IHW,

I am using a 50ft extension with 20A capabilities to charge mine right now. I got mine WED and will probably opt for an electrican to come in an install a dedicated outside outlet. Right now the closest one is about 40 feet from the car. It looks like the system is drawing like 12A so your cord should be fine. I think the suggestion against is based on poor judgement on the users and lack of understanding of how current gauge etc can cause fires in the ex-cord.

Thanks,
Gordon

 

It is also based on voltage drop over distances so money is well spent on a 12Ga cord. There is some fixed overhead so if you have an opportunity to upgrade to 240v it will be more efficient.

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

 

I have been using an extension chord for about a year and a half fine. Lately, where the FIAT charger and extension chord connect has become quite hot. Last night one of the main plug prongs (?) melted into the extension chord. Separating the extension chord from the charge unit pulled out the prong that had the extension chord plug melt onto it.
What I don't understand is about 18 months no problems and now this. I will be going to my dealer tomorrow after work.
If anyone can chime in on this please do. I will check before going to the dealer.
Thanks.

 

I ran a 100-foot, contractor-grade 10-gauge extension cord to charge my Volt for 2 years, 120v/12 amp. Never had any issues.

If you use an extension, don't cheap out.
Spend the money for a robust cord that's designed for heavy duty use.

A consumer grade extension is asking asking for trouble.

I have been using an extension chord for about a year and a half fine. Lately, where the FIAT charger and extension chord connect has become quite hot. Last night one of the main plug prongs (?) melted into the extension chord. Separating the extension chord from the charge unit pulled out the prong that had the extension chord plug melt onto it.
What I don't understand is about 18 months no problems and now this. I will be going to my dealer tomorrow after work.
If anyone can chime in on this please do. I will check before going to the dealer.
Thanks.

Post a pic of the cord.
It sounds to me like it added a lot of resistance, and eventually melted....which could indicate it wasn't designed for the load you were placing on it.

 

To completely eliminate problems, pick up a new (i.e. clean and reliable contacts) 10 or 12 gauge extension cord. Clean the blades on the charge unit plug with Scotchbrite pad or fine sandpaper, and then plug them together. If it's outside, use some electrical tape to seal the gap at the extension cord connection, and just keep an eye on that. Should be fine. For the extension cord, a Harbor Freight store may be the cheapest place to get the cord. Their cords are not bad for uses like this (i.e. not constantly dragged around and beat up). It's the connectors that fail on extension cords (unless they get cut), so just take care there.

 

Charging with extension cord for 2.5 years. No problems here.

 

Bad connection in main plug from charger (unlikely) or female side of extension cord (likely)... increased resistance from bad connection caused heat, worsened connection, more resistance, more heat.. melted rubber/plastic.

I would NOT recommend harbor freight if you are continuously an extension cord near it's max... you cannot see the connections inside, and often the China junk is not soldered and crimped correctly... you only find this out when stuff overheats and melts.

Get a cord, put some top quality connectors on it, the heavy duty screw/clamp terminals from home despot. If you buy an extension cord, the "medical type" where the plug/socket is clear and you can visually inspect the internal connection between the wire and the plug/socket.

Greg

 

I wonder if some homeowner's insurance policy might decline a fire claim if an extension cord is used against warnings in the manual? Also, wonder about the 120V EVSE's that are modified to operate on 240V?

 

IMO, the 10 and 12 gauge extension cords currently in the Harbor Freight line up are of fine quality. I use them at full capactity all the time, and the contacts stay cool. I would not say that about their 14-18 gauge cords however. Those are somewhat cheaply constructed. No matter what cord is used, always check the connections to make sure they are staying cool under full load. Many a fire has been started with space heaters on extension cords.

 

This totally works, but it must be a "heavy duty" cord rated for 20 amps. Do yourself a favor and buy a new one, they aren't that expensive. Also, you must​ have a well grounded outlet. If the charger does not work, that is likely the problem.

