New EVSE option: a BReAKER with built-in EV Charging: EATON

[Maquis]

Nice to emeet a fellow EE however I’m not a practicing professional.

The EV outlet is a dedicated circuit. We use the charger sparingly when we go up to the cottage maybe 6-8 times a year and usually only charge the truck once to
100% for our return trip home. My place is old and has the old bussman fuse panel (think of those screw in fuses). I use a bussman p-type time delayed cartridge fuse for the 40-amp circuit. I’m using 8 awg wire with approx 50ft run that goes under ground through a conduit.

Anyways, I can’t say for sure if this new panel install outside will resolve the issue. Time will tell. Haven’t been up to the place much lately to test it fully but the handful times we tried it’s been working.

what’s odd is that for a whole year I had no issues. Something over the past 6-months has caused this and nothing changed on the Infrastructure side. Maybe it was a truck update. Idk. In any event, I feel this outdoor panel may work.

Generally, an overcurrent protective device that trips or blows without its rating being exceeded is being subject to excessive heat. Check the temps in the box just after an event. It’s possible some connection has degraded over time and is generating extra heat.

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[stickyfingers]

Generally, an overcurrent protective device that trips or blows without its rating being exceeded is being subject to excessive heat. Check the temps in the box just after an event. It’s possible some connection has degraded over time and is generating extra heat.

I'll open out the outlet next time we are up there to see if the connection is still good. It's a good point, I have not removed the outlet to see.

 

[Maquis]

I'll open out the outlet next time we are up there to see if the connection is still good. It's a good point, I have not removed the outlet to see.

Heating at the receptacle outlet won’t cause your problem directly. At least not until it fails catastrophically. Heat at the fuse will - that’s where I’d check first.

 

[shelnian]

I had bought the following during the Amazon Prime days for $120 CDN:

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0C8HP6NYC?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

Installed it at the cottage and it has been amazing. I was blowing my 40amp bussman fuses all the time - it would cost me $20 each time I had to replace one and over the summer I replaced them 3x.

I don't know why that was happening since my charger was setup at 32amps. So I installed this a few weeks ago and no issues. Plus it also gives me access to a 30-amp RV outlet as well as a GFCI protected 20-amp outlet.

I doubt if the 50A outlet is EV rated based on the picture. Cheap outlets can fail in bad ways when used for EV charging. There are multiple videos about this.

 

[stickyfingers]

I changed the breaker to a 40-amp to be sure.

 

[EVpower]

Though for Stickyfingers on the fuse or panel problem. If you have a smartphone with a thermal camera option (Photobooth in Apple), you may be able to spot a heating problem without risking a burn or a shock.

Steve

 

[hturnerfamily]

interesting... as I watch this video about Eaton's new 'Breaker' EVSE design, I feel even more confident that this will become the more common overall way to install a charging cable to EVs...

at about minute 24, they are outside at the charging port, where 10 spaces are dedicated to EVs... and each parking space has a dedicated J1772 Level 2 charge cable.
The interesting aspect is that none of these cables have to go to a local or nearby 'module' that we would typically see at every Level 2 charge station - they just mount to a 'holder', and ultimately back to the main panel.

So, for simplicity sake, it's just a cable you plug into your vehicle. Simple.

Now, if we look at how this would be applied for 'at home' charging, and why it is so simple, is that these cables can run, currently, up to 250' back to the main panel - that would practically handle almost ANY needs for anyone's layout situation. This is basically a 8/4 SOOW cable you can find easily at any Lowes or Home Depot wiring center aisle. While you may need a junction box at the end of the provided 25' cable, to continue the run to your main panel, and the new EVSE breaker, it eliminates the need for an outlet.

So, for easy 'at home' Level 2 charging, it seems like a great choice, especially for those who are new to EVs, and have not yet invested in a dedicated wall-mount EVSE, or a mobile EVSE.
I suppose a simple mobile EVSE will always be needed, and carried in the EV, just in case, this new 'at home' device creates a much simpler, and less intrusive, charging design.

Some might question the wifi and connectivity to this new EVSE breaker module, but since most of our EVs have internal software settings to set WHEN the vehicle charges, I'm not sure any software connection to the EVSE breaker is really necessary.

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