Burned out wall receptacle and plug. ugh (JuiceBox 40)

[Fixbear]

It’s worse than that. A breaker is supposed to carry it’s rated load, not trip at it.

This is true, but the thermo part is a little over 1.1, Now it you have a breaker below the one that is tripping, and it is near capacity or has loose connections, that added heat will trip it as well. With continuous high amperage loads, I like to, air gap the breaker. Providing there is room in the panel.

 

[bellyer]

Same thing happened to me with my Grizzl-E plugged into a 14-50 NEMA. Posted about the same situation happening to me here - Faint burning smell while charging? | MachEforum - Ford Mustang Mach-E Forum, News, Owners, Discussions . It is pretty scary that this is happening more and more. If only there were standards being put out there for the type of equipment being used for the installs by electricians.

 

[Fixbear]

Here's how it went for me on that one lol....

Out of curiosity, what charger?

 

[dtbaker61]

40, reading everything here I'll be dropping down to 32 to be safe.

exactly.
this is WHY the Ford Mobile charger (using plug tail) is designed such that it cannot put thru more than 32a. Designed to be safe with home-grade outlets as a 'worst case' existing outlet.

This is why the angst over 'faster' home charging makes very little sense to me.

at 32 amps, even if you delay charging start to 11pm if you are in a time-of-use region, you should get 5-6 hours of charge nightly if you need it. How many people drive MORE than 100 miles per day?

 

[Fixbear]

Same thing happened to me with my Grizzl-E plugged into a 14-50 NEMA. Posted about the same situation happening to me here - Faint burning smell while charging? | MachEforum - Ford Mustang Mach-E Forum, News, Owners, Discussions . It is pretty scary that this is happening more and more. If only there were standards being put out there for the type of equipment being used for the installs by electricians.

There are code standards for EVSE equipment. And they are well considered before they go into the code. It takes 3 years of data, research and panel arbitration. Then printing and release. The problem is that many people installing them are not aggressive at researching the code before they do the work. And the code book has escalated the cost. I used to buy one every 3 years and read it. First one I bought was $12.00. Today they are in the hundreds. And NFPA doesn't give out anything without a fee. Local Guild's have classes every code change. Again, a fee. Designed more for those who don't like to read.

 

[devmach-e]

exactly.
this is WHY the Ford Mobile charger (using plug tail) is designed such that it cannot put thru more than 32a. Designed to be safe with home-grade outlets as a 'worst case' existing outlet.

This is why the angst over 'faster' home charging makes very little sense to me.

at 32 amps, even if you delay charging start to 11pm if you are in a time-of-use region, you should get 5-6 hours of charge nightly if you need it. How many people drive MORE than 100 miles per day?

My commute to work is 96 miles roundtrip. All it takes to go over 100 miles in a day is to go out to lunch a few miles away, or run some errands (bank, shopping, etc).

That said, I typically plug-in when the car gets below 20%, and I charge to 90%. I’ve never had an issue where charging overnight needed more than about 10 hours on a 32A EVSE. I’m lucky that the off-peak rate for my utility is from 10pm to 2pm the next day. If the off-peak window was narrower, I’d just plug-in every night.

 

[Scooby24]

I tried to warn some of ya'll.....I got yelled at for it...

https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/psa-buy-an-industrial-14-50-receptacle.8348/

 

[Howard]

My daily commute is 160 miles round trip (5 days/week) so I charge every night. I bought a Grizzl E classic charger preset for 40 amps. I had a 50 amp dedicated breaker installed along with 6 awg copper wire. I have my charger plugged into an Eaton 14-50R receptacle. I purchased the Eaton CHU1S (receptacle was pre-installed in box). Anyone heard any issues with the Eaton receptacles? Only time I unplug the charger from the receptacle is to inspect the plug and receptacle monthly. Just curious. Thanks.

 

[MachLovin]

I tried to warn some of ya'll.....I got yelled at for it...

https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/psa-buy-an-industrial-14-50-receptacle.8348/

dude you’re the man! Appreciate this info. I honestly didn’t even think to change the Amp setting on my charger itself. But it makes that I should t be keeping it at 40 Amps for continuous charging. And, you’ve prompted to look into whether I have an industrial grade outlet or a commercial grade one.

 

[Maquis]

There are code standards for EVSE equipment. And they are well considered before they go into the code. It takes 3 years of data, research and panel arbitration. Then printing and release. The problem is that many people installing them are not aggressive at researching the code before they do the work. And the code book has escalated the cost. I used to buy one every 3 years and read it. First one I bought was $12.00. Today they are in the hundreds. And NFPA doesn't give out anything without a fee. Local Guild's have classes every code change. Again, a fee. Designed more for those who don't like to read.

Online access to NFPA standard is still free. But you can’t download or print.

 

[OON7]

I tried to warn some of ya'll.....I got yelled at for it...

https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/psa-buy-an-industrial-14-50-receptacle.8348/

Hate to say I read it at the time and ignored the good advice. Funny enough the picture you shared in that thread is basically identical to the damage on mine on front and back.

 

[OON7]

Out of curiosity, what charger?

Juice box 40

 

[cmsmith1977]

My 14-50 plug had the plastic on the plug melt using the 30AMP charger from Ford. Replaced the plug with EATON brand and upgraded to a Grizlee 48AMP charger.

 

[agoldman]

Wild West of EV Charging at home. These are all examples of possible fires. Well now we know. Heavy duty wall plugs are generally only available at online companies like Amazon and some electrical outlets. I ordered my Hubbell's at Amazon. So if you go locally, you'll get only the cheap receptacles. I'm not convinced that the JuiceBox 40 wasn't defective and surged. In any case, make sure nothing flammable is near the outlet, and that the Amp rating is properly done with quality rated wires, commercial high end plug, and lower amps proportional to the weakest link in the chain. I'm still nervous about charging inside the garage overnight. I wish it was away from the house, but that's not possible where I live.

 

[vortix]

My car charges when I am sleeping, so I really don't want any surprises.

A few things to consider

Get a cheap IR temp gun (less than $20) and check the temps of your breakers in the fuse box, 14-50 plug, even the CCS plug going into the car. Note the temp rise after an hour. (20-30 degrees? over ambient) Check the rise every few months, if the rise is more, you are headed for a problem.

Even the 6 gauge wire gets perceptibly warm over time. Think about that.

Warm is "ok" Hot is never "ok"

After a year of running my L2 at 40A, I'm more comfortable running my charger de-rated to 32A instead of 40A (which is the max continuous for a 50A circuit). The charge time add going from 40-32 is insignificant because of when I charge, but the heat reduction is significant.

Great advice, thanks for sharing.

These types of issues are precisely why I had my electrician use a high quality Eaton 60A breaker and 4 gauge wire through PVC conduit connected to a 100A Eaton safety shutoff switch with 60A fuses, hard wired to a commercial grade ClipperCreek HCS-60 EVSE that runs at 48A. Some of the components are a bit warm to the touch, but never hot. This setup also provides future proofing in case I ever want to add a second EVSE or if I have a future EV that can feed power back into the house.

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