[bradtipp]

I'm having a Chargepoint home charger fitted next week - I can go 50A or 80A on the breaker. 80A requires a hardwire and 50A only need a NEMA 14-50 plug. Neither is an issue to the electrician fitting it.

I assume there is no downside to going 80A ?

 

[sciencegeek]

Did you buy a chargepoint with a 14-50 plug or with the hardwire?

 

[bradtipp]

It comes with a 14-50 plug, but you can change it to hardwire when you install it. i.e. it supports both.

 

[sciencegeek]

(Oh that's right; I got mine used and I remember now that I opened it up and connected wires accordingly). I'm a big fan of the plug, I use it myself: (1) You can unplug when the charging is done, it doesn't sit there between charges just being on for no reason; (2) You can hang it up such that it's easy to remove, so if you go on a trip where you may have access to a 14-50 plug (such as at an RV park) you can take it with you; (3) You can plug in other stuff if that should come up.

 

[Ken]

The new ChargePoint Flex (plug in) which I just got, can be set up to varying amperages in the software setup. But the car will only accept what it can accept, no more. So there's no downside and you have a degree of future-proofing should you get a car with a higher rated onboard charger.

 

[bradtipp]

The new ChargePoint Flex (plug in) which I just got, can be set up to varying amperages in the software setup. But the car will only accept what it can accept, no more. So there's no downside and you have a degree of future-proofing should you get a car with a higher rated onboard charger.

Thank Ken. This is all new to me so appreciate the confirmation.

 

[slawwach]

Some people report that NEMA 14-50 is not designed for many insertion cycles and wears off.
Some opinions on Tesla forum:

Nema 14-50 frequent unplug and replug

Hey everyone, Instead of getting a Tesla charger, I was thinking of getting a Nema 14-50 plug in my condo parking. I feel like it will be better if I...

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[sciencegeek]

IF you charge every day you might as well leave it plugged in, no issue; if you don't charge every day (perhaps once a week on average like I do most of the time) then the number of plug/unplug events is pretty low. Also note this opinion from the thread you were just quoting: "I have 2 14-50 plugs on a power pole that have been used for the past 30 years without any issue of them wearing out. 2 RVs and many guest with RVs of the years. While they aren't plugged/unplugged daily they have seen their fare share of use."

 

[kkemp]

You would presumably need higher gauge wire for 80A, so there would be marginally higher materials cost to set it up at 80A vs 50A. Depending on where you live your inspector may require a GFCI breaker for the 14-50 if it's in a garage, which could lead to nuisance trips because EVSEs tend to trip GFCI breakers.

 

[sciencegeek]

This thread inspired a quick experiment: I use bike chain lube that has carbon nanoballs as the lubricating material, suspended in methanol. I applied it to the prongs of the 14-50 plug (taking care not to let it spread across one prong to another via the plastic of the plug) and let it dry. Result: night and day! Before I could feel and hear the metal scraping when I plugged in (clearly indicating some abrasion over time); now it's like butter! (Don't use butter )

 

[SeanM1]

I'm having a Chargepoint home charger fitted next week - I can go 50A or 80A on the breaker. 80A requires a hardwire and 50A only need a NEMA 14-50 plug. Neither is an issue to the electrician fitting it.

I assume there is no downside to going 80A ?

If it was me, I would go with the 80, its a small price to pay for future proofing.

 

[bradtipp]

Ok - so I went with a hardwire and a 50A circuit. the install went very smoothly and I'm drawing 7.5KW which seems to be the max for the ac/dc converter on board the car. All seems good for now. thanks for the thoughts.

 

[Steve's iPace]

I'm having a Chargepoint home charger fitted next week - I can go 50A or 80A on the breaker. 80A requires a hardwire and 50A only need a NEMA 14-50 plug. Neither is an issue to the electrician fitting it.

I assume there is no downside to going 80A ?

I just purchased a Juice Box 40 amp Level 2 charger for my

Ok - so I went with a hardwire and a 50A circuit. the install went very smoothly and I'm drawing 7.5KW which seems to be the max for the ac/dc converter on board the car. All seems good for now. thanks for the thoughts.

Sorry, I didn't finish, with the purchase of the Juice Box 40 amp I have to use a 60 amp breaker on the electrical panel. The Chargepoint should have requirements for their charger that an electrician can follow. Just wanted to comment on Level 2 chargers. It really doesn't make a lot of difference what you level 2 home charger has for amps because the iPace regulates the amount of charging. For iPace the specs say that the onboard charger for the standard plug charges at a rate of 7KWH. Some Tesla's charge at 9KWH and will charge faster. My research indicated that a level 2 charger will fully charge an iPace in about 9 hours regardless of the amps on the home/wall charger.

 

[bradtipp]

I just purchased a Juice Box 40 amp Level 2 charger for my

Sorry, I didn't finish, with the purchase of the Juice Box 40 amp I have to use a 60 amp breaker on the electrical panel. The Chargepoint should have requirements for their charger that an electrician can follow. Just wanted to comment on Level 2 chargers. It really doesn't make a lot of difference what you level 2 home charger has for amps because the iPace regulates the amount of charging. For iPace the specs say that the onboard charger for the standard plug charges at a rate of 7KWH. Some Tesla's charge at 9KWH and will charge faster. My research indicated that a level 2 charger will fully charge an iPace in about 9 hours regardless of the amps on the home/wall charger.

Yep, as long as you above the onboard DC capability (i.e. about 32A, it doesn't matter.)

 

[Ken]

But you may want to future-proof and go with a higher rated charger than you need.

 

[epirali]

Well usually 80A wiring is a lot more expensive and harder to pull, but that may not be an issue. At 50A you can go up to 9KW.

@sciencegeek is the lube electrically conductive? I wouldn’t want to add any impedance and reduce contact to the prongs.

 

[sciencegeek]

@sciencegeek is the lube electrically conductive? I wouldn’t want to add any impedance and reduce contact to the prongs.

Yes absolutely that was my concern. That's why I didn't just slap on some grease but used a nanoball formulation. I was too cheap, impatient, and lazy to buy electrical lubricant. I don't know if these nanoballs are conductive, but I'm not sure that matters very much. If you imagine the surfaces of both the prongs and the receptacle as tiny mountains that catch each other, a lube will fill in the valleys a bit (which reduces friction) but the overall contact is not diminished by all that much. I picture the nanoballs filling the valleys a bit, so you go from Sierra Nevada jaggedness to Alabama Hills gentleness. It might also work for very thin grease applications, but I haven't tried that. Most importantly, I did not notice any difference while charging and certainly no smoke or otherwise alarming effects on the charger or the connection. 🍺

 

[rogerdodger]

This thread inspired a quick experiment: I use bike chain lube that has carbon nanoballs as the lubricating material, suspended in methanol. I applied it to the prongs of the 14-50 plug (taking care not to let it spread across one prong to another via the plastic of the plug) and let it dry. Result: night and day! Before I could feel and hear the metal scraping when I plugged in (clearly indicating some abrasion over time); now it's like butter! (Don't use butter )

I would like to try this.

Please can you share the brand name of the lube you used?

Thanks.

 

[sciencegeek]

Rock'n Roll Extreme. (The one on the left )
The white stuff on the bottom is the nanoparticles.
If you bike ... this is good stuff. If you don't bike and it's only for the electrical purpose I would look into electrical lubricants. (Which I have not researched.)