Hot charging cable on Mach E GT performance

[stevenschwartz]

Hi Folks,

Another newly question. We finally got our level 2 charger installed a couple of weeks ago. Chargepoint. We have a 60 amp breaker and the unit is set to that. The Ford app tells me I am charging at 10 kW. My concern is when a full charge is done the cable gets very warm. Not burn you hot, but really warm. Is this normal? Even when we were doing 110 on the Ford charger the plug got kind of warm, so I guess it is not a shock, but want ot make sure there is nothing wrong. The actual charging goes like a charm.

Steve

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[Vulnox]

Yeah, it's normal for it to get pretty warm at those levels, it's why the cable itself is as thick as it is. Very warm to us can be 110-120 degrees F, but to the cable that's nothing.

While ChargePoint no longer makes it easy, a reason I warn people away from buying their stuff now, you can lower the charging amperage which will cut down on that. It will make charging take longer, but if you are like us and mainly charge overnight you are talking about a maybe hour charge taking an hour and a half (if going from 65% to 80% or something).

This cuts down on heat at all points of the system, your wire from the breaker box, the connection point where the EVSE is wired, etc, and is good for longevity and safety. We only charge at 40 amps and could probably go a bit lower really.

 

[mpshizzle]

So a couple of things here, just so you have a bit of context. A break should never been run continuously at it's rated power. It should have a continuous load of no more than 80% of max (60A breaker should run at no more than 48A).

Good news, the mach e maxes out at 48 amps anyway. Which would be giving you that 10 kilowatt figure. As long as it's not too hot to touch then you should be fine. Warm is normal

 

[stevenschwartz]

Thanks folks! Yes, I believe the Chargepoint automatically sets the output to 48 amps when it is told there is a 60 am breaker.

 

[DevSecOps]

If you have concern, call chargepoint driver support. While I wish they would allow for dynamic amperage adjustments they are some of the best EVSEs out there.

Their support is better than most and while I also believe there's nothing to worry about here, if you ever have an issue they will address it. I had an electrician improperly install an outlet for mine and it cought fire. Chargepoint wasn't at all at fault. I called them for a replacement pigtail just to be on the safe side and they insisted on sending a whole new EVSE for free.

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