Extension cable required

[globaljezza]

Hi there, I use for domestic charging that OEM Yazaki charger but need a suitable extension lead so I can reach my house socket. Is there a recommendation to buy as I have noticed my standard extension cable gets too hot and caused overheat / burn out on my house socket.

 

[DaveL59]

If you want to extend the mains out you'd need a good quality 13/15A cable and plug/socket else they'll likely cause issues. The power being drawn during the main charge will cause the cable and plug/socket to get very warm, hot eve. My daughter made the mistake of using a cheaper one one time and that melted the moulded plug on the granny charger :-(

What I did instead was to buy a type-1 extension cable to extend the granny charger to reach the car. Not cheap as they are around £150 for the 5M one, but its worked perfectly for my needs. I got it from 4EV and its a nice bright green so easy to spot and avoid tripping over ;-)

 

[cirdan]

With my type 2 portable EVSE I use a 10 mtre. caravan "extra heavy duty" cable. Only plugs into a 15 amp outlet of course. I had that installed by an electrician friend. Works well and the cable just gets slightly warm. The type 2 portable EVSE cost $250Au and the 10 metre cable cost about $45Au.

 

[nrayanov]

I've created my own extension 10 M cable with a plug on one side, and an outlet on the other one.

 

[globaljezza]

If you want to extend the mains out you'd need a good quality 13/15A cable and plug/socket else they'll likely cause issues. The power being drawn during the main charge will cause the cable and plug/socket to get very warm, hot eve. My daughter made the mistake of using a cheaper one one time and that melted the moulded plug on the granny charger :-(

What I did instead was to buy a type-1 extension cable to extend the granny charger to reach the car. Not cheap as they are around £150 for the 5M one, but its worked perfectly for my needs. I got it from 4EV and its a nice bright green so easy to spot and avoid tripping over ;-)

Thanks for the feedback. So the OEM plug that then plugs into your house socket, does this get hot at all?

 

[DaveL59]

Thanks for the feedback. So the OEM plug that then plugs into your house socket, does this get hot at all?

oh yeah, the plug and short cable to the EVSA both. UK 13A outlet being pushed to continuous 10A sure makes things get hot. Of course once it starts to slow the charge rate things get back to warm rather than hot tho that's 2-3 hours into the charge.

 

[cirdan]

Thanks for the feedback. So the OEM plug that then plugs into your house socket, does this get hot at all?

Using a 15 amp plug with a 15 amp heavy duty rated cable. The plug doesn't get hot. Just warm, as does the cable. This when using the type two EVSE

 

[greendwarf]

And, of course, you are already aware that you must fully unwind the extension cable!

 

[themaiz]

Using a 15 amp plug with a 15 amp heavy duty rated cable. The plug doesn't get hot. Just warm, as does the cable. This when using the type two EVSE

I'm really surprised that a UK plug, rated at more than 10A gets anything like hot when the device on the end of it is drawing only 10A. I have no recollection of my Australian 3-pin plug (flat blades) getting particularly warm when run for an extended period. For a while I was using a pretty crap extension cord - generally those things have the minimum legal amount of copper - and even that didn't get especially warm. So meltingly-hot, as reported in previous posts, is a real worry. Makes me wonder if something else is going wrong.

 

[hughwi]

I have always had a good experience using the outdoor IP rated waterproof extension cables - especially the Masterplug ones from screwfix - they get warm, but not overly hot at the plug end, which is good. I have melted a few cheap Chinese ones before, which usual involve an annoying need to replace the domestic socket too!

 

[Phev2016]

UK plugs will definitely get hot to the touch when running at a constant 10A or 2.3kW. Not many appliances will run for hours at this power, even electric heaters (most are 2kW with some at 2.5kW and very few at 3kW) are usually set to a comfortable room temperature and will cycle on and off. The plug can easily function without danger at 60 or 70C though if you pull out the plug and hold the live pin for a second the temperature will hurt!