evse and 16 amp sockets

[Luis Abreu]

Hello guys.

I live in Europe where we have 230V and schuko sockets. I've got a GE socket (https://www.electricautomationnetwo...ren-16a-250vca-general-electric-mscsep-666501) and until now I was using a 10 amp charger.

I've bought a new one and now I'm able to charge at 16 amp. During my first test, I've managed to get 24% in 2h10, but I've noticed that everything (shuko, socket and even the breakers) was getting hot. So, here's my question: when they say that the Rated switching capacity is 16 amp, are we talking about constant 16 amps along several hours?

Thanks.

 

[ENirogus]

Hello guys.

I live in Europe where we have 230V and schuko sockets. I've got a GE socket (https://www.electricautomationnetwo...ren-16a-250vca-general-electric-mscsep-666501) and until now I was using a 10 amp charger.

I've bought a new one and now I'm able to charge at 16 amp. During my first test, I've managed to get 24% in 2h10, but I've noticed that everything (shuko, socket and even the breakers) was getting hot. So, here's my question: when they say that the Rated switching capacity is 16 amp, are we talking about constant 16 amps along several hours?

Thanks.

I do not think so. Very few things draw max draw for hours and hours like an EV does.

 

[Luis Abreu]

I do not think so. Very few things draw max draw for hours and hours like an EV does.

Yep... Unfortunately, regular socket won't do it for continuous 16 amp... I've changed to another socket which can keep up with 16 amp for more than 8 hours and everything is working fine now.

 

[chrunck]

You want a circuit that is at least 20 amps.

 

[SameGuy]

 

[Luis Abreu]

You want a circuit that is at least 20 amps.

Yep and I have that. The thing is that I when I bought the socket, I saw 16 amp on the spec and thought it could handle constant flow of 16 amp and that was not the case. I've changed the socket to a new one and heat dissipation is gone...

 

[F14Scott]

First, I'll say I don't know how things work in Europe, so maybe I'm giving bad advice, here.

So, it sounds like you have 16A (continuous draw) EVSE and were plugging it into a 16A rated wall socket, and everything was getting hot: the plug, socket, and breaker. Your last post said you changed the socket, and now you don't notice the heat.

Some questions/comments:

A) As others have noted, the circuit into which you plug your EVSE should be bigger than the EVSE's draw. Code in the USA is for the EVSE to be a maximum of 80% of the circuit. In your case, you'd need a 20A circuit to meet that standard.

2) When you changed the socket, did you change to a socket that was higher rated? If you didn't, your still in the same, unsafe boat. If you did, that's better, but

d) Upgrading only the 16A socket means the rest of the circuit (the wire and the breaker) are still only rated for 16A. If they were heating up before, there's no reason they shouldn't be heating up now.

My final question, then, is, in addition to changing the outlet, did you also upgrade the breaker and upgrade the wiring (or at least confirm the wiring is rated for the increased Amperage).

In the USA, you can't have, say, a 30A outlet on a 20A breaker, trusting the breaker to trip and save the house. Similarly, you can't have a 50A breaker leading to a 15A outlet, because a fault would ignite the outlet or the wire inside the wall. Everything must match; the outlet's and the breaker's matched capacities help prevent an overload.

One of my favorite Murphy's Laws of Technology is, and this shows my age a little, "The $400 TV tube will blow to protect the $0.10 fuse."

 

[Luis Abreu]

Hello.

Thanks for the detailed answer.

So, it sounds like you have 16A (continuous draw) EVSE and were plugging it into a 16A rated wall socket, and everything was getting hot: the plug, socket, and breaker. Your last post said you changed the socket, and now you don't notice the heat.
"

Yes, that was it: I've bought a new EVSE which can charge up to 16 A (the previous one would only be able to pull 10 A). After a couple of hours, everything was hot.

Even though I'm far from being an expert, I'm under the impression that the rest of the circuit should be ok. When I hired the eletrician for the initial setup, I've made sure he used 6 mm copper wires which should be able to handle up to (at least) 32 A single phase in the future (this would mean changing the current breakers, of course). What I didn't know at the time was that the regular schucko sockets can only handle 16 A peaks (not continuous draw) and that's why everything was heating up. Unfortunately, going from 16 A to, say 30 A socket was not an option because 16 A is the maximum available for schuko sockets (at least, that was what I was told).

So, I've replace the 16 A socket for a new one which can withstand at least 8 hours of continuous current and everything is working propertly now (after several hours, temperature is normal - warm but really far from hot). Here's a link to the socket I've bought (it's in Portuguese, but translator can easily translate it and there's a circuit scheme below which is similar to what I have here):

https://mauser.pt/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=302-3328

Btw, here's a picture of my previous setup with the 16 A regular socket (giving you an idea about the remaining components used on the circuit - btw, I've got another breaker on the main breaker board inside my appartment). I've only replaced the socket with a new one. The breakers are still the same.

 

[pictsidhe]

First, I'll say I don't know how things work in Europe, so maybe I'm giving bad advice, here.

So, it sounds like you have 16A (continuous draw) EVSE and were plugging it into a 16A rated wall socket, and everything was getting hot: the plug, socket, and breaker. Your last post said you changed the socket, and now you don't notice the heat.

Some questions/comments:

A) As others have noted, the circuit into which you plug your EVSE should be bigger than the EVSE's draw. Code in the USA is for the EVSE to be a maximum of 80% of the circuit. In your case, you'd need a 20A circuit to meet that standard.

2) When you changed the socket, did you change to a socket that was higher rated? If you didn't, your still in the same, unsafe boat. If you did, that's better, but

d) Upgrading only the 16A socket means the rest of the circuit (the wire and the breaker) are still only rated for 16A. If they were heating up before, there's no reason they shouldn't be heating up now.

My final question, then, is, in addition to changing the outlet, did you also upgrade the breaker and upgrade the wiring (or at least confirm the wiring is rated for the increased Amperage).

In the USA, you can't have, say, a 30A outlet on a 20A breaker, trusting the breaker to trip and save the house. Similarly, you can't have a 50A breaker leading to a 15A outlet, because a fault would ignite the outlet or the wire inside the wall. Everything must match; the outlet's and the breaker's matched capacities help prevent an overload.

One of my favorite Murphy's Laws of Technology is, and this shows my age a little, "The $400 TV tube will blow to protect the $0.10 fuse."

You can put a 30A outlet on a 20A breaker.

One of my peeves at work is people trying to fix a blown fuse, tripped breaker or overload by going large. So when I come along, not only is the original problem still there, but they have also destroyed something that was being protected. Usually an expensive something.