Granny charge fail

[Jto]

Hello

Last night my car stopped charging so after tracking the wiring back I found the failed socket i had in-line to the shed where the granny charger is plugged into. Now this socket is about 10 years old and posters who ask about using extension I try to give good advice and to use good quality leads with at least with a capacity of 3kw. I have admit I have been caught out as I did not take this socket into count and did not know its capacity as how it has failed as you see in the photo. I have how replaced it with a 32A waterproof junction box and I have used 32A Wago connection blocks which you do not need a screwdriver to make the connection between two cables making it very easy.
So please alway think about your wiring and load, it did last just under one year as next week I will have my car one year.

 

[Jomarkh]

If anyone is going to use a granny long term then make sure you install new equipment from the fuse board connection to the outside waterproof socket don't use anything that has not been tested recently.

 

[BugEyed]

And don't forget the requirement to install the correct protection for an EV charging circuit. The question at that point is you really saving anything in comparison to a proper charge point?
And for those of you who are going to say that you've done the equivalent of smoking a packet of cigarettes and drinking 10 pints of beer a day and it's not killed you - the missing word is yet. From the photo that socket was not far from causing a fire.

 

[Jto]

And don't forget the requirement to install the correct protection for an EV charging circuit. The question at that point is you really saving anything in comparison to a proper charge point?
And for those of you who are going to say that you've done the equivalent of smoking a packet of cigarettes and drinking 10 pints of beer a day and it's not killed you - the missing word is yet. From the photo that socket was not far from causing a fire.

Yes it would have, good job it was out Side, I would like to get a wall box but my other half say would not like one and two we live i in housing association house who I have asked if they have plans to fit wiring for a wall box or sockets but they do not. To have a wall box fitted there a few hops to jump through which would put up the cost of a install.

 

[Lovemyev]

Close call looking at that picture !.
Either poor quality accessories or a loose connection, causing excess heat is my guess.
I suspect poor quality accessory looking at the internal failure point.
I am assuming that this supply is protected by SOME type of trip / protection device ?.
If so, did it trip the breaker ?.
Is it on its own dedicated circuit ?.
Looking at the termination screws, there appears to be some rust / corrosion present, indicating some moisture / water ingress present at some point ?.
When terminating multi stand cable, it is a good idea to try and crimp the individual conductors first, to ensure you get a good bite on the crimps when terminating into the accessory.
Not required with Wago connectors of course.
When dealing with a high demand load, over a long time scale, then using top quality accessories and terminating the conductors in this type of application is an absolute MUST and should have some type of protection device at the supply.

 

[BugEyed]

Yes it would have, good job it was out Side, I would like to get a wall box but my other half say would not like one and two we live i in housing association house who I have asked if they have plans to fit wiring for a wall box or sockets but they do not. To have a wall box fitted there a few hops to jump through which would put up the cost of a install.

Thanks for the context, I can understand your issues. It might be worth approaching your housing association again and getting your MP involved - public bodies really should be supporting the move to EVs as much as possible.

 

[Jto]

Close call looking at that picture !.
Either poor quality accessories or a loose connection, causing excess heat is my guess.
I suspect poor quality accessory looking at the internal failure point.
I am assuming that this supply is protected by SOME type of trip / protection device ?.
If so, did it trip the breaker ?.
Is it on its own dedicated circuit ?.
Looking at the termination screws, there appears to be some rust / corrosion present, indicating some moisture / water ingress present at some point ?.
When terminating multi stand cable, it is a good idea to try and crimp the individual conductors first, to ensure you get a good bite on the crimps when terminating into the accessory.
Not required with Wago connectors of course.
When dealing with a high demand load, over a long time scale, then using top quality accessories and terminating the conductors in this type of application is an absolute MUST and should have some type of protection device at the supply.

The circuit had been tested as the whole house a few months ago. It had not tripled as the wires where still in place and I think I had the power off quickly. Yes it had been there some time. I have replaced with below.

 

[Lovemyev]

The circuit had been tested as the whole house a few months ago. It had not tripled as the wires where still in place and I think I had the power off quickly. Yes it had been there some time. I have replaced with below.

Wiska box - NICE !.