Help with my power supply

[Lovemyev]

7.2kw is 240V X 32amps. So the 100amp is because the ring main is usually 32amp and then the oven is usually on a 32 amp. So put the oven on (30amps) , the kettle (10amps) and a couple of heaters (20amps for 2*2kw) and the 60 amps is used. These days there are phones and TVs and WiFi boxes and loads of other appliances. The installer will do a full check on all these things as each house needs an individual assessment.

Agreed the 100 Amp fuse is a better option, if you can get a free upgrade from the DNO - Then it is worth going for it !.
The lower rated 60 Amp cartridge would carry a fair bit more than 60 Amps rating before it would pop !.
Briefly touching the fuse's so called "upper limit" would be possible.
The actual failure point of a main 60 Amp fuse, is likely to higher than the rating suggests.

 

[bogdim]

Agreed the 100 Amp fuse is a better option, if you can get a free upgrade from the DNO - Then it is worth going for it !.
The lower rated 60 Amp cartridge would carry a fair bit more than 60 Amps rating before it would pop !.
Briefly touching the fuse's so called "upper limit" would be possible.
The actual failure point of a main 60 Amp fuse, is likely to higher than the rating suggests.

I had the car charging on the granny charger, washing machine and the kettle on, which took me to ~6.8kwh consumption on the smart meter and nothing popped, so that crusty cable and service head still has some capacity, but I will definitely replace if it's free of charge.

 

[DaveandTeena]

Update from UKPN:

Good morning. To install an EV Charger, your fuse would need to be 100amps. Unfortunately, we do not hold records of fuses as properties and would not be able to tell from the photos. An EV installer would be able to do a test on site to see if the fuse needs to be upgraded to 100amps or if it is already compatible. Most properties will be between 60 to 100 amps. If an installer has confirmed you do need to upgrade the fuse, then we can do this through our General Enquiries team, who you can contact on 0800 029 4285. The team are available Monday - Friday 09:00 - 17:00. We can upgrade to 100amps free of charge but anything over this would then become a chargeable job, but 100 amps is the standard for an EV charger anyway. Sorry we cant be more help and give the definitive answer if you would need to upgrade or not, but we just wouldn't be able to tell from the photos, and an installer would be able to confirm if this needs upgrading or not.

Apparently they upgrade to 100amps free of charge in case anyone else wants to do it.

Northern power wont upgrade for free or unloop unless i spend close to £3000

 

[Les burrows]

That's a confusing reply.
Technically, only the DNO is allowed to break the seal on the fuse carrier to visually confirm its rating. There is no test an EV installer could do that would tell him what the installed fuse size was. In reality of course, electricians break the seals and remove these fuses routinely as this is often the only way the consumer unit can be safely isolated.
It's absolutely not true that a 100A fuse is "standard" for EV charging as many here will attest. It gives you more headroom but you can function at 80 or 60A (particularly so if the charge point does load management).
That said, if 100A is available FOC then go for it. It will present a good opportunity to get an isolator fitted and make sure the tails and earth are correctly sized to the current standard.

Hi and well said Alb confused me as well, my house was built 1966/7 and when I got my Zappi fitted in February I was expecting problems as I knew mine was a looped supply but only one came about, after the charger was installed and before I had even used it (as the car only came six weeks or so after) the next morning I went into my garage to find the Zappi had a red light on it front and on the screen it said over voltage shut down, so I rang the installer to tell them , they ask me to switch the RCB for the Zappi off in my consumer unit wait for five minutes then put it back on and it should be reset and it did. Next morning same problem again I’m back on the phone and they said they would ring the DNO, within the hour the DNO came out I ask the chap had it anything to do with my supply being looped to next door and he said according to their drawings it wasn’t I then got my neighbours to open his garage and showed him where the cable came into the two houses and sure enough he agreed it was a looped supply this drawing needs updating he said next he pulled out the main fuse and said that’s fine it’s 100 amp but on the drawing it showed 60 amp is fitted , there another update needed said I.

