EVSE Recommendations

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Kendalf said:
Hi Alan,

You're the only other person I know who's talked about owning an OpenEVSE. I built mine (from their kit, not from scratch) a few weeks ago and spent some time working with Chris on troubleshooting an extreme temperature issue. Ended up replacing the LCD board which has the temperature sensor. However, I'm still getting what I think are higher than normal temperatures. Here's a graph of the temperature readings (in Celsius) for this past week:
View attachment 537
The rounded humps show the EVSE warming up and cooling down over the course of the day, while the flatter plateaus show overnight charge sessions. A couple sharp peaks for quick daytime charge sessions at high current. The temps just seem a lot higher than expected, esp. since the ambient temperature in the garage that the EVSE is located in has been peaking at less than 70 F (20 degrees C) and dropping to about 10 C at night.

Curious if the one you built has the temperature sensor and if you've set up data logging on your OpenEVSE?
Click to expand...
I haven’t really noticed but I had not been looking. I tested for unsafe temperature levels for a bit and then stopped looking quite a while ago. My unit doesn’t have the built in temp monitor on the LCD so I added on a temp module later. I never bothered to calebrate it too closely as I just wanted to for the unsafe temp/shutdown feature.

That curve looks suspiciously like the temp fluctuation of something that gets hit by a sunbeam part of the day. Is it near a window? You can see a pretty big swing on things that get sun exposure compared to ambient.
 
Timothy said:
Indoors or Outdoors? I had assumed we would put ours in the garage because it would be more protected (an easier to wire). Our cars are almost always parked outside the garage though. I didn't see this as a problem as long as the cable was long enough to reach outside. I am assuming the garage door with its thick rubber gasket could safely close on the cable. However, our neighbors have theirs in the garage in the same situation and now find it annoying to always need to open the garage door to charge. Do folks have any thoughts/advice on this?
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A neighbor with a Volt leaves a small plant stand just outside their garage to set the connector on and there it sits (not very noticeably) while they're away.
Until the EVSE shakes hands with a vehicle there's no dangerous voltage present.
 
AlanSqB said:
That curve looks suspiciously like the temp fluctuation of something that gets hit by a sunbeam part of the day. Is it near a window? You can see a pretty big swing on things that get sun exposure compared to ambient.
Click to expand...
The EVSE is mounted inside my garage on a wall that gets Eastern sun exposure in the morning, so the curve does reflect the wall heating up and cooling down over the course of the day. What's surprising is the actual peak temperature indicated by the curve, as it seems significantly higher than what can be caused by the environment. For example, at 16:00 on Feb 27 the sensor indicated a temp of over 37 °C (99 °F), while the ambient temperature inside the garage that day peaked at about 20°C (68 °F). The temperature of the surface of the wall that the EVSE is mounted on certainly didn't feel anywhere close to that warm. And earlier that week when the lowest temp sensor readings dropped to about 21°C close to sunrise, the ambient temp in the garage had dropped to something like 10°C (50°F).

My next step is to put a separate temp sensor in there to check correlations. While the rise and fall of the temp line seems accurate, what I suspect is off is the actual temp calibration. I certainly hope that's the case, as if I'm already getting close to a 60°C temp while fast charging during the day when the temp is 20°C, the device will certainly throttle when I'm charging when the ambient temp is 38°C.

I'm just curious what kind of temperatures you see with the module you installed later, and how you are monitoring for unsafe temperatures?
 
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The temperature on my Jekayla L2 40 Amp charger ranges from 22 C when not charging to 26 C when charging. I ran #4 wire which will handle up to 85 Amps(looking to the future) so the wire runs cold. Just wondering if the wire size to your charger may be too small and causing heat. I know some chargers sense the temperature on the plug and will shut down if it gets too high.
 
bpratt said:
The temperature on my Jekayla L2 40 Amp charger ranges from 22 C when not charging to 26 C when charging. I ran #4 wire which will handle up to 85 Amps(looking to the future) so the wire runs cold. Just wondering if the wire size to your charger may be too small and causing heat. I know some chargers sense the temperature on the plug and will shut down if it gets too high.
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Thanks for the input on something to look into. I can confirm that I have 8-gauge copper wiring for the 14-50 outlet, and the cable for the plug to the EVSE is what came with the EVSE and certainly looks adequately sized. What's more, I'm only charging at the lowest 10Amp setting overnight, and the issue with higher than expected temps occurs even when the EVSE is not connected to the car. The temp sensor is attached behind the LCD display of the EVSE.
 
I am sure a lot of the folks on this forum are familiar with this site, but I thought this table found at this link was particularly on point with some of the discussions on this thread.

For Honda Clarity Plug-In:

Vehicle Acceptance Rate (kW) ...........6.6
Battery Size (kWh) ..........................17
Level 1 PCS-15 1.4kW .....................12
Level 2 SCH-15 1.4kW .....................2
Level 2 SCH-20 3.8kW .....................4.5
Level 2 SCH-25 4.8kW .....................3.5
Level 2 SCH-30 5.8kW .....................3
Level 2 EV-40 7.7kW .......................2.5
Level 2 EV-50 9.6kW .......................2.5
Level 2 EV-60 11.5kW .....................2.5
 
Mckersive said:
I am sure a lot of the folks on this forum are familiar with this site, but I thought this table found at this link was particularly on point with some of the discussions on this thread.

