Granny charger waterproof?

[Neil Fellows]

Stupid question of the week award, but I assume the supplied MG granny charger is full waterproof? As in, the entire unit? I have an outdoor socket near where I part that I'll be using for meantime until I can decide on which wall box to go for.

 

[JCFlippen]

I would go on the side of caution and cover it up in some way. Better a shopping bag or whatever thanrisking a bit of a bang!

 

[Neil Fellows]

I would go on the side of caution and cover it up in some way. Better a shopping bag or whatever thanrisking a bit of a bang!

I just assumed (probably wrongly) it was waterproof, I wouldn't expected to be unable to charge the car if its raining!

 

[RichardC]

I cannot remember the IP rating but I have charged the car in the rain. I placed the charger under the car to be on the safe side. I then put it in a waterproof box to be extra sure.

 

[Kithmo]

The charger is waterproof but the plug's not. As long as your outdoor socket is a covered one you should be ok.

 

[Jomarkh]

The charger should have an IP rating on it

 

[JohnB]

IP67 if I remember correctly. Supposedly OK to be under 1M for up to 30 minutes. Not sure I'd want to try that one though!

 

[Lovemyev]

I think it would be just fine, until you get your wall box sorted.
But my terrible OCD tells me some thing different sorry !.
I your situation ( and with my OCD ) I would go out and purchase a large enough food storage box, and with the lid removed, slightly notch out a slot at each end of the box to allow the cable to pass right through.
Put the "Granny" cable inside of the storage box and refit the lid.
Okay - It may not be 100% water proof ( because of the slots ) but it will offer a massive boast to the already IP rating on the unit.
Why place ANY risk on the unit, for the sake of the price of a plastic box !.
P.S. - Don't pinch the nice fancy bread box from the kitchen for God's sake.

 

[Adee]

What a pity they put such a pathetically short mains lead into the charger, otherwise you could plonk the charger under the car regardless of where you decide to plug it in. I have to drive the car forwards, right up to the garage door with the charger-unit-and-mains-plug plugged-in just inside the garage and the charger output cable going under the garage door. Which just works (luckily) in my particular circumstances without having the charger out in the rain. Same penny-pinching as everything else - try finding an iron with enough lead to stretch the length of an ironing board - what are they thinking!!??

 

[Neil Fellows]

P.S. - Don't pinch the nice fancy bread box from the kitchen for God's sake.

I did EXACTLY that with the outdoor Christmas lights last year. Wife was well chuffed

 

[JohnB]

I did EXACTLY that with the outdoor Christmas lights last year. Wife was well chuffed

On a similar note, clean out any bread crumbs unless you want uninvited rodents. I can confirm that rodents and extension cords aren't a good mix.

 

[Lovemyev]

On a similar note, clean out any bread crumbs unless you want uninvited rodents. I can confirm that rodents and extension cords aren't a good mix.

Very true !.
I only found out a few weeks ago that rodents are naturally attracted to the plastic coating around electrical cables, this is because the manufactures use some type of vegetable oil in the make up process of the cable.
This oil is added to increase the flexibility of the cable by all accounts.
But, the rodents can smell the oil in the plastic covering and love to chew away at it !.
My nephew had a shock one morning when it appeared that the battery on his almost new car, had suddenly gone flat.
When A.A. arrived they found out, that young squirrel's leaving in an oak tree close by, had been snacking on his wiring under the bonnet !.

 

[RichardC]

I bought one of these for some Christmas lights so I pop the grannycharger into it. I won’t be using it next week after the charger is installed.

Amazon product ASIN B073QQG12Z

 

[JohnB]

Very true !.
I only found out a few weeks ago that rodents are naturally attracted to the plastic coating around electrical cables, this is because the manufactures use some type of vegetable oil in the make up process of the cable.
This oil is added to increase the flexibility of the cable by all accounts.
But, the rodents can smell the oil in the plastic covering and love to chew away at it !.
My nephew had a shock one morning when it appeared that the battery on his almost new car, had suddenly gone flat.
When A.A. arrived they found out, that young squirrel's leaving in an oak tree close by, had been snacking on his wiring under the bonnet !.