So what’s wrong I asked, he said did the Zappi have a voltage figure on the screen before I reset it so I replied just said over voltage I think so off he went saying I’ll be back later after a short while after Zappi shut down again, this time When I looked there in the top corner was a reading 254 volts so I took a picture of it and when he came back I showed him I know he said he had come back to say that the whole street was over voltage and they needed to shut the sub station down to carry out a repair, today was Friday and he said it would happen the following Tuesday morning and take about 15-30 minutes and said someone else would come later to comfirm my loop from next door was in good order I asked if there is a problem how much would it cost and what they would have to do to fix it, he said if it’s needed they would replace the supply FOC,on the Monday two men turn up doubled checked my supply said all was fine I’ve had no problem since, and the sub station has been repaired, so the moral of the story is get your local DNO involved if you have any doubts or problems with your supply They are FREE and very efficient.
Les

 

[Alb]

As a matter of interest, if your community supply voltage was above the maximum tolerance they probably just adjusted a tap on the LV side of the transformer at your local substation. It could be there was actually less load on it now than when it was commissioned and that would reduce the volt drop between substation and consumer hence raising the voltage.

 

[Les burrows]

As a matter of interest, if your community supply voltage was above the maximum tolerance they probably just adjusted a tap on the LV side of the transformer at your local substation. It could be there was actually less load on it now than when it was commissioned and that would reduce the volt drop between substation and consumer hence raising the voltage.

Well Alb I have no idea what the problem was, all that was said after they had rectified it in the sub station was, the kettle might take 05-10 seconds longer to boil but nothing noticeable and it’s not, the main point I was trying to get across is that looped or in looped supplies 60,80,or100 amp main fuse they will all work with a EV charger, but if there is any doubt the DNO are the people to contact this I know you agree with, but some of the comments in this thread could be off putting for some, who are thinking of buying an EV as well, in the thinking getting a home charger could be difficult but it’s isn’t.
Les

 

[Alb]

My DNO was very helpful and responded to my requests very quickly so I'd certainly encourage talking to them.

 

[macd2401]

Correct me if I am wrong, but I am sure that it is a smart meter in the photos.

Apologies, you and Alb were both right. I'm blaming daft early start times for that

 

[Justin H]

Northern power wont upgrade for free or unloop unless i spend close to £3000

By this quoted price I assume that you must be the last on the loop. Talk to your neighbour (first on the loop) and apply for a quote for them. They will only need a new cut out or fuse upgrade. This will be a couple of hundred pounds so if you pay for their upgrade the DNO will have to install a new cable to your property at their own cost. You can then apply for your own supply upgrade. Much cheaper than the £3000 and very little inconvenience to your neighbour. I was quoted £360 for a fuse upgrade by Northern Power grid but my neighbour doesn't want his drive digging up so stuck at 60A.

 

[DaveandTeena]

By this quoted price I assume that you must be the last on the loop. Talk to your neighbour (first on the loop) and apply for a quote for them. They will only need a new cut out or fuse upgrade. This will be a couple of hundred pounds so if you pay for their upgrade the DNO will have to install a new cable to your property at their own cost. You can then apply for your own supply upgrade. Much cheaper than the £3000 and very little inconvenience to your neighbour. I was quoted £360 for a fuse upgrade by Northern Power grid but my neighbour doesn't want his drive digging up so stuck at 60A.

We ended up getting the Zappi it's limited to 55Amp in the unit, 2 CT clamps one for grid & one for solar the only time it limits is when one of us uses the shower (9kw) £860 fitted after grant including small consumer unit as ours was full

 

[Mach13]

We ended up getting the Zappi it's limited to 55Amp in the unit, 2 CT clamps one for grid & one for solar the only time it limits is when one of us uses the shower (9kw) £860 fitted after grant including small consumer unit as ours was full

How are you getting on with your Zappi - Im having problems with smart charging on my Sync EV and have the option to have it ripped out and replaced with another unit.. I'm looking at Zappis

 

[DaveandTeena]

How are you getting on with your Zappi - Im having problems with smart charging on my Sync EV and have the option to have it ripped out and replaced with another unit.. I'm looking at Zappis

We only had it fitted last week seems fine once we swapped the CT clamps around as installer put the grid one at wrong side of Henley block, there's not been a lot of sun since but it does automatically switch on when there is, we only do low mileage so hoping for free charging from our panels on ECO++, then the other day it was sending 1Kw back to grid so I switched it to ECO and it charged at 1.4Kw and when the sun shines it ups it to what's available, yes there are cheaper units out there but a lot of positive feedback about the Zappi and I believe them to be true from the week we have had it, granny charging wasn't the option for us as we had to run an extension lead first, hope you get sorted with whatever you choose, and if you have one of the agile or similar tariffs it will schedule charging for you

 

[Mach13]

Thanks

 

[DaveandTeena]

By this quoted price I assume that you must be the last on the loop. Talk to your neighbour (first on the loop) and apply for a quote for them. They will only need a new cut out or fuse upgrade. This will be a couple of hundred pounds so if you pay for their upgrade the DNO will have to install a new cable to your property at their own cost. You can then apply for your own supply upgrade. Much cheaper than the £3000 and very little inconvenience to your neighbour. I was quoted £360 for a fuse upgrade by Northern Power grid but my neighbour doesn't want his drive digging up so stuck at 60A.