 

I bought this cable:
Coleman Cable 02687 10/3 Vinyl Outdoor Extension Cord with Lighted End, 25-Foot

And it is seriously way too heavy.. its twice the thickness and weight of what the charger cable is.. at least seems that way. I think 10guage is overkill, but went with overkill thinking that its safer on that side of things.

If you are in the Bay area, I'll sell it to you half price

 

Interested!

 

Better to be safe than sorry when it comes to EV charging loads. Running a circuit at 80% for hours on end will find any faults... including corrosion in the contacts of the breaker itself! At our place I had to clean the contacts in the breaker (1950s Wadsworth stuff, the contacts were accessible from the back), and at my in laws I had to replace the breaker. In both cases you could hear the breaker arcing internally, and they were getting super hot to the touch

-J

 

I was told not to use an extension cord as it may overheat because of the current is very high

 

That's because most people have no idea what they're doing and will use a cheap cord. Not to mention the variable of where the connection will wind up...in a puddle, perhaps?

From a liability POV, a carmaker is going to recommend a wall plug.

But even that could be an issue in a home with older wiring, as stated above.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

Tonight I tried to charge my car for the first time but I also have to use an extension cord until I can get a dedicated Level 2 Charging Station installed. It didn't work, I think because I plugged the connector into the car before plugging the plug into the wall.

My question is is this a sufficiently heavy duty cord for this? Thanks

http://a.co/d/4KHH7hy

 

It should be ok. You look at the amp rating f the cord. This one says 10ft and 15 amp. Double check, because I only glanced at the link. Extension cords should show amp rating for length, the longer it is the fewer amps it can handle.
A level one 120v charger should top out at 12 amp.

 

Good point, which reminds me it seems like your kitchen is closer to your driveway than your dryer, so if it was ever wired for an electric stove, you might be able to add a 240V outlet by your driveway for not much more than a 120. Also note where your breaker box is, since it's even easier to wire 240 from it.

As for "breaking your car", as far as anyone knows, you're using the stock charger from a properly-grounded kitchen outlet. Nobody will know or be able to tell if you use an extension cord, but there's no point in getting one if you can add an outlet for almost the same cost.

If you have any public chargers near your usual routes they give you about 25mph. There are 4 to 6 free ones on my usual routes that I now use almost exclusively (no charging at home & rarely at work). I just catch up on my phone while I wait, & it's nearly always done before I am!

There are several phone aps that show where the chargers are, & Plugshare is my favorite, but I've found chargers that don't show there OR on my Chargepoint ap, so keep your eyes peeled.

I don't see how canals affect charging.

 

So, yes, you could install a level two charger on your wall outside. But why? You don’t need rapid charging, so no need to spend several hundred dollars plus the additional electrician costs when you can just pay the electrician to put a 120v in close enough not to need a $120 extension cord.

 

My only suggestion is that if you're going to bother to have a socket installed at all, it should be a 240V one. It doubles the speed of the OEM EVSE. It facilitates installing an even faster L2 station if you ever decide to do so. And installing a 14-50 outlet, an adapter can easily be broken out into two very stiff 120V circuits if you ever needed them. It really not going to cost much more to run a 240V circuit. But it offers a lot of advantages in terms of EV charging.

ga2500ev

 

I suppose a permanently mounted charger is harder to steal. Maybe less likely to become unplugged, too.

Either way, make sure the outlet is higher than flood level!

 

I hereby second the suggestion above:

Find the cost to "have the electrician wire in 240 v capability (ideally 40 amp dedicated circuit to be most future proof) but only hook up a 120v outlet to an out door site close to where the car is parked.", at eye height, if possible, & compare that to the cost & slight inconvenience of an extension cord.

I'd go 1 little step more & ask for cost to max it out (50A?), since cars can handle more & more current: Spark 3.3kW, Fiat 6.6, Golf 7.2, next gen rumor 11kW.

If theft is an issue with a portable charger, & you don't want to park on the cord to discourage that, JuiceBox has a lock for $40.

