 CU wire with ground) with 20 amp rated circuit breaker (which doesn't necessarily mean that's what you have). Depending on the actual location of the outlet it may also be GFCI protected (which is a good thing). Unless you have determined that the washer is on its own dedicated circuit (and make sure you don't operate the washer while you are charging), I would not hook the EVSE to the washer outlet. If you have to ask if "I can convert the circuit" then don't try it! Call a licensed electrician. I'm sure most of us L1 charge from a garage outlet which is required to be 20 amp and GFCI (still have to make sure nothing else with starting load of greater than 4 amps doesn't operate while you charge).

Sent from my SM-G955U using Inside EVs mobile app

 

[capt3450]

12A @ 120V = 1.44 kW, so one hour of charging would (in theory) provide 1.44 kWh. Charging 17 kWh @ 1.44 kW would take 11.8 hours.
Not sure who told you amp = kW, but getting 12 kWh in one hour is charging @ 12kW. That's 100A @ 120V (or 50A @ 240V).

Charging is never 100% efficient, so the power actually making it into the battery is slightly less (the rest becomes heat) and charging times are a little longer.

Thanks DucRider, that's make sense. Read too much ads on Ebay make me stupider and forgot what I've learn in HS.