Trickle charging safety question (New house)

I know there's much posted on this topic already and I've read most of the threads, particularly the one about the fire which was disturbing to say at the least. But it seems like most of the issues I've read about occurred in older homes and older cars, so I'm wondering if anyone knows trickle charging a 2016 Leaf SL using 110v is viable for a home built in 2014? I'm not familiar with building codes or electrical stuff. I'm in Houston Texas if it helps.

I'm still going to install the L2 within a few weeks. This is just for the meantime. Should I avoid trickle charging altogether and go to the dealership for now? The one GFCI unit I have in my garage is being used by the sprinkler system. I don't know how many amps the outlet is or if it's dedicated. I would unplug the sprinkler when I'm charging the car obviously, but is it safe to plug the sprinkler back in for the rest of the day when the car isn't being charged? I don't know how many amps the sprinkler system uses, but there's no other nearby outlet for the sprinkler system to use (and no other outlets in the garage are GFCI).

Here's a photo of the outlet:



The dealer said I should be fine but I wanted to get a second opinion. I sure don't want to blow my house up before the electrician comes out!
Thanks so much in advance for any help.

You should be safe...
New house...

You might want to check the outlet after it's been charging a bit, to make sure it's not too hot.. ;-)

I trickle charged for a few months before I got my L2, and those were 12 hour or so charges.

On an older house, or if you aren't sure about your wiring, I'd be concerned...

Just think of it this way, would you plug in a space heater and leave it on high for a similar period of time?
You are drawing a lot of amps, but as long as it's wired properly, you are in spec...

That said, I had a toaster trigger problems in a bad outlet about 15 years ago.
Plugged it in, put down the toast, and saw a flash in an outlet about 5 feet to the left.. Took off the wall plate, and the outlet was charred..
Was a new to me house at the time, maybe 15 years old...
I think the previous owner had replaced / added outlets himself and didn't do a good job.

It triggered me to check all the outlets in the house (and replaced a bunch of them to be safe)....

Electricity is awesome, but be safe.. ;-)

desiv

The sprinkler system won't draw enough current to worry about so there is no reason to unplug it if the EVSE plug will fit tightly into the outlet with the sprinkler still connected.

Gerry

Yes, as long as the EVSE plug fits tightly into the outlet, and nothing gets more than lukewarm after an hour or so, you should be ok.

That outlet is a 15 amp outlet. If you really want to know the difference, see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEMA_connector

The trickle charger draws approx. 12 amps and is fine for that outlet, even with the sprinkler running.

People already advised you to check for heat while using the trickle charger, just to make sure that you aren't plugged into a defective or worn outlet. That's very wise advice.

A few people have had problems with the trickle charger tripping GFI outlets. There is no reason you should have that problem, but it has happened.

Otherwise, there is no problem using the garage outlet.

Bob

It's likely that a number of other outlets in your house daisy chain from that one. That's the usual way to GFI protect a number of outlets. It took a bit of doing to find an outlet in my garage that did not have any other significant loads when my wife got her PIP. The first outlet I tried had three exterior outlets daisy chained from it, two of which had fountain pumps plugged in, and another where I had been plugging my XMAS lights in. In my last house, the GFI in my master bath protected all of the exterior outlets, which would go out when it got tripped. My wife used to bump the "test" button occasionally when she unplugged something. The first time I ran into a dead outlet outside, it took me forever to think of going upstairs to find the GFI...

The only way to be sure is to turn off the breaker or trip the GFI, and go around with a lamp or circuit tester to identify which outlets are now unpowered...and you should do so before assuming the sprinkler controller is the only other load.

As others have said, you'll be fine. Another piece of advice, don't allow the "brick" to hang down without supporting the weight (say on a shelf, tied with a hook, etc.). I've been L1 charging for 5 yrs in my 1960s house, but I replaced the receptacle and mount the EVSE brick on the wall. There are other receptacles, lights and the garage door opener on the same circuit, but I'm careful to only charge at night (when I'm not using drills, saws, blowers, or electric lawn mowers).

Thank you all for the kind advice! We plugged the 110v charger in about 3 hours ago and it's charging just fine. The charger is warm but not hot to the touch. We'll leave it on overnight and see what happens.

We have the brick set on top of a suitcase + box temporarily since we have no other way to mount it at the moment (and don't want to leave it hanging). Once the electrician comes by to install the L2 charger we'll have him take a look at this socket as well. Everything looks fine from my end, and the bracket isn't loose or anything. But of course I haven't opened it up for further inspection.

By the way, is it fine to start the car while it's charging? And is it okay to leave the charger in for 12 or more hours? I'm guessing it'll stop charging when it hits a certain threshold as I read continuing to charge at 100% can damage the battery.

Thanks again!

The EVSE (charging cable - the "charger" is inside the car) housing is not what you need to check. It's the plug right at the outlet, and the outlet cover plate as well. High internal resistance from bad wiring can cause outlet overheating or fire. Also be sure the plug from the charging cable is all the way in.

You can leave the car plugged in for a couple of hours after charging ends, but if you make a habit of it then the 12 volt accessory battery may get run down and fail, as the car slowly drains it when plugged in but not charging.

As for interrupting charging by starting the car, it shouldn't hurt anything but it may (or may not) cancel any timed charge you have set. Anyone know the answer to this?

LeftieBiker said:

...
As for interrupting charging by starting the car, it shouldn't hurt anything but it may (or may not) cancel any timed charge you have set. Anyone know the answer to this?

Click to expand...

OK to start the car.
It will keep charging.
Should be Ready mode.
Set parking brake.
Other modes are not good for 12V battery, but could be used while car is charging because DC to DC holds 12V at 13V.
But turn it off if not staying with car.
If charging finishes it will then start losing charge and could deplete 12V.

Car will stop charging when finished.
No risk.
If no timers will stop at 100%.
The concern on 100% is long term storage especially at high temp.
OK and per design by Nissan for short term.

Agree risk on 120V is fairly low on new house.
But the one bad fire house wasn't all that old.
Likely electrician damaged the cable with a staple.
Damage may have been up in the wall.
Would have been hard to detect.
Installing L2 is best long term choice.
Especially with 30 kWh pack.

Reddy said:

Another piece of advice, don't allow the "brick" to hang down without supporting the weight (say on a shelf, tied with a hook, etc.).

Click to expand...

Good advice! I was looking at getting the cable hanger http://www.evchargesolutions.com/Wall-Mount-EVSE-J1772-cord-hanger-p/econwallhanger.htm but as it is OOS and looks just like a garden hose hanger I bought one of those for about $5.

Most of them have an integrated shelf which with a bit of luck is just big enough to wedge the brick into. The advantage of the one I got is that the connector can also be supported on top, as shown: