# melting cords



## piotrsko (Dec 9, 2007)

Sorry but the obvious answer is: larger capacity plugs and sockets. Fwiw in america we have a standards system that allows 20 amps from house circuits with a special plug. Most people have seen the socket but don't know what it is for.

We also have plug systems for electric stoves that look like dryer plugs but only for lower voltage.

The rating system is called NEMA, I dont know the equivalent system for you. 

Realize the next issue will be burning the extension cord and possibly the house.

You could split phases like you want but that means finding the wiring in thehouse to support that. Perhaps if there is a dryer outlet near by.


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## Sunking (Aug 10, 2009)

This is extremely scary and demonstrates why you have no biz playing with electricity. Your plugs and wiring are all way too small. It is that simple. You have no biz wiring anything. You are a threat to yourself and everyone living near you.


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## dougingraham (Jul 26, 2011)

I would like to add that residential outlets are not designed to last for even a thousand cycles. If you are pushing the circuit to near capacity then when the contacts start to wear out the connections will not be good enough to use and will get hot. I am on my third year of using an extension cord with three outlets on the end and I am going to have to replace it soon. It is far past time I fix this correctly myself. None of the three sockets are working really well anymore. We are talking about just a few hundred insertion cycles on each plug.

Anderson PP connectors are also not designed for lots of insertions. You want to switch to a real EV type connector. In the US this would be a J1772 for the most common type. In Europe it is something else. J1772 is not designed to be connected or disconnected under load so the best way to deal with this is with a proper EVSE and charger that understands how to talk to the EVSE. 


Best Wishes!


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## Ziggythewiz (May 16, 2010)

Even the 15A ratings aren't really designed for chargers going for hours and you're even going past that. I melted one plug while pulling 12A (my charger is supposed to do 10). You need bigger stuff.


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## Sunking (Aug 10, 2009)

Ziggythewiz said:


> Even the 15A ratings aren't really designed for chargers going for hours and you're even going past that. I melted one plug while pulling 12A (my charger is supposed to do 10). You need bigger stuff.


No plug in circuit is designed or intended for continuous duty. 20 amp circuit can only handle 16 amps, and a 15 amp circuit can only handle 12 amps.

But something like a battery charger or continuous loads should be hard wired on a dedicated circuit and must be rated for 125% of maximum load current. Otherwise you are building a Fire Trap. That is why codes require it. 

Electrical codes do not cover every installation. However some are. Things like your washing machine, electric dryer, refrigerator, garbage disposal, dishwasher, hot water heater, and built in appliances all require dedicated circuits. A EV battery charger demands a dedicated circuit even a Level 1 (1500 watts) charger.


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

Ymmv- a refrigerator or even a chest freezer does not require a dedicated circuit here, but then again it is an intermittent load. Good idea? Perhaps, but more to protect your food from an unnoticed tripped breaker than your wiring.

I have my level 1 charger plugged into 120 VAC 14 ga 15 A utility circuits both at home and at work, without any other loads on them at the same time, but they are not dedicated hone-run circuits nor do they need to be. But my charger draws a fair bit less than 15 A at 120 VAC - if it drew too close to 15A continuous for 8 hrs it would run a good risk of tripping the breaker.

As to unplugging a charger's input side while under load- definitely not a good idea. I use a switch in series with my BMS loop to turn off the charger before disconnecting it if I have to unplug before charging is complete. There are enough rumours of ElCon chargers like mine being possibly killed by unplugging under load that it's not worth the risk in my opinion.

I had one extension cord fail- I had a 12 ga cord plugged into a shorter 14 ga cord to just reach my 120 VAC outlet at work- someone took my regular parking spot. All it took was getting the joint between the two cords a little damp (laying on the lawn), then over time an arc track formed in the plug-socket connection and soon it was smoking. No fire, but it wasn't far off. Replaced the ends on both cords with better quality plugs and sockets than the cheap molded ones they came with, and no problems since.


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## mizlplix (May 1, 2011)

Excuse me but the J1772 plug design does have a safety feature to allow unplugging under power.

The signal pins for it to tell the system to turn on power are shorter than the power carrying pins.

SO when you unplug it, the charge signal is broken and the power is shut off before the load carrying pins are unplugged.

If you are using it for a "dumb' plug and no electronics then yes you will need to turn it off.

The guys at Tucson EV have the little spoofer board to tell the system to turn off and on....... 
I gave around $40 for it several years ago.They also have everything on this page-
http://www.tucsonev.com/index.html

I bought the J1772 plug and 25' of cord from the classifieds here on this forum for $50.

Miz


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

I have a J1772 socket with the spoofing board which I use for level 2 charging, but I only ever use it at public charging stations and then only rarely. I know it shuts off AC to the charger before you can disconnect the plug from the socket. I charge mostly at level 1 from 120VAC using a normal plug, and I'm sure many DIYers do the same. I also know I'm not the only one who has, without thinking, unplugged the charger while it was running. The charger came with virtually no useful documentation and other than what I've picked up from the Elcon troubleshooting thread here, I've seen warning about not doing this.


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## arklan (Dec 10, 2012)

just to follow this up, i have my extension cord hard wired now, it still has an anderson connector at the charger end


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## Overlander23 (Jun 15, 2009)

The problem is not just the sockets/plugs. The wiring to that plug is probably too thin a gauge for the wattage you're pulling from it. 

As others have mentioned, you really should have a dedicated circuit and breaker designed to support 130% of the continuous load. Otherwise, the wiring behind your walls could be heating up. That's how your house burns down.

For example, my charger uses 22A continuous at 220V. I've a dedicated 30 amp circuit in my breaker that runs three feet to a NEMA 6-30L outlet using 8 gauge wire. The 30A is above 130% capacity, and the wiring is overkill; it will support 40A at that distance.


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