RV Power Recharging

Ben Washburn

Ben Washburn

Member
Among the many things I know nothing about is electricity; it is also magic to me. But in my garage I have an RV power socket that gives 120 volts with 30 amps, and I know my fusebox has a 30 amp fuse for that dedicated socket. I don't know what does what, but would there be any advantage to using that instead of the household 120? I can buy a simple adapter to use the standard Clarity recharging cord, but I don't know if the 30 amps would hurt it. Or I could buy a level 2 cord rated for 30 amps.

But would it help any? Could it hurt something? Truthfully it's not a big issue right now, overnight is fine but if nothing else it would be nice to know.
 
You can use any 120 volt dedicated circuit of at least 15amps. So a 30 would be fine, but it will still charge at a slow rate.

You could have an electrician make the circuit into a 240 volt 30 amp and then be able to use a level 2 charger. You already have the wiring done. It's a matter of installing a new circuit breaker and the appropriate plug (if you get a plug level 2 charger).

But if you make it a 240v then you won't be able to charge your RV.
 
I have the same thing in my garage. That RV outlet would be fine to use, but no advantage in charging. It's still a 120V circuit, the car will limit the amperage from the outlet. You can use a 15A, 20A, or 30A circuit and if it's 120V, the car will think they are all the same. A level 2 cord won't work in that outlet because it's only 120V, so stick with the car's level 1 charger.
 
The circuit breaker Amperage is the maximum amount the circuit can deliver not whatever that is plugged into it will draw. For continuous use, it’s customary to derate the Amperage by 20%, so that brings it down to 24 Amps which is well above the 12 Amps of the Honda OEM EVSE maximum draw so you are fine to use an adapter and charge away. But as @Sandroad mentioned, it’s still a Level 1 EVSE and will not charge any faster on a 120 volt circuit no matter how high the Amperage of the circuit.

About the possibility of adapting the existing wiring and circuit breaker to accommodate a Level 2 charger-
Assuming your wiring is copper and not aluminum, then you most likely have 10-2 wiring which is 10 gauge twin wire (hot and neutral) with a ground wire. This will not allow any Amperage higher than the existing 30 Amps. Also All EVSEs that I know of other than ChargePoint require a 3 wire plus ground. So without upgrading the wiring, the wire gauge and type limit you to ChargePoint 16 amp Level 2 EVSE since they don’t make a 24 Amp one.

However if your wiring is 10-3 instead of 10-2 and the extra wire is just capped off and not used (possible but not likely) then you could install a 24 Amp Level 2 EVSE from other manufacturers if the length between plug and breaker box is short enough. But in either case you cannot install a full 32 Amp Level 2 EVSE without rewiring since they need a 40 Amp circuit (80% of 40 is 32) and a minimum of 8 gauge wire.

You will have to get a licensed electrician to inspect and tell you what you what’s possible because I am not one, don’t pretend to be one, and haven’t even played one in TV.
 
The ClipperCreek chargers also only use 2 wires and a ground, so you might have options to discuss with a professional. Like KentuckyKen already stated: Have an electrician evaluate your setup, because even if your wiring can be re-purposed, you probably still need to change your breaker from a single to a double.
 
Bas said:
The ClipperCreek chargers also only use 2 wires and a ground, so you might have options to discuss with a professional. Like KentuckyKen already stated: Have an electrician evaluate your setup, because even if your wiring can be re-purposed, you probably still need to change your breaker from a single to a double.
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Thanks @Bas, I did not know the ClipperCreek was also a 2 wire (+grd) EVSE. Glad the ChargePoint has some company on that point. It makes wiring a little cheaper.
At the expense of sounding like my EVSE can beat up your EVSE, is the ClipperCreek Energy Star rated like the ChargePoint? Hey, we ChargePoint owners have to have something we can uniquely brag about now that you took away our 2 wire advantage!
 
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@KentuckyKen, you got me beat on the Energy Star rating. The unit works great though, plus I can add another one in the future and have them intelligently share the same breaker. Now I just need to convince the wive that she also needs an electric car.


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@Bas, we’ll call it a tie and a win-win for both of us.
I’m totally happy with the CP, especially it’s enegry monitoring and easy to set scheduling. And it has a very easy to see green glow around the storage port for the handle that lets me know it’s ready when I pull into the Garage.
My only complaint is that it won’t let me set a specific %SOC to stop at.
 
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@KentuckyKen, I agree on the tie and the win-win. Whatever we install, it is a win. I was initially concerned about the efficiency of charging. But I’m driving this car for 5 months now. and with the TOU charging, the cost of charging becomes almost laughable. I fully charge it every night for about $1.80. And that gets me almost 45 miles (almost all freeway miles) back and forth to work. Even if this was 10% less efficient, it would still be less than 2 bucks. Agreed on the SOC, I wish we could set the max %. Especially since I’m living on the top of a hill, and regularly the ICE comes on while I have 100% charge. A total waste of gas.


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