For Honda Clarity Plug-In:

Vehicle Acceptance Rate (kW) ...........6.6
Battery Size (kWh) ..........................17
Level 1 PCS-15 1.4kW .....................12
Level 2 SCH-15 1.4kW .....................2
Level 2 SCH-20 3.8kW .....................4.5
Level 2 SCH-25 4.8kW .....................3.5
Level 2 SCH-30 5.8kW .....................3
Level 2 EV-40 7.7kW .......................2.5
Level 2 EV-50 9.6kW .......................2.5
Level 2 EV-60 11.5kW .....................2.5
Click to expand...

My SCH-30 5.8 kW charger takes considerably less than 3 hours to charge. Closer to 2.5.
 
In 2016 I bought a Level 2 LCS 25P from Clipper Creek, and it is perfect for my use. I am very happy with it.

One of the features which I appreciated when I bought it was its portability if ever I move to another place, I can just unplug it from the NEMA 14-30, and take it with me.

LCS 25P, 25 foot charging cable, NEMA 14-30

I also took advantage of the tax credit of 30% of the purchase and installation of the charging station
 
I like my ChargePoint because of its WiFi link and app that lets me track energy consumption. Save some money and go hard wire.
1 No extra money on plug/box/faceplate and NEMA rated weather enclosure if mounted outside.
2 Up front cost is up to $50 less.
3 Easily portable if moving. Just flip up the three contact levers and remove the supply wire. (Turn off breaker first!!)
4 Cover exposed wire ends you are leaving at old house w wire nuts. Check local codes for correct termination ( will you have to terminate into a box?).

As a caution, do NOT use a plug in for power in an exposed location without protection from weather (rain). Check your local codes.
A 30 or 32 amp charger requires 8 gauge wire and a 40 amp breaker unless run is extraordinary long. Again, check your local codes. If work meets code you can sleep soundly and not have any insurance worries.
Charge on and laugh when you pass a gas station.
 
Chargepoint says it works with amazon alexa. Does anyone know if it also works with Google home/assistant? Thanks.
 
Debating between the Juicebox 40pro for $950CAD with discount since it’s 40A for future EVs, is well reviewed and has wifi and app support and the Sun Country Highway Clipper Creek EV40p from Costco for $850CAD since it’s commercial quality and slightly cheaper.
 
Hobbesgsr said:
Debating between the Juicebox 40pro for $950CAD with discount since it’s 40A for future EVs, is well reviewed and has wifi and app support and the Sun Country Highway Clipper Creek EV40p from Costco for $850CAD since it’s commercial quality and slightly cheaper.
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ChargePoints are on sale for $549 for hard wire. It’s 32 amp and has a great app and is well reviewed. That’s a savings of $300 to $400! And you only go down 8 amps. That’s a lot of $ just for 20% faster future charging. Just saying...
 
Our first juicebox pro 40 failed after a few weeks. After two months the second one dropped the wifi connection showing a flashing blue light indicating a fault in the internal GFI (same as first unit). It self corrected after 1/2 hour. I worry about it now.

The company responded to me saying this is normal behavior.
 
Of those two, I would go with the Clipper Creek. Maybe google some forums for articles from 3 or so years ago regarding that other one to see why I wouldn’t personally buy one.
 
I would also recommend the Chargepoint EVSE, although in Canada they are more pricey, but currently our kind government gives us $500 off the price if you have an electric car. The Chargepoint app gives you lots of data which is interesting as well as scheduling for "time of use" pricing, and reminding you to plug in if you forget to do so. A friend of mine has had it mounted on the outside of his house through the winter and it has had no issues.
Chargepoint 2.webp
Chargepoint 3.webp
 
KentuckyKen said:
ChargePoints are on sale for $549 for hard wire. It’s 32 amp and has a great app and is well reviewed. That’s a savings of $300 to $400! And you only go down 8 amps. That’s a lot of $ just for 20% faster future charging. Just saying...
Click to expand...

That's US pricing, in Canada it's about C$1,000ish. Amazon.ca has the 25' plug-in for $879 right now although it's out of stock and in Ontario you get 50% back which is not bad.

Edit: Just looking closer at the description of the ChargePoint on Amazon and it said it has a NEMA 6-50 outlet, I've been reading other EVSE posts and most of the time, it mentioned NEMA 14-50 (like the JuiceBox), can someone explain the difference and I guess when I have the electrician come in for the install, they will have to know which one they need to install in my garage (depending on if I am getting the ChargePoint 6-50 or JuiceBox 14-50)? And if I move to a different house with a different outlet, I need some kind of adapter or do I need to buy a new EVSE?
 
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There's a good description of the difference between NEMA 6-50 and 14-50 at this link (for welders): http://www.millerwelds.com/resource...discussions/10522-nema-14-50-verses-nema-6-50

Basically NEMA 6-50 has 3 wires - 2 phases (for the 240v) and ground, whereas NEMA 14-50 has 4 wires - 2 phases plus neutral and a ground.

The advantage of a NEMA 14-50 is that you have both 240v and 110v.

I have a Chargepoint level 2 charger which has a NEMA 6-50 plug on it so that's what I had wired.
 
Thanks. Just been reading more about this.

Most posts mentioned the 14-50 is more common and can be used at RV park (not sure if I will ever do that). Does it make sense to install a 4 wires cable instead of 3 wires and just have a 6-50 outlet at the end? This way if down the road the ChargePoint died and I have to get another EVSE and it happens to have 14-50 plug, I can just change the 6-50 outlet to a 14-50 outlet and be done with it instead of having to install a new 4-wires cables for the 14-50 plug. Am I making any sense?
 
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