 

My points in #35 above are:

A) If it doesn't cost much more than an extension cord, a120V outlet (pre-wired for 240, just in case) allows you to safely & easily use the stock charger as-is, from now on.

B) In the seemingly unlikely event that it doesn't meet your needs, ALL 3 other options are still easily available:
1) Get the outlet simply switched to 240 & adapt the stock charger to it, or
2) Switch the outlet & get a $500 plug-in 240 (with or without a lock), or
3) Get a hard-wired 240 ($800+?).

 

My points in #35 above are:

A) If it doesn't cost much more than an extension cord, a120V outlet (pre-wired for 240, just in case) allows you to safely & easily use the stock charger as-is, from now on.

This can't be done. It's flat against code. If the wall socket is a 5-15 or a 5-20, which is a standard 120V socket, then the circuit it is connected to must be a standard, grounded, 120V circuit.

The entire point of having a different socket/plug combo for each voltage and each amperage is to ensure that only the properly rated items are plugged into the properly wired sockets.

Unless I'm misinterpreting your suggestion, this is a bad idea.

ga2500ev

 

If it's your only car, there's almost always one time when you'll want the 240. We started out thinking 120 was fine but there's been occasions where we've had to use my car in the evening because the night just simply doesn't have enough hours to get the charge needed for my wife to run her next day without any anxiety or be bothered with finding public charging which is scarce in the south. Alternatively you can always rent or Uber, you may only need to do so twice a year and maybe it's for occasions when the 500 is just too small anyways.

 

Thanks guys. I was basing my suggestion on someone else's prior post.

So maybe install side-by side 120 & 240 outlets. That still shouldn't cost much more than just adding a 120, & it should be less than adding 120 now & then adding 240 later, but if not:

If you really think hard about your use, and run the numbers & figure you'll probably want 240, then just have that added & forget about 120

 

Wiring to code is frustrating. The goal is to try to prevent permanent installations that cause house fires. In that spirit one cannot put 120 and 240 outlets side by side using the same breaker from the main. You either have to run 2 separate circuits from the main box, or put a subpanel on the end of a single 240v ciruit to break out two sub circuits, each on their own breaker, at the destination. Hot tub/spa panels are good for that and are inexpensive.

The code validates to the socket. That's why adapters, while violating the principles the code guards against, are not technically against code. That becomes the province of the UL and other agencies.

ga2500ev

 

I didn't mean using the same breaker! I meant that if an electrician is adding a breaker & 120 outlet, final cost might be less to also add a 2nd breaker & 240 outlet at the same time (compared to adding it later).

 

Sorry "side-by-side" and "adding 120 and 240" implies putting them on the same circuit. Even then it's just easier to wire one 240V circuit to a subpanel. Then any needs after that can be wired from the subpanel instead of having to run more wire from the main panel.

ga2500ev

 

Just for some perspective. I did build a pigtail adapter for the the fiat level 1 charger to plug into a standard 14-50 dryer outlet.
So I was at about 63% charge ( numbers may be off as my memory may be off).

Level 1: 8h35m
Level 1 @ 240v : 4h45m
Level 2: 1h45m

The level 2 charger is a JuiceBox set at 32 amp, so charges at the car max draw of 28 amp.

The pigtail adapter is easy to make. I bought a heavy duty 5-20 receptacle (female), a standard 14-50 dryer plug (you could use whatever plug fits the receptacle you have) and a foot of the heaviest duty three conductor wire I could find at Home Depot (at least 12 gauge, if not 10 gauge).

Connect one of the two hots from the 14-50 (the two flat side/lateral prongs) to the 5-20 hot and the other to the 5-20 neutral (flat prong inlet) and connect the grounds (round, u-shaped or L-shaped) together. The lower middle flat prong of the 14-50 doesn’t connect to anything (hence you only need 3 conductor wire) and can be removed.

Keep in mind, that although adequately amp rated, the 5-20 is only 120 voltage rated, not 240. P=IV, so watt rating would be 2400 watts max. 240v at 20 amps would be 4800 watts.

