Granny charger damaged.

julianNino · Jan 20, 2023

Hi all. The earth leg of the 3 pin plug of my granny charger has being damaged, I stepped on the plug and the earth leg broke .

My question . Can I just change the plug with a new plug without any risks of damage the charger ? The new plug will be 13 amps . But I'm a bit concerned about doing this because I don't want to cause any damage to charger or the car.

Jomarkh · Jan 20, 2023

The plug top is molded to the cable and more than likely has a thermal sensor inside to prevents the EVSE from working if it gets too hot.
Best replace the whole unit.

leafowner · Jan 20, 2023

If its broken then you've nothing to lose by cutting it off and see if there are any extra thin wires in the cable which o to a thermal sensor.
A replacement plug wont be IP rated so caution with where you plug it in.

I'd replace the plug with a commando type - higher current rating and easy to get ip.
obviously on a suitable circuit.

Alb · Jan 21, 2023

Jomarkh said:
and more than likely has a thermal sensor inside to prevents the EVSE from working if it gets too hot.

This has been claimed many times but I've never seen one cut open.
Seems like an ideal opportunity to verify one way or the other.

julianNino · Jan 21, 2023

Alb said:
This has been claimed many times but I've never seen one cut open.
Seems like an ideal opportunity to verify one way or the other.

Yes , it is a good opportunity to check it out. I'll be doing it tomorrow and I'll post the pictures or the plug open .

leafowner said:
If its broken then you've nothing to lose by cutting it off and see if there are any extra thin wires in the cable which o to a thermal sensor.
A replacement plug wont be IP rated so caution with where you plug it in.

I'd replace the plug with a commando type - higher current rating and easy to get ip.
obviously on a suitable circuit.

Thanks, I didn't know comando plugs . It opens new ideas to make the charging at home a bid less expensive. Thanks.

leafowner · Jan 21, 2023

Alb said:
This has been claimed many times but I've never seen one cut open.
Seems like an ideal opportunity to verify one way or the other.

I can confirm that the nissan granny charger for the leaf does have a thermal sensor in the plug.
I've dug one out of the plug and just refitted it inside the granny unit. Then replaced the damaged plug cable with a longer cable to a commando plug.

N2STY · Jan 21, 2023

leafowner said:
I can confirm that the nissan granny charger for the leaf does have a thermal sensor in the plug.
I've dug one out of the plug and just refitted it inside the granny unit. Then replaced the damaged plug cable with a longer cable to a commando plug.

Surely it's not much use unless it's inside the plug it's not going to stop your plug melting if it's inside the charge unit?

leafowner · Jan 21, 2023

N2STY said:
Surely it's not much use unless it's inside the plug it's not going to stop your plug melting if it's inside the charge unit?

Correct - I only fitted it to stop it throwing a fault error.
The commando plug is higher rated than 3pin and is on its own circuit and rcbo.

The risks with the 3pin and mainly poor quality sockets giving a poor connection or he plug not being fully inserted giving a poor connection.
An ip rated commando negates both those issues so I'm happy with the situation. (I am ex IEEE)

julianNino · Jan 21, 2023

leafowner said:
I can confirm that the nissan granny charger for the leaf does have a thermal sensor in the plug.
I've dug one out of the plug and just refitted it inside the granny unit. Then replaced the damaged plug cable with a longer cable to a commando plug.

I would like to see what you have done to the plug.

leafowner · Jan 21, 2023

julianNino said:
I would like to see what you have done to the plug.

Basically replaced the standard 3 pin plug with these.:

MK 16A 2P+E Surface Outlet 200-250V - Screwfix

MK 16A 2P+E Site Service Plug 200-250V - Screwfix

Better environmental protection that the standard weatherproof socket boxes.

Edit - the other point of course being that I put a much longer cable on it.

Tim Green · Jan 21, 2023

I would just replace it with a standard good quality 13a plug. No plug when plugged into an extension socket is waterproof, so it makes no difference if its a moulded plug. The load is well within the 13a rating. Obviously you should not allow rain onto any plug and socket with the power on. Externally rated fixed mains sockets usually rely on the lid to shield the junction from rain.

julianNino · Jan 22, 2023

leafowner said:
Basically replaced the standard 3 pin plug with these.:

MK 16A 2P+E Surface Outlet 200-250V - Screwfix

MK 16A 2P+E Site Service Plug 200-250V - Screwfix

Better environmental protection that the standard weatherproof socket boxes.

Can I go for 32 amps plug ? Is 32 acceptable by the granny charger ?

N2STY · Jan 22, 2023

julianNino said:
Can I go for 32 amps plug ? Is 32 acceptable by the granny charger ?

The max the MG granny charger will draw is 10amps if you go to the effort to install a 32 amp socket you can get a 7kw charger with 32amp plug from Amazon https://amzn.eu/d/gESxZ5A

julianNino · Jan 22, 2023

N2STY said:
The max the MG granny charger will draw is 10amps if you go to the effort to install a 32 amp socket you can get a 7kw charger with 32amp plug from Amazon https://amzn.eu/d/gESxZ5A

Ok, sorry to ask ... the 16 amps socket can be installed instead of a regular house socket and be ok?

leafowner · Jan 22, 2023

julianNino said:
Ok, sorry to ask ... the 16 amps socket can be installed instead of a regular house socket and be ok?

I would only fit on a dedicated circuit with appropriate rcb/mcb.

N2STY · Jan 22, 2023

julianNino said:
Ok, sorry to ask ... the 16 amps socket can be installed instead of a regular house socket and be ok?

I think at this point you should probably get an electrician

Tim Green · Jan 22, 2023

The granny charger should have a 13a fuse or trip on the input side.

julianNino · Jan 25, 2023

Alb said:
This has been claimed many times but I've never seen one cut open.
Seems like an ideal opportunity to verify one way or the other.

Here it is . The damaged plug and the new one fitted. There are not any small wire that suggest a temperature control only a cotton ropes surrounding the iner wires.

N2STY · Jan 25, 2023

I won't lie that looks a bit nasty on the new plug but should do the job what a lot of people forget new plugs normally have cardboard on them that actually show you how much to strip your wire and wire length and I would probably prefer to use ferrules

And I really don't want to teach people how to suck eggs but some times a recap is good

Lovemyev · Jan 25, 2023

A lot of people don’t even remove that cardboard sleeve from the back of the new 13 Amp plug assembly.
It should always be removed, as it can offer a fire risk.

Granny charger damaged.

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