3 phase charger cable help

[EVready]

How about this ?

EV weatherproof granny charger campsite and industrial socket adaptors

Heavy duty standalone adaptors to enables you to charge your EV at campsites and marinas in the UK and using domestic sockets across the majority of Europe and Scandinavia. Simple, cost effect and robust solution to driving your EV abroad. 13A. 16A. Holiday, Europe, driving abroad. Schuko...

toughleads.co.uk

I have one of these with a 16A campsite hookup plug, and used it to plug my granny charger into overnight while camping recently with no issues. It’s slow, of course, but still a worthwhile amount of charge over a number of hours.

 

[Ian James]

Hi we will soon be getting our new MG ZS LR. We are looking for charger cable options for these plugs at work. Can you get a 5 pin 3 phase to type 2 ? What options can anyone recommend please ? View attachment 9242

I have a 2021 ZS EV. (UK model if that's relevant) It's charging connector only has active pins for single phase charging. i.e. Phase 1, N, & Earth plus the Low voltage data pins at the top.

 

[MikeN]

Type 2 has a protocol to start charging, the car and the charger talk to each other.
From the photo you have just a 3 phase plug, you need an EV charger in between.
No approved electrician should attempt to bypass that EV charger, the car could end up in flames.
Having said that the ZS can use up to 7kw so there is no advantage to install a 3 phase charger (11 or 22kw). During work hours most EV charge to full on a 7kw charger.

I have a 7kw charger installed at home and I charge overnight on economy 7. It only puts about 15% on during this time. I was expecting more than that.

 

[Jomarkh]

That sounds a bit low, I can add about 40% or 95 miles in four hours.
How long have you had it and what model EVSE?

 

[BugEyed]

Something is very wrong! If you are only getting 9kWh in 7 hours that is right at the minimum rate of 1.4kW. Is this a proper EVSE or a pEVSE? Is the lead tethered or untethered?

 

[MikeN]

It is the new MG ZS Trophy which I acquired in February.
Thanks for your interest.

 

[MikeN]

Something is very wrong! If you are only getting 9kWh in 7 hours that is right at the minimum rate of 1.4kW. Is this a proper EVSE or a pEVSE? Is the lead tethered or untethered?

Sorry, I don’t understand the terminology. I have to plug the cable into the car and the charger box, so that’s untethered?

 

[BugEyed]

Sorry, I don’t understand the terminology. I have to plug the cable into the car and the charger box, so that’s untethered?

Yes, that's untethered. It sounds like your lead is damaged. Does it charge faster if you use the lead on a public charge point? What make of charge point is yours and who fitted it?

 

[Jomarkh]

Do you know what size fuse in your consumer box your EVSE is on?

 

[Gomev]

I have a 7kw charger installed at home and I charge overnight on economy 7. It only puts about 15% on during this time. I was expecting more than that.

Just to eliminate possibilites, have you got timed charging set on both the car and your 7kW 'charger' ? If so they could be cancelling each other out.

 

[MikeN]

Just to eliminate possibilites, have you got timed charging set on both the car and your 7kW 'charger' ? If so they could be cancelling each other out.

No, I have not set the timer on the charger. Thanks for responding.

 

[MikeN]

Do you know what size fuse in your consumer box your EVSE is on?

No I don’t, it was fitted by an approved engineer recommended by my MG dealer. I am going to get them to check everything out. Thanks for responding.

 

[MikeN]

Yes, that's untethered. It sounds like your lead is damaged. Does it charge faster if you use the lead on a public charge point? What make of charge point is yours and who fitted it?

Don’t really know, I only charge away from home when on a long journey, so I tend to go for 22 or 50 kw chargers. When I have used 7kw it’s usually with the tethered cable. Thanks for responding.

 

[MikeN]

Don’t really know, I only charge away from home when on a long journey, so I tend to go for 22 or 50 kw chargers. When I have used 7kw it’s usually with the tethered cable. Thanks for responding.

It’s a Rolec, fitted by Lecaw electrical services, who were recommended by my MG dealer.

 

[BugEyed]

You need to establish two things to move forwards:

1. Take the car and the lead to an untethered charge point and see how much you get in say 30 minutes. If you are lucky you'll have a "free" PodPoint at your local Tesco. This will prove whether the issue is the lead or something else.
2. Try the same amount of charging time on your home charger point with the same lead. If you get less charge the issue is the charge point.

For both tests you can just check the % increase in the battery as long as you let it charge for 30 minutes or more - it'll be sufficiently accurate.

 

[MikeN]

I have used Tesco in the past and for about an hour I get about 3%.
I will however do as you suggested, I am on holiday this week so I’ll let you know how I go on.
My charger installer has suggested that I may need a software update.
Thanks for responding.

 

[BugEyed]

I have used Tesco in the past and for about an hour I get about 3%.

You should get closer to 10% - this implies an issue most likely with the lead or possibly the car.

My charger installer has suggested that I may need a software update.

There was a problem like this where some workarounds had been applied to stop the car going to sleep on delayed charges, but if you cannot charge immediately at full power there's another issue.
Good luck.

 

[Gomev]

I have used Tesco in the past and for about an hour I get about 3%.
I will however do as you suggested, I am on holiday this week so I’ll let you know how I go on.
My charger installer has suggested that I may need a software update.
Thanks for responding.

10 percent an hour on a 7kW is about right. If it was a 3 phase cable only getting 1 phase would 3 percent per hour be about right. ?

 

[BugEyed]

10 percent an hour on a 7kW is about right. If it was a 3 phase cable only getting 1 phase would 3 percent per hour be about right. ?

It depends on the cable. A 22kW cable would allow 7kW per phase, but an 11kW would only allow 3.6kW per phase. Even that should be 5% per hour.

 

[Hairyfool]

Correctly manufactured "Granny" chargers should have a thermal sensor in the plug and the charger would reduce the current if the plug was to overheat. In most cases if you look at the cable from the charger to the plug this is considerable larger that the 13A cable for other uses as it has additional conductors in it for the sensor circuits.

Put the 13A plug in a waterproof extension such as from toughleads and you are virtually guaranteed it is going to get warm due to the lack of circulation around it even though the socket used is a better quality.

A 16A commando plug would not need a sensor as its maximum current is higher than that drawn by a 3kW charger. Even though the charger as suggested by BugEyed is fitted with a 16A commando plug it is highly likely the charger is still only 3kW although 3.6kW are available.

The thing that bothers me is WHY does the power post have a 32A 3 phase plug it it? Are you sure that the box is live as in the picture. I have a suspicion purely based on what is visible it needs the lead plugged in at the bottom before the sockets at the top have any power, if so where do you plug in in the premises and do you have the lead? It may depend on the the purpose of the post in the 1st place.