Presumably the charger is 12 amps regardless of voltage input, so at 240 v would run 2880 watts unfortunately, greater then 2400 watts.

I would not plug this in and leave it alone for long. Hopefully there is a reasonable margin of safety, but you have to assess your own risk. Most likely concern is flames, so safer outside of the garage. If isolated enough to avoid structural or forest fires, it would probably only melt the adapter and the plug end of your charger.

The safest option would be to chop off the 5-15 (or 5-20) plug from the level 1 charger as mentioned in a post above (if my recollection serves) and then adapt it back down to the same 5-20 male plug. That way the under rated parts never see the over wattage.

 

Thanks for the instructions!

It seems to me like about the same amount of work & cost to just do it the safe way.

Either way, I would plug it in to an outlet & car & feel how warm all the various parts get during the first 10 or 15 minutes. Check back periodically the first few times it's used.

If it doesn't get much warmer than the stock one already does, then I wouldn't worry about it, unless something changes significantly, like extra hot weather, no available shade, etc.

 

Yes, I in retrospect, I should have done it the safe way. I may yet change it over, probably another $20 in parts, though.

Everyone’s risk tolerance varies. I am pretty much sure I would hate it if my garage burnt down. That feeling is just a little stronger than my feeling that the plugs probably have sufficient safety margins. But I have seen fried and burnt plug pictures in the forums, I just don’t know all the conditions that caused them.

 

I don't want to quote 900 posts but I very much appreciate all the answers to my questions about charging options. What I'm doing right now (driving up to the backdoor over grass) seems almost certain to damage the car due to the proximity of another driveway, a tree stump, and poor visibility.

It seems like the only viable in freezing weather in particular option for me involves some electrical work being done near the driveway, so I am likely going to install a charging station with level 2 capacity. I found out there's a 240v plug on the driveway side of the house, and an electrician said that makes this a lot easier.

I haven't picked a charger yet, but I hope to get this project finished soon. It makes me really nervous to drive my car off the driveway around all these obstructions! All the other options would involve running a cord out windows etc, which I think is a decision I will completely regret for the horribly cold New York winters.

The charger I keep getting pulled back to is the Webasto, I think because they have a Fiat branded one, which doesn't seem to affect its ability to charge.

 

Every time you post, I just get the feeling that you are combining two completely separate problems into a single solution. I think it's important to separate the two before making committments to the solution. As I believe I have posted before, you really only have one problem:

Getting power to the driveway.

That's the only problem you need to solve right now. Nothing more. Nothing less. You are driving your Fiat 500e into the back yard because you don't have power at the driveway.

Nothing about this problem has anything to do with how to charge the car once you get power to the driveway. That is a completely separate issue that you do not need to deal with at this current moment. For now you need to set aside any thoughts about a Juicebox, or Webtasco, or any other type of EVSE. None of them are necessary right this moment.

So let's get back to the real problem: power to the driveway. We've discussed 120V vs. 240V. Both were likely going to cost the same to wire. 240V gives you double the power vs. 120V for essentially the same wiring. Also as you point out in your post, there is a 240V circuit nearby that can be routed towards the driveway.

What you should do is get power to the driveway and absolutely nothing else. Stop after that and assess the situation instead of plowing ahead towards completion of something you're not sure that you need yet.

I'm in the same boat. I've had my 500e for close to a year. I brought it home and plugged the OEM EVSE into a 120V socket because it was available at the parking spot for the car. My plan was to assess the utility of higher voltage and a higher power EVSE. 11 months and 2 weeks in, and I'm still charging using the stock EVSE at 120V. I can count on the fingers of one hand the times where more power would have been useful.

All I'm saying is don't fall into the trap of thinking you need a medium or high power EVSE simply because that's what everyone gets. Focus on the real urgent need to get power to the driveway, then take some time to assess the utility of the setup becore committing more resources to the project. With your description of your driving needs from previous posts, I feel confident that power to the driveway, especially at 240V, along with the OEM EVSE will be more than enough to serve your needs.

Think about it...

ga2500ev