Chargepoint charger failure

[Nomoregas]

I had a chargepoint charger fail yesterday and it has left me confused about some things, hoping electricians or anyone that knows how this could happen help me understand.

I went to my garage in the morning and could smell that burning electrical smell and discovered my charger plug was damaged and burnt. Thank god the truck managed to fully reach 80 percent charge and must have stopped charging before this went to an all out fire. When I opened this receptacle up both the hot lines were burnt with no insulation for about 3-4 inches from the end of the wires, ground was fine.

I have had my lightning since Oct 2022 and have 97,000 km on it and almost 100 percent charged at home on this chargepoint charger. Last night was -15 C (5F) so i know it harder on the charger at cold temps. I have run this charger 5 times a week all night until 80 percent charge never an issue.

if you know the chargepoint chargers, they are remotely set for maximum charger amperage via Wi-Fi and chargepopint, you cannot set the max rate like you can on the ford charger they do it for you.

I called chargepoint today and they seemed to have some concern over this and are quietly asking for pics and when reviewd decided to replace my charger at no cost to me and want this one returned.

I think my real concern here is, ok the charger failed in some way but why did my 40 amp breaker not fault/trip?

 

[Maquis]

That receptacle is not one of the few available industrial-grade devices. When used continuously, they will all melt at some point. Your breaker didn’t trip because the charge current never exceeded the breaker rating. Once the connection points in the receptacle start to fail, the resistance increases and it overheats without any abnormal increase in current flow.

The best solution is to hard-wire the EVSE and eliminate the receptacle as a point of failure.

 

[Nomoregas]

Thank you for that but... the receptacle is 50 amp, ok it is not designed for continuous load (i didn't know that they were not) but why the wire melted like that, it seems as if one leg was pulling a lot of current.

I will get an continuous use receptacle and replace this stove one.

 

[TaxmanHog]

but why the wire melted like that, it seems as if one leg was pulling a lot of current.

Thermal cycling of the connections or the tension of receptacle blade receivers weakened overtime, leading to increased resistance and heat.

Sponsored