adric22
Well-known member
Herm said:Many 120V receptacles are in sorry shape.. EVSE manufacturers should include temperature sensors in their 120V plugs, cant be that expensive... similar to the plugs they use for blow dryers with a built-in GFI.
It gets worse than that. I found out the hard way last winter when we were using space-heaters around the house for a few days when our central heat was out. Apparently my house (built in 1995) uses all 14-gauge wire. But what is worse is that they do not use the screws on the sides of wall plugs or light switches. Instead they cram them into the holes in the back. So I'd plug in a space heater in a room and a few hours later an entire circuit would die. I'd have to track it down and found that the inside of a plug or switch would have melted. So I'd raplace that one and screw the wire down tightly on the side. Then a few hours later, a different one would melt.
We added 3 rooms to our house earlier this year and I did all of the wiring myself. I used 12 gauge wire for all of the electrical sockets and I used the screws on the plug for all of them. At least I know those won't melt.
As for the EVSE in my garage. I've been using the Voltec EVSE for 2 weeks to charge my Leaf and here's what I've observed. Keep in mind that I have a dedicated 20-amp circuit that I installed just for the EVSE with a brand new 20-amp socket. When charging the car for several hours the plug will get noticeably hot. (The plug being part of the cord, not the electrical socket itself) And the long cable going to the Leaf is slightly warm. However, the Voltec unit has a low-amp setting also. I've tried that and on that setting nothing gets warm anywhere. And in most cases it will recharge my Leaf overnight even on the low setting.