Hi Justin yes we are the end of loop, this all started when BP pulse were going to fit a charge point, they told us that we needed a bigger fuse, Northern power grid came out and confirmed we are looped and 60 Amp fuse( one set of drawings said looped 60A and another said not looped ) said BP told them we wanted 100 Amp and DNO said it would be £3000 I said sorry but that's not happening, BP pulse unit will not do power/load balancing and that was the issue not that they told us that for the first 7 weeks, so after doing a little research I was told the DNO might unloop us FOC so I got in touch with Northern power grid again and asked the question and was politely told no as there are now that many EV owners wanting unlooped or bigger fuses/new supplies they would no longer be free, so that's when I found out about the power balancing boxes like the Zappi and like others have said its not a problem to run your charger of 60Amp if your charge point has this feature and that's were we are at we had it fitted last week 15 days after ordering the company knew what they were talking about unlike the numerous telephone handlers at BP call centre, I think its been mentioned before try your local electricians first they Know the area and what needs doing unlike the call centres

 

[DaveandTeena]

Thanks

Oh and you might find yourself constantly checking the MyEnergi app as my wife does she certainly lets me know what uses power in the house

 

[Justin H]

Oh and you might find yourself constantly checking the MyEnergi app as my wife does she certainly lets me know what uses power in the house

Yes I have had a zappi for 18 months now and can declare with some certainty that during the day we don't take anymore than 55 amps. My maximum demand is 60A as I have the grid limit set at this and charge our two cars through the night on off peak. Glad you got it sorted out in the end.

 

[Ozzie1989]

How are you getting on with your Zappi - Im having problems with smart charging on my Sync EV and have the option to have it ripped out and replaced with another unit.. I'm looking at Zappis

Just looking at ordering a Sync EV - what's been the issue with yours if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Mach13]

Just looking at ordering a Sync EV - what's been the issue with yours if you don't mind me asking?

It had a firmware update which completely crippled the smart function for me... a fix was always coming 'tomorrow' and tomorrow never materialised... It was just frustrating and went on for weeks n weeks. My installer has been fabulous and offered to rip it out and put an alternative one in... then yesterday they offered me a new firmware patch which seems to have fixed it.. Hurrah! Charged perfectly last night on a pulse (keep awake) charge

So I wont be ripping it out now

 

[steve1973]

I had my Zappi installed last year but only started using it from January, The charger keeps on saying fault over/under voltage unable to charge and showing 0.2KW/H always playing up. I have used it 5 times since getting my car DEC 22nd 4 times i have had the fault causing me to reset the charger or keep trying to connect it to the car. Hopefully there is a fix but haven't heard of one yet? luckily i charge at work cheaper than at home.

 

[Les burrows]

I had my Zappi installed last year but only started using it from January, The charger keeps on saying fault over/under voltage unable to charge and showing 0.2KW/H always playing up. I have used it 5 times since getting my car DEC 22nd 4 times i have had the fault causing me to reset the charger or keep trying to connect it to the car. Hopefully there is a fix but haven't heard of one yet? luckily i charge at work cheaper than at home.

Hi steve1973 ok I had a similar problem with my Zappi when it first when in,so the outcome was I got in touch with the installers who came back to check everything was OK from there side of things and it was, so they then contacted the DNO on my behalf, they came the next day and found the voltage coming into my home was to high around 257 volts I think it was from memory, they then went to local substation and did something there, came back and ask me not to use it as they would need to cut off the supply to about 15 homes on the same feed so the next day they contacted all the homes to tell them they need to shut off the power for a period of time around 30-60 minutes which the did a few days later around 10 :00 am and by 10:20 all was back on and it’s been fine for the last almost 3 years so contact you installer or the DNO hope this helps.
Les