Reminds me of the time I opened the bonnet of my old jag to give it it's daily oil (I'm sure that thing thought it was 4.2L 2 stroke) to find a rat sleeping between the cam covers. I hope that it had a headache after I dropped the bonnet on him.

 

[Neil Fellows]

What a pity they put such a pathetically short mains lead into the charger, otherwise you could plonk the charger under the car regardless of where you decide to plug it in. I have to drive the car forwards, right up to the garage door with the charger-unit-and-mains-plug plugged-in just inside the garage and the charger output cable going under the garage door. Which just works (luckily) in my particular circumstances without having the charger out in the rain. Same penny-pinching as everything else - try finding an iron with enough lead to stretch the length of an ironing board - what are they thinking!!??

I've not had the opportunity to see one in 'real life' yet until car arrives but wasn't sure of the length, or more specifically, the location of the control box part of the charger with regards to the cable run - ie, is it in the middle of the run, near the plug, near the car charge port etc. I may be able to do what you do if it reaches my socket in the garage.

And fully agree, given how much cable costs why don't they make it longer? My new MacBook Pro cost me north of £2,000 and its charge cable is stupidly short.

 

[Lovemyev]

I've not had the opportunity to see one in 'real life' yet until car arrives but wasn't sure of the length, or more specifically, the location of the control box part of the charger with regards to the cable run - ie, is it in the middle of the run, near the plug, near the car charge port etc. I may be able to do what you do if it reaches my socket in the garage.

I imagine that the ZS and the MG5 use the same "Granny" unit.
Here is the measurements taken from the ZS unit.
From the three pin plug, to where it enters the "Granny" is 18 inches long.
The "Granny" unit itself, is 12 inches long.
From the point when the cable leaves the "Granny" to the end of the type 2 plug is a MAX of 10ft six inches.
So from "Tip to Toe" we are talking a total length of 13 ft long.
Hope this helps you out.

 

[Neil Fellows]

I imagine that the ZS and the MG5 use the same "Granny" unit.
Here is the measurements taken from the ZS unit.
From the three pin plug, to where it enters the "Granny" is 18 inches long.
The "Granny" unit itself, is 12 inches long.
From the point when the cable leaves the "Granny" to the end of the type 2 plug is a MAX of 10ft six inches.
So from "Tip to Toe" we are talking a total length of 13 ft long.
Hope this helps you out.

Thats very helpful, thank you so much for taking the time to get the measurements!

Now I know how close the granny unit is to the plug, I'll need to cover it up a bit I guess, just to be safe, until I can get a wall charger.

 

[VenumX]

I think it would be just fine, until you get your wall box sorted.
But my terrible OCD tells me some thing different sorry !.
I your situation ( and with my OCD ) I would go out and purchase a large enough food storage box, and with the lid removed, slightly notch out a slot at each end of the box to allow the cable to pass right through.
Put the "Granny" cable inside of the storage box and refit the lid.
Okay - It may not be 100% water proof ( because of the slots ) but it will offer a massive boast to the already IP rating on the unit.
Why place ANY risk on the unit, for the sake of the price of a plastic box !.
P.S. - Don't pinch the nice fancy bread box from the kitchen for God's sake.

If you end up putting your charger inside a plastic box with a lid, don't forget that these things get warm when charging.
(I don't own an ev or phev yet, but still , I know my electronics)
And I think if the charger gets too hot, it will disable itself and stop charging untill it cools down again.
I think.

 

[JohnB]

If you end up putting your charger inside a plastic box with a lid, don't forget that these things get warm when charging.
(I don't own an ev or phev yet, but still , I know my electronics)
And I think if the charger gets too hot, it will disable itself and stop charging untill it cools down again.
I think.

A valid concern, but the charger barely gets warm. I'd be far more worried about a coiled extension lead heating up.

 

[Lovemyev]

Thats very helpful, thank you so much for taking the time to get the measurements!

Now I know how close the granny unit is to the plug, I'll need to cover it up a bit I guess, just to be safe, until I can get a wall charger.

Your very welcome .