Munro on NEMA 14-50

[bwilson4web]

I've seen what this video is about:


Don't set your hair on fire but be aware that home L2, wiring has risks from light-duty cr*p sold in home hardware stores.

Bob Wilson

 

[marshall]

I have seen several posts here on replacing the standard brand receptacle with the heavy duty Hubbell brand.

What I find interesting is that these circuits are already de-rated to 80% and there is still an issue.

I'm I looking at aluminum wiring in the video?

 

[bwilson4web]

I don’t know. There was one swagged wire and some comments about ‘push pin’ that really sounded knarley.

Bob Wilson

 

[electriceddy]

I've seen what this video is about:


Don't set your hair on fire but be aware that home L2, wiring has risks from light-duty cr*p sold in home hardware stores.

Bob Wilson

That "somebody with the right stripes has to get involved" would be the Electrical Safety Inspection departments in conjunction with the equipment approval committees (CSA, ULc, Warnock Hersey and many others) who approve the equipment and the uses.
Unfortunately, the large box stores can only capitalize and improve profits as the EV movement progresses until this situation is dealt with properly.
For permanent installations, hardwire is the best way to go, using copper conductors.
That doesn't help for portable EVSE requirements however (ie campgrounds c/w 14/50 or TT30 receptacles, only choice there is a quality portable EVSE such as this one which I will be purchasing once all the adaptors are available. The price is steep, but quality is important as demonstrated in the above video. It will be some time before enough DC charging facilities are online in locations that are not situated on highways (or within close proximity), so these other locations are an important part of the EV development process.

 

[papab]

It would be nice to know what the failure modes for these failures were.
Are the codes not up to the needs for EV's? Don't the codes assume 100% duty cycle is possible?

Is it installation issues? They (& several of the commenters) noted using proper torque on the wires.

Are these budget Home Depot outlets not really meeting the specs? They can get away with it due to lower duty cycles for typical use.

Is it overuse? Plugging and unpluging many times.

 

[ericy]

It would be nice to know what the failure modes for these failures were.
Are the codes not up to the needs for EV's? Don't the codes assume 100% duty cycle is possible?

Is it installation issues? They (& several of the commenters) noted using proper torque on the wires.

Are these budget Home Depot outlets not really meeting the specs? They can get away with it due to lower duty cycles for typical use.

Is it overuse? Plugging and unpluging many times.

Proper electricians will use a torque wrench when tightening down the screws, but the cheaper ones might still not have sufficient contact, or they might just use a phillips head instead of an allen wrench. The manufacturer of the receptacle should specify the correct torque to be used.

That being said, I have no clue why it is that the cheaper ones from the big box stores are more prone to failure. It would almost be fun to just buy a cheap one and cut it apart to see how it is made, but I wouldn't pay the money for a Hubbell just so I can saw the thing apart.

I happen to have a FLIR for my phone - that lets me to easily check the temperature without actually having to take anything apart, and without any safety concerns. And one would really check the temperature of both the 14-50, but the panel box as a whole.

 

[ericy]

Today I got out my FLIR after charging the car for about 90 minutes at about 10kW, and took a photo of the JuiceBox and the 14-50 plug. According to the camera, the max temp is about 80F.

While I was at it, I also took IR pictures of J1772 and panel box.

The 14-50 is closer to the ceiling, so it would have been hard to just feel it to check the temp. But the breaker and the J1772 were barely warm to the touch.