DIY Swap dumb Podpoint charger for Zappi

[ChrisT]

Hi all

I want to upgrade my Podpoint dumb charger for a Zappi charger.

Has anyone got experience of this and if so is it something I can or should easily do myself?

All the wiring and fusing is obviously in place and it would be a 7kw for 7kw charger.

Thanks

 

[smokie]

I took my orig PodPoint (from 2013 or thereabouts) off the wall and sent it off to a chappie to upgrade for me, with new innards. I simply opened up the junction box below it and there were, as expected, three cables to disconnect and that was pretty much it on the electrical side. Refitting was, as they say, the reversal of removal.

It was upgraded to one of the newest (at the time) EVSEs with it;s own PEN protection (I think that's what it is) but it was still only three wires to reconnect.

And he put a SONOFF switch inside to make it less dumb.

Now replaced with an OHME if anyone is interested in it

 

[Robf]

Hi all

I want to upgrade my Podpoint dumb charger for a Zappi charger.

Has anyone got experience of this and if so is it something I can or should easily do myself?

All the wiring and fusing is obviously in place and it would be a 7kw for 7kw charger.

Thanks

I wouldnt recommend you do this. Zappi needs a input from solar and house energy via CT sensors. Unless of course you really know how to set up and calibrate

 

[tsedge]

I wouldnt recommend you do this. Zappi needs a input from solar and house energy via CT sensors. Unless of course you really know how to set up and calibrate

I don't think the CT clamp needs calibration and it is just the matter of looping it around the meter tail. The Op doesn't mention solar, but a straight swap.

Edit: Generally, though, if you have the ask the question then the answer is "call your sparky".

 

[5teep]

Legally any changes to your charger need to be done by a qualified electrician and certified, unless you are one you should really not mess with it.

 

[smokie]

I suppose that's right but which law is it in?

 

[ChrisT]

I suppose that's right but which law is it in?

Building Regs I think:

Can I install my own EV charging point? – Top Charger

No, unless you're an electrician, you can't do it yourself. Under Building Regs, charging points need a seperate circuit and only an electrician can make one.

topcharger.co.uk

However I have all the fusing and wiring in place but I think this article suggests a sparky is needed.

 

[tsedge]

It is building regs.

 

[smokie]

Oh no I'm a criminal.

Though it was easier than wiring a 3 pin plug!! The wiring etc was already in place.

Who'll know? Apart from you lot

 

[Alb]

Who'll know? Apart from you lot

You just published it on the internet so the whole world actually

 

[Ayoull]

Oh no I'm a criminal.

Though it was easier than wiring a 3 pin plug!! The wiring etc was already in place.

Who'll know? Apart from you lot

And if your home suffered a fire that was attributed to the car charger or you suffered a fault on the unit that injured someone how would you show you were competent to undertake the change?

I think your home insurance would jump up and down for joy at failure to employ a competent person to undertake electrical work at your home.

 

[smokie]

Probably but I don't know 1) how they'd know and 2) how screwing three wires into a holder will cause a fire.

Anyway, it never happened and I was only joking

 

[Les burrows]

As Ayoull has said above your house insurance might not be very happy at you doing this yourself plus one other thing which has not been mentioned Zappi comes with a 3 year warranty but I wouldn’t count on that being valid if it’s installed incorrectly or without qualified or certified installer can’t be sure about that, but it’s something that needs to be checked out.
Les

 

[Ayoull]

Probably but I don't know 1) how they'd know and 2) how screwing three wires into a holder will cause a fire.

Anyway, it never happened and I was only joking

Terminals have a torque requirement which without being competent you wouldn't know as over tightening is just as bad as under tightening a connection.

And you'd be surprised how well the fire brigade are at identifying the source of ignition in a house fire.

But obviously we're only talking hypotheticals as you say you haven't done anything

 

[m4rmite]

Terminals have a torque requirement which without being competent you wouldn't know as over tightening is just as bad as under tightening a connection.

And you'd be surprised how well the fire brigade are at identifying the source of ignition in a house fire.

But obviously we're only talking hypotheticals as you say you haven't done anything

You don't have to be competent to find the torque settings.... but it helps

https://www.axminstertools.com/media/downloads/952958_TechnicalDataSheet.pdf

 

[Ayoull]

You don't have to be competent to find the torque settings.... but it helps
Axminster Tools
Axminster Tools - Shop Woodworking Tools & Machinery › ...PDF
ABB torque settings

You're right you don't, but you can't say you're competent to do something if you don't know a fundamental aspect of what is required to ensure connections made are safe.

 

[m4rmite]

You're right you don't, but you can't say you're competent to do something if you don't know a fundamental aspect of what is required to ensure connections made are safe.

Very true.

However some competent electricians don't appear to be very competent when reading about evse installs.

I think the bottom line is get an evse electrician to make any changes, then if your house burns down at least you won't be the one in the dock.

 

[ChrisT]

Terminals have a torque requirement which without being competent you wouldn't know as over tightening is just as bad as under tightening a connection.

And you'd be surprised how well the fire brigade are at identifying the source of ignition in a house fire.

But obviously we're only talking hypotheticals as you say you haven't done anything

Good info thanks. It does give details of torque in fitting instructions 1.2nm.

 

[5teep]

A tale of 'non' competence and its ramifications.
A member of a forum I frequent, some years ago decided to repair the brakes on his landrover. He thought he knew what he was doing but he got it wrong and on a test run with his 3 children his brakes locked up on one side and the vehicle swerved into a ditch. Two of the kids died and he went to jail for manslaughter, lost his wife and remaining child to divorce.
I'm not being a hardass, the things that we do can have consequenses for others and the regulations exist for good reason.